Saint Macrina the Younger
Saint Macrina the Younger (
330 -
379) was born at Caesarea,
Cappadocia. Her parents were Basil and Elder Emmelia, and her grandmother was
Saint Macrina the Elder. Her brothers were the Cappadocian Fathers,
Basil the Great and
Saint Gregory of Nyssa. She refused to marry and devoted herself to her religion, becoming a nun. In 379, Macrina died at her family's estate on the River Iris, in Pontus, and her brother Gregory composed a "Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection" (
peri psyches kai anastaseos), entitled
ta Makrinia (P.G. XLVI, 12 sq.), to commemorate Macrina. Her feast day is the
19th of July.