chapter 5
The women who were a part of the Cappadocians’ lives provided the background and the environment for much of their theology, and to understand these men, one must look behind them to see the equally great women. While the men have left volumes of their writings (Basil alone has four volumes in Patrologia Graeca including 366 letters), we have no first hand writings from these women. Historically, many women’s voices have been lost to us either because their stories were never told, or the men whom they influenced never mentioned them.610 Correspondingly, for centuries there has been a vacuum in the matter of the role which women played in the development of theological thought. In the case of the Cappadocian Fathers, the Western church in the last half-century has, in a sense, rediscovered their theology, and concomitantly, there has been an unearthing of the women in their lives. While Basil in extant works never directly referred to his sister Macrina, he did mention the influences of his mother and grandmother. It is Gregory of Nyssa, the younger brother, who depicted the relationship between his two older siblings, Macrina and Basil. The friend, Nazianzen, provided reflections on Macrina, Emmelia and Theosebia from Basil’s family and wrote orations for his own family members which give us insights into his home life and personal development.
Each of the women whose lives are detailed in the writings of the Cappadocians can be seen as models for a portion of the Cappadocians’ theological development germane to deification. While the Cappadocians’ understanding of theosis led to their theological conclusion that the life of virginity was best for one wanting to unite with God, the women who were associated with them presented illustrations of the stages of theosis. Derek Kruger observed, “For Nyssen memorializing the lives of holy men, like Gregory Thaumaturgus, and holy women, like Macrina, fills the gap between the present life and the heavenly reality they mediated—a gap left empty by their passing.”611 The stories inform us about that which could not be found in their theological writings alone, and it is here the plot continues.
F. W. Norris believes that Nazianzen would applaud the use of narrative “as the proper form of theology” but would argue that too few of today’s contemporary theologians “have yet moved beyond the stories themselves to the Theologian’s drumbeat of narrative bits for the divine and human in Christ, a performance that depended upon those Gospel accounts but in some ways still has more ability to move hearers or readers than they do.”612 What we discover here is the women serve as the narrative threads which present the concept of deification, moving readers in a practical sense to join the narrative. Wilken reminds us, “Without examples, without imitation, there can be no human life or civilization, no art or culture, no virtue or holiness.”613 Van Dam comments, “Perhaps it is not too fanciful to suggest that treatises about virginity, especially women’s virginity, were the complements of theological treatises about the doctrines of God the Father and the Son. Among churchmen an obsession with the paternity of the Son corresponded to an emphasis on the purity of women.”614 To understand the concepts of deification experienced in the lives of virginity and marriage which the Cappadocians desired to pass on to future generations, one must examine the women associated with them.
In chapter 3, we introduced the kenosis-theosis parabola. Six distinctive stages were noted giving clarity to the understanding of theosis. While the concepts of theosis seem to have been worked out in the Cappadocians’ defence of Nicene Orthodoxy, one readily observes their arguments appear to have been highly influenced by personal experience and, specifically, by the women who were related to them. Each life is a story which illustrates their understanding of deification. Therefore, in each stage of this kenosis-theosis parabola, it is possible to overlay the story of a woman in the writings of the Cappadocians who exemplifies each stage of theosis. Moving through the parabola there are intersections which demonstrate that the women may have had significant influence on the development of the Cappadocians’ theological thought.
The Cappadocians, quite distinctively for their era, left us with a large volume of work written about the women who were associated with them. Nazianzen’s Oration 8, written for his sister Gorgonia, is the first female panegyric which we have on record. Basil writes letters in which we find reference specifically to his grandmother, Macrina the Elder, and also to his mother, Emmelia. Nyssen writes the hagiographic document on the life of his sister, De Vita Macrinae, as well as On the Soul and the Resurrection, which is a philosophical document written in Macrina’s voice. Nazianzen’s panegyrics on his father and his brother also provide us with lengthy details on his mother, Nonna’s, life. In these different accounts these men make reference to the influence of these women on their lives, whether in the development of their theological thought, or selection of a vocation. Therefore, not only did they write about the women, but the women have direct influence on their theological development. Lynda Coon comments, “The hagiography of female saints replicates the process of redemption. By transforming profane female flesh into a vehicle of grace, women’s conversion extends the hope of universal salvation to sinful humanity.”615 Therefore, it is possible to place the female saints related to the Cappadocian Fathers into the framework of the kenosis-theosis parabola. While the world saw the Cappadocians arguing theology with some of the greatest minds of their day, undergirding such theological conversation was a foundation of experience within their own homes which moulded them into the theologians they became. We will demonstrate how the different women about whom they wrote became living illustrations of each stage within the parabola, therefore becoming theology by way of biography. The first two stages of this parabola: (1) Humankind is made in the image of God and is a reflection or mirror of that image, and (2) The image is tarnished by the fall into sin, may be illustrated within the life of a young lady known to us only as the Fallen Virgin.
