References to Saint Thekla in the Writings of Gregory of Nyssa

Saint Thekla, to whom a famous martyrium near Seleucia was dedicated in the time of Saint Gregory of Nyssa, was celebrated in the early Church as an archetypical virgin and martyr. In the two places where she is mentioned in Gregory of Nyssa's writings, this is how she is presented.

1. Homily 14 on the Song of Songs

(A commentary on Song of Songs 5:13, which reads: "His jaws are like bowls of spice pouring forth perfumes. His lips are lilies, dropping abundant myrrh.")

For the myrrh that flows from the mouth and fills the receptive soul is an image for the mortification of the body, since it is often observed that in the improper usage of the inspired text the term 'myrrh' signifies death. Therefore the pure and perfect eye, which makes of the jaw a bowl that pours and gushes perfumes out of itself, this eye blossoms with lilies in the form of words that proceed from the mouth of those who have been beautified by the divine radiance; for so does the text identify those who are pure and who breathe out the perfume of virtue, from whom there is unendingly distilled the drop of myrrh that fills the mind of its recipients — that is to say, disdain for the material life, which appears when everything that people work for in this life becomes inoperative and dead on account of their desire for transcendent goods.

July: Day 19: Venerable Macrina, Sister of Basil the Great

 

July: Day 19:
Venerable Macrina, Sister of Basil the Great
 
(The Fundamental Principles of Christian Upbringing for the Salvation of Oneself and our Children)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. An example of how beneficial a good religious and moral education is for a child, for a family, and for the whole of society in general, can be found in the life of our Venerable Mother Macrina, who is remembered today and who lived in the second half of the 4th century. The granddaughter of martyrs, the eldest daughter of Basil and Emmelia of Cappadocia, Macrina was raised by her parents, as it is said in her life, “not in Hellenic fables and poetic verses, as parents usually raised their children then (and as they partly raise children in our schools now), but from the Wisdom of Solomon and the Psalms of David and from other books of Divine Scripture, choosing such excellent verses that are both prayers and glorifications of God, and good moral teaching. And the singing of prayers, appropriate to each time and divided into parts, rising from bed and taking up some work, sitting down to dinner, and after dinner giving thanks: at midday and evening she did not pass without psalmody, and before going to bed she had the established prayer performed by her. Moreover, she was taught by her mother in the art of handiwork suitable for young ladies, and she was not allowed to spend her time in idleness and childish games, but was always engaged either in reading books or in manual tasks." This constituted the upbringing of the young Macrina.