Is Anybody There?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh Sabaoth" Zach 4:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dio di Signore, nella Sua volontà è nostra pace!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin 1759

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Try Topping This for a Saintly Family



Today is the feast of St. Macrina the Elder. She was born some time before 270 & died c. 340. There is very little known about her.  St. Gregory Thaumaturgus was her spiritual director and bishop of her home town during her youth. During the persecutions of Galerius & Diocletian, Macrina & her husband suffered greatly, During the Diocletian persecutions they spent some about 6 or so years in hiding along the shores of the Black Sea, in a forest at Pontus.
While most people don't know who she was, some of her family are quite familiar to us.  It is that family that was the fruit of her holy life, her son, his wife & 5 of their children are all saints as well. 1 of her grandsons is recognized as a Doctor of the Church. Another is a Father of the Church & is known as the “Father of the Fathers” because of what he did at the Council of Constantinople in defending the Nicene creed against the Arians.
She was the mother of St. Basil the Elder, who was married to St. Emmelia.  As I said, 5 of their 9 children are also saints. Thus she was the grandmother of St, Basil the Great (Doctor of the Church) & St. Gregory of Nyssa (Father of the Church) both of whom were friends with St Gregory of Nazianzus (another Doctor of the Church) as well as  St. Peter of Sebaste, St. Naucratius & St. Macrina the Younger.
Like I said, try topping this for a saintly family.
Truly we can be grateful to God for what he did through her life. It is still bearing fruit to this day.

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