Humankind is made in the image of God and is a reflection or mirror of that image
The female saint who most clearly illustrates the concept of the image and restoration was not originally included in the scope of this thesis. Found within Basil’s Letter 46, To a Fallen Virgin is the description of a young woman who has walked away from her vows of celibacy. This rather esoteric document has led to speculation as to the nature of the letter. It is worth noting it formerly has not been given much consideration. Silvas’s recent publication on Macrina the Younger includes a study of Basil’s Letter 46. In her opinion this letter directly connects this young woman with Basil the Great.616 However, Elm in her extensive monograph on asceticism does not believe her to be a sister, but rather a description of another family member, possibly that of an aunt and a cousin.617 Limberis, while referring to the letter does not provide any connection to the family of Cappadocians.618 Elm does give us a possible dating of this letter to sometime after Basil’s ordination in 370,619 with the Benedictine editors placing it distinctly within the letters written during his presbyterate.620 However, Silvas provides a compelling argument for a dating of 362–63 and the placement of this sister as one of the youngest, born perhaps just before Peter, who was born about 345. This would make the timing of her vows in the early 360s, coming at about the same time of the “final development of Annesi into a full-fledged monastery.”621 In late 362, “Basil travelled down to Caesarea for the death of Bishop Dianius, and in the aftermath of the election of the new bishop, was himself ordained to the presbyterate.”622 Silvas says, “One can well imagine the writing of this letter at just this period, that is 362–63.”623 Recently, there has been wider acceptance of the Fallen Virgin as a member of the household of Basil. The curious similarities of the details in the two families, that of Basil’s and the one in the letter, make it highly likely this young woman is none other than a younger sibling of Basil the Great, and therefore one of the daughters of Emmelia.
If one agrees with Silvas, then this younger sister has demonstrable influence on the development of Basil’s understanding of image and restoration. The first stage in the parabola is an understanding that “man,” or humanity, is made in the image of God. As noted previously, the image of God in humanity was foundational to the Cappadocian understanding of deification. The Cappadocians develop a concept of in which all of humanity, both male and female, were included or created in the original image. Nyssen’s understanding was that full humanity was expressed in the first creation account, where he saw that “man,” or humankind, was made in the image of God. It is this total humanity that is the expression of God, and it is gender neutral.624 This meant that for Basil this younger sister was wholly and completely created in the image of God.
The image is tarnished by its fall into sin
Sin did not destroy the image but it was corrupted in the fall of humankind. While the Cappadocians used mirror imagery to comprehend the corruption of the divine design for personhood, they presented it in two different ways. One manner in which it was portrayed was as a corruption of the mirror itself. Because of the dirt or filth of the mirror, it could no longer clearly reflect the image. However in Nyssen’s Commentary on the Canticles, he stated, “Indeed, man was once created in God’s image, but became a wild beast, transformed into an irrational creature, becoming a lion and a leopard by reason of his sinful ways.”625 This second form is relational for we understand that the image in humankind is directly dependent upon its relationship to the original, or the Archetype. Therefore, as a result of sin, not only has the mirror become corrupted, but the human is no longer in relationship with God. The end result of both is that the image is no longer a reflection of God.
In Letter 46 we find a young woman who becomes for Basil the living illustration of one in whom the image has been lost. Her story represents a disruption in the relational aspect. She has turned her back on her bridegroom, Christ, to whom she was committed when she took her vows. Her behavior has changed and she is no longer living a life of virtue which would lead one on the progressive path toward deification. She has slipped backward and is showing an attitude of defiance. The image is no longer visible in this younger sister.
Basil comments that the young lady had been abducted; however, in the fourth century, abduction was not necessarily done against the will of a young woman, but with her blessing. More than likely what had occurred was an elopement, enacted completely at the will and consent of the young woman so that the family could not protest the relationship, for once the relationship was consummated, the couple was married.626 According to the Cappadocians’ understanding of sin, it is free will that allows one to make a choice which results in the corruption of the image. This is exactly what is illustrated by this comment about the sister’s abduction. Basil knows and understands the culture of his day and recognizes that his sister would have been complicit in this act, thereby exercising free will which would result in the loss of the image.
