Macrina the Younger

Saint Macrina the Younger (324 - 379) was born at Caesarea, Cappadocia. Her parents were Basil the Elder and Emmelia, and her grandmother was Saint Macrina the Elder. Among her nine siblings were two of the three Cappadocian Fathers, Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Peter of Sebaste. Her father arranged for her to marry but her fiance died before the wedding. She devoted herself to her religion, becoming a nun.

She became well known as a holy woman and instructed many young women religiously. For this she is honored as one of the most prominent nuns of the Eastern Church. She had a profound influence upon her brothers with her adherence to an ascetic ideal. Gregory of Nyssa wrote a work entitled Life of Macrina in which he describes her sancity throughout her life. In 379, Macrina died at her family's estate in Pontus, which with the help of her younger brother Peter she had turned into a monastery and convent. Her brother Gregory composed a "Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection" ("peri psyches kai anastaseos"), entitled "ta Makrinia" (P.G. XLVI, 12 sq.), to commemorate Macrina. Her feast day is the 19th of July.

References

* Nester, Marie Yaroshak. "We Are God's People," p. 99. God With Us Publications, 2004.
* Virginia Burrus, "Remembering Macrina," in Eadem, "The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography" (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), pp 69-76.

External links

* Gregory of Nyssa, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/macrina.html#life Life of Macrina]
* Gregory of Nyssa, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf205.x.iii.ii.html Dialog on the Soul and Resurrection]
* [http://www.tentmaker.org/biographies/macrina.htm Macrina the Younger]
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