Macrina the Younger
| Macrina the Younger | |
|---|---|
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| Born | c. 330 Caesarea, Cappadocia |
| Died | 19 July 379 Pontus |
| Honored in | Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion |
| Feast | July 19 |
Saint Macrina the Younger (c.330– 19 July 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, her younger brothers 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. Her brother 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. Gregory of Nyssa 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 19 July.
Universalists, including Hosea Ballou and J. W. Hanson, claim Macrina as a Universalist in her teachings, citing works which they believe demonstrate Macrina's belief that the wicked in purgatory would all eventually confess Christ.[1][2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hosea Ballou The ancient history of universalism p173 "His grandmother, Macrina, under whom he received his juvenile education, and his first impressions of piety, had been, in her youth, a hearer of Gregory Thaumaturgus, in Pontus ; for whom she inspired her young scholar with a profound and lasting veneration. "
- ^ J. W. Hanson Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church 1889 p105
[edit] References
- A. M. Silvas, Macrina the Younger. Philosopher of God, Turnhout, 2008, Brepols Publishers, ISBN 978-2-503-52390-3
- Nester, Marie Yaroshak. We Are God's People, God With Us Publications, 2004, p. 99.
- Burrus, V. "Macrina's Tattoo," in D. B. Martin and P. Cox Miller (eds), The Cultural Turn in Late Ancient Studies: Gender, Asceticism, and Historiography (Durham (NC), 2005), 103-116.
[edit] External links
- Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina
- Gregory of Nyssa, Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection
- "St. Macrina, Virgin", Butler's Lives of the Saints
- Macrina the Younger
"St. Macrina the Younger". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
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- 379 deaths
- 4th-century Romans
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