Gregory of Nazianzen

GREGORY of Nazianzen. b. Nazianzen, ca. 329; d. Nazianzen, 25 January 389. His father was bishop of Nazianzen, and Gregory was born on the family estate. He studied at Caesarea, Alexandria, and Athens, where he studied rhetoric in the 350s. He became a monk, but returned home, where he was ordained by his father in 362. For the next decade, he assisted his father. In 372 a new administrative division of Cappadocia led to the establishment of a new see at Sasima. Against his will, Gregory’s friend Basdil persuaded him to be consecrated as bishop, but he never took possession of the see, remaining at Nazianzen. After the death of his father, Gregory withdrew to a monastery at Seleucia,...