the principles of
Christian charity in another school, and liberally disposed of all that
belonged to his monastery, and whatever he could raise, to supply with
necessaries the numerous crowds that daily resorted to him, in that time
of distress. Soon after St. Basil was made bishop of Caesarea in
Cappadocia, in 370, he promoted his brother Peter to the priesthood; the
holy abbot looked on the holy orders he had received as a fresh
engagement to perfection. His brother St. Basil died on the 1st of
January, in 379, and his sister Macrina in November, the same year.
Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, a violent Arian, and a
furious persecutor of St. Basil, seems to have died soon after them, for
St. Peter was consecrated bishop of Sebaste in 380, to root out the
Arian heresy in that diocese, where it had taken deep root; the zeal of
a saint was necessary, nor can we doubt but God placed our saint in that
dignity for this purpose. A letter which St. Peter wrote, and which is
prefixed to St. Gregory of Nyssa's books against Eunomius, has entitled
him to a rank among the ecclesiastical writers, and is a standing proof,
that though he had confined himself to sacred studies, yet by good
conversation and reading, and by the dint of genius, and an excellent
understanding, he was inferior to none but his incomparable brother
Basil, and his colleague Nazianzen, in solid eloquence. In 381, he
attended the general council held at Constantinople, and joined the
other bishops in condemning the Macedonian heretics. Not only his
brother St. Gregory, but also Theodoret, and all antiquity, bear
testimony to his extraordinary sanctity, prudence, and zeal. His death
happened in summer, about the year 387, and his brother of Nyssa
mentions, that his memory was honored at Sebaste (probably the very year
after his death) by an anniversary solemnity, with several martyrs of
that city.[1] His name occurs in the Roman Martyrology, on the 9th of
January.

* * * * *

We admire to see a whole family of saints! This prodigy of grace, under
God, was owing to the example, prayers, and exhortations of the elder
St. Macrina, which had this wonderful influence and effect; from her
they learned most heartily and deeply to imbibe the true spirit of
self-denial and humility, which all Christians confess to be the
fundamental maxim of the gospel; but this they generally acknowledge in
speculation only, whereas it is in