09 — Legacy and Reception
Macrina is venerated on 19 July within the Cappadocian synaxis of saints — one of the most saint-dense families in Christian history — and her cult, rooted not in relics but in two patristic texts, has made her a focus of modern scholarship on early female monasticism and on women’s theological authority. This section sets out her veneration East and West and surveys the modern literature.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father / Mother)
The afterlife of Macrina is distinctive: a saint whose cult is literary-patristic in origin, sustained by her brother’s two works and by her place among the family of Cappadocian saints. The first file traces her veneration and her modern invocation in discussions of women’s monasticism; the second is the bibliographic capstone, tracing the arc of modern scholarship from Maraval’s text-criticism, through Elm’s social history, to the gender-and-literary turn of Clark and Burrus, to Silvas’s comprehensive dossier — and the historicity-versus-construction debate that remains unresolved.
Files in this Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Veneration | Feast 19 July; her place in the Cappadocian synaxis and the family of saints; veneration East and West; the literary-patristic character of her cult; her modern invocation in discussions of women’s monasticism and authority. |
| Modern Scholarship | The survey: Maraval (SC 178), Silvas (Philosopher of God), Elm (Virgins of God), Burrus (Begotten Not Made), Clark (“The Lady Vanishes”), Callahan (GNO/FOTC), Roth (PPS); the arc of scholarship and the unresolved historicity-versus-construction debate. |
See Also
- The Family of Saints — the Cappadocian synaxis in which Macrina is venerated
- Gregory’s Two Works — the texts on which the cult and the scholarship rest
- Gender and Authority — the modern debate carried forward
- The Church Fathers — the patristic context of her veneration
- St. Xenia of St. Petersburg — a sibling thin-sourced collection and its source-critical method
References
- Silvas, Anna M. Macrina the Younger, Philosopher of God. Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts 22. Turnhout: Brepols, 2008.
- Maraval, Pierre. Grégoire de Nysse: Vie de sainte Macrine. Sources Chrétiennes 178. Paris: Cerf, 1971.
- Elm, Susanna. “Virgins of God”: The Making of Asceticism in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.
- “Venerable Macrina, Sister of Saint Basil the Great.” Orthodox Church in America, Lives of the Saints (19 July).