July 29--Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Holy Family

Raising of Lazarus by Giotto Public domain

Although not common, it is not completely unusual for whole families to be saints. Before canonizations were under the direction of the papacy in the eleventh century, saints were often chosen by local churches and the people. Thus, whole families were known as saints, including Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John the Baptist; Basil the Elder, Emilia, Macrina the Elder, Macrina the Younger, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebaste; Augustine and Monica; Benedict and Scholastica; Louis, Zelie, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Leonie Martin; Clare and Agnes of Assisi; and today’s saints, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany.

“Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were added to the General Roman Calendar as a combined memorial on July 29th by Pope Francis on January 26, 2021. This replaced the previous celebration of Saint Martha alone on that date.” This is because the identity of Mary of Bethany was not definitively established until recently by scholarship.

“Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany were beloved by Jesus. We don’t know the full background, but it appears all three siblings were loved by the Lord and were close friends and disciples of his. Each had a different charism. We know that Martha had a servant’s heart and that Mary preferred to sit at the feet of her Lord and learn from him. We don’t know as much about Lazarus other than he is one for whom Jesus wept and who he rose from the grave. John’s Gospel also tells us that because Jesus rose Lazarus from the grave, the chief priests and elders also plotted to put Lazarus to death, but we don’t know if they succeeded. May we be more like Martha, Mary, and Lazarus and draw near to Christ to love and serve him.”

Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, pray for us.

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

July 19--St. Macrina the Younger, Virgin

The eldest in a family oftentimes has the responsibility of assisting the parents in raising the younger siblings and, even though parents are the first teachers of all their children, a first-born can be quite influential. Such is true with today’s saint, Macrina the Younger, born about A.D. 327. Named for her grandmother, also a saint, Macrina was the eldest of St. Basil and St. Emmelia’s ten children. Her brothers were St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebaste.

St. Macrina was prominent in helping her brothers become the saints they were. She was taught by her mother in the ways of Scripture and helped form her siblings. She helped St. Basil realize the importance of Scripture and persuaded him to be a monk. She also became a nun.  St. Gregory found her to be eloquent regarding death and future life.

In his biography of her, he wrote her words: “O Lord, you have freed us from the fear of death. You have made the end of life here the beginning of a true life for us. For a time, you give rest to our bodies in sleep and you awaken us again with the trumpet. The dust from which you fashioned us with your hands you give back to the earth for safe-keeping. And you will recall it, transforming with immortality and grace our mortal and graceless remains. …

“You who have power on earth to forgive sins, forgive me so that I may be refreshed. May I be found before you once I have put off my body, having no fault in the form of my soul. May my soul be received into your hands, blameless and spotless, as an offering before you.”

Would that we always follow our elder siblings in the faith! St. Macrina, pray for us.

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.