| Basil the Great |
Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia |
| Saint, Doctor, Archbishop |
| Born |
ca. 329-333, Caesarea Mazaca,
Cappadocia |
| Died |
379, Caesarea Mazaca, Cappadocia |
| Venerated in |
Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy
Eastern Catholic Churches
Anglicanism
Lutheran Church
|
| Canonized |
pre-congregation |
| Feast |
January 1 (East), January 2 (West) June 14 --
pre-Vatican II calendar |
| Attributes |
Episcopal insignia |
| Patronage |
Cappadocia, Hospital administrators, Reformers,
Monks |
 Saints Portal |
Basil of Caesarea (between 329 and 333 - January 1, 379) (Latin: Basilius), also
called Saint Basil the Great (Greek: Άγιος Βασίλειος ο Μέγας), was
Bishop of Caesarea, a leading churchman in the 4th century. The
Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern
Catholic Churches consider him a saint and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Gregory Nazianzus
and John Chrysostom. Basil, Gregory Nazianzus, and Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa are called the Cappadocian Fathers. The
Roman Catholic Church considers him a saint and a Doctor of the Church.
The Basilian Fathers, also known as The Congregation of St. Basil, is an
international order of Roman Catholic priests and students studying for the priesthood.
In Greek tradition, his name was given to Father
Christmas and is supposed to visit children and give presents every January 1 (when
Basil's memory is celebrated), unlike other traditions where this person is Saint
Nicholas and comes every Christmas.
Life
Basil was born between 329 and 333 at Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia. One of 10 children, he came from a wealthy
and pious family that produced a number of saints, including his father, also named Basil, his mother Emelia, grandmother Macrina the Elder, sister Macrina the Younger and brothers Gregory of Nyssa and
Peter, who became Bishop of Sebaste. His younger brother Naucratius was known for his
dedication to Christ and his influence on Basil was rather dramatic. Some church historian presumed Theosebia was his youngest sister, who is also a saint among the Eastern Orthodox.
While still a child, the family moved to Capernaum; but he soon returned to Cappadocia to
live with his mother's relations and seems to have been brought up by his grandmother Macrina. Eager to learn, he went to
Constantinople and spent four or five years there and at Athens, where he had Gregory Nazianzus
for a fellow student and became friends with the future emperor Julian. Both men
were deeply influenced by Origen and both are said to have later written an Anthology of Origen
called Philokalia.
It was at Athens that he seriously began to think of religion, and resolved to seek out the
most famous hermit saints in Syria and Arabia in order to learn from them how to attain
enthusiastic piety and how to keep his body under submission by asceticism, what he called "philosophical life." Prior to his
decision to become a monk, he opened an oratory and practiced law in Ceasarea. [1] He also taught rhetoric,
which at the time was a very respectable place in university curricula.[2]
Arnesi
After this, we find him at the head of a convent near Arnesi in Pontus, in which his mother
Emelia, then widowed, his sister Macrina and several other women, gave themselves to a pious life of prayer and charitable works.
Eustathius of Sebaste had already labored in Pontus in behalf of the
anchoretic life, and Basil revered him on that account, although they differed over dogmatic
points, which gradually separated these two men.[citation needed] Basil himself gathered several disciples around him, including his own
brother Peter, and these men gathered together to found the first monastery in Asia Minor.
He remained there for only five years. It was here, however, that Basil wrote his documents regarding communal living, which
are accounted as being pivotal in the development of the monastic tradition of the Eastern church and have led to his being
called the "father of Eastern communal monasticism".[3][2]
In 358, he left the monastery with Gregory and they became hermits, dividing their time between prayer, writing, and
contemplation. It was at this time that he wrote his Philocalia, a colelction of texts drawn from Origen.[2]
Siding from the beginning and at the Council of Constantinople in 360 with the Homoousians, Basil went especially with those who overcame the aversion to the homoousios in common
opposition to Arianism, thus drawing nearer to Athanasius of Alexandria. Like Athanasius, he was also opposed to the Macedonianism.
