Sainte
Macrine l'Ancienne
Mère de saint Basile
l'Ancien (+ 340)
Nous avons déjà entendu
parler de cette extraordinaire famille. Sainte Macrine était la mère de saint
Basile l'Ancien, grande-mère de quatre saints : saint
Basile le Grand, saint
Grégoire de Nysse, saint
Pierre de Sébaste, et sainte
Macrine la jeune. Elle avait reçu une solide éducation chrétienne et
la transmit à sa famille, selon les mots de saint Basile le Grand: "Elle
façonna nos âmes par une piété fondée sur la saine doctrine." Pendant la
persécution de Dioclétien, elle dut s'exiler pendant sept ans sur les bords de
la Mer Noire.
À
Néocésarée dans le Pont, vers 340, sainte Macrine. Matrone, aïeule de saint
Basile, elle se retira dans la forêt avec son mari à l’époque des persécutions,
pour se maintenir dans la foi du Christ, et façonna l’âme de son petit fils par
une piété basée sur la saine doctrine.
Martyrologe
romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/5163/Sainte-Macrine-l-Ancienne.html
Sainte
Macrine l’Ancienne (morte vers 340)
Cette sainte fut la mère
d’un saint (Basile l’Ancien) et la grand-mère de quatre autres saints (Basile
le Grand, Grégoire de Nysse, Pierre de Sébaste et Macrine la jeune)!
©Xavier Lecoeur
SOURCE : http://www.prionseneglise.fr/Les-textes-du-jour/Saint-du-jour/Ste-Macrine-l-Ancienne-morte-vers-340
Sainte Macrine
l'Ancienne, fêtée le 14 janvier
Sainte Macrine l’Ancienne (270-340)
fut à la tête d’une étonnante famille de saints :
- son fils saint Basile
l’Ancien, évêque de Césarée, et sa bru sainte Emmélie ;
- ses petits-enfants
sainte Macrine la Jeune, saint Basile le Grand, évêque de Césarée (sacré par
son propre père), saint Grégoire, évêque de Nysse, époux de sainte
Théosébie, et saint Pierre, évêque de Sébaste.
Née à Néocésarée, elle
fut nourri des enseignements du grand évangélisateur et premier évêque de ce
lieu qui avaient survécu à son martyre et qu’elle transmit à son tour. Saint
Basile en a témoigné : « Elle façonna nos âmes d’enfant par une piété
fondée sur la saine doctrine » - c’est-à-dire l’orthodoxie face aux
hérésies qui foisonnaient alors.
SOURCE : http://www.religion-orthodoxe.eu/article-sainte-macrine-l-ancienne-fetee-le-14-janvier-64957987.html
St.
Macrina the Elder
Our knowledge of
the life of the elder Macrina is derived mainly from the testimony of the great
Cappadocian Fathers
of the Church, her grandchildren: Basil (Ep. 204:7; 223:3), Gregory
of Nyssa ("Vita Macrinae Junioris"), and the panegyric
of St.
Gregory of Nazianzus on St.
Basil (Gregory
of Nazianzus, Oratio 43).
She was the mother of the elder Basil, the father of Basil, Gregory, and other children whose names are known to us, including Macrina the Younger. Her home was at Neocæsarea in Pontus. In her childhood she was acquainted with St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, first bishop of her native town. As this venerable doctor, who had won Neocæsarea almost completely for Christianity, died between 270 and 275, St. Macrina must have been born before 270. During the Diocletian persecution she fled from her native town with her husband, of whose name we are ignorant, and had to endure many privations. She was thus a confessor of the Faith during the last violent storm that burst over the early Church. On the intellectual and religious training of St. Basil and his elder brothers and sisters, she exercised a great influence, implanting in their minds those seeds of piety and that ardent desire for Christisn perfection which were later to attain so glorious a growth. As St. Basil was probably born in 331, St. Macrina must have died early in the fourth decade of the fourth century. Her feast is celebrated on 14 January.
Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Macrina the Elder." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910. 13
Jan. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09508b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas. Dedicated to
Sylvia Genereux.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09508b.htm
Saint
Macrina the Elder: Another patron saint for grandmothers
“A house needs a grandma
in it.” —Louisa May Alcott
Saint Macrina the Elder
One of the lesser-known
saints whose feast is observed today is Saint Macrina the Elder (ca. 270 to
340), the grandmother of siblings Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory of
Nyssa, Saint Peter of Sebaste, and Saint Macrina the Younger.
Born during the late
third century persecutions of the Church, Macrina, as a child, knew Saint
Gregory Thaumaturgus (also known as Gregory the Wonderworker), the first bishop
of Neocaesarea who is credited with bringing the Faith there. She later fled
the area with her husband during the persecutions by Diocletian.
“Verbum sonat;
exemplum tonat.” (Words make a noise, but example thunders.) ~ Latin Maxim
It is said that she was a
strong influence in the lives of her grandchildren and raised them in the
Christian faith. She passed along a love for Christ and the Church, being
faithful in prayer and worship, and ultimately planted the seeds for a lifetime
of devotion. Imagine being the grandmother of four saints!!
Macrina was strongly
influenced by the writings of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus (Gregory the
Wonderworker), and passed along the passion and zeal she learned from him to
her family. Later, Saint Basil, her youngest grandchild, praised her for all
the good she had done for him and his siblings. He expressed his gratitude for
teaching him to love Christ in his writings.
The
Role of Grandparents :
Reading about a saintly
grandmother allows us time to reflect on those who pass the faith and their
love of God and His Church down to their children and grandchildren. Our Church
has thrived through the ages due to the grandparents and parents who teach and
challenge, acting as role models of holiness and living examples of the Gospel
message…
When asked to share about
those who model the Faith in their lives, so often my high school students will
speak about the influence of their grandparents. It is particularly important
to the youth today that their grandparents don’t preach at them, but rather
offer witness by how they live their own lives. This modeling of the love of
God and the accompanying peace and joy which their faith gives them makes
grandparents tremendous assets in the passing on the Circle of Faith.
With another new
grandbaby in my family, this theme promises to be repeated in future blog
posts!!
Pope
Benedict XVI's Prayer for Grandparents
Lord
Jesus, you were born of the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Saints Joachim and
Anne. Look with love on grandparents the world over. Protect them! They are a
source of enrichment for families, for the Church and for all of society.
Support them! As they grow older, may they continue to be for their families
strong pillars of Gospel faith, guardian of noble domestic ideals, living
treasuries of sound religious traditions. Make them teachers of wisdom and courage,
that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human
and spiritual experience.
Lord
Jesus, help families and society to value the presence and roles of
grandparents. May they never be ignored or excluded, but always encounter
respect and love. Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed in all the
years of life which you give them. Mary, Mother of all the living, keep
grandparents constantly in your care, accompany them on their earthly
pilgrimage, and by your prayers, grant that all families may one day be
reunited in our heavenly homeland, where you await all humanity for the great
embrace of life without end.
Amen!!
The exact date of Macrina the Elder's birth is not known but
since she studied under Gregory Thaumaturgos it must have been before 270.C.
She was known for her
learning and good counsel. Since she and her family were Christians, both she
and her husband suffered persecutions during the reigns of Galerius and
Diocletian. They fled their estate at Neocasearea in Pontus and endured many
privations during the persecution of Diocletian.
She is the mother of the
elder Basil who was the father of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Saint
Peter of Sebaste and Saint Macrina the Younger.
Basil, whose works like
those of his brother, Gregory are published in the complete works of the
Father's of the Early Church says:
"I am speaking of
the illustrious Macrina, by whom we were taught the words of the most blessed
Gregory [Thaumaturgos], which, having preserved until her time by uninterrupted
tradition, she also guarded, and she formed and molded me, still a child, in
doctrines of piety." [Source: St. Basil. Letters]
. In the Christian church
she is the patroness of widow and an intercessor against poverty. Her feast day
in the Christian calendar is January 14.
