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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


Name

Gregory the Miracle-Worker (Thaumatourgos), bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. c. 270

Saint ID

S00687

Number in BH

BHG 715
BHL 3678-3679

Reported Death Not Before

270

Reported Death Not After

275

Gender
Male
Type of Saint
Bishops
Related Evidence Records
IDTitle
E00822Basil of Caesarea, in his Letter 204 of 375, to the people of Neokaisareia/Neocaesarea in Pontus (northern Asia Minor), refers to *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop of Neocaesarea, S00687) as the founder of the local ecclesiastical tradition, whose doctrines he (Basil) was taught by his own grandmother, Makrina the Elder. Written in Greek at Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia (central Asia Minor).
E00823Basil of Caesarea, in his Letter 207 of 375, to the clergy of Neokaisareia/Neocaesarea in Pontus Polemoniacus (northern Asia Minor), defends himself against accusations of innovations contrary to the ecclesiastical traditions allegedly established by *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop of Neocaesarea, S00687). Written in Greek at Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia (central Asia Minor)
E01103Basil of Caesarea, in his treatise On the Holy Spirit, refers to the life and miracles of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop of Neocaesarea, S00687) and to a hymn associated with *Athenogenes (martyr and bishop of Pedachthoe, S00065). Written in Greek at Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia (central Asia Minor) in c. 375.
E01286The Syriac Ecclesiastical History of Barḥadbešabbā ‘Arbāyā ascribes a particular importance to such ecclesiastical leaders of the past as *Athanasios (bishop of Alexandria, ob. 373, S00294), *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. c. 270, S00687), *Basil (bishop of Caesarea, ob. 379, S00780), *Flavianos (bishop of Antioch, ob. 404, S00781), *Diodoros (bishop of Tarsus, ob. c. 390, S00782), *John Chrysostom (bishop of Constantinople, ob. 407, S00784), *Theodoros (bishop of Mopsuestia, ob. 428, S00783) and *Nestorios (bishop of Constantinople, ob. 450, S00778). Written in Nisibis (northern Mesopotamia) in the late 6th/early 7th c.
E01878Gregory of Nyssa composes the Life of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, S00687); it is delivered as a homily on the saint’s feast, recounting the manifold miracles he performed during his lifetime. Written in Greek in Asia Minor, in the late 370s or the 380s. Overview entry
E01879Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, S00687), of the late 370s or the 380s, recounts a vision experienced by the saint (purportedly in the early 3rd century), with *John the Evangelist (S00042) and *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) revealing the doctrine of the Trinity. Written in Greek in Asia Minor.
E01883Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, S00687), of the late 370s or the 380s, reports that, after the end of a persecution in the mid 3rd century, the saint established yearly celebrations for the martyrs in Neocaesarea of Pontus (northern Asia Minor), as a novel practice, aimed to facilitate the transition from paganism to Christianity. Written in Greek in Asia Minor.
E01884Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, S00687), of the late 370s or the 380s, reports that the saint refused to be buried in a privately owned tomb. Written in Greek in Asia Minor.
E02191According to Facundus, bishop of Hermiane (Byzacena, North Africa), in his Defence of the Three Chapters, Basil the Great defended the orthodoxy of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop of Neocaesarea, S00687). Written in Latin, probably in Constantinople, c. 547-550.
E03927The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 15 November *Philip (the Apostle, S00109), *Gregory (the Miracle-Worker, bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. 270, S00687), *Justinian (Roman emperor, ob. 565, S01572), *Shmona and Gurya (martyrs of Edessa, S00081).
E03929The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 17 November *Zakchaios and Alpheios (martyrs of Caesarea of Palestine, S00119), and *Romanos of Caesarea (deacon of Caesarea, martyred at Antioch, S00120), *Basil (bishop and martyr of Hama, S01135), *Gregory (the Miracle-Worker, bishop and missionary of Pontus, S00687), and *Basil (bishop of Caesarea, ob. 379, S00780).
E03930The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 18 November *Epiphanios (bishop of Salamis, ob. 403, S00215), *Gregory (the Miracle-Worker, bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. 270, S00687), *Platon (martyr of Ankyra, S00650).
E04192Eustratius of Constantinople in his tract On the State of Souls after Death, argues that miracles and visions are performed by the souls of the saints personally, responding to those who deny the posthumous activity of the soul and ascribe miracles to divine powers assuming the forms of the saints. He quotes from several hagiographic works. Written in Greek at Constantinople, 583/602.
E04433Gregory the Great, in his Dialogues (1.7), describes three miracles effected by *Nonnosus (prior of Mount Soracte, later 6th c., S01713) on Mount Soracte, near Rome. These were conducted in imitation of *Gregory (the Miracle Worker, S00687), *Donatus (bishop of Arezzo, S01527) and *Elisha (Old Testament Prophet, S00239). Written in Latin in Rome, c. 593.
E05022The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 17 November.
E05099Procopius of Caesarea, in his On Buildings, reports that the emperor Justinian (r. 527-565) renovated a great number of monasteries in the region of Jerusalem (and elsewhere in the East), many of them dedicated to saints. Written in Greek at Constantinople, in the 550s.
E05924The Latin Life of the Jura Fathers recounts how a demon was expelled from a girl through a letter from *Eugendus (ascetic in the Jura mountains, ob. 512/515, S02182); 495/515 in Gaul. Written at Condat in the Jura mountains (modern Saint-Claude in eastern Gaul), c. 515/520.
E05938An anonymous Life of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (missionary and bishop, S00687), not identical to the one composed by Gregory of Nyssa, is produced in Syriac during the 5th or 6th century. The main part of the Syriac Life is taken by the description of miracles performed by Gregory.
E06112Eucherius of Lyon refers to the miracles of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker/Thaumatourgos (bishop and missionary in Pontus, S00687), in his treatise On Contempt for the World, written in Gaul, probably at Lérins, c. 432.
E07734John Diakrinomenos in his Ecclesiastical History mentions the miraculous survival during an earthquake of the church which housed the tomb of *Gregory the Miracle Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, S00687) in Neocaesarea (northern Asia Minor). Written in Greek in Constantinople, c. 513/515.