Background
Macrina was born at Caesarea, Cappadocia. Her father arranged for her to marry but her fiance died before the wedding.
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Makryna Younger
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Her younger brother, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, wrote about her life focusing heavily on her virginity and asceticism. After having been betrothed to her fiance, Macrina did not believe it was appropriate to marry another man, but saw Christ as her eternal bridegroom. Instead, she devoted herself to her religion, becoming a nun.
Her brother Gregory of Nyssa wrote a work entitled Life of Macrina in which he describes her sanctity throughout her life.
Gregory presents her as one who consciously rejected all Classical education, choosing instead devoted study of Scripture and other sacred writings. Gregory of Nyssa composed a "Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection" (peri psyches kai anastaseos), entitled ta Makrinia (Procter and Gamble XLVI, 12 sq), to commemorate Macrina, in which Gregory purports to describe the conversation he had with Macrina on her deathbed, in a literary form modelled on Plato"s Phaedo.
Even on her deathbed, Macrina continued to live a life of sanctity, as she refused a bed, and instead chose to lie on the ground. Her feast day is the 19 July.
He believed that virginity reflected the “radiant purity of God.”
Universalists, including Hosea Ballou and J. West. Hanson, claim Macrina as a Universalist in her teachings, citing works which they believe demonstrate Macrina"s belief that the wicked would all eventually confess Christ.
Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina, London, 2012. limovia.net.
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Born
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Died
380 (aged 56) -
Religion
Christian Church