December 9 -- Feast of Saint Gorgonia

Not a nice thing to name your daughter

Gorgonia, but not a saint

If you had a daughter, I am sure that you would love her. If you loved your daughter, you surely would not name her Gorgonia, right? Somehow, Saint Gregory of Nazianzen the Elder and Saint Nonna chose to name their little girl Gorgonia and still became saints. More remarkably, their little girl grew up with the name Gorgonia and also became a saint (rather than a homicidal freak, as anyone stuck with that name might have been expected to become).

Bone-breakingm organ-aching, perpetrating twenty mule team!

Gorgonia was a women of powerful faith. She was once trampled by a team of mules. They broke her bones and dinged up her internal organs. She declined the help of a physician, however, as that would have been indecent. Instead, she prayed and was healed. Later, she found she was prone to illnesses, including headaches, fever, paralysis, and even the occasional coma. This time she consumed Eucharistic (communion bread) that she had mixed with tears she had shed while her head was resting on the altar.

Collage of St. Gorgonia by Kirsijona

She died of natural causes. Her brother, the younger Gregory of Nazianzus, called her "the Diamond of Her Sex" and "the Paragon of Women" in his eulogy. That's some pretty high praise, but all reports indicate that she was an exemplary daughter, sister, wife, and mother.