Peter of Sebaste

Who was Peter of Sebaste?

Peter of Sebaste was a bishop, taking his usual name from the city of his bishopric, Sebaste in Lesser Armenia. He is also known as Peter of Sebasteia.

His parents were Basil and Emmelia of Caesarea-in-Cappadocia and he was brother to St. Macrina the Younger and the two Cappadocian doctors, St. Basil of Caesarea and St. Gregory of Nyssa. He was the youngest of a large family, and Macrina, his eldest sister, exercised a great influence over his religious training, acting as his instructor in the way of Christian perfection, and directing him toward the spiritual and ascetic life. Renouncing the study of the profane sciences, he devoted himself to meditation on Holy Writ and the cultivation of the religious life. Shortly after his brother's elevation to the episcopal See of Caesarea, Peter received from him priestly ordination, but subsequently, withdrawing from active affairs, resumed the life of a solitary ascetic. He assisted his sister toward the attainment of her life's object, and aided her and her mother in their monastic establishment after his father's death.