SOURCE : http://www.women-philosophers.com/Macrina-the-Elder.html
Macrina the Elder, Widow (RM)
Died at Neocaesarea, c. 340. Saint Macrina was mother to Saint Basil the Elder
and grandmother of Saint Basil, Saint Macrina the Younger, Saint Gregory of
Nyssa, and Saint Peter of Sebastea. During her youth her spiritual director was
Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus.
As if this isn't enough to qualify anyone to be a saint, Macrina was known for her great sense of justice and the faith with which she and her husband endured their sufferings during the persecutions under Galerius. During the persecution of Diocletian she and her husband were forced to remain in hiding in Pontus on the shores of the Black Sea for six or more years. They had much to suffer--hunger, deprivation, loss of property--then and under later persecutions. Nevertheless, they succeeded in rearing up one of the most saintly families in Cappadocia and, perhaps, in Christendom (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer). In art, Saint Macrina is portrayed as a recluse with two stags near her or with two hinds (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0114.shtml
St. Macrina the Elder: Patron of Widows
The
saint of the day for January 14th is St. Macrina the Elder, a learned woman
gifted with wisdom and counsel. Our knowledge of her life is limited and comes
mainly from the testimony of the great Cappadocian fathers of the Church as
well as from her grandchildren and the panegyric of St. Gregory of
Nazianzus and St. Basil. We do know that Macrina was widowed and is the patron
of widows and an intercessor for poor people.
This lady was the grandmother of saints, the most notable being the brothers
Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. It was Macrina and her husband who
founded the faith of the family and passed it on as a splendid treasure to her
children and grandchildren. That faith was born of suffering and persecution.
St. Macrina the elder was a native of Cappadocia, in what is now eastern
Turkey. It was here that the great apostle of Cappadocia, St. Gregory the
Wonderworker, established the faith around the year 250. When he arrived in the
territory, it was said, there were only seventeen Christians in the town of
Neo-Caesarea; when he died in 268, there were only seventeen pagans.
Macrina was born about the time of Gregory's death, and it was the faith of
this ardent apostle that became the way of life for her family. Early in the
next century, during the persecution of the Emperor Galerius, Macrina and her
husband were forced to leave their home and to live in the wooded hills of
Pontus for seven years, during which they suffered much. They were often
without food. Later, during another persecution, their property was seized by
agents of the emperor, and they lived in almost total destitution. When the
persecution ended, they were honored as confessors of the faith, a much revered
title among the Christians of that time.
It was at his grandmother's knee that Basil received his first instructions in
the Christian faith, and it was from her that he and his family were nourished
in that Christian discipline that made them saints. Macrina was known to have
treasured and read the writings of Gregory the Wonderworker, and it was the
fire and zeal of his writings that was passed on to Basil and his brother.
The exact date of Macrina's death is not known. She is revered as a saint in
the calendars of both the Eastern and Western Churches.
~ Excerpted, in part, from The One Year Book of Saints" by Rev. Clifford
Stevens published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday
Visitor, Inc., Huntington, IN 46750.
Quote:
"I am speaking of the illustrious Macrina, by whom we were taught the
words of the most blessed Gregory [Thaumaturgos], which, having preserved until
her time by uninterrupted tradition, she also guarded, and she formed and
molded me, still a child, in doctrines of piety."
~ Saint Basil
SOURCE : https://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2016/01/st-macrina-elder-patron-of-widows.html
Santa Macrina
l'Anziana
m.
340 c.
Gregorio di Nissa, all'inizio della Vita di sua sorella, Macrina la Giovane, spiega che questo nome le era stato dato in ricordo della loro nonna paterna: "Macrinae virgini nomen erat, sic a parentibus appellatae, quod olim insignis quaedam in nostra familia Macrina fuerat, patris nostri videlicet mater, quae tempore persecutionum pro Christo pugnaverat".
