Roman martyrology: Memory of St. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen , bishops and doctors of the Church. Gregory was bishop of Sancina in Constantinople, and finally Nacianzo . He strongly defended the divinity of the Word, and thus deserved to be called " Theologian ". He died on January 25 of the year 390. The Church rejoices together to celebrate the memory of such great doctors.

Etymology: English form of Latin Gregorius, which was from the late Greek name Γρηγοριος (Gregorios), derived from γρηγορος (gregoros) meaning "watchful, alert".

 SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Saint Gregory Nazianen, known as " The Theologian ", because of the depth of his doctrine and the charm of his eloquence. He is one of the three Cappadocian Fathers, with his brothers St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nicea with whom he cooperated to defeat the Arian heresy. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Greek Church.

Born at Arianzus, in Asia Minor, c. 325; He was son - one of three children - of Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus and of St. Nonna.

He studied at a famous school at Caesarea, capital of Cappadocia, and was educated by Carterius. Afterwards he studied at Athens, Greece where his friendship commenced with Basil The Great, which intimately affected both their lives, as well as the development of the theology of their age after his baptism at 30, when Gregory gladly accepted his friend Basil’s invitation to join him in a newly founded monastery.

Both Basil and Gregory became priests and then bishops. They preached bravely against the Arian heresy, which denied that Jesus is God. While he was bishop of Constantinople, Gregory converted many people with his wonderful preaching and it even nearly cost him his life, when a young man planned to murder him.

Some account must now be given of Gregory's voluminous writings, and of his reputation as an orator and a theologian, on which, more than on anything else, rests his fame as one of the greatest lights of the Eastern Church. His works naturally fall under three heads, namely his poems, his epistles, and his orations: Forty-four of Gregory's speeches, 243 letters and many poems were published. His writings are still important today and many writers even have based their works on his.

Gregory died in 390 at the age of sixty. He is buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.