A statue of St Macrina the Younger on the colonnade of St Peter’s Square. Photo: AlfvanBeem/Wikimedia Commons. In last week’s Irish Catholic, Fr Martin Delaney wrote a beautiful tribute to his late parents as he looked back on 40 years of his life as a priest. It was a powerful testimony of what we are reminded of in every celebration of baptism – that parents are the first educators and influencers of their children in the ways of faith. But what about the role of brothers and sisters in encouraging other family members in the ways of faith? Perhaps this is an area of family catechesis that has been neglected in recent decades.
On July 19, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of a saint who is not well known, certainly in the West. Her name is Macrina and she was the older sister of St Peter of Sebaste, St Gregory of Nyssa and St Basil – the latter two being part of the three Cappadocian Fathers (St Gregory of Nazianzus being the other), whose insights into the Trinity were borrowed by the early Church to clarify who we understood God to be. As the Church is indebted to Basil and Gregory, so are we, indebted to their older sister.
Macrina
Macrina was born around the year 327, to her parents Basil and Emmelia in Caesarea in modern day Turkey. She was the oldest of ten children and had a mature sense of responsibility towards her younger siblings. She helped her parents care for them and was particularly conscientious about teaching them the truths of the faith in ways they could grasp. She also kept her younger and academically gifted brothers grounded and humble, as only sisters can. Her brother Gregory reported that when their other brother Basil returned from his studied in Athens, she persuaded him to become a monk and to place his gifts at the service of God’s purposes. Before she died in 379, she prayed:
“You who have power on earth to forgive sins, forgive me so that I may be refreshed. May I be found before you once I have put off my body, having no fault in the form of my soul. May my soul be received into your hands, blameless and spotless as an offering before you”.
Later, in a work entitled ‘On the Soul and the Resurrection’, her brother St Gregory paid tribute to his parents for his gift of faith but also his older sister:
“[My parents] have given us a superior model for Christian family life. They handed on the faith to their children in a loving household, and the children, led by Macrina, encouraged one another in the faith”.
The example of St Macrina challenges us who are blessed with siblings, to also encourage one another in the faith”
Of course, Macrina, Basil, Gregory and Peter were not the first or only sibling saints. We think here of the Apostle brothers and Andrew and Peter, James and John, the siblings Benedict and Scholastica, Cyril and Methodius, Cosmos and Damien and many more. The lives of these saints speak to us of the call to holiness we share with our family members.
The example of St Macrina challenges us who are blessed with siblings, to also encourage one another in the faith. Today, when siblings gather, their parents are often the topic of conversation as we look back on our childhoods and evaluate the values, the faith and influence of our parents, at times that were very different to those we live in now. Yet, what we underestimate is the influence we have on one another as brothers and sisters within the same family in the present and the opportunities that we have to share the Gospel with our siblings. In the spirit of St Macrina, it is a call to leadership within the family to keep us united, to communicate, to organise times to gather, and to pray together on anniversaries, especially those of our parents. Here I think of siblings who look after their brothers and sisters who are ill or have disabilities and are in need of care and compassion. We think of family members who seek to intercede with and reconcile other siblings whose relationship has been strained or broken.
Empowered
I conclude by sharing a small idea within the celebration of baptism. It is not included in the rite itself and yet has everything to do with the formation of the new Christian within the domestic Church that is the family. As the parents are asked for their commitment in raising the child in the faith, as celebrant, if there are older brothers and sisters of the newly baptised, I often ask them if they too are willing to care for their younger brother or sister, to pray with them and to tell them of God’s love that we see in Jesus. They always respond with an enthusiastic ‘YES’, feeling involved, empowered and being reminded of their role in the faith lives of their younger siblings. They get it. This is the spirit of St Macrina who inspires us to seek opportunities to evangelise our brothers and sisters. For this challenging but important task, we ask her prayers.