January 2—Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

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Jeopardy! time: This heresy from the third and fourth century taught Jesus was not God, but the first creature created by God. The correct Jeopardy! question: What is Arianism? Next Jeopardy! answer: These two bishops, along with St. Gregory of Nyssa, are known as the Cappadocian Fathers and opposed Arianism, which was condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 381, which provided the final version of the Nicene Creed. The correct Jeopardy! question: Who are Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen. 

Sts. Basil and Gregory Nazianzen were instrumental in contributing to the definition of the Trinity. They preached, taught, debated, and worked strenuously to bring the faithful who had been misled into thinking Jesus was not God and the Holy Spirit was not God back to the truth. God is “one substance (ousia) in three persons (hypostases)”. What this means is that the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, three persons, one God. But they are three persons in relationship to each other: The Father is NOT the Son; the Son is NOT the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is NOT the Father. They are in relationship with each other in a divine dance of love unified in the godhead. 

St. Basil, born in 330, first became a hermit, then later a monk, and eventually became Bishop of Caesarea in 370, dying in 379. Born in 329, St. Gregory Nazianzen, friend of St. Basil, is also called St. Gregory the Theologian for his advancement of the Trinity. He became a priest in 361, then Bishop of Sasima, and finally Bishop of Constantinople, dying in 390. Both men advanced the true faith through their teaching and holiness. They gave us a better understanding of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!

* https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Basil_of_Caesarea.jpg  Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

+ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Gregor-Chora_%28cropped%29.jpg  Unknown authorUnknown author, Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons

January 10--St. Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop

His father was a saint. His older brother was a saint. His sister was a saint. His younger brother was a bishop. His mother was the daughter of a martyr. That’s quite a family. It didn’t automatically make him a saint, though. As a matter of fact, he started his adult life looking for a secular career after studying rhetoric. But he eventually responded to the call of being a bishop. He was deposed, but then restored to his rightful place. It was only after his older brother, St. Basil the Great, died that St. Gregory of Nyssa found his voice.

He lived at the time of the Arian heresy, which claimed that Jesus was a creature of God; the first creature, but definitely not God. Arianism was condemned in A.D. 325, but even when St. Gregory was made bishop in 371 it was still a serious problem. Emperor Theodosius called for a council in 381 to address the continuing problem. St. Gregory was a great proponent for the truth of the faith, that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is also consubstantial with the Father and the Son. In other words, he defended the truth of the Trinity, the greatest mystery of our faith.

We are not called to “understand” the mystery of the Trinity. Faith calls for trust. We trust that what we have been taught about God is true, because of who taught us, Jesus Christ. Jesus said that God is his Father. God is our Father, too, but not in the same way. Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Holy Spirit is God. We don’t explain it with a scientific or mathematical proof. We believe it, like we believe in love. St. Gregory of Nyssa, pray for us.