This is the tender story of St. Macrina's life, written by her brother St. Gregory of Nyssa. She was the eldest child to one of the most virtuous families in Christian history. Not only did she have a formative influence on her brothers St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Peter of Sebaste, and Naucratius, but she also became a guide for her mother to renounce the world and pursue a godly manner of life. In the words of St. Gregory concerning St. Macrina and her mother, "These women fell short of the angelic and immaterial nature only in so far as they appeared in bodily form." It is the story of loss and love, of triumph over all the allurements of the world, of the angelic life of the saints while they are as yet in an earthbound body. It is the story of St. Macrina who became a beacon of hope for all those who desire to dedicate their life to God.