Our Church commemorates today Saint Gregory the Wonderworker of Neocaesarea and Venerable Lazarus the iconographer of Constantinople.
Saint Gregory was born in Neocaesarea of Pontus, around AD 210 to pagan parents who held a great social position. At a young age, he went to study at the Beirut Law School in Lebanon, which he soon abandoned, having been fascinated by the Christian way of life when he had heard the preach of the Word of God.
He was a disciple of Origen for a few years. He received excellent education at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. He returned to his homeland, where he was ordained a bishop, remaining steadfast in the sacred duty of his mission until his repose around 270 AD.
Makrina from Cappadocia, grandmother of Saint Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, was a disciple of Saint Gregory the Wonderworker. It was her who passed the tradition of theology of the first centuries on the Cappadocian Fathers, who certainly enriched it.
The zeal, the militancy and the contribution of Saint Gregory to the Church can be summarized in the following passage: “When Gregory became Bishop of Neocaesarea, there were 17 Christians in the city. At the end of his episcopal ministry, there were only 17 pagans.” This was the best reputation of a wise hierarch.
Source: Church of Cyprus
