St Gregory Thaumaturgus – Feast Day – November 17 2023

St Gregory Thaumaturgus was also referred to as Theodorus, or Gregory of Neocaesarea (modern-day Niksar).

He was a Bishop, Confessor, a miracle worker or a wonder worker.

He was born in 213 AD in Neocaesarea, Pontus, Turkey and died in 270 AD in Pontus, (modern-day Anatolia, Turkey).

We celebrate his feast day on November 17 every year in the Catholic Church.

St Gregory Thaumaturgus Life History

Gregory Thaumaturgus, born around 213 in Pontus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey), was originally named Theodorus and came from a prosperous and prominent pagan family.

He received education in law and rhetoric during his youth and was the brother-in-law of the Roman governor of Palestine.

At the age of 14, his father died. Initially, he had plans to study at the law school in Beirut, but upon arriving at Caesarea with his brother-in-law’s group, he encountered Origen, who headed the catechetical school in Alexandria, Egypt.

Both Gregory and his brother Athenodorus abandoned their legal studies, became disciples of Origen, and embraced Christianity, with Theodorus changing his name to Gregory.

They spent seven years studying philosophy and theology under Origen before returning to Pontus around 238.

Gregory became the Bishop of Caesarea, a diocese with only 17 Christians when he assumed the role. He is renowned for converting the majority of his bishopric, with only 17 pagans left at the time of his death, according to tradition.

He introduced the celebration of martyrs, teachings on saints, and the observance of saint feast days to attract pagans to the Church.

During the Decian persecutions in approximately 250 AD, he and his congregation sought refuge in the desert. Gregory also provided care to the sick during a plague outbreak and assisted refugees when the Goths invaded Pontus in 252 AD.

He participated in the First Council of Antioch in 264 AD and 265 AD, where he opposed the heresies of Sabellianism and Tritheism.

Utilizing his legal expertise, he settled disputes among his parishioners without resorting to pagan-controlled civil courts.

Gregory presided over the council that selected Saint Alexander the Charcoal Burner as the first bishop of Comana.

His teachings had a significant impact on Saint Macrina the Elder, who passed on his wisdom to her grandsons, Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nyssa. He was also a notable theological writer.

As someone often referred to as the Wonder Worker, there were numerous miraculous events associated with Gregory:

Saint Gregory of Nyssa reported that he was the first known individual to receive a vision of the Theotokos, with the Virgin and Saint John the Baptist appearing to him in a vision, providing a statement of doctrine on the Trinity.

Gregory possessed the gift of healing through the laying on of hands, often resulting in immediate and fervent conversions of the healed individuals.

During the construction of a church for his growing congregation, a large buried boulder obstructed the site. Gregory commanded the rock to move out of the way, and it complied.

To prevent the River Lycus from causing frequent and destructive floods, Gregory planted his staff near the riverbank, and the river never flooded beyond that point after the staff took root and grew into a tree.

Two local pagans attempted to deceive Gregory for money by pretending one of them was dead. When Gregory couldn’t provide money, he offered his cloak to be sold for funds. Later, it was discovered that the “dead” man had indeed passed away.

Two brothers in Gregory’s diocese had a dispute over land that contained a lake. They resorted to armed combat to resolve it, but Gregory’s prayer for a peaceful solution caused the lake to dry up, leaving divisible farmland.

During the Decian persecutions, an informer disclosed Gregory’s location to the authorities, but guards found only two trees in the desert.

The informer later found Gregory and a deacon in prayer, convincing him of Gregory’s God’s reality and leading to his conversion.

Seeking shelter from a storm in a pagan temple, Gregory purified the place with the sign of the cross and spent the night in prayer.

When the pagan priest arrived for his oracles, the demons, who had posed as pagan gods, fled, acknowledging they could not stay near the holy man.

The priest threatened to report Gregory to anti-Christian authorities, but Gregory wrote a note granting “permission” to Satan, enabling the priest to summon the demons again.

The same pagan priest, after realizing the power of Gregory’s single God, asked for a sign and was taught Christianity by Gregory.

Despite lacking faith, he requested a sign of God’s power, and Gregory ordered a large rock to move, which it did. The priest converted and later became a deacon under Bishop Gregory. This episode led to Gregory’s patronage against earthquakes.

Gregory died around 270 AD in Pontus, Asia Minor, of natural causes, and his remains were later translated to Calabria, Italy.

He is revered as the patron against earthquakes, and floods, and for those facing desperate, forgotten, impossible, or lost causes.

He is often depicted as a bishop driving demons out of a temple and presenting a bishop’s mitre to Saint Alexander the Charcoal Burner.

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