Saint Basil the Great,
Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia
Troparion in Tone 1
Your proclamation has gone out into all the earth
Which was divinely taught by hearing your voice
Expounding the nature of creatures,
Ennobling the manners of men.
O holy father of a royal priesthood,
Entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion in Tone 4
You were revealed as the sure foundation of the Church,
Granting all men a lordship which cannot be taken away,
Sealing it with your precepts,
O Venerable and Heavenly Father Basil.
Saint Basil the Great,
Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia,
"belongs not to the Church of
Caesarea alone, nor merely to his own time, nor was he of
benefit only to his own kinsmen, but rather to all lands and cities
worldwide, and to all people he brought and still brings benefit, and for
Christians he always was and will be a most salvific teacher."
Thus spoke St. Basil's contemporary, St. Amphilochios,
Bishop of Iconium (November 23).
St. Basil was born in the year 330 at Caesarea, the administrative center of
Cappadocia. He was of illustrious lineage, famed for its eminence and
wealth, and zealous for the Christian Faith. The saint's grandfather and
grandmother on his father's side had to hide in the forests of Pontus for
seven years during the persecution under Diocletian.
St. Basil's mother St. Emmelia was the daughter of a martyr.
On the Greek calendar, she is commemorated on May 30. St. Basil's father was
also named Basil. He was a lawyer and renowned rhetorician, and lived at
Caesarea.
Ten children were born to the elder Basil and Emmelia: five
sons and five daughters. Five of them were later numbered among the saints:
Basil the Great; Macrina (July 19) was an exemplar of ascetic life, and
exerted strong influence on the life and character of St. Basil the Great;
Gregory, afterwards Bishop of Nyssa (January 10); Peter, Bishop of Sebaste
(January 9); and Theosebia, a deaconess (January 10).
St. Basil spent the first years of his life on an estate belonging to his
parents at the River Iris, where he was raised under the supervision of his
mother Emmelia and grandmother Macrina. They were women of great refinement,
who remembered an earlier bishop of Cappadocia, St. Gregory the Wonderworker
(November 17). Basil received his initial education under the supervision of
his father, and then he studied under the finest teachers in Caesarea of
Cappadocia, and it was here that he made the acquaintance of St. Gregory the
Theologian (January 25 and January 30). Later, Basil transferred to a school
at Constantinople, where he listened to eminent orators and philosophers. To
complete his education St. Basil went to Athens, the center of classical
enlightenment.
After a four or five year stay at Athens, Basil had mastered all the
available disciplines. "He studied everything thoroughly, more than others
are wont to study a single subject. He studied each science in its very
totality, as though he would study nothing else." Philosopher, philologist,
orator, jurist, naturalist, possessing profound knowledge in astronomy,
mathematics and medicine, "he was a ship fully laden with learning, to the
extent permitted by human nature."
In Athens, a close friendship developed between Basil the Great and Gregory
the Theologian (Nazianzus), which continued throughout their life. In fact,
they regarded themselves as one soul in two bodies. Later on, in his eulogy
for Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian speaks with delight about
this period: "Various hopes guided us, and indeed inevitably, in learning...
Two paths opened up before us: the one to our sacred temples and the
teachers therein; the other towards preceptors of disciplines beyond."
About the year 357, St. Basil returned to Caesarea, where for a certain
while he devoted himself to rhetoric. But soon, refusing offers from
Caesarea's citizens who wanted to entrust him with the education of their
offspring, St. Basil entered upon the path of ascetic life.
After the death of her husband, Basil's mother, her eldest daughter Macrina,
and several maidservants withdrew to the family estate at Iris and there
began to lead an ascetic life. Basil was baptized by the bishop of Caesarea
Dianios, and was tonsured a Reader (On the Holy Spirit, 29). He first read
the Holy Scriptures to the people, then explained them.
Later on, "wanting to acquire a guide to the knowledge of truth", the saint
undertook a journey into Egypt, Syria and Palestine, to meet the great
Christian ascetics dwelling there. On returning to Cappadocia, he decided to
do as they did. He distributed his wealth to the needy, then settled on the
opposite side of the river not far from his mother Emmelia and sister
Macrina, gathering around him monks living a cenobitic life.
By his letters, Basil drew his good friend Gregory the Theologian to the
monastery. Sts. Basil and Gregory labored in strict abstinence in their
dwelling place, which had no roof or fireplace, and the food was very
humble. They themselves cleared away the stones, planted and watered the
trees, and carried heavy loads. Their hands were constantly calloused from
the hard work. For clothing Basil had only a tunic and monastic mantle. He
wore a hairshirt, but only at night, so that it would not be obvious.
