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Vita sanctae Macrinae

A LETTER OF GREGORY, BISHOP OF NYSSA, CONCERNING THE LIFE OF THE HOLY MACRINA

1 The form of the book, as far as its heading indicates, seems to be a letter, but its length extends beyond the limit of a letter into a lengthy treatise; but the subject, about which you bade me write, makes our apology, being greater than the measure of a letter. Surely you do not forget the meeting when, about to visit Jerusalem in fulfillment of a vow, in order to see the signs of the Lord's sojourn in the flesh in those places, I came upon you in the city of Antioch, and as all kinds of subjects were being discussed between us (for it was not likely that our meeting would be in silence, since your intelligence suggested many topics for conversation), as often happens in such cases, the conversation flowed on to the memory of a certain celebrated life. And a woman was the subject of the narrative—if indeed a woman; for I do not know if it is fitting to call her by her nature, she who was above nature. And our narrative did not have its credibility from the hearing of other narratives, but our account recounted accurately those things of which experience was the teacher, calling upon no one else’s hearing as a witness for anything; for the virgin who was mentioned was not a stranger to our family, so that there would be a need to learn the wonders concerning her through others, but from the same parents as us, having sprung forth like some first-fruit from her mother's womb. Since, therefore, you thought the history of good people brings some profit, so that such a life might not escape the notice of posterity, nor she who through philosophy raised herself to the highest limit of human virtue pass by unprofitably, being covered up by silence, I thought it good both to obey you and, as well as I am able, to relate the facts concerning her in a brief and simple narrative.

2 Macrina was the name of the virgin; and there was long ago a certain celebrated Macrina in our family, who had been our father's mother, who contended in the confessions for Christ in the time of the persecutions, after whom the child was named by her parents. But this was the public name, called by those who knew her; but another had been given to her in secret, which she was named from a certain vision before she came forth into the light through the pangs of childbirth. For our mother was also such in virtue as to be guided everywhere by the divine will, and especially embracing the pure and spotless conduct of life, so as not even to have chosen marriage willingly. But since she was an orphan from both parents, and she was in the full bloom of her physical beauty, and the fame of her comeliness drew many to seek her hand, there was a danger, if she were not willingly joined to someone, of suffering some undesired thing from violence, since those who were maddened by her beauty were prepared for abduction; for this reason, choosing a man known and attested for the gravity of his life, so as to acquire a guardian for her own life, she immediately became this child's mother in her first birth pangs. And when the time was at hand in which the labor of childbirth had to be relieved by birth, falling into a sleep she seemed to carry in her hand that which was still contained in her womb, and a certain one, appearing in a form and shape more magnificent than a man, to address the one being carried by the name of Thecla, that Thecla of whom there is much talk among the virgins. And having done this three times he departed from her sight and gave ease to her labor, so that at the same time she awoke from her sleep and saw the dream as a reality. That, then, was the hidden name. But it seems to me not so much for the

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Vita sanctae Macrinae

ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΒΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΟΣΙΑΣ ΜΑΚΡΙΝΗΣ

1 Τὸ μὲν εἶδος τοῦ βιβλίου ὅσον ἐν τῷ τῆς προγραφῆς τύπῳ ἐπιστολὴ εἶναι

δοκεῖ, τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ὑπὲρ τὸν ἐπιστο λιμαῖον ὅρον ἐστὶν εἰς συγγραφικὴν μακρηγορίαν παρα τεινόμενον· ἀλλ' ἀπολογεῖται ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἡ ὑπόθεσις, ἧς ἕνεκεν γράψαι διεκελεύσω, πλείων οὖσα ἢ κατ' ἐπιστολῆς συμμετρίαν. Πάντως δὲ οὐκ ἀμνημονεῖς τῆς συντυχίας, ὅτε κατ' εὐχὴν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπιφοιτᾶν μέλλων, ἐφ' ᾧ τε τὰ σημεῖα τῆς τοῦ κυρίου διὰ σαρκὸς ἐπιδημίας ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἰδεῖν, συνέδραμόν σοι κατὰ τὴν Ἀντιόχου πόλιν καὶ παντοίων ἀνακινουμένων ἡμῖν λόγων (οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν ἐν σιωπῇ τὴν συντυχίαν εἶναι, πολλὰς τῷ λόγῳ τὰς ἀφορμὰς τῆς σῆς συνέσεως ὑποβαλλούσης), οἷα δὴ φιλεῖ πολλάκις ἐν τούτοις γίνεσθαι, εἰς μνήμην βίου τινὸς εὐδοκίμου προῆλθε ῥέων ὁ λόγος. Γυνὴ δὲ ἦν ἡ τοῦ διη γήματος ἀφορμή, εἴπερ γυνή· οὐκ οἶδα γὰρ εἰ πρέπον ἐστὶν ἐκ τῆς φύσεως αὐτὴν ὀνομάζειν τὴν ἄνω γενομένην τῆς φύσεως. Τὸ δὲ διήγημα ἡμῖν οὐκ ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἑτέρων διηγημάτων τὸ πιστὸν εἶχεν, ἀλλ' ὧν ἡ πεῖρα διδάσκαλος ἦν, ταῦτα δι' ἀκριβείας ἐπεξῄει ὁ λόγος, εἰς οὐδὲν ἀκοὴν ἀλλοτρίαν ἐπιμαρτυρόμενος· οὐδὲ γὰρ ξένη τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν ἡ μνημονευθεῖσα παρθένος, ὡς ἀνάγκην εἶναι δι' ἑτέρων γινώσκειν τὰ κατ' ἐκείνην θαύματα, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ἡμῖν γονέων, ὥσπερ τις ἀπαρχὴ καρπῶν πρώτη τῆς μητρῴας νηδύος ἀναβλαστήσασα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐδοκίμασας φέρειν τι κέρδος τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἱστορίαν, ὡς ἂν μὴ λάθοι τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνον ὁ τοιοῦτος βίος μηδὲ ἀνω φελὴς παραδράμοι διὰ σιωπῆς συγκαλυφθεῖσα ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἀκρότατον τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀρετῆς ὅρον ἑαυτὴν διὰ φιλο σοφίας ἐπάρασα, καλῶς ἔχειν ᾠήθην σοί τε πεισθῆναι καὶ δι' ὀλίγων, ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, τὰ κατ' αὐτὴν ἱστορῆσαι ἐν ἀκατασκεύῳ τε καὶ ἁπλῷ διηγήματι.

