Righteous Theosebia the Deaconess

Blessed Theosebia (Theozva) the Deaconess was born into the devout Cappadocian family of St. Basil the Great — she was the natural sister of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter, Bishop of Sebaste. Choosing lifelong virginity, she dedicated herself to church service as a deaconess: nursing the sick, distributing food to travelers and the poor, raising orphans, and preparing women for Baptism. When her brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, was driven into exile for his defense of Orthodoxy against the Arians, St. Theosebia voluntarily accompanied him through three years of hardship. She reposed around 385. St. Gregory the Theologian (of Nazianzus), who knew her personally, honored her memory with a eulogy, calling her the ornament of the Church. Note: some later sources mistakenly attach "of Nazianzus" to her name; she in fact belonged to St. Basil the Great's Cappadocian family from Caesarea.