St Gregory Nazianzen

Where do you start with this bishop, confessor, doctor and father of the Church? Born into a family of saints, student of Greek philosophy and Christian theology, caught between the desire to live in the world and retire from it, ordained priest and consecrated bishop against his will, gifted poet and preacher, defender of the faith against the Arians, persecuted for his orthodoxy, usurped of the bishopric of Constantinople, presider at the Council of Nicea before retiring to his birthplace to preserve peace in the Church and write the greater part of his poetry, the only saint in the East after St. John to be given the title 'the Theologian'.

The following verse by Cardinal Newman describes the constant tension St Gregory experienced throughout his life, how God called him to what he was reluctant to undertake but later granted him to pursue what he desired.

Peace-loving man, of humble heart and true
What dost thou here?
Fierce is the city's crowd; the lordly few
Are dull of ear!
Sore pain it was to thee,—till thou didst quit
Thy patriarch-throne at length, as though for
power unfit.
So works the All-wise! our services dividing
Not as we ask:
For the world's profit, by our gifts deciding
Our duty-task.
See in king's courts loth Jeremias plead;
And slow-tongued Moses rule by eloquence of
deed! {152}
Yes! thou, bright Angel of the East! didst rear
The Cross divine,
Borne high upon thy liquid accents, where
Men mock'd the Sign;
Till that cold city heard thy battle-cry,
And hearts were stirr'd, and deem'd a Pentecost
was nigh.
Thou couldst a people raise, but couldst not
rule:—
So, gentle one,
Heaven set thee free,—for, ere thy years were full,
Thy work was done;
According thee the lot thou lovedst best,
To muse upon the past,—to serve, yet be at rest.

Finally for those who are troubled about choosing a vocation or experiencing difficulty with their current vocation, you can find no better intercessor than St. Gregory Nazianzen.