Free will may lead one to the loss of image
The life of virginity was one with no outside distractions. The call of the world would have left an individual open to greater opportunities to fall into sin. However, even a woman living in the safe environs of the monastery would have been able to exercise free will. The Cappadocians understood that free will was available to all humans, male and female, slave and free. Therefore, temptations would have made all individuals vulnerable. One of the purposes of the life of asceticism was to reduce the number of distractions and/or temptations. The family monastery at Annesi should have provided a safe location from distractions. The vows taken by these young women were valued highly by the entire Christian community. The virgins were considered the actual bride of Christ, and for them to be coerced away from that vow was for them to be drawn into adultery. Nyssen had related free will with the image, and free will is never lost in humanity. However, because of the choices made as a result of free will, the reflection changes. No longer is the human a reflection of the original, for the mirror, so to speak, has become stained or marred.627 This stained or marred mirror has become, according to Nazianzen, a foul mirror. In the case of the fallen virgin, she has fallen as a result of her free will, and the image is corrupted. Basil’s response parallels the response of God, who is moved by the fall of humanity and the loss of the image. Basil writes, “We must not pass over so great a fall without a tear.”628 For Basil the fall is great, for sin has caused this once pure bride of Christ to sin and for the image to be lost. Basil recounts the command in Deut 5:21, “Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife” (NRSV). In his opinion, the young man has coveted the Lord’s wife, and the wife has succumbed to the advances of the other man. The fall of this bride of Christ was great, for it was very public. “They now behold the Bride of the Master yielding herself without fear to adultery.”629 For him this relationship was an “outrage” which touched “the holy bridal-chamber of the Lord.”630 Not only was she defiled, but she had been unfaithful to the object of all of their love and affection, Jesus Christ, himself.
The virgins were taught a life of virtue which included humility. Nazianzen argued that the way to draw closer to the image was through “humble contemplation.”631 This is “something that went beyond the confidence or arrogance of most logical investigations.”632 It is in an attitude of arrogance that we see the development of the sin aspect of the tarnished image. As this sister continues to slip into sin, the corruption of the image continues and becomes visible in her defiant response to the situation. Basil describes her attitude as one of “bravado” and sees her behavior as “contemptuous” to the point that she denied her “very pact with the Bridegroom.”633 He reminds her of her vows, “You cry aloud that you neither are nor ever promised to be a virgin, and this though you accepted many pledges of virginity, and indeed offered many.”634
The image was tarnished, and Basil evaluated the situation and what had brought her to this point. By contextualizing, Basil recognized the role of temptation which may have led to this sin. A moment of introspection brought Basil and the rest of the family to realize that they were a source of temptation to this younger sister. With most of the family being recognized as spiritual leaders within their respective communities, it would certainly have placed inordinate pressure on this younger sister. More than likely she felt pressured to take the vows for the sake of the family. It is unknown at what age this young woman would have taken her vows, but it has been suggested that it was not uncommon to submit young girls to the monastery at the age of twelve. It is interesting to note that five years later in Epistle 199.19, Basil writes that a young woman should be at least sixteen or seventeen years of age before taking her vows. This could very well have been in response to the situation with this younger sister whom he may have, in hindsight, felt was encouraged to take her vows at too young of an age. This may also have been an admission on Basil’s part of responsibility for her actions and the role which he may have played in her fall.
The hope of restoration
In Letter 46 we also find illustrated the Cappadocian understanding of restoration. The optimism of the grace of God providing for restoration is seen not only in God’s action but also in the action of the family. The family members themselves, through theosis and their own participation in God, respond to the loss of the image. All of those who were associated with the great Cappadocian family of Basil were considered faithful. History, as we have seen, has recorded that an extraordinary family was led and raised by the mother, Emmelia, and grandmother Macrina.
The optimistic faith of the Cappadocians did not point toward an image which was unrecoverable. Rather, their concept of theosis allowed for an image which was simply lost and in need of recovery. It was through the synergism of the one who had lost the image combined with God’s activity that the lost image could again be restored. Nyssen sees “human freedom as moral freedom, the freedom to become what we are made to be.”635 It means that humankind can make the choice to return to the Creator and obtain the “divine likeness, but not, however, without the assistance of God.”636 It is this synergy which helps to bring healing through theosis to humanity and restores the image in humankind.
