St. Macrina The Younger 330 - 379 CE Pioneer Of Abolitionism

I knew nothing about St. Macrina the Younger until doing research for the roots of abolitionism series I did in February,  there in researching St. Gregory of Nyssa, her younger brother's sermon in which he condemned slavery as in conflict with the Gospels and with the prophets I found that he attributed his ideas about the abolition of slavery to his older sister.  She, living as a nun with her mother at the families' home at Pontus, convinced her mother that they should treat the servants, slaves, really, as equals and sisters, the earliest such act I know about.   I would welcome anyone who knows of a similar act undertaken before  

Gregory, in his biography of his sister, talks about what a dominant influence she was on her younger siblings, including the three who were so prominent that they are considered three of the fathers of the Church,  St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa and St, Peter of Sebastea.  His account of how Basil, returned from university an accomplished rhetorician and entirely full of himself was quickly deflated and turned onto a religious path by his sister.  It's clear from how he talked about her that he considered her an equal, as apparently his brothers did since they were, as well, guided by her.   He talks about her deep understanding and learning in a way that strikes me as unusual for the period.

The whole family seem to have been pretty remarkable people,  their grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder, of the generation who still, directly knew the impact of Roman imperial oppression of Christians.  She and her husband had to flee persecution.   In addition to being the grandmother of four saints, she is the mother of St. Gregory the Elder.   I don't know to what extent their family history of persecution, which could very easily have included enslavement, informed their reading of scriptures, though there is plenty in both the new and old testament to have convinced them of the religious duty to treat slaves as equals, in effect freeing them.  You can't do to others that which you would have done to you and keep others as slaves.  

It all makes me want to do more research into that, it's more interesting than the research I've been doing lately, more uplifting, too.  July 19th is her feast day, the reason I saved this until now.  With St. Patrick's day and the feast day of St. Gregory of Nyssa on January 10, there is ample opportunity to celebrate the early Christian abolitionist tradition, over and over again.  I think that's worth celebrating as often as possible, especially these days.