Saint of the Day: St. Macrina the Younger

Nun (ca. 330-379)

Her life

+ Macrina was born in Caesarea, Cappadocia (in modern-day Turkey) and was the daughter of Saint Basil “the Elder” and Saint Emmilia; her grandmother was the celebrated Saint Macrina “the Elder.” Her younger brothers were Saints Basil “the Great,” Saint Gregory of Nyssa, and Saint Peter of Sebaste, and acclaimed jurist Nacuratius. 

+ Although her father had arranged a marriage for her, Macrina refused to marry, seeing Jesus Christ as her bridegroom; she devoted her self to a life of prayer and service.   

+ Macrina had a profound influence on the writings of her brothers, so much so that her brother Gregory later wrote a “life” of his elder sister, presenting her as an ideal of sanctity who dedicated her life to the study of Scripture and other sacred writings.

+ Saint Macrina died on July 19, 379, in her family home, which she had turned into a monastery. Her brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa composed his “Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection” to commemorate his beloved sister. In this text, even as she was dying, Macrina continued to live a life of sanctity. 

+ Honored as a saint immediately after her death—and celebrated in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, as well as in the Anglican and Lutheran Communions—she has long been held to be a standard of virtue for Christian women. 

For prayer and reflection

“My whole being was stirred to seek [Wisdom];
therefore I have made her my prize possession.
The Lord has rewarded me with lips,
with a tongue for praising him.
Come aside to me, you untutored,
and take up lodging in the house of instruction.”—Sirach 51:21-23

Prayer

Hear us, God our Savior, that, as we rejoice in commemorating the Virgin blessed Macrina, we may be instructed by her loving devotion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Virgins)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.