Emmelia of Caesarea

Saint Emmelia of Caesarea in Cappadocia was the wife of Basil the Elder and the mother of nine or ten children, among them five honoured as saints: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sebaste, Naucratius and Macrina the Younger. She is commemorated on 30 May, together with her husband and her mother-⁠in-⁠law, Macrina the Elder.

She was born in Cappadocia, in the second half of the third century or the beginning of the next, at a time when Christianity was spreading ever more. She came from a wealthy family and married Basil the Elder, a Christian lawyer and rhetor, with whom she settled at Caesarea in Cappadocia. Here, with the help of Basil's mother, Macrina the Elder, they founded a family of great influence in the history of Christianity. She bore nine or ten children, among them Basil the Great (born around 330), Macrina the Younger, Peter of Sebaste, Gregory of Nyssa and Naucratius; a daughter, Theosebia, is honoured as a deaconess. After the death of Basil the Elder, Emmelia divided the family property among her heirs, freed the male and female slaves, and led a strict life dedicated to the faith, with her eldest daughter, Macrina the Younger, who had a deep influence on her. Surrounded by servants whom they treated as equals, at Macrina's insistence, they made their home a kind of women's monastery, in which one was reckoned rich who lived a pure Christian life and despised earthly pleasures. She lived many years with Macrina and passed away on 30 May 375 (in other sources, 8 May). According to one source, she was buried in a small family chapel, beside her husband and one of her sons.

The Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches venerate her as a saint; her mother-⁠in-⁠law, Macrina the Elder, and her daughters Macrina the Younger and Theosebia are also venerated as saints (Theosebia only in Orthodoxy).