Gregory of Nazianzen also known as Gregory the Theologian was an early Roman Christian theologian and prelate who served as Archbishop of Constantinople from 380 to 381. Hep is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age. As a classically trained orator and philosopher, he infused Hellenism into the early Church, establishing the paradigm of Byzantine theologians and church officials.
The Byzantine approach to theology is primarily influenced by a spiritual platonism that considers the world as an epiphany or appearance of a superior world. The Gospel of John and the Platonizing Fathers of the first five centuries formed Oriental and Byzantine Christian.
This thought insists on the separation between the visible world and the invisible world. What one sees here below are the changing, imperfect things. Behind these beings, there is the true unchanging Being that the soul will contemplate happily in immortal life. The hereafter is the sole end of man's destiny and of all worldly activity.
Arianism rejects the notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. Such notion is practiced by a minority of modern denominations, includinh Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Saint Basil the Great was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church, fighting against both Arianism and the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea.
Basil was still young when his father died and the family moved to Annesi in Pontus, on the banks of the Iris. As a boy, he was sent to school at Caesarea, then "a metropolis of letters", and conceived a fervent admiration for the local bishop, Dianius. Later, he went to Constantinople, at that time "distinguished for its teachers of philosophy and rhetoric", and then to Athens where he became the inseparable companion of Gregory of Nazianzus, who, in his famous panegyric on Basil (Or. xliii), gives a description of their academic experiences. According to him, Basil was already distinguished for brilliancy of mind and seriousness of character and associated only with the most earnest students. He was able, grave, industrious, and well advanced in rhetoric, grammar, philosophy, astronomy, geometry, and medicine
St. Gregory, you are known for your zeal for the Catholic faith, love of liturgy, and compassion and mercy toward those in need.
Please help and guide us
so that we may share in these virtues
and thereby bring Jesus into the hearts of our families and all we encounter.
We especially ask for blessings on our parish family, our priests and our deacons.
I also ask that you graciously intercede for me before God so that I might be granted the special assistance and graces that I seek
Help me to live as a faithful child of God and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
St. Gregory the Great, pray for us.
With prayer and tears you have warmed the cold cliffs of Ostrog, please warm our hearths with Gods spirit, so we can be saved. From all corners of the world to your grave come the weak and the ill, and you helped them, got rid of their demons as well as the devil, and healed their souls and bodies. Please continue to help, the baptized and the nonbaptized, everybody and me as well. You brought peace to fighting brothers, please continue to bring peace, help the devided, make the sad happy, calm the stubborn, heal the sick. Saint Basil, o miracle worker, father of our spirit, listen and hear your children’s spirits in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
This thought insists on the separation between the visible world and the invisible world. What one sees here below are the changing, imperfect things. Behind these beings, there is the true unchanging Being that the soul will contemplate happily in immortal life. The hereafter is the sole end of man's destiny and of all worldly activity.
Arianism rejects the notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. Such notion is practiced by a minority of modern denominations, includinh Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Gregory of Arianzus
Gregory was born at Arianzus, in the southwest of Cappadocia. The saint's father was originally a member of the heretical sect of the Hypsistarii, or Hypsistiani, and was converted to Catholicity by the influence of his pious wife. Their two sons, were sent to a famous school at Caesarea, capital of Cappadocia, and educated by Carterius, probably the same one who was afterwards tutor of St. John Chrysostom. Here started the friendship between Basil and Gregory which intimately affected both their lives, as well as the development of the theology of their ageSaint Basil the Great was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church, fighting against both Arianism and the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea.
To maintain the peace between Christians and Arianism in the empire, Emperor Valens commanded everyone to adhere to Arianism. Many—if not most—obeyed out of fear of the emperor. Out in Caesarea, however, Valens’s command was ignored.
One day, as the emperor traveled through Cappadocia, he decided to stop by Caesarea and personally exile the bishop. They met face to face—the emperor dressed in his finest traveling gear, impressive in furs and precious metals; the bishop in simple monastic garb, bearded and bent.
Basil had better become Arian, Valens demanded. If not, these were his options: confiscation of his property, exile, torture, perhaps death.
The bishop was unimpressed. Confiscation? He had little to lose in worldly goods; a few books, perhaps. Exile? The Church was his only home. Torture, now—he was so weak, it would simply kill him. And as for death—he welcomed it, as it would bring him to Christ.
Valens, in all his imperial glory, was speechless. He returned home to his palace, and no one mentioned exiling Basil again.
One day, as the emperor traveled through Cappadocia, he decided to stop by Caesarea and personally exile the bishop. They met face to face—the emperor dressed in his finest traveling gear, impressive in furs and precious metals; the bishop in simple monastic garb, bearded and bent.
Basil had better become Arian, Valens demanded. If not, these were his options: confiscation of his property, exile, torture, perhaps death.
The bishop was unimpressed. Confiscation? He had little to lose in worldly goods; a few books, perhaps. Exile? The Church was his only home. Torture, now—he was so weak, it would simply kill him. And as for death—he welcomed it, as it would bring him to Christ.
Valens, in all his imperial glory, was speechless. He returned home to his palace, and no one mentioned exiling Basil again.
Prayer to St. Gregory of Nazianzen
St. Gregory, you are known for your zeal for the Catholic faith, love of liturgy, and compassion and mercy toward those in need.
Please help and guide us
so that we may share in these virtues
and thereby bring Jesus into the hearts of our families and all we encounter.
We especially ask for blessings on our parish family, our priests and our deacons.
I also ask that you graciously intercede for me before God so that I might be granted the special assistance and graces that I seek
Help me to live as a faithful child of God and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
St. Gregory the Great, pray for us.
Prayer to Saint Basil the Great
Saint Basil, o great follower of God, help all as well as me. Defender of orthodoxy, defend us too, that follow your faith and stand besides you. Great follower of God, pray to him for all your people, as well as for unworthy me. Strong knight and leader of Ostrog, save us from the seen and unseen. Raised by Serbian soil do be the light in front of God, be our light and light up our road and make darkness disappear.With prayer and tears you have warmed the cold cliffs of Ostrog, please warm our hearths with Gods spirit, so we can be saved. From all corners of the world to your grave come the weak and the ill, and you helped them, got rid of their demons as well as the devil, and healed their souls and bodies. Please continue to help, the baptized and the nonbaptized, everybody and me as well. You brought peace to fighting brothers, please continue to bring peace, help the devided, make the sad happy, calm the stubborn, heal the sick. Saint Basil, o miracle worker, father of our spirit, listen and hear your children’s spirits in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
