Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church
  • Home
  • Orthodox Christian Faith
    • What we believe
  • Parish
    • Our Patron Saint - Saint John
    • Our History >
      • Where we were and where we are...
      • "Remember your leaders..." (Hebrews 13:7)
      • What's in the name?
    • Administration
    • Atrium - Christian Faith formation (Sunday School)
    • Chapel
    • Become a member!
    • Parish Library
    • Service request form
    • Donate
    • AmazonSmile
  • News
    • Sermons & Articles
    • Pictures & Videos
    • Looking Ahead to Next Sunday (LANS)
    • Weekly e-Bulletin
    • Service Texts
    • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Friends & Neighbors
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Useful Links
    • Choose Life!
    • Online Christian Bookstores >
      • St Vladimir's Seminary Press
      • St Tikhon's Seminary Press
      • Holy Trinity Bookstore, Jordanville
      • Eighth Day Books
      • Hermitage of the Holy Cross Monastery, WV
      • Nevsky's Books
      • Fr Daniel Sysoev Bookstore
      • Издательство Московской Патриархии
      • Магазин Сретенского Монастыря, Москва
      • Православный Книжный Магазин

Saint Nonna the mother of Saint Gregory the Theologian

8/16/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Nonna, the mother of Saint Gregory the Theologian, was the daughter of Christians named Philotatos and Gorgonia, who raised her in Christian piety. She entered into marriage with Gregory of Arianzus, the rich landowner of an estate in the Arianzus and Nazianzos districts. The marriage was advantageous by earthly considerations, but grievous for the pious soul of Nonna. Her husband Gregory was a pagan, a follower of the sect of the Supremists, who venerated a supreme god and observed certain Jewish rituals, while at the same time they worshipped fire.

Saint Nonna prayed that her spouse would turn to the holy truth. Her son, Saint Gregory the Theologian, wrote about this, “She could not bear this, being half united to God, because he who was part of her remained apart from God. She wanted a spiritual union in addition to the bodily union. Day and night she turned to God with fasting and many tears, entreating Him to grant salvation to her husband.”

Through the prayers of Nonna, her husband Gregory had a vision in his sleep. “It seemed to my father,” writes Saint Gregory, “as though he was singing the following verse of David, ‘I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord’ (Psalm 122:1). He had never done this before, though his wife had often offered her supplications and prayers for it.”

The Psalm was strange to him, but along with its words, the desire also came to him to go to church. When she heard about this, Nonna told her husband that the vision would bring the greatest pleasure if it were fulfilled.

The elder Gregory went to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, where he made known his conversion to Christ. He was baptized, ordained presbyter, and then Bishop of Nazianzos devoting himself totally to the Church. At the same time as his consecration as bishop, his wife was made a deaconness. With the same zeal with which she had raised her children, she now occupied herself in performing works of charity.

“She knew,” says Saint Gregory the Theologian, “one thing to be truly noble: to be pious and to know from where we have come and where we are going; and that there is one innate and trusty wealth: to use one’s substance on God and on the poor, especially the impoverished kin.
“One woman may be distinguished for frugality, and another for piety, while she, difficult as it is to combine both qualities, excelled all others in both of them. In each she attained the height of perfection, and both were combined in her. She did not permit one duty to interfere with the other, but rather each supported the other.
“What time and place of prayer ever eluded her? She was drawn to this each day before anything else, and she had complete faith that her prayers would be answered. Although greatly moved by the sorrows of strangers, she never yielded to grief to the extent that she allowed any sound of woe to escape her lips before the Eucharist, or a tear to fall from her eye, or for any trace of mourning to remain on a Feast day, though she repeatedly endured many sorrows. She subjected every human thing to God.”

Her final years brought Saint Nonna many sorrows. In the year 368 her younger son Caesarios died, a young man of brilliant expectations; and in the following year, her daughter died. The brave old woman bore these losses submitting to the will of God.

In the year 370 Bishop Gregory, then already an old man, participated in the consecration of Saint Basil the Great as Bishop of Caesarea. Saint Nonna, who was somewhat younger than her husband, was also ready to enter into the next life, but through the prayers of her beloved son her time on earth was prolonged.