Gregorio di Nazianzo, nella sua orazione funebre per Basilio di Cesarea, fratello di Gregorio di Nissa, fa allusione alla persecuzione di Massimino che aveva costretto gli avi di Basilio a rifugiarsi sulle montagne presso il Ponto Eusino per un periodo di circa sette anni, ed essi sopportarono i rigori delle stagioni con appena di che mangiare.
Dallo stesso Basilio sappiamo che sua nonna Macrina, fedele discepola di s. Gregorio il Taumaturgo, vescovo di Neocesarea nel Ponto Eusino, ebbe su di lui una grande influenza negli anni giovanili e che fu la sua principale educatrice (usa il termine nutrix) sul piano spirituale.
Questo è quasi tutto quello che si conosce di Macrina. Non sembra che sia mai stata onorata di un culto particolare, contrariamente a un buon numero dei suoi discendenti. I sinassari bizantini, ad ogni modo, non ne fanno menzione. C. Baronio, pur non citando per lei alcuna fonte agiografica o eortologica, l'ha introdotta nel Martirologio Romano alla data evidentemente arbitraria del 14 gennaio.
Autore: Joseph-Marie Sauget
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/37625
Den
hellige Macrina den eldre (~260-~340)
Minnedag: 14.
januar
Den hellige Macrina ble
født en gang før 260 i Lilleasia. Det vi vet om henne, er hovedsakelig hentet
fra det vitnesbyrd som er gitt av hennes to hellige sønnesønner Basilios den Store og Gregor av Nyssa,1 samt
den lovtalen som Basilios' hellige venn Gregor av Nazianz holdt
for ham.2
Macrina ble i sin ungdom
omvendt av den hellige Gregor Thaumaturgos (Undergjøreren)
(ca 213-ca 270), den best kjente av kirkefaderens Origenes'
studenter og første biskop av Neocaesarea i Pontos, som han vant nesten
fullstendig for kristendommen. Det ble sagt at da han kom til området, var det
bare sytten kristne i byen Neocaesarea, men da han døde, var det bare sytten
hedninger der. Macrina husket godt hans dyktighet i å legge ut den kristne tro
og fortalte det videre til sine barn og barnebarn, og det var nettopp hennes
sønnesønner Basilios og Gregor som et århundre senere skrev ned de utrolige
miraklene som ble tilskrevet ham. Han døde mellom 270 og 275, derfor vet vi at
Macrina må være født før 260.
Macrina og hennes mann,
som vi ikke kjenner navnet til, bodde i Neocaesarea (i dag Niksar i
Nord-Tyrkia). I forfølgelsene under keiserne Diokletian (284-305) og Galerius
(305-11) var de nødt til å leve i skjul i syv år eller mer (ca 303-10) i et
gjemmested i skogene i Pontos ved Svartehavet, og de måtte også senere lide mye
under keiser Licinius (307-24). Da ble alt de eide beslaglagt av keiserens menn
og de levde på sultegrensen. Forfølgelsene var spesielt sterke i Pontos og
Kappadokia, hvor torturistene fant glede i å stikke ut sitt offers høyre øye
eller å brennmerke deres høyre fot med et rødglødende jern, en praksis som de
ironisk beskrev som human behandling. Gregor av Nazianz forteller at de ville
dyrene kom frem og lot seg bli drept for å gi Macrina og hennes mann mat. Da
forfølgelsene var over, fikk Macrina og hennes mann betegnelsen «bekjennere for
troen», som var en av de fremste hederstitlene i den kristne menigheten.
Macrina var mor til den
hellige Basilios
den Eldre. Hans fødeår oppgis til rundt 270, men det virker usannsynlig
tidlig, både på grunn av morens alder og det faktum at han giftet seg i 315 med
den femtenårige Emmelia. Mest kjent er Macrina som stammor for mange helgener,
nemlig barna til sønnen Basilios den eldre og
hans hustru Emmelia:
først og fremst den hellige Basilios den Store (ca
330-79), hans eldre søster Macrina den Yngre (ca
327-379) og to yngre brødre, Gregor av Nyssa (ca
335-ca 395) og Peter av Sebasteia (ca
340-392). I tillegg æres hans søster Theosebia (d.
