Page "Gregory of Nyssa" Paragraph 7

While his brothers Basil and Naucratius lived as hermits from c. 355, Gregory initially pursued a non-ecclesiastical career as a rhetorician.

He did however, act as a lector.

He is known to have married a woman named Theosebia during this period, who is sometimes identified with Theosebia the Deaconess, venerated as a saint by Orthodox Christianity.

This is controversial, however, and other commentators suggest that Theosebia the Deaconess was one of Gregory's sisters.