Of significance is that the Cappadocians, utilizing the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son in Luke 15, saw a loving God reaching out to humanity, desiring restoration. “Similarly too the lost drachma was found with the help of a lamp, and all the friends and neighbours were glad.”637 God never gives up on humanity. The Bridegroom sends out the angels, or friends of the Bridegroom who are looking for those who are lost, stating, “Thus it is a good thing for the soul to be found by the angels that go about the city.”638 While not specifically utilizing the language of grace,639 we see the concept of a gracious God reaching out in a desire to return humanity to its original likeness and image. F. W. Norris describes Nazianzen’s hopeful anthropology as “an understanding that however great was the influence of sin, the image of God in which humans were shaped was marred but still struggling.”640 The sister was struggling, but there was hope that she could be restored.
His theological understanding shapes Basil’s response to this younger sister. One might expect a man of the stature of Basil to be embarrassed by the action of the sister. In this case it may have been easier to simply remove her from the community of faith and leave her to live with the consequences of her actions. At this juncture we see the intersection of Basil’s theological understanding and the reality of family. Whether it is Basil’s theological thought which leads him to write a letter, or the love for a younger sister which drives him to have an optimistic faith of restoration, we cannot be sure. However, at this moment in history the two, theology and family, have become one, and Basil must become a participant in God’s salvific activity for his sister.
Basil encourages this young woman to imagine the scene in which she took her vows and remember those who were present. It is in this description that we begin to hear the details of a family which has become familiar. “Recall your grandmother, grown old in Christ but still youthful and vigorous in virtue.”641 This description is reminiscent of the grandmother Macrina. He continues speaking of a mother who worked together with the grandmother. “Your mother vying with her in the Lord and struggling by strange and unfamiliar labours to break with the force of habit.”642 This certainly appears to be a description of his mother, Emmelia, who worked shoulder to shoulder with her mother-in-law to raise a household of godly children. It was this same mother who after the death of her husband struggled to give up the aristocratic life and became as a servant, living out the remainder of her days at the family monastery at Annesi. Finally, he says, “And your sister, who likewise imitates them both and yet strives even to surpass them, for indeed she, by the greater prize of virginity outstrips the achievements of her forebears. Both by her words and by her life, she earnestly summons you, her sister as she thought, to a rivalry of like effort.”643 This sounds very much like a description of the great Macrina, the daughter who was never married and had lived her entire life as a virgin. This is Macrina who was the teacher to her younger siblings and the one who was the leader of the monastic life in Annesi. It is interesting to note that if this letter is truly written in regard to Basil’s own family, this becomes the only statement he ever makes praising or giving credit to Macrina. One can imagine the two older siblings in such a family always having just a touch of sibling rivalry and, therefore Basil neglects to give credit given to Macrina.
Going forth and searching
Just as the good shepherd utilizes all of his skill and talent to bring back the lost sheep, Basil now steps into the role of the shepherd to try and bring back his sister. If we understand that Basil himself was also undergoing deification, we can see his response in connection with his participation in God. He becomes a channel for God’s action in the world. He himself steps into the role of the good shepherd in terms of his behavior here on the earth. He is the one who is reaching out in an effort to bring back the one who has been lost. This coincides with Basil’s theological development in regard to coenobitic monasticism. It was the responsibility of the person who was being transformed into the image of God to become the eikon of Christ. This involved incarnational activity in the world. In this case, the incarnational activity was extended to a lost loved one. In an effort to bring her to her senses, Basil reminds her of the pleasant nature of the life in the monastery, and in doing so he gives us a glimpse of what daily life must have been like at the monastery, a life that was proleptic, where a bit of heaven existed on earth.644 This is a holy place where those who are committed to a life of virginity, with the ultimate goal of theosis, can live out their days in anticipation of being united with Christ. Basil’s physical description here also leads one to believe that he knew this young virgin very well, but it also helps us understand what may have been expected of her in terms of appearance.
