Every July 19th, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Macrina, Sister of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nisa and St. Peter of Sebaste. Versed in the Sacred Scriptures, she withdrew to lead a solitary life in the Monastery of Annesi, in northern Turkey.

Newsroom (19/07/2024 18:00, Gaudium Press) Born in Caesarea in 327, Macrina the Younger was the daughter of Emelia and Basil the Elder, and sister of Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, and Peter, Bishop of Sebaste.

Macrina was the eldest, the “little mother”, the protector, the tireless one, of whom St. Basil speaks with emotion about how she was a perfect educator.

Her mother was inspired by the Holy Scriptures to form her daughter, looking to the Wisdom of Solomon for guidance, while the Psalter was the young girl’s preceptor.

At the age of twelve, she was betrothed, but when her suitor died, she thought of nothing else but consecrating herself to the education of her brothers.

In 373, Emelia died. Her children, now grown up, came to visit the “Great Macrina” from time to time, as they used to call her in their distant childhood.

When Macrina was ill, close to the death that took her in 379, Gregory found her on a board, wearing a sackcloth. He took her affectionately and laid her on the bed, where the dying woman, recalling the past, began to thank God for all that he had graciously deigned to grant her:

“Lord, you have put an end to the fear of death. Through you, true life begins when the present life ends. We sleep for a while, then you will resurrect us with the sound of the trumpet.” Then: “You saved us from the curse and from sin, coming for our sins and our curse.”

Holding the iron Crucifix – which contained a relic of the Saviour’s Cross – which she had always carried with her, she died in peace and was buried near her father and mother.[1]

What did this “Great Macrina” do? Apparently nothing. She educated three children, who later became great Saints. And what else? She brought them up in her home, magnificently, praying and living a piously normal existence. In doing so, she sanctified herself, acquired heroic virtue and is in Heaven. The Church has canonized her[2].

[1] Cf. ROHRBACHER, René François. Lives of the Saints. Vol. XIII. São Paulo: Editora das Américas, 1959. p. 178-179.

[2] Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm