For my Saint posts every November, I aim to offer a variety of Saints that will reflect the universality of the Catholic Church. Today, for the letter 'G', we have a married lay-woman from the early centuries of the Church.
St. Gorgonia was from a very saintly family. Her parents were St. Gregory Nazianzus the Elder and St. Nonna; her brothers were St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also known as Gregory the Theologian, and St. Caesarius. Raised in such a prestigious family, she was given a great example for establishing her own family. She married a man of some influence named Vitalian. Gorgonia was quite influential herself, helping her husband grow in the faith.
The couple had several children (the sources I researched differed on the number). St. Gorgonia is called the "pattern of a married saint" for her dedication to her Vocation as a wife and mother. She was also known for her hospitality. Upon her death in 375, her brother, Gregory, gave her eulogy in which he called her a model Christian spouse and mother, the "paragon of women" and "the diamond of her sex."
St. Gorgonia is patroness of people afflicted by bodily ills or sickness. Her feast day is February 23 in the Eastern Orthodox Church and December 9 in the Roman Catholic Church.
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