Today, on January 10th, the Orthodox Church commemorates St Gregory of Nyssa, the Father of Fathers. St Gregory is the patron of my home parish in Columbus, OH, the parish where I was received into the Church, so I have long felt a special affection for him. As a naive inquirer, I thought for some time that the epithet “Father of Fathers,” which I heard applied to him at church, was something my parish added because he was our patron; I imagined that other parishes must apply the same formula to their patrons, too. It took me a while to realize that, no, St Gregory was the Father of Fathers!
However, the feast day of our Father of Fathers, this great theologian, passes in the Orthodox world without much to-do. It’s not widely celebrated, except by those who have reason for a closer connection to the saint, as in the case of my parish’s patronal feast day. (I’ll note here in passing that my dear seminary friend, Fr Gregory, and I initially bonded over, among other things, our shared patron.) This isn’t surprising as the rubrics themselves don’t prescribe much for his commemoration; our received liturgical practice doesn’t treat him like a particularly major saint. In contrast, later this month, on January 30th, the feast of the Three Hierarchs—among whom are counted Gregory’s brother, Basil, and their friend, Gregory the Theologian—will be celebrated more more fully and widely. Continue reading
Loving the Word 