What has become of your dignified appearance, that reserved manner, that simple dress befitting a virgin, that beautiful blush of modesty, and that comely pallor which blooms through self-control and vigils and glows with a greater charm than any freshness of complexion?645
We have other physical descriptions of this family, including the rugged and handsome Naucratius, the beauty of Emmelia (who had to be saved from numerous suitors), and Macrina. Nazianzen was rather overwhelmed by this family, commenting that this was an instance where a family had children who are both “many and beautiful.”646 We can only imagine that this fallen girl was also quite beautiful, but she may have rebelled against the constraints placed upon her from the life of asceticism as described above. As the younger girl, she may have been raised almost exclusively in the more austere setting of Annesi, rather than in the city, as the older siblings would have been. When a young man gave her attention and possibly noticed her beauty, her instinct was to be set free of the confines that life had placed upon her and flee.
Continuing as an agent of God’s redemptive activity, after reminding her of what she had been, Basil again shared his disappointment in this one whom he now saw as a child “of disobedience.”647 The father of all these children, the elder Basil, had died long before and the oldest son, Basil, was now the head of the family. As the earthly father of the household, Basil also played the role of the heavenly Father in this situation. The pain in Basil and the Father’s voice may be heard as Basil responds, you “have exchanged that precious possession worth fighting for on every side, for a brief moment of pleasure, a pleasure which tickles your appetite for the moment but which you will one day find more bitter than gall.”648 It is this same disappointment which is found at the moment when the heavenly Father discovers that his children Adam and Eve have lost the image.
Basil is gravely concerned because he understands this behavior in light of the spiritual and the eternal consequences. The image has been gravely marred because this bride of Christ has become sullied. He compares her to the unfaithful Israelites, for faithfulness to God is constantly seen in light of fidelity, the fidelity of a relationship in which the two become one. It is in the fidelity of this relationship that one experiences theosis, which Basil sees as the goal of all of humanity. This bride has turned from the Bridegroom and united with another. The love of God is expressed in Basil’s sudden change of tenor and his voice becomes tender as one can imagine an older brother reminiscing about his relationship with this little sister.
For this reason I tried always to calm the turbulence of your passions by a myriad charms, and with a myriad safeguards to protect the Bride of the Lord. Always I tried to explain the life of the unmarried, that only the unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, how her life may be holy in body and spirit.649 And I used to set forth the high worth of virginity and, address you as the temple of God,650 gave wings as it were to your zeal, thus lifting you up to Jesus; and I tried to help you not to fall with the fear of the terrible possibility, saying If anyone violates the temple of God, him shall God destroy.651
He laments that all of these efforts have turned bitter. Basil again turns to the spiritual nature of this downfall, comparing it to Eve and the Serpent, only telling this little sister that her sin was even more bitter!652 “For not only your thoughts have been corrupted,653 but with them your very body as well.”654 Obviously he feels the depth of the corruption when he states, “you took the members of Christ and made them the members of a harlot.”655
The corrupted image
The result of this action is the corruption of the image of God in the life of the individual. Restoration of the image comes in salvation, but now, this person who has an “indwelling soul made after the image of God”656 has been marred. His language becomes strong as he compares what has happened to his little sister as someone engraving “the forms of unclean swine upon a royal image.”657 Basil is angry with the young man who has done this to his little sister. “How much more do you think he deserves worse punishment who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and defiled his professed Bride and outraged the spirit of virginity?”658 The excuses sound all too familiar, “But she wanted it, he says, and I did not violate her against her will.”659 They remind us of Adam and Eve, who did not want to take responsibility for their own actions. In this case no one is willing to take responsibility for the corruption. Basil understands that the path to restoration involves acceptance of responsibility and admission of guilt. He recognizes that this is not an acceptable response and chastises the young man for not responding with the self-discipline of Joseph who ran from temptation. But the damage is done and the image has been lost, and he has taken her from Christ.
