His sister Macrina is represented as letting him grieve initially at her impending death. On the other hand, apatheia, freedom from emotion, is accepted as an ideal.
Sorabji demonstrates that Gregory of Nyssa uses Macrina to embody the nuanced position that moderated grief and the ideal of apatheia can coexist within a single Christian framework.
, Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, 2000thesis