In their solitude, Sts. Basil and Gregory occupied themselves in an intense
study of Holy Scripture. They were guided by the writings of the Fathers and
commentators of the past, especially the good writings of Origen. From all
these works they compiled an anthology called Philokalia. Also at this time,
at the request of the monks, St. Basil wrote down a collection of rules for
virtuous life. By his preaching and by his example St. Basil assisted in the
spiritual perfection of Christians in Cappadocia and Pontus; and many indeed
turned to him. Monasteries were organized for men and for women, in which
places Basil sought to combine the cenobitic (koine bios, or common)
lifestyle with that of the solitary hermit.
During the reign of Constantius (337-361) the heretical teachings of Arius
were spreading, and the Church summoned both its saints into service. St.
Basil returned to Caesarea. In the year 362 he was ordained deacon by Bishop
Meletios of Antioch. In 364 he was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop
Eusebios of Caesarea. "But seeing," as Gregory the Theologian relates, "that
everyone exceedingly praised and honored Basil for his wisdom and reverence,
Eusebios, through human weakness, succumbed to jealousy of him, and began to
show dislike for him." The monks rose up in defense of St. Basil. To avoid
causing Church discord, Basil withdrew to his own monastery and concerned
himself with the organization of monasteries.
With the coming to power of the emperor Valens (364-378), who was a resolute
adherent of Arianism, a time of troubles began for Orthodoxy, the onset of a
great struggle. St. Basil hastily returned to Caesarea at the request of
Bishop Eusebios. In the words of Gregory the Theologian, he was for Bishop
Eusebios "a good advisor, a righteous representative, an expounder of the
Word of God, a staff for the aged, a faithful support in internal matters,
and an activist in external matters."
From this time church governance passed over to Basil, though he was
subordinate to the hierarch. He preached daily, and often twice, in the
morning and in the evening. During this time St. Basil composed his Liturgy.
He wrote a work "On the Six Days of Creation" (Hexaemeron) and another on
the Prophet Isaiah in sixteen chapters, yet another on the Psalms, and also
a second compilation of monastic rules. St. Basil wrote also three books
"Against Eunomios," an Arian teacher who, with the help of Aristotelian
concepts, had presented the Arian dogma in philosophic form, converting
Christian teaching into a logical scheme of rational concepts.
St. Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the activity of Basil the Great
during this period, points to "the caring for the destitute and the taking
in of strangers, the supervision of virgins, written and unwritten monastic
rules for monks, the arrangement of prayers [Liturgy], the felicitous
arrangement of altars and other things." Upon the death of Eusebios, the
Bishop of Caesarea, St. Basil was chosen to succed him in the year 370. As
Bishop of Caesarea, St. Basil the Great was the newest of fifty bishops in
eleven provinces. St. Athanasios the Great (May 2), with joy and with thanks
to God welcomed the appointment to Cappadocia of such a bishop as Basil,
famed for his reverence, deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, great learning,
and his efforts for the welfare of Church peace and unity.
Under Valens, the external government belonged to the Arians, who held
various opinions regarding the divinity of the Son of God, and were divided
into several factions. These dogmatic disputes were concerned with questions
about the Holy Spirit. In his books Against Eunomios, St. Basil the Great
taught the divinity of the Holy Spirit and His equality with the Father and
the Son. Subsequently, in order to provide a full explanation of Orthodox
teaching on this question, St. Basil wrote his book On the Holy Spirit at
the request of St. Amphilochios, the Bishop of Iconium.
St. Basil's difficulties were made worse by various circumstances:
Cappadocia was divided in two under the rearrangement of provincial
districts. Then at Antioch a schism occurred, occasioned by the consecration
of a second bishop. There was the negative and haughty attitude of Western
bishops to the attempts to draw them into the struggle with the Arians. And
there was also the departure of Eustathios of Sebaste over to the Arian
side. Basil had been connected to him by ties of close friendship. Amidst
the constant perils St. Basil gave encouragement to the Orthodox, confirmed
them in the Faith, summoning them to bravery and endurance. The holy bishop
wrote numerous letters to the churches, to bishops, to clergy and to
individuals. Overcoming the heretics "by the weapon of his mouth, and by the
arrows of his letters," as an untiring champion of Orthodoxy, St. Basil
challenged the hostility and intrigues of the Arian heretics all his life.
He has been compared to a bee, stinging the Church's enemies, yet nourishing
his flock with the sweet honey of his teaching.
The emperor Valens, mercilessly sending into exile any bishop who displeased
him, and having implanted Arianism into other Asia Minor provinces, suddenly
appeared in Cappadocia for this same purpose. He sent the prefect Modestus
to St. Basil. He began to threaten the saint with the confiscation of his
property, banishment, beatings, and even death.
