Saint Basil the Great
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
- Feast Day
- January 2
- Life
- 330–379
- Doctor of the Church
- 1568
- Order
- Eastern monasticism (Basilian tradition)
- Born
- Caesarea in Cappadocia (modern Kayseri, Turkey)
Basil was born about 330 into a family of saints in Cappadocia: his grandmother Macrina the Elder, his parents Basil the Elder and Emmelia, his sister Macrina the Younger, and his brothers Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste are all venerated as saints. He studied rhetoric at Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens, where he formed his lifelong friendship with Gregory of Nazianzus.
After visiting the monks of Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia, Basil withdrew to Pontus to live an ascetic life. There he composed the Longer and Shorter Rules, which became the charter of Eastern monastic life and influenced Benedict in the West. In 370 he was ordained Bishop of Caesarea, the metropolitan see of Cappadocia.
As bishop he organized a vast hospital and almshouse outside Caesarea, the Basileias, where lepers, the sick, and travelers were cared for; it is among the earliest large-scale Christian charitable institutions. He defended Nicene faith against the Arianizing emperor Valens and against pneumatomachian denial of the divinity of the Holy Spirit, treating the latter directly in De Spiritu Sancto.
Basil died on January 1, 379. The Anaphora of Saint Basil, used in the Byzantine and Coptic liturgies, preserves his liturgical legacy. He was named Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568, together with the other three Greek Doctors. The Roman calendar joined his memorial with that of Gregory Nazianzen on January 2.
Basil shaped both the dogmatic and the ascetic heritage of the Christian East. His treatise On the Holy Spirit was decisive in articulating the Spirit's consubstantial divinity, prepared the ground for the Council of Constantinople in 381, and his monastic Rules continue to govern Eastern monasticism. The Basileias gave the Church a model in which orthodox doctrine and direct service to the poor are inseparable.
Patronages
hospital administrators · monks · Russia · Cappadocia
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Basil the Great
17 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Basil the Great's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. Basil the Great — Irving, TX
- St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Church — Lancaster, NY
- St. Basil the Great — Coalport, PA
- St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church — Sterling Heights, MI
- St. Basil the Great — Kimberton, PA
- St. Basil the Great Parish — Wolcott, CT
- St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Parish — Charlotte, NC
- St. Basil the Great — Sterling Heights, MI
- St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church — Los Gatos, CA
- St. Basil the Great Melkite Greek Catholic Church — Utica, NY
- St. Basil the Great — Vallejo, CA
- St. Basil the Great — Eastpointe, MI
- St. Basil the Great — Phoenixville, PA
- St. Basil the Great Melkite Catholic Church — Lincoln, RI
- St. Basil the Great Catholic Church — Brecksville, OH
- Church of St. Basil the Great
- Our Lady & All Saints (St Basil the Great) — Basildon, ENG
Sources