The image is only lost and may be recovered
The Cappadocians’ optimistic hope of restoration goes beyond God’s action in reaching out to humanity, becoming therapeutic. The image has been lost and the blemish is also referred to as a wound. The concern is whether the wound is too deep or the fall is too great, escaping the possibility of restoration. He asks, “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?”660 Hope is found in the parables of the New Testament, in the return of the “lost drachma, the lost sheep,” and “the son who wasted his substance on harlots.”661 There is hope that the image can be restored when it has been lost. Basil uses the same illustration as his brother Gregory, the woman with the lost coin.662 If it has been lost, we must seek for it, so that it can be recovered.663
Humanity’s response to sin is repentance
The one who has lost the image is the one who must seek for the restoration of that image; and therefore, Basil turns to reminding this sister of the eternal results of her current status, for there is “that great journey beyond.”664 This is the synergistic action in restoration which has been referred to previously. Basil also believes in a day of judgment and punishment for those in whom the image has not been restored.665 Basil’s description of the punishment comes from a desire to move his sister to seek redemption and restoration. He tells her, “But it is possible to escape these things now.”666 Basil’s understanding of the restoration of the image is a process which begins immediately, at the time of repentance and baptism. Basil believes that even from such a fall one can be completely and totally restored, for the focus is not on physical virginity but rather on an attitude of virginity. The attitude of virginity is a life with a singular purpose, which is to know Christ. In this way both those who are physical virgins and those who are married have the hope of restoration in the image and reconciliation of the relationship with the Bridegroom. Basil requests that she respond by bowing down and weeping before Christ in an attitude of repentance. He tells her “There is a way to salvation, if we are but willing.”667 He gently reminds her that God will wipe “away every tear from the face of all who repent.”668
The Father continues to face in the direction of one who is lost
Basil’s language helps us to understand that he believes in this restoration for all who are involved. “The great Physician of our souls is ready to heal your malady. From him come the words, it was his sweet and saving lips that said: It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick, for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”669 The Bridegroom does not turn his back on the fallen virgin; he continues facing in the direction of the one who is lost. Christ is represented as the physician offering healing for the wounds and a shepherd to guide the path home.
Again we find Basil in an incarnational role as he represents the Father standing on the path home, awaiting the return of the prodigal. He is still facing the one who is lost, just as God continues to be turned toward his lost children. It is the children who need to turn around, return in the direction of the Father, and in the process have the image restored.
You have only to set out again, and while you are still afar off, he will run to you and cast himself about your neck. In loving embraces he will enfold you, cleansed already by repentance. And first he will put a robe upon you, a soul which has put off the old man with all his works (Col 3:9). . . . And he will announce a day of merriment and gladness for his own, both angels and human beings, and in every way celebrate your salvation.670
Here we begin to see Basil’s eschatology. He understands that complete restoration is possible. The angels who accompany the Bridegroom represent the Cappadocian family, who is ready and willing to receive her back.
There is no focus on punishment for those in whom the image has been restored. Instead, there is a demonstration of the hope of rapid and complete restoration. Note how quickly they will celebrate her return. Let others be critical and think that this one must be punished; Basil’s intent is not to punish but to welcome her home. “And if any of those who think they stand find fault because you have been received too quickly, the good Father himself will speak in your defense, saying: it was fitting that we should make merry and be glad, for this my daughter was dead, and has come to life again, was lost, and is found.”671 Basil represents God as a loving, optimistic God who does not turn his back on his lost children and readily welcomes them back home.
Twenty years later Nazianzen writes his Epigrams,672 in which he comments that Emmelia’s children were “good children. . . . Three of her sons were illustrious priests, and one daughter the companion of a priest, and the rest were like an army of saints.”673 Also in his Panegyric to Basil, Nazianzen writes of the victorious spiritual lives of all of Emmelia’s children: “This is evidenced by the enviable number of priests and virgins, and of those who in marriage did not in any way allow their union to be an obstacle to an equal repute for virtue, making the distinction between them consist in a choice of career rather than in conduct.”674 Evidently, the fallen one was restored and is remembered as being a part of the army of saints. Basil’s optimism in terms of restoration would have reached as far as the young man who stole his sister. A few years following Letter 46, Basil wrote:
He who holds a wife by secret or somewhat violent seduction must acknowledge the punishment for fornication. And punishment for four years has been prescribed for fornicators. In the first year they must be excluded from the prayers, and weep for themselves at the door of the church: in the second year they are to be admitted to the place of the “hearers:” in the third to penance: in the fourth to “standing” with the laity, abstaining from the oblation: then the communion with the Good is to be permitted them.675
Not only was the younger sister restored, but evidence would point to the fact that the man who abducted her was restored as well.676 Basil used this experience as a reference point for the development of rules or principles which helped to govern his ministry.
Conclusions
For the Cappadocians, the concept of image was vital to their understanding of theosis and the Fallen Virgin provided them with an illustration of this theological concept. A theme within the writings of the Cappadocians is the optimism of a God who continues to face humanity in which the image is lost, seeks after that lost humanity, and rejoices at the time of restoration. For Basil, his personal experience and emotional connection with the Fallen Virgin resulted in his personal response being a reflection of and incarnation of God’s response to humanity. Finally, in a very practical sense, Basil’s experience with this younger sister directly influenced future decisions he made regarding his ministerial practice.
