their names are long since buried
in oblivion, while those of the saints which it gave to the church, and
who despised the world and its honors, are immortal in the records of
the church, and are written in the book of life; for the light of faith,
and the grace of the Almighty, extinguishing in their breasts the sparks
of worldly ambition, inspired them with a most vehement ardor to attain
the perfection of Christian virtue, and changed their family into a
house of saints; three brothers were at the same time eminently holy
bishops, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebaste; and
their eldest sister, St. Macrina, was the spiritual mother of many
saints and excellent doctors; their father and mother, St. Basil the
Elder, and St. Emolia, were banished for their faith in the reign of the
emperor Galerius Maximian, and fled into the deserts of Pontus; they are
recorded together in the Roman Martyrology, on the 30th of May: the
grandmother of our pious and fruitful family of saints, was the
celebrated St. Macrina the Elder, who was instructed in the science of
salvation, by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus. St. Peter of Sebaste was the
youngest of ten children, and lost his father in his cradle, some think
before he was born; and his eldest sister, Macrina, took care of his
education, in which it was her only aim to instruct him in the maxims of
religion, and form him to perfect piety; profane studies she thought of
little use, to one who designed to make salvation the sole end of all
his inquiries and pursuits, nor did he ever make them any part of his
employment, confining his views to a monastic state. His mother had
founded two monasteries, one for men, the other for women; the former
she put under the direction of her son Basil, the latter under that of
her daughter Macrina. Peter, whose thoughts were wholly bent on
cultivating the seeds of piety that had been sown in him, retired into
the house governed by his brother, situated on the bank of the river
Iris; when St. Basil was obliged to quit that post, in 362, he left the
abbacy in the hands of St. Peter, who discharged this office for {115}
several years with great prudence and virtue. When the provinces of
Pontus and Cappadocia were visited by a severe famine, he gave a
remarkable proof of his charity; human prudence would have advised him
to be frugal in the relief of others, till his own family should be
secured against that calamity; but Peter had studied