From the Hypsistarians to the Church
Before his conversion Gregory belonged to the Hypsistarians, a distinct sect that worshipped Hypsistos, the 'Most High' God. Its adherents rejected idols while revering fire and lamps, and observed elements of Jewish practice such as the Sabbath and dietary restrictions, but rejected circumcision. Evidence for the group concentrates in Asia Minor, particularly Cappadocia, Bithynia, and Pontus. Gregory the Elder is among the sect's most notable converts to Christianity: his son Gregory the Theologian later recalled in a eulogy that his father had been a Hypsistarian before entering the Church.
His wife, Saint Nonna, who came likewise from a wealthy family, labored to bring him to the faith, praying for him daily and combining reproaches, admonitions, attentions, and estrangements with her own fervor for piety until his heart softened. He converted around 325. Tradition relates that before his baptism Gregory experienced a vision in which he thought he was singing the psalm 'I was glad when they said to me, we will go into the house of the Lord,' and that at his baptism a light and glory flashed around him, which witnesses interpreted as a sign of his future priesthood.
Bishop of Nazianzus
Gregory was chosen bishop of Nazianzus in 328 or 329 and held the see until his death in 374, serving some forty-five years. The wealth of both his and Nonna's families allowed him to finance church construction in the region at his own expense; one notable church is described as having eight regular equilaterals with two stories of pillars and porticos.
His long episcopate was not without difficulty. Around 360 Gregory signed an Arian statement of faith, which provoked riots in Nazianzus; his son Gregory the Theologian resolved the conflict by demonstrating that his father's actual beliefs were Orthodox. Sources note that Gregory had at one earlier point briefly held an Arian understanding of the Trinity but quickly renounced it. His son served alongside him first as priest and then as coadjutor bishop before eventually becoming Patriarch of Constantinople.
Defense of the Church and Contributions
Gregory played a significant part in securing the election of Saint Basil the Great as Bishop of Caesarea in 370. When the episcopal succession there was contested and the imperial governor threatened to invalidate the canonical election, Gregory refused to yield, declaring that they had 'one Censor of all our actions, and one Emperor.' Despite his extreme age and infirmity he later traveled to Caesarea to take part in a canonical consecration.
His opposition to the emperor Julian the Apostate was firm: he prayed publicly against Julian and, in private, is said to have practiced prostration and tears for nearly a whole year. His son singled out as his distinguishing virtues an absence of malice, swift forgiveness, gentleness joined to energetic action, humility, and generosity.
Family
Gregory was married to Saint Nonna, whose prayers brought him into the Church. Their three children are all venerated as saints: Saint Gregory the Theologian, the elder son, who served as priest and coadjutor bishop under his father and later became Patriarch of Constantinople; Saint Gorgonia, the daughter, praised as a model Christian wife, who outlived her parents by only about a year; and Caesarius, the younger son, a physician who served the emperors Constantius II and Julian in Constantinople and died in 368.
Repose
Gregory the Elder died in 374 at approximately one hundred years of age. Tradition recounts that during an earlier Holy Week he had suffered a severe fever but arose from his sickbed during the liturgy to participate in the mysteries before returning to bed and recovering, an event ascribed to divine intervention. His funeral oration was delivered by his son Saint Gregory the Theologian in the presence of Saint Nonna and Saint Basil the Great.
Miracles & Traditions
Traditional Accounts: The synaxarion accounts relate that before his baptism Gregory saw a vision in which he believed he was singing Psalm 122, and that a light shone about him at his baptism, taken as a sign of his coming priesthood. It is likewise related that he rose from a serious fever during the Paschal liturgy to serve at the altar and then recovered, an occurrence attributed to God.
