The Life of St. Basil the Great, the Archbishop of Caesarea
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 Saint Basil’s contemporary, Saint Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.
Saint 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.
Saint Basil’s mother Saint Emilia was the daughter of
a martyr. On the Greek calendar, she is commemorated on May 30. Saint 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 Emilia:
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 Saint Basil the Great;
Gregory, afterwards Bishop of Nyssa (January 10); Peter, Bishop of Sebaste
(January 9); and Theosebia, a deaconess (January 10).
Saint 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 Emilia and grandmother Macrina. They were women
of great refinement, who remembered an earlier bishop of Cappadocia, Saint
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 Saint 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 Saint 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.”
At 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, Saint 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, Saint Basil returned to Caesarea,
where for a 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, Saint Basil entered upon the path of ascetic life.
After the death of her husband, Basil’s mother, her
eldest daughter Macrina, and several female servants withdrew to the family
estate at Iris and there began to lead an ascetic life. Basil was baptized by
Dianios, the Bishop of Caesarea, and was tonsured a Reader (On the Holy Spirit,
29). He first read the Holy Scriptures to the people, then explained them.
Later on, “wishing 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 Emilia 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. Saints 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, Saints 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, Saint Basil wrote
down a collection of rules for virtuous life. By his preaching and by his
example Saint 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. Saint Basil returned to Caesarea. In the year 362 he was ordained
deacon by Bishop Meletius of Antioch. In 364 he was ordained to the holy
priesthood by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea. “But seeing,” as Gregory the
Theologian relates, “that everyone exceedingly praised and honored Basil for
his wisdom and reverence, Eusebius, through human weakness, succumbed to
jealousy of him, and began to show dislike for him.” The monks rose up in
defense of Saint 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. Saint Basil hastily returned to
Caesarea at the request of Bishop Eusebius. In the words of Gregory the
Theologian, he was for Bishop Eusebius “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 Saint 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. Saint Basil wrote also three books
“Against Eunomius,” 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.
Saint 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
Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil was chosen to succed him in the
year 370. As Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil the Great was the newest of fifty
bishops in eleven provinces. Saint Athanasius 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, Saint 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, Saint Basil wrote his book On the Holy Spirit at the
request of Saint Amphilochius, the Bishop of Iconium.
Saint 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 Eustathius of Sebaste over to the Arian
side. Basil had been connected to him by ties of close friendship. Amidst the
constant perils Saint 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, Saint 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 Saint Basil. He began to threaten the saint with the
confiscation of his property, banishment, beatings, and even death.
Saint 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 Saint 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.
Saint 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, Saint Basil built two monasteries, a men’s and a
women’s, with a church in honor of the Forty 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 Saint 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. Saint Basil died on January 1, 379 at age 49. Shortly before his death,
the saint blessed Saint Gregory the Theologian to accept the See of
Constantinople.
Upon the repose of Saint Basil, the Church immediately
began to celebrate his memory. Saint Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (November
23), in his eulogy to Saint 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 called “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 Mount Athos.
In some countries it is customary to sing special
carols today in honor of Saint 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 Saint Basil for the coming
year.
Source: https://oca.org/saints/lives/2016/01/01/100003-st-basil-the-great-archbishop-of-csarea-in-cappadocia
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