Saint Who?
Saints Who Were Poets
Saint Gregory Nazianzen
Bishop and Doctor of the Church († c. 389)Feast: January 2
Gregory Nazianzen grew up in a pious household; his father became a priest and then a bishop in an age when married men were often ordained. He received a thorough education, and could have been a lawyer or a teacher of rhetoric. However, he longed for a monastic way of life.
He joined his friend Basil’s monastery but was soon forced to return home. His aging father required help in his diocese, and had Gregory ordained. With Basil’s urging, he was later consecrated a bishop. After serving as Bishop of Constantinople, where he suffered great opposition, he retired to concentrate on his writing.
Gregory left us some 17,000 lines of verse. His poetry pulsates with all the emotions of a heart bruised by the world’s hardships and dedicated to Christ’s love. In “On his own verses,” he gives four reasons why he pens poetry: (1) to restrain his wordiness by observing meter; (2) for the youth and other readers who want to find joy in words; (3) to show that faithful Christians can be better than the non-faithful in this art; and (4) as a consolation for himself in his old age. His most important piece of advice in that poem is: “Get rid of every other text, but cling/ To God’s inspired books with all your might,/ Like sailors seeking harbor in a storm!”
Patient Father, through the prayers of Saint Gregory Nazianzen, show me how to bear life’s heavy
burdens with grace and goodwill.
