Macrina the Younger, Philosopher of God

Abstract

The holy woman known in Christian tradition as Saint Macrina the Younger (c. 327-79) was the descendant of resolutely Christian forbears, the first-born among some famous siblings, and the leader of a family outstanding for its contribution to Christian history, piety, and culture. Macrina's mother, Emmelia, came from Cappadocia, and her father, Basil the Elder, was a native of Neocaesarea, the capital of the Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus, just south of the Black Sea. Socially, her parents were of the landed aristocracy. Moreover, both sides of the family were known for an early and tested commitment to Christianity. According to the VSM 22.3, Emmelia's 'propator', that is, her 'forefather', died a martyr. Perhaps this was a grandfather who died under the Decian persecutions. It was with such a background in view that Gregory Nazianzen remarked of Emmelia in Epigram 162 that her 'stock was so great'. The Christian credentials on the other side were scarcely less significant. Basil the Elder's mother was no less than Macrina the Elder, later known as Saint. She and her husband endured much for their faith during the last savage persecution of Christians in the eastern Roman Empire under Maximin Daia (c. 306-13). We do not know the name of Macrina the Elder's husband, probably due to his early death. It was quite possibly Naucratius or Gregory, since these names appear among the grandsons after Basil.