385), som var diakonisse, som salig av den ortodokse kirke (mange kilder mener
imidlertid at Theosebia var Gregor av Nyssas hustru). En annen bror, Naukratios
(ca 331-ca 358), var vakker, sporty og ustadig og utmerket seg som en både lærd
og aktiv eremitt. Han støttet de fattige ved å dra på fiskeekspedisjoner, men
døde brått og tragisk i en jaktulykke som 27-åring.
Macrina bidro vesentlig
til de eldste barnebarnas religiøse oppdragelse, noe Basilios den Store
forteller om i sine brev. Han kaller henne sin viktigste oppdrager på det
åndelige plan og bruker betegnelsen nutrix. Han gir henne æren for at han
holdt seg på den ortodokse sti hele livet.
Macrina overlevde sin
mann, men det er usikkert nøyaktig når hun døde. Tradisjonelt skjedde det rundt
340 i Neocaesarea, og det stemmer bra med at hun oppdro Basilios, som ble født
rundt 330. Hennes minnedag er 14. januar, som åpenbart er en vilkårig dato som
ble valgt av den ærverdige kardinal Cesare Baronius (1538-1607),
lærd oratorianer og kirkehistoriker, da han satte hennes navn inn i
Martyrologium Romanum da han reviderte det på slutten av 1500-tallet. I kunsten
avbildes Macrina som eneboer med to hjorter eller to hinder.
1 Basilios
den Store, Epistulae 204:7; 223:3; Gregor av Nyssa, Vita
Macrinae Junioris
2 Gregor
av Nazianz, Oratio 43
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Butler (I), Benedictines, Delaney,
Bunson, Gorys, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho, santiebeati.it,
en.wikipedia.org, ewtn.com - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 1999-08-10 21:34 - Sist oppdatert: 2009-01-19 23:44
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/macri_de
Macrina
van Cesarea (ook van Neo-Cesarea, de Oudere of Senior),
Cappadocië; moeder; † ca 340.
Feest 14 januari &
30 mei.
Zij was de moeder van de heilige Basilius Senior, die gehuwd was met Emmelia (beiden † ca 370; feest 30 mei). Ook hun kinderen worden als heiligen vereerd: Basilius de Grote (379; feest 2 januari), Gregorius van Nyssa († ca 395; feest 9 maart), Petrus van Sebaste († ca 391; feest 9 januari) en Macrina de Jongere († 379; feest 19 juni. De oude Macrina was dus van vaders zijde de oma van deze vier. Zelf was zij in haar jonge jaren nog leerling geweest van Gregorius de Wonderdoener († 270; feest 17 november).
Tijdens de christenvervolgingen onder keizer Diocletianus (286-305) zocht zij
tezamen met haar man een goed heenkomen in Pontus aan de oevers van de Zwarte
Zee. Hun goederen werden door de staat geconfisqueerd en zelf hadden ze in hun
verbanningsoord gebrek aan alles; ze leden honger en moesten allerlei
ontberingen doorstaan. En dat, terwijl ze het zo rijk en welvarend gewend
geweest waren. Zeven jaren moesten ze op hun onderduikadres blijven.
Uiteindelijk konden zij naar huis terug, maar hadden vervolgens toch weer veel
te lijden van de christenvervolgingen onder keizer Licinius (311-323). Pas toen
keizer Constantijn († 337; feest 21 mei) ook in het oosten aan de macht was
gekomen, keerde het tij.
Ondanks - of misschien wel juist door? - al die moeilijkheden en kommervolle
omstandigheden zag de oude Macrina kans leiding te geven aan een van de
heiligste families uit de geschiedenis van de christenheid.
[101a; 102; 115a; 122; 500; Dries van den Akker s.j./2007.12.23]
© A. van den Akker
s.j.
SOURCE : http://heiligen-3s.nl/heiligen/01/14/01-14-0340-macrina.php
