Lamentation in the Life of St. Macrina

In Gregory of Nyssa’s letter “The Life of St. Macrina” he discusses the life and death of his sister Macrina. Throughout his letter, he explains the ascetic life as one achieved through rigorous philosophy and ultimate prioritization of devotion to God. An ascetic may live in the world without being of the world. In their devotion to the Divine, they are released from worldly concerns and avoid foolishness. Macrina’s story is particularly compelling when considering the treatment of lamentation within the ascetic life and details how one is to mourn in light of the gospel. By assessing the method for attaining virtue, discussing three tragedies outlined in Gregory’s letter, and considering the challenges one might pose against the ascetic life, I will argue that, for the ascetics, mourning is the doorway to the house of rejoicing.

How Virtue is Achieved

Philosophy is the method to attain virtue. In his letter, Gregory considers his sister’s ascent to virtue. He writes, “having raised herself to the highest peak of human virtue through philosophy, she should not be passed over in silence and her life rendered ineffective.”[1]  The height of virtue a human can attain is achieved through philosophy. By applying philosophy as a mode of processing circumstance God can make one’s life effective.

Further, in considering the community of virgins, Gregory highlights that an ascetic’s main focus should be God, which brings about an angel-like existence. The community of virgins  “were not occupied with the concerns of this life…Rather, their one concern was the Divine…Their existence bordered on both the human and the incorporeal nature. On the one hand, a nature freed from human cares is more than human, whereas, to appear in the body and to be embraced by form and to live with the senses is to have a nature less than angelic and incorporeal.”[2] The virgins’ only concern is the Divine. By focusing on God, their existence was elevated above the cares and concerns of this world, like an angel. However, their embodiment and sensorial experience kept them tied to their human nature.

Philosophy is the means by which an ascetic may maintain their focus on God and continue to push upward toward greater and greater virtue. The community of virgins, “were not weighted down by the allurements of the body, but, borne upwards in midair… in time, their successes increased and always their philosophy gave them additional aids for discovering goods leading them to greater purity.”[3] The virgins were constantly pressing upward, strengthened by their philosophy. When they practiced their philosophy they were brought them closer and closer to virtue and purity. Virtue and purity are signals of an angelic nature.

In summation, an ascetic is constantly seeking to be in complete communion with God like the angels. To achieve an angelic nature, one must diligently pursue virtue and purity. Philosophy is the means by which an ascetic can prioritize passions into their proper hierarchy and practice ordering their passions in accordance with their worldview.

Three Tragedies

In order to apply philosophy, an ascetic must encounter circumstance. Gregory writes about at least three such challenging circumstances in Macrina’s life. By assessing three encounters with death we will consider how Macrina utilizes philosophy in times of lamentation.

During the time that Macrina was caring for her brother, they received word that their brother Naucratius had passed away. Upon hearing news of her son’s death, Macrina’s mother, who had been “perfectly schooled in virtue” lamented and, “nature won out …reason giving way to passion... At this point, the great Macrina's excellence was evident… she trained her mother's soul to be courageous. Consequently, her mother…conquered her natural impulses and thrust them aside with her own arguments or those suggested by her daughter for the healing of the pain … Nevertheless, transcending her nature, she lifted her mother up with her own line of reasoning and put her beyond what had happened, directing her by her own example to patience and fortitude...Macrina's life … did not give the mother an opportunity to grieve…and caused her to rejoice rather in the good...”[4] Although Macrina’s mother was already virtuous, was challenged by this circumstance and gave way to passion, rather than reason. Macrina, however, used philosophy to set reason as the master of passion. By setting an example for her mother, she too was then able to overcome her lamentation with courage. The philosophical arguments Macrina used served as a sort of medicine, healing the internal pain of the loss. By being confronted with this loss they practiced philosophy to reprioritize virtue over circumstance and rejoice in the present good. It is the natural impulse to lament, but through training in philosophy one becomes stronger in virtue and can choose to thrust the pain aside with arguments, be courageous, and rejoice.

Macrina’s family was then confronted with another loss. This time, it was the death of another brother: Basil. Gregory writes, “When Macrina heard the report of his distant death, she was greatly disturbed by such a loss…When her lofty understanding had been tried by the different attacks of grief, the genuine and undebased quality of her soul was revealed in every way... She remained like an undefeated athlete…”[5] Gregory does not pretend that Macrina was unmoved by the loss of Basil. It was through the challenges of grief that the quality of her soul shone forth. It is in these misfortunes that one is tested and tried to reveal their strength and excellence, like an athlete. An athlete cannot create muscle without gravity, similarly an ascetic cannot be refined without challenge. We do not know the strength of an athlete unless they are tried and tested, like an ascetic.

