Daily Martyrology for January 2

In the second half of the fourth century, Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, bishops and doctors of the church. Both were raised in remarkable Christian families. After studying together in Athens, the two embraced the monastic life at an estate on Basil’s family’s land. Basil wrote rules for monks, and later, as bishop of Caesarea in Cappodocia, he promoted monasteries as centers of social service. Like Basil, Gregory was a bishop and theologian who opposed the Arian heresy, which held that Jesus, the Son of God, was the greatest of the Father's creations and not His equal. He spent some years as bishop of Constantinople, where he helped to advance the doctrine of the Trinity, and was one of the presiders at the Council of Constantinople.

In 394, St. Macarius, Egyptian monk, known for his austerity. His teachings were handed down by his disciple, Palladius.

In 827, St. Adelard, abbot of Corbie, and advisor to the courts of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious.

In 1530, at Soncino, Italy, Blessed Stephanie Quinzani. According to the surviving story of her life, she was a member of the Dominican Third Order. She had ecstatic experiences in which she re-enacted the Lord's Passion, She was consulted by Angela Merici (January 27) and Osanna of Mantua (June 20). A community grew up around her, and she organized a monastery for them.

From 1792 to 1794, the martyrs of the French Revolution, who were canonized in small groups at various times during the twentieth century.

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Our daily martyrology was written by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB. Copyright © 2008 by the Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, ID 83338.