From the Prologue of Ochrid
Gregory was born in Nazianzus of a father who was a Hellene and a Christian mother. Before baptism he studied in Athens together with Basil the Great and Julian the Apostate. Often he prophesied to Julian that he would be an apostate from the faith and a persecutor of the Church, which came to pass. Gregory was especially influenced by his good mother Nonna. When he finished his studies, Gregory was baptized. Saint Basil ordained him as Bishop of Sasima, and Emperor Theodosius the Great soon called him to the vacant throne of Archbishop of Constantinople. He composed numerous works, of which the most glorious are those on Theology, for which reason he was called the Theologian. Especially notable for its depth is his work Discourses on the Holy Trinity. He also wrote against the heretic Macedonius, who taught falsely about the Holy Spirit (as if the Spirit were a creation of God), and against Apollinaris, who taught falsely, as if Christ did not have a human soul, but that His divinity was in place of a soul. He also wrote against Emperor Julian the Apostate, his former schoolmate. When at the Council of 381 there arose a dispute over his election as archbishop, he withdrew of his own accord, declaring: "Those who deprive us of the throne cannot deprive us of God." Then he left Constantinople, went to Nazianzus, and there lived until his death in seclusion, prayer and writing useful books. Although his entire life he was of weak health, nevertheless he reached his eightieth year. His relics were later transferred to Rome, and his head is located in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow. He was and remained a great and wondrous light of the Orthodox Church, both for the meekness and purity of his character and for the unsurpassed depth of his mind. He reposed in the Lord in the year 390 (see January 30).
