The first Marian apparitions recognized by the Church , told by St. Gregory of Nyssa
Domenico Seasoned
San Gregorio Neocaesarea Healer was born in Pontus, the current Niksa, Turkey, around 213, from a noble pagan family. In the city where he studied grammar and rhetoric, he learned Latin, and acquired the rudiments of law. Later he went to Caesarea in Palestine, with his brother Athenodorus, with the idea of \u200b\u200bcompleting law studies in nearby Beirut. In the Palestinian town, the two brothers met the great Christian teacher Origen, that Caesar had founded a new school, having been banished from Alexandria. The knowledge of Origen upset projects of Gregory and Athenodorus and determined their conversion. Gregory described the meeting as well with Origen and his adherence to Christian faith: "Like a spark, then, immessaci in the heart, on the one hand, burned, flushed in our love for the Word holy, most loving, after all that entices with its ineffable beauty, second, to the man his friend and interpreter. I love pierced, causing them to neglect other activities and studies that appeared to be suitable for us and even my more beautiful, the home, the relatives who lived in Caesarea and for which we had embarked on the journey. Only one was the object of my love, my love: the philosophy taught that the divine man "(Gregory Healer, Address to Origen , a cura di E. Marotta, Città Nuova Editrice, Roma 1933, p. 66). Gregorio e Atenodoro rimasero a Cesarea di Palestina per cinque anni, portando a compimento il ciclo di studi previsto dalla scuola di Origene. Nel 238, al momento del congedo dal maestro, Gregorio gli rivolse il suo celebre Discorso di ringraziamento. Dopo essere vissuti con Origene per cinque anni, Gregorio e Atenodoro fecero ritorno a Neocesarea. Riferisce Eusebio che entrambi i fratelli avevano conseguito tali progressi nella conoscenza delle scienze divine, che furono ritenuti degni dell’episcopato e destinati a reggere le sorti delle chiese del Ponto. Fu così che Gregorio divenne il primo vescovo di Neocesarea, la sua città natale, mentre s’ignora the episcopal see of Athenodorus. At this time the apparition of Our Lady to St. Gregory the Healer, the first Marian apparitions recognized by the Church. There provides a detailed account of St. Gregory of Nyssa (about 335-395) in his Life of Gregory Healer, and is the first story of a Marian apparition:
"So then, forced to submit to the yoke, after they were he fulfilled all the requirements in rituals, having asked those who had proclaimed that the bishop will give a little 'time to learn more about the mystery, she thought, as the Apostle says, he must not take counsel with flesh and more blood, but asked that the mystery gli fosse rivelato immediatamente da Dio. Perciò non osò cominciare il ministero della predicazione prima che gli fosse rivelata la verità per mezzo d’una visione.Difatti, mentre egli passava una volta la notte a riflettere sul discorso della fede, e la sua mente era occupata da varie preoccupazioni (vi erano infatti anche allora alcuni che alteravano l’insegnamento della religione, rendendo spesso ambigua, con argomentazioni ipotetiche, la verità anche per chi era esperto in queste cose), mentre dunque egli passava insonne la notte e pensava alla verità, gli apparve in visione un essere dalla figura umana, dall’aspetto senile, con un abito sacro e venerando, che dimostrava una grande virtù con la grazia del suo face and the behavior of his person. He then, frightened at the sight, got out of bed and asked who he was and why he came. And having calmed the other, his voice calm, his mind agitated and having answered that he had appeared for God's will, because of disputes which struggled in its environment, so that it revealed the truth of the true faith, he, in these words, took courage and looked with astonishment and joy. But after having the other stretched out his hand forward, showed him with his finger pointing what appeared alongside. Having run with his hand pointed his eyes, el'aver seen in front of another female ghost dressed in truly than can be seen in human terms, this terrified him again. He then, being embarrassed by the spectacle, he lowered his face, for, among other things, his eyes could not endure the vision (that is the miracle of vision consisted mainly in that, although the night, along with those that they appeared, a strong light shone like that of a lighted torch, beautifully bright). Since, therefore, could not stand watching his eyes, listened to the speech that those who had appeared together on the issue were discussed, in this way was not only educated on the true knowledge of faith, but also knew the names of those who they appeared, since they both called each other with your name. It is said that from what had appeared in female dress felt the urge to explain to the young evangelist John the mystery of true religion, and he replied that he is ready to help in this the Mother of the Lord, because she liked it. And so, after describing the issue in a convenient and well-defined, suddenly disappeared from sight. And he immediately wrote down the divine teaching, and, after that, he preached in the church in the same way, and that teaching left to posterity as an inheritance given by God to this day the people of that city, which remained immune heretical from every mistake, you learned through this teaching "(Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Taumaturgo Life, edited by Leo L., New City Editrice, Roma 1988, p. 50-51). The writing of the Healer, to which it relates Gregory of Nyssa, is the "Symbol" or "Exposition of Faith" , a brief but accurate statement of the doctrine of the Trinity. The Nyssa testifies, moreover, that the handwritten copy of the "Symbol" is still preserved in the church of Neocaesarea the time he wrote the biography of the saint. St. Gregory of Nyssa learned these facts directly from his grandmother, Saint Macrina, who was was a disciple of the Healer, after being converted and baptized by him. Upon receipt of the apparition of the Virgin, St. Gregory Taumaturgo faced with great pastoral zeal of the episcopacy, and is historically known as "the Apostle of Pontus," the extensive work of evangelization carried out in the region and for the defense of Orthodoxy of faith. Tradition ascribes to the bishop of Neocaesarea a series of wondrous miracles, which earned him the title of "Healer". Died about 270.
