November 17 + Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus

Gregory was born around 213 in the city of Neoceasarea in Pontus (present-day Turkey) into a distinguished pagan family. At fourteen, he and his brother Athenodorus set out for Palestine. The two adolescents were escorting their sister to Caesarea in Palestine, where her husband had been appointed to a government position. But they had also left home with a dream: from Caesarea they would continue onto Beirut and study law in one of the most prestigious schools in the Greek-speaking world.

Once they arrived in Caesarea, however, the young men found that their plans were caught up in a Divine Plan they could not have devised. Origen, the incredibly gifted Christian writer and teacher, the head of the famous catechetical school of Alexandria, was living in that city. The curious brothers went to listen to this “great name” and they found something more than law there. Beirut soon evaporated from their thoughts. They had not found a famous orator; they had found a master.

Months of listening, conversing and arguing with this man on fire with the Scriptures did their work. Theodore and his brother accepted baptism. They were Christians now, disciples of the greatest exegete of the first Christian millennium. Gregory stayed for seven years, studying philosophy and theology, learning not only to hone his skills as a writer and a speaker, but to place them at the service of the “one God” whom Gregory confessed in a remarkable Creed.

When Gregory and his brother finally left Caesarea to return to Pontus, he was no longer surprised when his plans went awry. Years of discipleship had prepared him for a task. At age forty, Gregory was elected bishop of the tiny Christian community of Neocaesarea, which numbered only 17 believers.

For thirty years, Gregory shepherded his flock. He proved a worthy disciple of his master: This bishop could preach and soon the little flock of 17 grew by a few souls, then by a few more, until soon they had enough believers and donations to build a church.

A creative bishop, he organized festivals in honor of the martyrs that attracted even curious pagans. He was wise and people came to him for counsel. For the Christians, he was a strong shepherd and brave, leading them through the Decian persecution.

The word began to spread even among non-believers, who quickly dwindled in numbers in this town: the bishop was a man of God, an extraordinary man with a faith so strong that wonders abounded in his presence. They began to call him "Thaumaturgus" which means wonder-worker.

But of all the miracles attributed to Gregory, perhaps the most memorable remains this: tradition states that this man, who was consecrated bishop of 17 believers, left only 17 non-believers in Neocaesarea at his death. He is invoked against floods and earthquakes — at one time he reportedly stopped the flooding in Lycus, and at another, he moved a mountain. According to Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Thaumaturgus experienced a vision of Our Lady, the first such recorded vision.

Gregory had once wanted to make something of himself. Instead, the Lord of the universe made something of him: a shepherd and a father who built up the Church of God.