2 Μακρίνα ἦν ὄνομα τῇ παρθένῳ, εὐδόκιμος δέ τις πάλαι κατὰ τὸ γένος ἦν ἡ Μακρίνα, μήτηρ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν γεγενημένη, ταῖς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ὁμολογίαις τῷ και ρῷ τῶν διωγμῶν ἐναθλήσασα, ᾗ ἐπωνομάσθη παρὰ τῶν γονέων ἡ παῖς. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἦν ἐν φανερῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ παρὰ τῶν γινωσκόντων ὀνομαζόμενον, ἕτερον δὲ κατὰ τὸ λεληθὸς αὐτῇ ἐπεκέκλητο, ὃ πρὶν παρελθεῖν διὰ τῶν ὠδίνων εἰς φῶς ἔκ τινος ἐπιφανείας ἐπωνομάσθη. Ἦν γὰρ δὴ τοιαύτη κατ' ἀρετὴν καὶ ἡ μήτηρ ὡς πανταχοῦ τῷ θείῳ βουλήματι χειραγωγεῖσθαι, διαφερόντως δὲ τὴν καθαράν τε καὶ ἀκηλί δωτον τοῦ βίου διαγωγὴν ἀσπασαμένη, ὡς μηδὲ τὸν γάμον ἑκουσίως ἑλέσθαι. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ὀρφανὴ μὲν ἐξ ἀμφοτέ ρων ἦν, ὑπερήνθει δὲ τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ σώματος καὶ πολλοὺς ἡ φήμη τῆς εὐμορφίας πρὸς τὴν μνηστείαν συνήγειρε, κίνδυνος δὲ ἦν, εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὸ ἑκούσιόν τινι συναρ μοσθείη, παθεῖν τι τῶν ἀβουλήτων ἐξ ἐπηρείας, πρὸς ἁρπαγὰς παρεσκευασμένων τῶν ἐπιμεμηνότων τῷ κάλλει· διὰ τοῦτο ἑλομένη τὸν ἐπὶ σεμνότητι βίου γνωριζόμενόν τε καὶ μαρτυρούμενον, ὥστε φύλακα κτήσασθαι τῆς ἰδίας ζωῆς, εὐθὺς ἐν ταῖς πρώταις ὠδῖσι ταύτης γίνεται μήτηρ. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ παρῆν ὁ καιρός, καθ' ὃν ἔδει λυθῆναι τὴν ὠδῖνα τῷ τόκῳ, εἰς ὕπνον καταπεσοῦσα φέρειν ἐδόκει διὰ χειρὸς τὸ ἔτι ὑπὸ τῶν σπλάγχνων περιεχόμενον καί τινα ἐν εἴδει καὶ σχήματι μεγαλοπρεπεστέρῳ ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐπι φανέντα προσειπεῖν τὴν βασταζομένην ἐκ τοῦ ὀνόματος Θέκλης, ἐκείνης Θέκλης, ἧς πολὺς ἐν ταῖς παρθένοις ὁ λόγος. Ποιήσαντα δὲ τοῦτο εἰς τρὶς μεταστῆναι τῶν ὄψεων καὶ δοῦναι τῇ ὠδῖνι τὴν εὐκολίαν, ὡς ὁμοῦ τε τοῦ ὕπνου αὐτὴν διαναστῆναι καὶ τὸ ἐνύπνιον ὕπαρ ἰδεῖν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ὄνομα τὸ κεκρυμμένον ἐκεῖνο ἦν. ∆οκεῖ δέ μοι μὴ τοσοῦτον πρὸς τὴν