“My mother,” wrote her son, “was always strong and vigorous, and free from sickness all her life, but then she became ill. Because of much distress caused by her inability to eat, her life was in danger for many days, and no cure could be found. How then did God sustain her? He did not send down manna, as for Israel of old; He did not split open a rock, in order to provide water for the thirsty people; nor did He send food by ravens, as with Elias, nor did He feed her, as He once fed Daniel, who felt hunger in the pit. But how?
“It seemed to her that I, her favorite son (not even in dreams did she prefer anyone else), had appeared to her suddenly by night with a basket of the whitest bread. Then I blessed these loaves with the Sign of the Cross, as is my custom, and I gave her to eat, and with this her strength increased.”

Saint Nonna believed the vision was real. She became stronger, and more like her old self. Saint Gregory visited her early the next morning and, as usual, asked what sort of night she had, and if she required anything. "She replied, ‘My son, you have fed me and now you ask about my health. I am well.' At this moment her maids made signs to me that I should not contradict her, but to accept her words so that the actual truth should not distress her.”

Early in the year 374 the hundred-year-old Saint Gregory the Elder reposed. After this, Saint Nonna almost never emerged from the church. Soon after his death, she died at prayer in the temple.

Saint Nonna was a model wife and mother, a remarkable woman who devoted her life to God and the Church without neglecting her other responsibilities. Because of her spiritual, social, and domestic concerns, Saint Nonna would be a most fitting patron for Orthodox women’s organizations.
Source.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Father Aleksey - your friendly Singac priest

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2030
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinthians 1:10-18
    1 Corinthians 15:1-11
    1 Corinthians 16:13-24
    1 Corinthians 3:9-17
    1 Corinthians 4:9-16
    1 Corinthians 6:12-20
    1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2
    1 Corinthians 9:2-12
    1 Timothy 4:9-15
    2 Corinthians 11:21-12:9
    2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9
    2 Corinthians 1:21-2:4
    2 Corinthians 4:6-15
    2 Corinthians 6:1-10
    2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1
    2 Corinthians 9:6-11
    2 Timothy 3:10-15
    Acindynus
    Acts 11:19-26 And 29-30
    Acts 1:1-8
    Acts 16:16-34
    Acts 20:16-18; 28-36
    Acts 2:1-11
    Acts 5:12-20
    Acts 6:1-7
    Acts 9:32-42
    Adrian
    Aidan Of Lindisfarne
    Alban Of Britain
    Alexander Nevsky
    Alexander Of Comana
    All Saints
    Ambrose Of Milan
    Andrew The Commander
    Andrew The First-called Apostle
    Anempodistus
    Anna
    Anna The Prophetess
    Annunciation
    Anthony Of The Kiev Caves
    Anthony The Roman And Abbot Of Novgorod
    Aphthonius
    Archangel Gabriel
    Aristobulus Of The Seventy
    Bede
    Callinicus
    Charitina Of Amisus
    Chariton The Confessor
    Clement Pope Of Rome
    Colossians 1:12-18
    Colossians 3:4-11
    Conception Of Saint John
    Cosmas And Damian
    Cyril And Methodius
    David The King
    Demetrius
    Elijah
    Elpidephorus
    Ephesians 2:14-22
    Ephesians 2:4-10
    Ephesians 4:1-6
    Ephesians 4:7-13
    Ephesians 5:8-19
    Ephesians 6:10-17
    Ephraim The Syrian
    Ethelbert King Of Kent
    Euphemia
    Fathers Of The First Ecumenical Council
    Finding Of The Head Of Saint John The Baptist
    Forefathers
    Galatians 1:11-19
    Galatians 2:16-20
    Galatians 6:11-18
    Glyceria
    Habakkuk
    Haggai
    Haralambos Of Magnesia
    Hebrews 1:10-2:3
    Hebrews 11:24-12:2
    Hebrews 11:24-40
    Hebrews 11:33-12:2
    Hebrews 11:9-10; 17-23; 32-40
    Hebrews 2:11-18
    Hebrews 4:14-5:6
    Hebrews 6:13-20
    Hebrews 9:11-14
    Hermogenes Patriarch Of Moscow
    Hilarion The Great
    Innocent Of Moscow And America
    Ioannicius The Great
    Isidore Of Pelusium
    James Bishop Of Nisibis
    James The Brother Of The Lord
    Joachim
    Job The Long-suffering
    John 10:1-9
    John 1:1-17
    John 12:1-18
    John 1:43-51
    John 17:1-13
    John 20:19-31
    John 3:13-17
    John 4:5-42
    John 5:1-15
    John 7:37 52; 8:12
    John 7:37-52; 8:12
    John 9:1-38
    John Chrysostom
    John Of Novgorod
    John Of The Ladder
    John The Baptist
    Jonah Metropolitan Of Moscow
    Joseph The Betrothed
    Juliana Of Nicomedia
    Kevin Of Glendalough
    Laurence The Fool-For-Christ
    Leo The Great Pope Of Rome
    Leucis
    Luke 10:25-37
    Luke 12:16-21
    Luke 1:24-38
    Luke 13:10-17
    Luke 14:16-24
    Luke 15:11-32
    Luke 16:19-31
    Luke 17:12-19
    Luke 18:10-14
    Luke 18:18-27
    Luke 19:1-10
    Luke 5:1-11
    Luke 6:31-36
    Luke 7:11-16
    Luke 8:26-39
    Luke 8:41-56
    Luke 8:5-15
    Luke The Evangelist
    Lydia Of Philippi
    Mark 10:32-45
    Mark 15:43-16:8
    Mark 2:1-12
    Mark 8:34-9:1
    Mark 9:17-31
    Martin The Merciful
    Mary Magdalene
    Mary Of Egypt
    Matthew 10:32 33; 10:37 38; 19:27 30
    Matthew 10:32-33; 10:37-38; 19:27-30
    Matthew 1:1-25
    Matthew 14:14-22
    Matthew 14:22-34
    Matthew 15:21-28
    Matthew 16:13-19
    Matthew 17:14-23
    Matthew 18:23-35
    Matthew 19:16-26
    Matthew 2:13-23
    Matthew 21:33-42
    Matthew 22:1-14
    Matthew 22:35-46
    Matthew 25:31-46
    Matthew 3:13-17
    Matthew 4:12-17
    Matthew 4:18-23
    Matthew 6:14-21
    Matthew 6:22-33
    Matthew 8:28-9:1
    Matthew 8:5-13
    Matthew 9:1-8
    Matthew 9:27-35
    Matthew Apostle And Evangelist
    Maxim Sandovich
    Michael First Metropolitan Of Kiev
    Myron Of Cyzicus
    Myrrh-bearing Women
    Natalia
    Nectarios Kephalas
    Nonna
    North American Saints
    Olaf King Of Norway
    Palm Sunday
    Panteleimon
    Parasceva
    Paraskeva
    Paul And His Sister Juliana
    Pegasius
    Pentecost
    Peter & Paul
    Philippians 4:4-9
    Photini
    Pionius Hieromartyr Of Smyrna
    Procopius Of Caesarea
    Quadratus Apostle Of The Seventy
    Romans 10:1-10
    Romans 12:6-14
    Romans 13:11-14:4
    Romans 15:1-7
    Romans 2:10-16
    Romans 5:1-10
    Romans 6:18-23
    Simeon The God-Receiver
    Sisoes The Great
    Sunday Of Orthodoxy
    Svetlana
    Tabitha
    Tamara Queen Of Georgia
    Theodora The Empress
    Theodore Of Rostov And Suzdal
    Theodore Of Studion
    Theodosius Of The Kiev Caves
    Thomais Of Alexandria
    Thyrsus
    Tikhon Patriarch Of Moscow
    Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
    Vladimir Great Prince Of Rus

