Gregory of Nyssa gives an account of many wonderful works performed by his namesake Gregory of Neo-Cæsarea, who was called _Thaumaturgus_ from the miraculous power which he possessed and very freely {166} exercised. The Virgin Mary and the Apostle John appeared to him, on one occasion, when he was in doubt as to the doctrine which he ought to preach, and, at the request of Mary, the Apostle gave him all needful instructions.(1) If his faith did not move mountains, it moved a huge rock to convert a pagan priest.(2) He drove a demon out of a heathen temple in which he had taken refuge, and the evil spirit could not re-enter until he gave permission.(3) Nyssen relates how St. Gregory averted an armed contest of two brothers who quarrelled about the possession of a lake on their father's property. The saint passed the night in prayer beside the lake, and in the morning it was found dried up.(4) On another occasion he rescued the country from the devastation of a mountain stream, which periodically burst the dykes by which it was restrained and inundated the plain. He went on foot to the place, and invoking the name of Christ, fixed his staff in the earth at the place where the torrent had broken through. The staff took root and became a tree, and the stream never again burst its bounds. The inhabitants of the district were converted to Christianity by this miracle. The tree was still living in Nyssen's time, and he had seen the bed of the lake covered with trees, pastures, and cottages.(5) Two vagabond Jews once attempted to deceive him. One of them lay down and pretended to be dead, while the other begged money from the saint wherewith to buy him a shroud. St. Gregory quietly took off his cloak and laid it on the man, and {167} walked away. His companion found that he was really dead.(1) St. Gregory expelled demons from persons possessed, healed the sick and performed many other miracles;(2) and his signs and wonders are not only attested by Gregory of Nyssa, but by St. Basil,(3) whose grandmother, St. Macrina, was brought up at Neo-Cæsarea by the immediate followers of the saint.