Gregory of Nazianzus		 May 9
Bishop of Constantinople
Teacher of the Faith
Gregory of Nazianzus would have preferred to live a simple ascetic life, but found himself pressed into public office, where he did not always cope very well. He was born about 329 in Nazianzus in Cappadocia, where his father was bishop. He proved to be a brilliant student at Alexandria and then Athens, where he met Basil (later bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia). Gregory was intense and sensitive, with a love of poetry, art and culture, and he developed an outstanding oratorical brilliance. After Athens, Gregory sought a life of devotion and philosophy in the new monastic style that combined the ascetic ideal of the age and the traditional philosophical leisure to contemplate eternal truths.
Under family pressure Gregory reluctantly accepted ordination as a presbyter. By this time his friend Basil was bishop of Caesarea and deeply entangled in the defence of the Nicene doctrine of Christ’s full divinity, in the face of an emperor determined to unify the empire under the Arian banner of a qualified divinity. When the emperor sought to curtail Basil’s influence by dividing his province, Basil ordained Gregory as bishop of Sasima near Nazianzus in 372.
Unable to face the public pressure of the task, Gregory fled, assisted his father for a while, and then, after his parents were both dead, moved to Seleucia to live the solitary life he craved. But his brilliance kept him in the public eye as a champion of the Nicene theology. In 378 the new emperor, Theodosius, a westerner and sympathetic to the Nicene theology, took control of the whole empire. The Nicene party now pressed Gregory to go to Constantinople to further the Nicene cause. There Gregory delivered a series of brilliant lectures on Nicene theology, and the small Nicene congregation grew. With the backing of Theodosius, Gregory was installed as bishop of Constantinople in 381, and was present at the council there that cemented the Nicene victory. 
Faced with the political pressure of ecclesiastical rows in Antioch that might become his concern as patriarch of Constantinople, Gregory resigned. He retreated to an estate near Nazianzus to find the quiet life for which he longed. He died there in 389.
For Liturgical Use
Gregory of Nazianzus in Cappadocia was born about 329. Brilliant and cultured, he longed to spend his days in prayer and philosophical reflection. His ability in defending the Nicene doctrine of Christ’s full divinity led others to expect political leadership which he could not give. Made bishop of Constantinople in 381, Gregory wilted under the political pressures of the office and resigned within the year, seeking solitude near Nazianzus, where he died in 389.
Sentence
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and their tongue speaks of that which is right.	
				Psalm 37:30
Collects
Gracious God,
you inspired your servant Gregory of Nazianzus
to witness to the truth of the gospel;
grant that we may continue steadfast 
in our confession of the faith 
and constant in our worship of you, 
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

God in Trinity,
we remember with sympathy Gregory of Nazianzus, 
theologian and orator,
who, though he did not want to be a bishop,
helped secure the orthodox faith;
help us deal gently
with those who dislike their vocation.
Psalms 	27:9-17	119:89-96
Readings
Wisdom 7:7-15		Understanding and wisdom
Jude 17-23		Perseverance in faith
John 17:6,18-24		The unity of the generations
Post Communion Sentence
Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”	 	John 8:31,32