Feast day: January 3

Doctor of the Church, born at Arianzus, in Asia Minor, provably 325; died at the same place, 389. He was son of Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus (329-374.)

After his baptism at 30, Gregory joined his friend Basil in a newly founded monastery.

At 41, Gregory was chosen suffragan bishop of Caesarea and like his good friend St. Basil, had a hard time fighting against Aryanism and opposing the then Arian emperor, Valens.

It was in Constantinople, where he tried to bring back Christians from Aryanism, where he began giving the great sermons on the Trinity for which he is famous.

He was acclaimed simply as “the Theologian.”

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“Without God, man loses his greatness; without God, there is no true humanism,” says Pope Benedict

Benedict praises “administrative qualities and moral integrity” of Gregory the Great

Benedict: St. Basil is “a man who shows us how to be truly Christian”

Bishop Wilton Gregory, former USCCB President, new Archbishop of Atlanta