By Fr. George Dorbarakis
Saint Gregory was the brother of Basil the Great, illustrious in speech and a zealot for the Orthodox faith. For this reason he also became a leader of the Church of Christ. And when he came together with those who composed the Second Ecumenical Synod in Constantinople (381 AD), who opposed the impious heresies, he was found to be a champion of the Fathers, routing the heretics by the power of his words and by the proofs he brought forth from the Holy Scriptures. For he prevailed, employing every form of rational argument and flourishing in virtue. He reached a ripe old age and departed to the Lord. In bodily appearance he was almost like his brother Basil.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa belongs to the great company of the Fathers and Teachers of our Church, together with his brother Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. His greatness was manifested especially at the Second Ecumenical Synod, “at which he became the principal exponent of Cappadocian Trinitarian and Pneumatological theology and was recognized as a great theological figure” (Stylianos Papadopoulos). It is not accidental that the Seventh Ecumenical Synod, (787 AD) characterized him as the “Father of Fathers.”
The ecclesiastical hymnographer, the monk John, bearing in mind Gregory’s entire contribution and the evaluation of the Church herself through the mouth of the Ecumenical Synods, on the one hand describes him likewise as “the radiant adornment of teachers,” and on the other honors him in a manner similar to his holy brother Basil the Great:
“O wondrous brotherly pair, of one blood according to the flesh, of one mind in divine things! Honoring this pair, we rightly honor Basil together with Gregory unto the ages.”
The Hymnographer, in his Canon, directs our attention — at least for the most part — to Gregory’s theological contribution, that is, to his defense of the Orthodox dogmas, which constitute the foundation of the world. And this defense, of course, was not primarily the fruit of his great education and his truly brilliant intellect. It was the fruit of his illumination by God on account of his ascetic conduct and his immaterial way of life:
“Having been granted divine illumination and having practiced the immaterial life, you shone forth in your vigilant priestly ministry; for, having wondrously made the dogmas clear, you established the world in Orthodoxy.”
It was his illumination from God that enabled him — just as it did the other great Fathers and Teachers — not to remain on the surface of the words of Holy Scripture, in the “lawful garment,” but to penetrate into the hidden beauty of the meanings, into the “treasured beauty,” as expressed by the other great Gregory, the Theologian:
“Having received the grace of the Spirit, you opened the paltry garment of the legal letter and revealed to us the hidden beauty of the meanings.”
The enrichment of Saint Gregory by the Spirit of God, his natural genius, and his great education (chiefly from his brother Basil the Great and from his own studies), both secular and ecclesiastical, made him on the one hand “a pillar all-radiant of Orthodoxy in both life and fervent word,” and on the other a great opponent of heresies, who, according to the Synaxarion, routed the various heretics — namely Eunomius, Macedonius, the offshoots of Arius, and Sabellius — those who in his time challenged the Holy Trinity revealed by the Lord: the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity.
According to the Hymnographer, he is “the axe that cuts down the onrushes of the heretics; the two-edged sword of the Paraclete; the blade that severs spurious sowings; the fire that burns up heresies like dry brush.” And let us note that his anti-heretical struggle had a decidedly positive character. He believed that any heresy is eradicated precisely when the truth of the word of God is clearly set forth.
The Hymnographer also seizes the opportunity to highlight the watchful, inward disposition of the heart and theology of Saint Gregory by referring to his very name: Gregory. Saint Gregory was “the watchful mind,” “the one who keeps the eye of the soul awake as a vigilant shepherd,” who “subjected the impulses of the flesh to the governing mind, and the mind to Christ the King of all.” Therefore he traversed the path of Christ’s commandments without stumbling and became fittingly a dwelling place of the Holy Trinity:
“Thus, having run the course of the commandments without stumbling, you have fittingly become a dwelling of the Trinity, O Gregory.”
This practical exercise of the virtues through the commandments of the Lord, which led him also to the theoria of God (“to praxis you added theoria, O Father”), was the prerequisite for his special illumination by God, enabling him to discern the truth of the faith from the delusion of heresies. And this is a most fundamental truth of the Christian faith: only the one who purifies his heart from the evils of the passions can receive the illumination of the Holy Spirit and thus become a true theologian.
The only thing we too can do is to attune ourselves to the Hymnographer of our Church: to beseech the Saint, with the boldness he has before the Triune God, “as a vigilant shepherd,” to awaken us also from our spiritual sleep and to “put to sleep” the passions that torment us because of our negligence:
“Through negligence I, the wretched one, have fallen again and fallen asleep unto death; but as a most vigilant shepherd, awaken me, O Father, and put to sleep my passions, which cruelly torment me.”
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.