BASIL AND EMMELIA, Saints. - Parents of St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa; B., the son of a wealthy and Christian family of Pontus, was a lawyer and lived in Caesarea of Cappadocia, where it seems he also held a chair of rhetoric. St. Gregory of Nazianzus speaks of him as a fervent Christian, a passionate cultivator of letters, and calls him "the teacher of virtue in Pontus" (Oratio XLIII, 9, 11). E., his wife, was a woman of great virtue and beauty. Both were generous in helping the poor. They had 11 children, among whom, besides the two already mentioned, particular mention deserves to be made of: Peter, bishop of Sebaste, and Macrina, who later embraced the religious state together with her mother. The year of their death is not known. Their name was introduced into the Roman Martyrology by Baronius, under 30 May. It seems that the name of E. should be read in the Hieronymian Martyrology under 23 May.

The Italo-Greek monks celebrate the feast of all the relatives of St. Basil on 30 May.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: S. Gregorio Nazianzeno, Oratio XLIII. In laudem Basilio Magni: PG 36, 503 ff.; S. Gregorio Nisseno, Vita 1. Macrinae Virginis: PG 45, 962 ff.; Martyr. Hieronymianum, pp. 268-69; Martyr. Romanum, p. 216; Acta SS. Maii, VII, Antwerp 1688, pp. 242-46; N. Nilles, Kalendarium Manuale utrinque eccl. Orient. et Occid., I, 2nd ed., Innsbruck 1896, pp. 48, 167-68.

Agostino Amore

@incollection{ec2_basilio_e_emmelia_santi, author = {Amore, Agostino}, title = {Basilio e Emmelia, santi}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {981}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/basilio-e-emmelia-santi} }

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Basil and Emmelia, Saints

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