610. Castelli, “Virginity and Its Meaning,” 73–74.
611. Smith, “Just and Reasonable Grief,” 82. See Kruger, “Writing and the Liturgy,” 489. See also Clarke, St. Basil the Great, 49.
612. Norris, “Gregory Contemplating the Beautiful,” 34.
613. Wilken, Spirit of Early Christian Thought, 262.
614. Van Dam, Families and Friends, 85–86.
615. Coon, Sacred Fictions, xvii–xviii.
616. For Silvas’s extensive argument on the case of the younger sister, see Macrina the Younger, 62, on “Letter 46, To a Fallen Virgin.” The case for Theosebia will be discussed in greater detail in ch. 8.
617. Elm, “Virgins of God,” 144, does not come to the same conclusion and seems to think that perhaps this relates to another branch of the family and a group of cousins who seem to have a similar family configuration.
618. Limberis, Architects of Piety, 172.
619. Elm, “Virgins of God,” 142.
620. Silvas, Macrina the Younger, 62.
621. Ibid., 65.
622. Ibid.
623. Ibid.
624. Nyssen, DHO 16.16 (PG 44:184b) (NPNF2 5:405).
625. Nyssen, CC, Homily 8 (PG 44:944d–945d) (GNO VI), trans. Musurillo, 215.
626. See Silvas, Macrina the Younger, 67n23.
627. Nyssen, DV 11 (PG 46:364) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 38).
628. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369) 1a, trans. Silvas, 66.
629. Ibid.
630. Ibid., 1d, trans. Silvas, 67.
631. Norris, “Gregory Contemplating the Beautiful,” 27.
632. Ibid.
633. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369)2b, trans. Silvas, 67.
634. Ibid.
635. Wilken, Spirit of Early Christian Thought, 153.
636. Gross, Divinization of the Christian, 144.
637. Luke 15:9.
638. Nyssen, CC, Homily 12 (PG 44:1029a–1037c) (GNO VI), trans. Musurillo, 267.
639. The concept of grace is found throughout the Cappadocians. “The word Grace occurs as often in them [Cappadocians] as in Augustine” (NPNF2 5:54). See also Nyssen Cont. Eun. 2.9, 3.4, 4.3, OC 37.
640. Norris, “Gregory Contemplating the Beautiful,” 23.
641. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369)2d, trans. Silvas, 67.
642. Ibid.
643. Ibid., 67–68.
644. Ibid., 2e, trans. Silvas, 68.
645. Ibid.
646. Nazianzen, Or. 43, Panegyric on Saint Basil 9 (PG 36:494) (SC 384).
647. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369)2i, trans. Silvas, 68.
648. Ibid.
649. 1 Cor 7:34.
650. 1 Cor 3:16.
651. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369)3d, trans. Silvas, 69. 1 Cor 3:17.
652. Ibid.
653. 2 Cor 11:3.
654. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369)3g, trans. Silvas, 69.
655. Ibid., 70. 1 Cor 6:15.
656. Ibid., 4a, trans. Silvas, 70.
657. Ibid.
658. Ibid., 4b, trans. Silvas, 70–71.
659. Ibid., 4c, trans. Silvas, 71.
660. Ibid. Jer 8:22.
661. Ibid.
662. Nyssen, DV 12 (PG 46:369) (SC 119) (GNO VIII.I) (FC, 45).
663. Basil, Ep. 46 (PG 32:369)5b, trans. Silvas, 71.
664. Ibid.
665. Ibid., 5f, trans. Silvas, 72.
666. Ibid.
667. Ibid.
668. Ibid.
669. Ibid., 6d, trans. Silvas, 73. Matt 9:12–13.
670. Ibid., 6f, trans. Silvas, 73.
671. Ibid. Luke 15:32.
672. Silvas, Macrina the Younger, 79.
673. Nazianzen, Epigr. 161 (Anthologia Graeca 8:39), trans. Silvas, 81.
674. Nazianzen, Or. 43.9 (PG 36:504) (SC 384) (FC, 34).
675. Basil, Ep. 199.22 (PG 32:722) (Deferrari, LCL).
676. This evidence includes the positive statements from Nazianzen regarding Emmilia’s married children being saints and the plans for restoration found in Basil.