Macrina the Younger

Macrina the Younger was the eldest child of a remarkable Cappadocian Christian family — the sister of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa — and, according to Gregory, the one who shaped them all toward their monastic and theological vocations. When her fiancé died, she refused to remarry and instead converted the family estate into a monastic community. Gregory's Life of Macrina and his dialogue On the Soul and the Resurrection (modeled on Plato's Phaedo, with Macrina in the role of Socrates) present her as a philosopher and theologian of the first rank.

Traditionally, Gregory records that when Macrina's body was prepared for burial, a scar was discovered on her breast — the mark of a tumor healed by prayer alone. She had refused to see a physician, considering it 'worse than the disease to uncover her body to a stranger's eyes.' Gregory presents this as evidence of her faith and ascetic commitment.

Macrina was born around 327 in Cappadocia into an extraordinary family. Her grandmother Macrina the Elder was a disciple of Gregory Thaumaturgus; her parents Basil the Elder and Emmelia were both devout Christians; her siblings included Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa.

Betrothed as a young woman, Macrina's fiancé died before the marriage. She refused all subsequent proposals and declared that she was still betrothed — to Christ, through her fiancé's participation in the resurrection. This remarkable theological argument — that Christian engagement was binding beyond death in hope of the resurrection — was characteristic of her mind.

When her father died, Macrina persuaded her mother Emmelia to convert the family estate at Annisa into a monastic community. They freed their slaves (who joined as equals), renounced their wealth, and established a life of prayer, manual labor, and care for the poor. Macrina's influence on her brothers was decisive — Gregory credits her with converting Basil from academic ambition to the monastic vocation that made him one of the great Fathers.

Gregory's dialogue On the Soul and the Resurrection records a conversation with Macrina on her deathbed. She argues — with philosophical rigor and scriptural depth — for the resurrection of the body, the purification of the soul after death, and the ultimate restoration of all things. Gregory presents her as his teacher, not merely his sister.

• Monastic
• Virgin
• Doctor