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Basil the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
 Basil, bishop of Caesarea, and Gregory, bishop of Canstantinople, wre two of the three famous Cappadocians Fathers, a designation taken from the name of the Roman province in east-central Asia Minor. The third of the Cappadocians was basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa. Their writings and sermons effectively put an end to Arianism, a fourth-century heresy that denied the divinity of Christ, referring to him instead as the greatest of creatures.
Basil, also known as the "Great" (ca 330-79), was born in Ceasarea, the capital of the roman province of Cappadocia. One of nine children, he came from a distinguished and pious family, to say the least. His father and mother, his sister, his two brothers, and his grandmother are all venerated as saints. (His sister Macrina's feast day is July 19). His father was a teacher rhetoric and his mother was a wealthy aristocrat. Basil was educated first at home by his father and grandmother and then in Constantinople and Athens, where he befriended Gregory of Nazianzus, the other saint honored on this day. Upon his return home in 355 Basil taught rhetoric, but he renounced this career after a tour of monastic settlements in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt and following his father's death in 358. He was baptized, along with his friend Gregory, and joined other members of his family in an ascetic community on one of the family estates in Pontus. It was during this five-year period that Basil developed, through dialogues with his monastic disciples, the "Long" and "Short" Rules that were to influence Benedict of Nursia and, through him, all of Western monasticism. They also helped to shape monasticism in the East, including Russia, where he is honored as one of its patron saints. Nearly all of the monks and nuns of the Greek Church to this day follow his longer Rule, which emphasizes community life, liturgical prayer, and manual work. It is sufficiently flexible to allow for almsgiving and wortk in hospitals and guests houses without sacrificing its strongly contemplative dimension. With great reluctance on his part, Basil was ordained a priest (presbyter) ca. 362 for the diocese of Caesarea. His bishop later summoned him to the see city to lend support against the persecution waged against the Church by the Arian emperor Valens (364-80) and specifically to rebut the teachings of the Arians. However, the bishop became jealous of Basil's growing reputation and influence, and Basil returned to his life of solitude once more. When illness prevented the bishop from administering his diocese any longer, Gregory persuaded Basil to return to Caesarea to assume this responsibility. Basil led relief efforts during a region-wide famine in 368, distributing his own inheritance to the poor and establishing -and personally serving in - a soup kitchen. Upon the bishop's death in 370, Basil was elected to succeed him.
Basil's Episcopal ministry continued to emphasize aid to the poor, but it also drew inevitable into direct controversy with the Arians and also with the Pneumatomachians, who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. His writings provided solid defenses of the teaching of the Council of Nicaea (325) and anticipated the teaching of the Council of Constantinople (381) on the divinity of the Holy Spirit. He also offered carefully crafted critiques of a too allegorical interpretation of the Bible.
Basil preached every morning and evening to large congregation and promoted the construction of a major building complex known as the Basiliad, which included a large hospital. (He is patron saint of hospital administrators). Ironically, it was on land that Arian emperor Valens had donated after attending a mass that Basil celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, 372. In addition to his work on behalf of the sick, Basil was especially concerned about the quality of candidates for the priesthood, the rehabilitation of thieves and prostitutes, the excessive involvement in politics and the accumulation of wealth by clergy, and the severity of rulings by civil officials. Given his own blend of classical and theological education, he was a staunch advocate of a truly Catholic approach to secular culture, particularly contemporary philosophy. This openness proved to be crucial not only in his own defense of Catholic Orthodoxy against the heretics of the day, but also in the longer-term development of Catholic theology itself.
In 1568 Basil was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, or outstanding teacher of the faith - one of the four original Doctors of the Church from the East (alongside Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Gregory Nazianzen). In his own lifetime, however, he did not enjoy the unqualified support of the papacy. Pope Damasus (366-84) had refused to recognize Basil's candidate for the bishopric of Antioch, and this led to considerable friction between the two.
Basil died on January 1, 379, at the relatively young age of forty-nine, having been worn out by a lifetime of asceticism, hard work, and a chronic stomach ailment. There was great mourning throughout the East upon news of his death. His feast is celebrated there on January 1 and again on January 30 (with Gregorian Nazianzen and John Chrysostom). It was formerly celebrated on June 14 in the West (the day of his consecration as a bishop). Basil is patron saint of Russia.
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