St. Basil said, "If you take away my possessions, you will not enrich
yourself, nor will you make me a pauper. You have no need of my old worn-out
clothing, nor of my few books, of which the entirety of my wealth is
comprised. Exile means nothing to me, since I am bound to no particular
place. This place in which I now dwell is not mine, and any place you send
me shall be mine. Better to say: every place is God's. Where would I be
neither a stranger and sojourner (Ps 38/39:13)? Who can torture me? I am so
weak, that the very first blow would render me insensible. Death would be a
kindness to me, for it will bring me all the sooner to God, for Whom I live
and labor, and to Whom I hasten."
The official was stunned by his answer. "No one has ever spoken so
audaciously to me," he said.
"Perhaps," the saint remarked, " that is because you've never spoken to a
bishop before. In all else we are meek, the most humble of all. But when it
concerns God, and people rise up against Him, then we, counting everything
else as naught, look to Him alone. Then fire, sword, wild beasts and iron
rods that rend the body, serve to fill us with joy, rather than fear."
Reporting to Valens that St. Basil was not to be intimidated, Modestus said,
"Emperor, we stand defeated by a leader of the Church." Basil the Great
again showed firmness before the emperor and his retinue and made such a
strong impression on Valens that the emperor dared not give in to the Arians
demanding Basil's exile. "On the day of Theophany, amidst an innumerable
multitude of the people, Valens entered the church and mixed in with the
throng, in order to give the appearance of being in unity with the Church.
When the singing of Psalms began in the church, it was like thunder to his
hearing. The emperor beheld a sea of people, and in the altar and all around
was splendor; in front of all was Basil, who acknowledged neither by gesture
nor by glance, that anything else was going on in church." Everything was
focused only on God and the altar-table, and the clergy serving there in awe
and reverence.
St. Basil celebrated the church services almost every day. He was
particularly concerned about the strict fulfilling of the Canons of the
Church, and took care that only worthy individuals should enter into the
clergy. He incessantly made the rounds of his own church, lest anywhere
there be an infraction of Church discipline, and setting aright any
unseemliness. At Caesarea, St. Basil built two monasteries, a men's and a
women's, with a church in honor of the 40 Martyrs (March 9) whose relics
were buried there. Following the example of monks, the saint's clergy, even
deacons and priests, lived in remarkable poverty, to toil and lead chaste
and virtuous lives. For his clergy St. Basil obtained an exemption from
taxation. He used all his personal wealth and the income from his church for
the benefit of the destitute; in every center of his diocese he built a
poor-house; and at Caesarea, a home for wanderers and the homeless.
Sickly since youth, the toil of teaching, his life of abstinence, and the
concerns and sorrows of pastoral service took their toll on him. St. Basil
died on January 1, 379 at age 49. Shortly before his death, the saint
blessed St. Gregory the Theologian to accept the See of Constantinople.
Upon the repose of St. Basil, the Church immediately began to celebrate his
memory. St. Amphilochios, Bishop of Iconium (+ 394), in his eulogy to St.
Basil the Great, said: "It is neither without a reason nor by chance that
holy Basil has taken leave from the body and had repose from the world unto
God on the day of the Circumcision of Jesus, celebrated between the day of
the Nativity and the day of the Baptism of Christ. Therefore, this most
blessed one, preaching and praising the Nativity and Baptism of Christ,
extolling spiritual circumcision, himself forsaking the flesh, now ascends
to Christ on the sacred day of remembrance of the Circumcision of Christ.
Therefore, let it also be established on this present day annually to honor
the memory of Basil the Great festively and with solemnity."
Saint Basil is also known as the revealer of heavenly mysteries (Ouranophantor),
a "renowned and bright star," and "the glory and beauty of the Church." His
honorable head is in the Great Lavra on Mt. Athos.
In some countries it is customary to sing special carols
today in honor of St. Basil. He is believed to visit the homes of the
faithful, and a place is set for him at the table. People visit the homes of
friends and relatives, and the mistress of the house gives a small gift to
the children. A special bread (Vasilopita) is blessed and distributed after
the Liturgy. A silver coin is baked into the bread, and whoever receives the
slice with the coin is said to receive the blessing of St. Basil for the
coming year.
Martyr Basil of Ancyra
Ancyra (ca 362)
Troparion in tone 4
Your holy martyr, O Lord,
Through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our
God.
For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries,
And shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through his intercessions, save our souls!
St. Emilia, the Mother of St Basil the Great
Caesarea, Cappadocia (4th Century)