The final tragedy I will discuss is the tragedy of Macrina’s own death. Gregory visits Macrina as she lie dying. He writes, “through it all, she adjusted herself to the brighter side. She initiated suitable topics of conversation and gave me an opportunity to speak by asking me questions. As we spoke, we recalled the memory of the great Basil and my soul was afflicted … But she was so far from being downcast by our sorrow that she made the mentioning of the saint a starting point towards the higher philosophy…she spoke of certain aspects of the future life as if she was inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that my soul almost seemed to be lifted up out of its human sphere by what she said…In all of this, she went on as if inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit, explaining it all clearly and logically.”[6] Macrina muffles the symptoms of fleshly pain by returning to her training which bids her upward: philosophy. Not only addresses her own symptoms, but the symptoms of Gregory, encouraging him to rebound from his mourning and focus on reason and discourse. In this instance, she specifically discusses the future life – the life lived with God like the angels. Once the soul was pruned by the philosophical arguments, it may ascend to Heaven. Her clarity and logic seems to have been earned with practice and persistence, harkening back to the metaphor of the athlete and the training an athlete might undergo. So too, with the repetition and persistence in turning to philosophy and pressing upward toward the Divine, Macrina has dedicated herself to finishing the race strong.

On the day of her death, Gregory went to her side again. He writes,” “It was as if an angel had by some providence taken on human form... For this reason, she seemed to me to be making clear to those present the divine and pure love of the unseen Bridegroom…and she seemed to be communicating the disposition in her heart to go to the One she was longing for, so that, once loosed from the chains of the body, she might quickly be with Him. Truly, her race was towards the Beloved and nothing of the pleasure of life diverted her attention.”[7] Here Macrina is, again, compared to an angel because she has divorced herself from her flesh and rejected any pleasure that might distract her from the “divine and pure love of the unseen Bridegroom”[8]. She is modeling reprioritizing passions by focusing on the reunion with God and neither life’s pleasures nor sorrows are diverting her steadfast commitment to the pursuit of virtue through philosophy.

In summation, mourning is a despair that is concerned with what is now lost. But, for an ascetic Christian, what is lost will be found again and it will be found in Heaven.  Life’s pleasures and sorrows are challenges in the way of the purest passion for God. The ascetic life pushes toward Heaven where the soul is untethered and free to commune with God. Mourning, therefor, is an opportunity to rejoice.

Challenges[9]

Could encouraging those in the depths of lamentation to push through the pain with philosophy be more traumatic than beneficial? Paul writes, for instance, in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” This seems to make an argument against the ascetic life. However, I think Macrina might focus on the word with in that scripture. She was with her mother through the loss of Naucratius. She was in that place of lamentation but, through philosophy in the pursuit of virtue, she rose above the mourning towards rejoicing with her mother.

What then of the example that Miriam sets? In Exodus 15:20 Miriam rejoices in the victory and the liberation from Egypt with, “timbrels and dancing”. Miriam’s method of rejoicing in God’s liberation from slavery in Egypt into His service is quite impassioned. Macrina might offer another reading of the scripture. Miriam’s joy is the beginning of the Christian life, but one must still travel through the desert and live in obedience to God. Miriam’s celebration is the start of the race, but the race is to the finish line.

Jesus stopped to weep with Martha before raising Lazarus. Is this not an example set by Christ Himself to pause and mourn? Macrina might retort that a teacher is to have compassion but ultimately Jesus’ “lateness” offered an opportunity for Mary to strengthen herself through philosophy rooted in faith (which she did when she said that Christ could have healed Lazarus and, ultimately, he went a step further and resurrected). Perhaps Macrina would argue that this is actually a metaphor for the ascetic life – the embodied, earthly life is the place where God can extend His healing and blessings but it is only after death that the fullness of God’s greatness can be revealed.

Conclusion

Gregory writes, “But, just as they say gold is tested in many furnaces, that if it gets through the first firing and is tested in the second and, in the last is finally cleansed of all extraneous matter (this is the most accurate proof of true gold if, after all this firing, no impurity remains)...”[10] For the ascetic, circumstances are the various firings. When an ascetic triumphs over mourning with philosophy and ultimately authentic rejoicing it is as though the gold within their souls has proven itself gold indeed. Once the soul ascends to Heaven – like the final cleansing of the extraneous matter – it is able to freely rejoice in the truest passion: everlasting communion with the greatest Love of all. Thus, mourning is the doorway to the house of rejoicing.

[1] Gregorius, and W. K. Lowther Clarke. St. Gregor of Nyssa: the Life of St. Macrina. (Ann Arbor, MI: Books on Demand, 1994). 163.

[2] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 171.

[3] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 171.

[4] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 169-170.

[5] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 173.

[6] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 175-176.

[7] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 178-179.

[8] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 179.

[9] I myself do not agree with the ascetic lifestyle. However, I am inferring Macrina’s rebuttal to my asserted criticisms.

[10] Gregorius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 173.