He also became a stranger to his bishop, Dianius of Caesarea, who had subscribed only to the
Nicene form of agreement, and became reconciled to him only when the latter was about to
die.
Caesarea
Russian Icon of St. Basil
He was summoned by Eusebius of Caesarea to his city, and was ordained
presbyter of the Church there in 365. His ordination was probably
the result of the entreaties of his ecclesiastical superiors, who wished to use his talents against the Arians, who were numerous
in that part of the country and were favoured by the Arian emperor, Valens, who then reigned in
Constantinople. Basil at this time took on functional administration of the Diocese of Caesarea,[3]Eusebius is reported as becoming jealous of the reputation and influence which Basil quickly
developed, and allowed Basil to return to his earlier solitude. Later, however, Gregory persuaded Basil to return. Basil did so,
and became the effective manager of the diocese for several years, while giving all the credit to Eusebius.[2]
In 370, Eusebius died, and Basil was chosen to succeed him. His new post as bishop of Caesarea
also gave him the powers of exarch of Pontus and metropolitan of fifth suffragan bishops, many of whom had opposed him in the
election for Eusebius's successor. It was then that his great powers were called into action. Hot-blooded and somewhat imperious,
Basil was also generous and sympathetic. He personally organized a soup kitchen and distributed food to the poor during a famine
following a drought. He gave away his personal family inheritance to benefit the poor of his diocese. [2]
His letters show that he actively worked to reform thieves and prostitutes. They also show him encouraging his clergy not to
be tempted by wealth or the comparatively easy life of a priest, that he personally took care in selecting candidates for holy
orders. He also had the courage to criticize public officials who failed in their duty of administering justice. At the same
time, he preached every morning and evening in his own church to large congregations. In addition to all the above, he built a
large complex just outside Caesarea. Called the Basiliad, this complex, which included a poorhouse, hospice, and hospital, was
regarded at the time as one of the wonders of the world.[2]
His zeal for orthodoxy did not blind him to what was good in an opponent; and for the sake of peace and charity he was content
to waive the use of orthodox terminology when it could be surrendered without a sacrifice of truth. The Emperor Valens, who was an adherent of the Arian philosophy, sent his prefect Modestus
to at least agree to a compromise with the Arian faction. Basil's adamant response in the negative prompted Modestus to say that
no one had ever spoken to him in that way before. Basil replied, "Perhaps you have never yet had to deal with a bishop." Modestus
reported back to Valens that he believed nothing short of violence would avail against Basil. Valens was apparently unwilling to
engage in violence. He did however issue orders of banishment of Basil repeatedly, none of which succeeded. Valens came himself
to hear Basil celebrated Mass on the Feast of the
Epiphany, and at that time was so impressed by Basil that he donated to him some land for the building of the Basiliad.
This interaction helped to define the limits of governmental power over the church. [2]
Basil then had to face the growing spread of Arianism. This belief system, which denied that
Christ was consubstantial with the Father, was quickly gaining adherents and was seen
by many, particularly those in Alexandria most familiar with it, as posing a threat to the unity of the church. [4] Basil entered into connections with the West, and with the help
of Athanasius, he tried to overcome its distrustful attitude toward the
Homoiousians. The difficulties had been enhanced by bringing in the question as to the essence of the Holy Spirit. Although Basil advocated objectively the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, he belonged to those, who, faithful to Eastern tradition, would not
allow the predicate homoousios to the former; for this he was reproached as early as 371 by the Orthodox zealots among the monks,
and Athanasius defended him. His relations also with Eustathius were maintained in spite of dogmatic differences and caused suspicion. On the other hand, Basil
was grievously offended by the extreme adherents of Homoousianism, who seemed to him to be
reviving the Sabellian heresy.
