You may object to me that exceptional time and exceptional circumstances have nurtured these great pillars of the Church. But was it not at the same time, and in the same circumstances, and from the same teachers, that the one who became the great apostate and persecutor of the Church, Julian the Apostate, studied? Yes, all three of them, as they say, sat at the same desk and were even friends for some time. Why do human paths diverge?

Yes, this is the work of Satan. Wide and wide is the path that leads to destruction, narrow is the path that leads to life. Each person chooses for himself.

God! Help us!

And today, as in the fourth century, holiness and apostasy exist side by side in one life. See how dangerously you walk, everything is around – both salvation and death.

The young men Gregory and Basil, as an example to the youth of our time, have acquired a depth of mind through the purity of their lives. Having brilliantly completed their studies, they both took another important step towards God, towards holiness. They died forever to the world, and the world died to them. Having learned the secular sciences, they settled in the wilderness in order to study perfectly the main science of life, the science of knowing God, and to be confirmed in their knowledge and election.

St. Gregory remembered this time with a special feeling. And then he wished to ascend to God with a pure heart and mind far from all worldly cares, far from all worldly cares, far from all the cares of life. But a different definition of him was drawn by God's Providence. His striving for personal podvig was sacrificed to the Holy Church, which at that time was torn apart by numerous heretical false teachings. And the gift of speech, given to Gregory by God, was called to serve the Church. "This gift I offer to my God, this gift I dedicate to Him — this is the only thing that I have left, and with which I am rich; he refused all other things according to the commandment of the Spirit."

At the age of thirty-three, with the assumption of the priesthood, the time of discipleship ended for Gregory. And the future saint went out to serve and preach, relentlessly following the beloved Christ the Savior. For ten years he helped his father, the bishop, with pastoral service, sharing with him all his labors and burdens. At the end of these ten years, St. Basil the Great, who was then already Archbishop of Caesarea, consecrated the priest Gregory as bishop.

What could Bishop Gregory have been? From the swaddling clothes of his infancy, he passed the path of spiritual growth in God up to the wilderness life, enriched with every knowledge of both the external and the internal, carrying within himself the light of Divine knowledge, he was a holy bishop. The bishop was a saint, but the world was a sinner. And the prince of this world does not tolerate holiness, trying by all means to depose it. And a stream of calamities falls upon the ascetic. He was not allowed to enter the cathedra where Bishop Gregory was ordained by another bishop, in whom the spirit of rivalry prevailed. The death of the saint's loved ones follows one after another, and only the heartfelt funeral words betray the sorrow that he carries in his heart. And only the healing balm of solitary prayer strengthens the sufferer. And this desire for wilderness solitude did not leave St. Gregory all his life: he came out of the wilderness only at the call of the Church, out of the duty of obedience to her.

At the age of fifty began the most intense feat of the saint. At that time, the Orthodox Church in Constantinople was in its death throes. The light of truth flickered only in the catacombs. The forty-year domination of Arianism, which in itself was a terrible heresy, gave rise to numerous other sects. The lost people, "sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death," indulged in endless "theological" disputes and debates. Artisans, shopkeepers, and merchants argued about the divinity of Christ, and these disputes gave rise to such monstrous blasphemy that people perished irretrievably. Those who escaped this misfortune were held captive by the demon in luxury and abominable carnal passions.

И вот в это пекло ада был призван святитель Григорий — смиренный старец, согбенный, изможденный подвигами поста, молитвы и слез. В Царьграде никто не воспринял его появления серьезно. В доме своих родственников пришлось святителю Григорию устроить домашнюю церковь, которую он назвал “Анастасия,” что значит “Воскресение.” По мысли святителя, здесь должно было воскреснуть совсем поникшее было в Константинополе православное учение.

Первые службы и проповеди его зазвучали в пустой домашней церкви. Но длилось это недолго. Первое невыгодное впечатление от старца-епископа вскоре сменилось в народе глубоким изумлением и почтением к нему. Громко, убедительно, властно зазвучало его слово.

Но чем больше собиралось к святителю сначала просто слушателей, а потом и молящихся, тем сильнее росло сопротивление ему торжествующего зла. Враг рода человеческого, уязвляемый святым мужем во главу, восстал на него всем своим могуществом. И только Бог хранил избранника Своего. Не раз архиерей со своей паствой был побиваем камнями прямо во время богослужения. Таинство Крещения многие принимали в своей крови. Но вид смерти не устрашил святителя Божия. И иные стрелы готовил его сердцу враг всякой правды: клеветы, ненависти, насмешки, измены тех, кого святитель Григорий прижимал к сердцу своему, как родных детей.

И ни разу не изменил архиерей всеоружию Божию против врага — терпению, смирению, кротости. Дело Божие спело его усердием и приносило плоды. Святитель Григорий назидал православных, смирял еретиков силой Божественного слова и всех равно учил своей строгой святой жизнью.

Так боролся с врагом-диаволом святой муж. Боролся за Церковь, за паству, за каждую заблудшую душу — боролся и побеждал. Народ Божий приобрел истинного пастыря, и дело восстановления Православия в Константинополе было совершено. В 380 году император утвердил указ против еретиков.