兩星期前，我們談到奧利振Origen; 上週，我們談過宣講聖子降生奧蹟的聖亞大納削St. Athanasius；今次，讓我們探討四世紀在卡巴多喜亞的教父the Cappadocian Fathers：聖大巴西略St. Basil the Great (330-379) ，他的弟弟聖額我略.尼沙St. Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 330-395)，和他們的好友聖額我略.納齊盎St. Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 329-389)。他們深受奧利振的影響, 並繼續聖亞大納削偉護正統教義的使命。他們發展了有關天主聖三的神學。後世學者形容聖大巴西略是「執行者」，聖額我略. 尼沙是「演說者」，聖額我略.納齊盎是「思考者」；他們都是教會的主教兼聖師。

聖大巴西略St. Basil the Great

聖大巴西略是東方教會隱修生活的鼻祖，是一個克己和常祈禱的人。他說：祈禱就是以聖詩調劑日常的生活，就如鹽調劑食物一樣。作為神學家，聖大巴西略以「一主體one Substance」在「三位格three Hypostases」內，來闡釋天主一體三位的道理。

聖大巴西略愛護貧困的人，他出售私產來建孤兒院、耆英院、醫院、修院和學校。他組織婦女團體，專門照顧貧病的人；他又為犯法的人向皇帝求情。在一次地震後，聖大巴西略在廢墟中徒手挖掘，搶救死傷者。他對信奉亞略異端Arian的華倫斯皇帝Emperor Valens，絕不畏縮，絕不妥協。

聖額我略. 納齊盎St. Gregory of Nazianzus

聖額我略.納齊盎從他父親, 聖長額我略, 手中領受鐸品神職。後來，聖大巴西略祝聖他為納齊盎Nazianzus城的主教。公元三七八年，信奉亞略異端的華倫斯皇帝駕崩，聖額我略.納齊被選到君士坦丁堡Constantinople執行主教聖職。亞略異端在該城猖獗已超過三十年了。

在君士坦丁堡，聖額我略.納齊盎在朋友家中設了一個小聖堂，專為正統信眾講解天主聖三的道理，因而像聖若望宗徒一樣, 被冠以「神學家」的尊號。額我略宣講聖神的天主性，教導有關基督的完整人性，所以遭到亞略和亞玻林Apollinarists異端群起的攻擊，額我略卻泰然安慰自己：他們雖依仗人多勢強，但自己卻依恃正義為後盾；他們雖盤踞教堂，可是天主和眾天使卻與自己站在一起。

額我略是愛好和平的人，對教會內反對自己的百般阻撓，不願以個人的榮辱進退，引起教會的紛爭，遂於公元三八一年退任君士坦丁堡宗主教一職，潛心專務隱修的生活，撰箸信仰詩篇。

聖額我略. 尼沙St. Gregory of Nyssa

聖額我略.尼沙是由兄長聖大巴西略和姐姐聖小馬克利納St. Macrina the Younger撫養成人，他說巴西略是他的父親和導師。聖額我略.尼沙曾應聘任修辭學教授，在妻子德沙巴Theosebeia逝世後，受聖額我略.納齊盎感動，獻身事主，不久晉陞鐸品，由他的哥哥聖大巴西略晉牧，任尼沙Nyssa主教。他是一個潛修的人，在靈修神學作了不小的貢獻，亦是當代具權威的東方教會哲學家，他受奧利振的感染，喜用寓意式詮釋聖經。

聖大巴西略去世後，聖額我略.尼沙的許多箸作，均屬教會全盛期的作品；第一屆君士坦丁堡大公會議1st Council of Constantinople (381)時，他是與會眾神學家之首，被認定是「教會的中流砥柱」，同時被標誌為當時「正統教義」的師表。尼西亞第二次大公會議2nd Council of Nicaea (787)，聖額我略.尼沙被尊為「諸教父中之父」。

Two weeks ago, we looked at the life of Origen, and last week, we looked at the life of St. Athanasius, who taught the mystery of the Incarnation eloquently.

This week, we are going to look at the Cappadocian Fathers, the heirs of Origen’s tradition, who elaborate a theology of the Trinity.

The Cappadocia Region was in modern-day Turkey. The three Cappadocian Fathers were St. Basil the Great (330-379), his brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 330-395), and a close friend, St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-389). Scholars note that Basil was “the man of action”, Gregory of Nazianzus “the orator” and Gregory of Nyssa “the thinker”. All three Cappadocian Fathers were bishops and doctors of the Church.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great was the principal organizer of monastic life in the Eastern Church. He was a man of discipline and prayer. He said that prayer was seasoning our daily work with hymns as we season food with salt. As a theologian, Basil taught the doctrine of the Trinity with the formula of one Substance (Nature) in three Hypostases (Persons).

Basil had a great love for the poor and the needy. He sold his possessions and built orphanages, hospitals, homes for the aged, schools and monasteries. He organized a society of women dedicated to the poor sick and the needy. He pleaded for mercy and forgiveness from the emperor for those who had done wrong. After an earthquake, he worked for days without sleep to dig through rubble with his own hands to save those trapped. Basil was so fearless and influential that even the Arian emperor Valens was afraid to depose him.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

St. Gregory of Nazianzus was a contemplative forced into action, and was bishop of Constantinople from 379 to 381. Gregory was ordained a priest by his own father, St. Gregory Nazianzen the Elder and he was consecrated bishop by St. Basil. After the death of the Arian emperor Valens in 378, Gregory was transferred to Constantinople, where Arians had dominated for over thirty years.

In Constantinople, Gregory opened a small chapel in the house of a friend. There, he delivered the famous sermons on the Trinity to his little flock. These sermons won him the title of “theologian” which he shared with St. John the Apostle. Gregory proclaimed the divinity of the Holy Spirit and preached on the integrity of the human nature of Christ; therefore, he was fiercely attacked by both the Arians and the Apollinarists, but he comforted himself by reflecting that if his adversaries were the stronger party, he had the better cause. Though they had the churches and the people, he had God and the angels on his side.

Gregory was a lover of peace. When the legitimacy of his transfer to Constantinople was contested, he resigned to avoid disturbance and bloodshed. Gregory then led a life of retirement, enjoyed his garden, and wrote religious poems.

St. Gregory of Nyssa

St. Gregory of Nyssa was raised up by his elder brother St. Basil and by his sister St. Macrina. He called Basil his “father and master”. Gregory became a rhetorician and married Theosebeia. After the death of his wife, St. Gregory of Nazianzus persuaded him to enter a monastery. Later on, his brother Basil made him bishop of Nyssa.

St. Gregory of Nyssa was a philosopher and a great mystic. He was one of the most philosophic Greek Fathers and contributed heavily to spiritual theology. Gregory was heavily influenced by Origen, whose allegorical interpretations of Holy Scripture he largely adopted.

The many writings of St. Gregory of Nyssa belong almost entirely to the period of maturity after the death of St. Basil. Gregory was the leading theologian at the First Council of Constantinople (381). He was regarded as “the common mainstay of the Church”. To be on Gregory’s side was considered in those days as a proof of orthodoxy. The Second Council of Nicaea (787) referred him as “the father of the fathers”.