Basil is known to have exchanged letters with Pope Damasus in the hope of having the
Roman bishop condemn heresy wherever found, both East and
West. The Pope's apparent indifference upset Basil's zeal and he
turned around in distress and sadness. It is still a point of controversy over how much he believed the Roman See could do for the Churches in the East, as many Catholic theologians[5]claim the primacy of the Roman bishopric over the rest of the Churches, both in doctrine and in
authoritative strength.
He did not live to see the end of the unhappy factional disturbances and the complete success of his continued exertions in
behalf of Rome and the East. He suffered from liver illness and his excessive asceticism
seems to have hastened him to an early death. A lasting monument of his episcopal care for the poor was the great institute
before the gates of Caesarea, which was used as poorhouse, hospital, and hospice.
Writings
The principal theological writings of Basil are his De Spiritu Sancto, a lucid and edifying appeal to Scripture and
early Christian tradition (to prove the divinity of the Holy Spirit), and his Refutation of the Apology of the Impious
Eunomius, written in 363 or 364, three books against Eunomius of Cyzicus, the
chief exponent of Anomoian Arianism. The first three books of the Refutation are his work; the fourth and fifth books that
are usually included do not belong to Basil, or to Apollinaris of Laodicea, but
probably to Didymus of Alexandria.
He was a famous preacher, and many of his homilies, including a series of Lenten lectures on the Hexaëmeron, and an exposition of the psalter, have been preserved. Some, like that against usury and that on
the famine in 368, are valuable for the history of morals; others illustrate the honor paid to martyrs and relics; the address to
young men on the study of classical literature shows that Basil was lastingly influenced by his own education, which taught him
to appreciate the propaedeutic importance of the classics.
His ascetic tendencies are exhibited in the Moralia and Asketika (sometimes
mistranslated as Regulae), ethical manuals for use in the world and the cloister, respectively. Of the two works known as
the Greater Asketikon and the Lesser Asketikon", the shorter is the one most probably his work.
It is in the ethical manuals and moral sermons that the practical aspects of his theoretical theology are illustrated. So, for
example, it is in his Sermon to the Lazicans that we find St. Basil explaining how it is our common nature that obliges us
to treat our neighbor's natural needs (e.g., hunger, thirst) as our own, even though he is a separate individual. Later
theologians explicitly explain this as an example of how the saints become an image of the one common nature of the persons of
the Trinity.
His three hundred letters reveal a rich and observant nature, which, despite the troubles of ill-health and ecclesiastical
unrest, remained optimistic, tender and even playful. His principal efforts as a reformer were directed towards the improvement
of the liturgy, and the reformation of the monastic orders of the East.
Most of the liturgies bearing the name of Basil, in their present form, are not his work, but
they nevertheless preserve a recollection of Basil's activity in this field in formularizing liturgical prayers and promoting
church-song. One liturgy that can be attributed to him is The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the
Great, a liturgy that is somewhat longer than the more commonly used Divine Liturgy of
John Chrysostom; it is still used on certain feast days in most of the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches and the Eastern
Orthodox Church, such as every Sunday of Great Lent.
All his works, and a few spuriously attributed to him, are available in the Patrologia
Graeca, which includes Latin translations of varying quality. No critical edition is yet available.
Several of St. Basil's works have appeared in the late twentieth century in the Sources Chrétiennes collection.
Veneration
He was given the title Doctor of the Church for his contributions to the debate
initiated by the Arian controversy regarding the nature of the trinity, and especially the question of the divinity of the
Holy Spirit. Basil was responsible for defining the terms ousia (nature) and
hypostasis (being or person), and for defining the classic formulation of three Persons in one Nature. His single greatest
contribution was his insistence on the divinity and consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.[2]
Notes
See also
References
External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Basil of Caesarea |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
Basil the Great (honorific); Basilius (Latin); Μέγας Βασίλειος (Greek) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Christian Saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
ca. 330 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
Caesarea Mazaca, Cappadocia (now Kayseri, Turkey) |
| DATE OF DEATH |
January 1, 379 |
| PLACE OF DEATH |
Caesarea Mazaca, Cappadocia |
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