Saint of the Week

On this day of the year 270 A.D., St. Gregory the wonder worker (Thavmaturgus), departed. He was the bishop of Neo‑Caesarea, the capital of Pontus in Asia Minor. This saint was born in Neo-Caesarea in 213 A.D. to rich, pagan parents, and his name was Theodore. He learned philosophy and wisdom at a young age. Then he went to Athens, where he studied Greek and Latin. From there he went to Caesarea, Palestine, where he met the scholar Origen, who taught him Christian philosophy, theology, and the interpretation of the holy books. In the year 235 A.D., he went to the city of Alexandria, the cultural center of the world at that time, to complete his studies. There he often visited the Catechetical School to listen to the sermons and discourses of St. Dionysius, who later became patriarch. 

He returned to his home‑town Caesarea in the year 237 A.D. In the year 239 A.D., he was baptized, and then he went to the wilderness, devoting himself to prayer and ardent worship. When the Bishop of Neo‑Caesarea departed, Phoedimus, bishop of Amasea, recognized with a divine revelation that the one worthy of the bishopric rank is Theodore the hermit. When the saint knew that he had escaped, he went from one wilderness to the other, hiding. The bishop Phoedimus was forced to take a Bible and pray the prayer of ordination over it, as though he were present, ordaining him a bishop by the name of Gregory. During his hiding, he saw in a vision someone telling him that this ordination is from God. He did not hesitate, rose up immediately, descended from the mountain, and went to Neo‑Caesarea. The people went forth to meet him with great honor, and completed his ordination in the year 244 A.D. 

The Lord performed many signs and wonders at his hands, so that he was called the wonder worker. As an example: two brothers owned a lake from which they made a good living. They had a falling out because of it. When they were unable to reach an agreement, they sought the wisdom of St. Gregory to help them settle their differences. He judged that they should divide the yield of the lake equally among themselves. When they did not heed his judgment, he entreated God, and the water of the lake dried up, and it became a farmland, which they divided among themselves. During the persecution of Decius in the year 250 A.D., he went into hiding. When they knew his place, they went seeking him, but they did not find him except two trees instead of the bishop and his deacon. The saint attended a council in the year 262 A.D. to judge Paul of Samosata. After he completed his good endeavor, he departed in peace and was buried in the church that he built in Neo‑Caesarea. The blessing of his prayers be with us all. Amen