Fathers of the Church: St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Select Orations Book

This translation makes available nineteen orations by the fourth-century Cappadocian father St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Most are appearing here in English for the first time. These homilies span all the phases of Gregory's ecclesiastical career, from his service as a parish priest assisting his father, the elder Gregory, in his hometown of Nazianzus in the early 360s, to his stormy tenure as bishop of Constantinople from 379 to 381, to his subsequent return to Nazianzus and role as interim caretaker of his home church (382-83). Composed in a variety of rhetorical formats such as the lalia and the encomium, the sermons treat topics that range from the purely theological to the deeply personal.

Exemplifying the perfect synthesis of classical and Christian paideia, these homilies will be required reading for anyone interested in late antiquity. The introduction and notes accompanying the translation will assist both the specialist and the general reader as they seek to navigate the complex environment in which Gregory lived and worked.