Basil the Great

 As we begin the week of Thanksgiving, our thoughts (or at least, my thoughts) naturally turn to family. So, the post for today is for my Dad.

Basil of Caesarea, or Basil the Great, was born in Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of 10 children of Basil the Elder and Emmelia, both recognized as Saints in their own right, as are four of his siblings. Can you imagine growing up in that household? Young Basil was educated at school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens. It was at school that he met Gregory of Nazianzus, who became his close friend and also a Saint. After completing his education, Basil taught rhetoric and practiced law for about a year. 

When he was about 27, Basil encountered a charismatic bishop and ascetic named Eustathius of Sebaste and experienced a spiritual awakening. He abandoned his law practice and traveled to Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia to study ascetics and monasticism. However, he eventually recognized that the solitary life was not his calling. Basil felt called to the communal life and began to gather around himself a group of like-minded disciples, including his brother, Peter. Together they founded a monastic settlement on the family estate. Here Basil wrote about the monastic communal life. His writings are pivotal to the monastic traditions of the Eastern Church. 

In 362, Basil was ordained as a deacon and three years later, he was summoned back to Caesarea to be ordained as a presbyter (priest). In 370, he was made a bishop. He spent several years, along with his friend Gregory, combating the Arian heresy. As a bishop, he was known to be hot-blooded and imperious, but also generous and sympathetic. He actively worked to reform thieves and prostitutes, encourage priests, select candidates for holy orders, and criticize public officials who failed in their duty of administering justice. At the same time, he preached twice a day in his own church to large congregations.

Basil continued to face the growing spread of Arianism. He died before the factional disturbances ended. He suffered from liver disease, but his excessive ascetic practices possibly also contributed to his early death. He died at the age of 48.

St. Basil the Great is the patron saint of Russia, Cappadocia, Hospital Administrators, Reformers, Monks, Educators, Excorcism and Liturgists. In the Roman Church, his feast is celebrated on January 2. St. Basil, pray for us.