🔶 May 30 - Saint Emmelia, the Mother of Saints 🔶
Today, on May 30th, we honor Saint Emmelia of Caesarea (modern-day Kayseri, Turkey), revered as “the mother of saints.” She is celebrated for giving birth to several saints, including Basil the Great.
Born in the early 4th century during the flourishing of Christianity in Cappadocia, Saint Emmelia was the daughter of a martyr and the daughter-in-law of Saint Macrina the Elder. She and her husband, Saint Basil the Elder, had ten children.
Emmelia instilled the Orthodox faith in her children, encouraging them to dedicate their lives to the Church. Six of her children are commemorated as saints: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Macrina the Younger, Naukratios of Mount Nitria, Peter of Sebaste, and Theosebia the Deaconess.
After her children had grown, Emmelia, persuaded by her eldest daughter Macrina, withdrew from worldly life. Together, they founded a women’s monastery on their secluded family estate in Pontus.
Many nuns joined Saint Emmelia and Saint Macrina the Younger at this monastery, forming a small convent where they lived, worked, and prayed together in pursuit of their common salvation.
Saint Emmelia lived to an old age and passed away on this day in 375.