Domenico Seasoned
San Gregorio Neocaesarea Healer was born in Pontus, the current Niksa, Turkey, around 213, from a noble pagan family. In the city where he studied grammar and rhetoric, he learned Latin, and acquired the rudiments of law. Later he went to Caesarea in Palestine, with his brother Athenodorus, with the idea of \u200b\u200bcompleting law studies in nearby Beirut. In the Palestinian town, the two brothers met the great Christian teacher Origen, that Caesar had founded a new school, having been banished from Alexandria. The knowledge of Origen upset projects of Gregory and Athenodorus and determined their conversion. Gregory described the meeting as well with Origen and his adherence to Christian faith: "Like a spark, then, immessaci in the heart, on the one hand, burned, flushed in our love for the Word holy, most loving, after all that entices with its ineffable beauty, second, to the man his friend and interpreter. I love pierced, causing them to neglect other activities and studies that appeared to be suitable for us and even my more beautiful, the home, the relatives who lived in Caesarea and for which we had embarked on the journey. Only one was the object of my love, my love: the philosophy taught that the divine man "(Gregory Healer, Address to Origen , a cura di E. Marotta, Città Nuova Editrice, Roma 1933, p. 66). Gregorio e Atenodoro rimasero a Cesarea di Palestina per cinque anni, portando a compimento il ciclo di studi previsto dalla scuola di Origene. Nel 238, al momento del congedo dal maestro, Gregorio gli rivolse il suo celebre Discorso di ringraziamento. Dopo essere vissuti con Origene per cinque anni, Gregorio e Atenodoro fecero ritorno a Neocesarea. Riferisce Eusebio che entrambi i fratelli avevano conseguito tali progressi nella conoscenza delle scienze divine, che furono ritenuti degni dell’episcopato e destinati a reggere le sorti delle chiese del Ponto. Fu così che Gregorio divenne il primo vescovo di Neocesarea, la sua città natale, mentre s’ignora the episcopal see of Athenodorus. At this time the apparition of Our Lady to St. Gregory the Healer, the first Marian apparitions recognized by the Church. There provides a detailed account of St. Gregory of Nyssa (about 335-395) in his Life of Gregory Healer, and is the first story of a Marian apparition: "So then, forced to submit to the yoke, after they were he fulfilled all the requirements in rituals, having asked those who had proclaimed that the bishop will give a little 'time to learn more about the mystery, she thought, as the Apostle says, he must not take counsel with flesh and more blood, but asked that the mystery gli fosse rivelato immediatamente da Dio. Perciò non osò cominciare il ministero della predicazione prima che gli fosse rivelata la verità per mezzo d’una visione.Difatti, mentre egli passava una volta la notte a riflettere sul discorso della fede, e la sua mente era occupata da varie preoccupazioni (vi erano infatti anche allora alcuni che alteravano l’insegnamento della religione, rendendo spesso ambigua, con argomentazioni ipotetiche, la verità anche per chi era esperto in queste cose), mentre dunque egli passava insonne la notte e pensava alla verità, gli apparve in visione un essere dalla figura umana, dall’aspetto senile, con un abito sacro e venerando, che dimostrava una grande virtù con la grazia del suo face and the behavior of his person. He then, frightened at the sight, got out of bed and asked who he was and why he came. And having calmed the other, his voice calm, his mind agitated and having answered that he had appeared for God's will, because of disputes which struggled in its environment, so that it revealed the truth of the true faith, he, in these words, took courage and looked with astonishment and joy. But after having the other stretched out his hand forward, showed him with his finger pointing what appeared alongside. Having run with his hand pointed his eyes, el'aver seen in front of another female ghost dressed in truly than can be seen in human terms, this terrified him again. He then, being embarrassed by the spectacle, he lowered his face, for, among other things, his eyes could not endure the vision (that is the miracle of vision consisted mainly in that, although the night, along with those that they appeared, a strong light shone like that of a lighted torch, beautifully bright). Since, therefore, could not stand watching his eyes, listened to the speech that those who had appeared together on the issue were discussed, in this way was not only educated on the true knowledge of faith, but also knew the names of those who they appeared, since they both called each other with your name. It is said that from what had appeared in female dress felt the urge to explain to the young evangelist John the mystery of true religion, and he replied that he is ready to help in this the Mother of the Lord, because she liked it. And so, after describing the issue in a convenient and well-defined, suddenly disappeared from sight. And he immediately wrote down the divine teaching, and, after that, he preached in the church in the same way, and that teaching left to posterity as an inheritance given by God to this day the people of that city, which remained immune heretical from every mistake, you learned through this teaching "(Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Taumaturgo Life, edited by Leo L., New City Editrice, Roma 1988, p. 50-51). The writing of the Healer, to which it relates Gregory of Nyssa, is the "Symbol" or "Exposition of Faith" , a brief but accurate statement of the doctrine of the Trinity. The Nyssa testifies, moreover, that the handwritten copy of the "Symbol" is still preserved in the church of Neocaesarea the time he wrote the biography of the saint. St. Gregory of Nyssa learned these facts directly from his grandmother, Saint Macrina, who was was a disciple of the Healer, after being converted and baptized by him. Upon receipt of the apparition of the Virgin, St. Gregory Taumaturgo faced with great pastoral zeal of the episcopacy, and is historically known as "the Apostle of Pontus," the extensive work of evangelization carried out in the region and for the defense of Orthodoxy of faith. Tradition ascribes to the bishop of Neocaesarea a series of wondrous miracles, which earned him the title of "Healer". Died about 270.
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Francesco Solimena, Vision of St. Gregory Taumaturgo
Canvas - 1680 ca. (Copyrighted image)
Canvas - 1680 ca. (Copyrighted image)
