Macrina was the grandmother of St. Basil the Great whom we met on January 2nd. Nothing is known of her early life. We do know that she was the daughter of wealthy parents and lived in the third century in Pontus, Asia Minor. Her son Basil, the elder and his wife Emilia are also saints and the parents of ten children, three of whom are saints. Basil, Macrina the Younger and Peter of Sebaste (January 9th).

Most of what we know of Macrina the Elder comes from the writings of her grandsons Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. She lived in the latter half of the third century and early part of the 4th. She and her husband were staunch Christians and endured a great deal of persecution because of their faith in Christ Jesus. At one period, probably the first decade of the 4th century, Macrina suffered in exile for seven years.

She must have passed on this faith to her son, Basil the elder, in a very impressionable way because as history shows us Basil and his wife lived very saintly lives and gave birth to ten children, three of whom, would later also become saints of the Church. Macrina's strength of character and faithfulness to the Christian way of life is shown to us not through biography, but by the example of her children and grandchildren.

Today we honor this rather obscure woman because, her goodness and holiness of life gave birth to that same goodness and holiness in her children and grandchildren. Would that we might have that same reputation in our own families.

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© 1998 The Monastery of Christ in the Desert