    Archives

    December 2030
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Picture

Jesus said to the crowds about John, “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”
(Luke 7:28)


Address

29 Weaver Street
​Little Falls, NJ 07424

Email

StJohn.Singac@gmail.com

Telephone

(973) 256-0314

Join our mailing list

* indicates required
Picture
Picture
Picture

Search our website

  • Home
  • Orthodox Christian Faith
    • What we believe
  • Parish
    • Our Patron Saint - Saint John
    • Our History >
      • Where we were and where we are...
      • "Remember your leaders..." (Hebrews 13:7)
      • What's in the name?
    • Administration
    • Atrium - Christian Faith formation (Sunday School)
    • Chapel
    • Become a member!
    • Parish Library
    • Service request form
    • Donate
    • AmazonSmile
  • News
    • Sermons & Articles
    • Pictures & Videos
    • Looking Ahead to Next Sunday (LANS)
    • Weekly e-Bulletin
    • Service Texts
    • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Friends & Neighbors
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Useful Links
    • Choose Life!
    • Online Christian Bookstores >
      • St Vladimir's Seminary Press
      • St Tikhon's Seminary Press
      • Holy Trinity Bookstore, Jordanville
      • Eighth Day Books
      • Hermitage of the Holy Cross Monastery, WV
      • Nevsky's Books
      • Fr Daniel Sysoev Bookstore
      • Издательство Московской Патриархии
      • Магазин Сретенского Монастыря, Москва
      • Православный Книжный Магазин