Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople

Gregory was born c. 329 near Nazianzus in Cappadocia; his father, also Gregory, became the town's bishop through the influence of his mother Nonna. He studied in Caesarea, Alexandria and Athens, where he became the inseparable friend of Basil the Great. He longed for a quiet life of prayer and study, but his father ordained him priest almost by force, and Basil made him bishop of Sasima, a small posting station he called a dusty crossroads and never actually governed.

In 379 he was called to Constantinople, where the Arian party held all the churches, and preached in a small chapel he named Anastasia, "Resurrection". There he gave his five Theological Orations on the Trinity, which earned him the name "the Theologian". In 381 he presided for a time over the Second Ecumenical Council, then resigned the see and went home to Cappadocia, where he wrote poems until his death c. 389–390.