On Saturday, 1 January, we celebrate the feast day of St Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, situated in modern day Turkey. St Basil was born in 329 or 330 CE. Early in his life, he made friends with Gregory of Nazianzus, later known as Gregory the Theologian. They attended studies in Athens in preparation for a life in public service, however, on returning from Greece, Basil took to acquainting himself with the ascetic life. He was ordained to the priesthood by Eusebius of Casaerea in 365 CE and later succeeded Eusebius as Archbishop in 370 CE. Basil died on 1 January 379.
Cappadocia, a largely mountainous region, was annexed by Rome in 17 CE. It had been subjected to a programme of Hellenization. It was a barren land with few large cities, the most important being Caesarea. Its citizens had a poor reputation throughout the land and were considered more deadly than snakes and as likely to speak intelligently as a tortoise might be able to fly. This makes the education of the Cappadocian Fathers and of St Basil in particular, all the more incredible. By the same token, one should not assume that ordinary Cappadocians had much interest in what these fathers had to say about Christ. Christianity, despite the reference to Cappadocians being present at Pentecost in Acts of the Apostles, had a precarious foothold amongst the locals. These Cappadocians had their own dialect, belief systems and customs, and they did not bring much to the table by way of higher learning, being content with only what they knew.
St Basil, together with his brother St Gregory of Nyssa and St Gregory the Theologian, became known to us as the Cappadocian Fathers. They were instrumental in defending the faith together with St Athanasios against the Arian heresy which persisted throughout that time and continued until the Second Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople in 381 CE. You may recall that the Arian heresy claimed that Christ came second, after the Father, and accordingly was not coeternal with the Father. The Arian catch cry was that “there was a time when Christ the son was not”. This was the first and greatest test of Christianity which had to be overcome.
St Basil’s family is something to marvel at. His paternal grandmother was St Macrina the older (commemorated 14th of January). His father Basil married St Emilia (commemorated July 19). They had nine children and five of them are commemorated in our church calendar as saints. These children are known to us as St Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nyssa (commemorated January 10), St Peter of Sebaste (commemorated January 9), St Naucratius, and St Macrina the Younger.
St Basil was strong of character. He ordained his brother Gregory as Bishop of Nyssa and his friend Gregory the Theologian as Bishop of Sasima, both in 372 CE. He ordained them against their wishes. He did this to shore up his role as Archbishop of Casaerea when it was under challenge from Arian bishops.
St Basil embraced poverty and rejected human praise. He gave away his vast estate to the poor. His view of Christian philanthropy was that the poor were the special representatives of Christ, and Christ is the ultimate principle of charity. He founded many monasteries including one adjoining the convent established by his mother Emilia and his sister Macrina the Younger. He established the monastic rule of St Basil both in its longer and shorter forms which still apply to the active life in monasticism today.
St Basil was the first person to establish an orphanage for children. He was the first person to found a Christian hospital in the world. He became one of the wisest and most compassionate clergymen in the entire history of the church. St Basil truly followed Christ. When he died, it is reported that he did not leave enough money to pay for a small headstone. St Basil established real meaning to the word charity. It is little wonder that the Archdiocese of Australia’s welfare arm is known as “St Basil’s”.
St Basil significantly contributed to the theology of the church in that he welded together diverse elements of the Hellenic and Christian character to construct a Christian vision. For St Basil, every created spirit, human or angelic, was made with a natural spark of desire for God. The release and the realisation of this inbuilt urge is not spontaneously achieved but depends on the willingness of the created spirit to mould itself in conformity with the wishes of God to become like him. Once this likeness has been achieved, the spirit is free to see the beauty of which it had so long desired. Religion, to St Basil, was profoundly linked to the truth about the object of worship, and that truth demands labour, both in its discovery and in its understanding. According to St Basil, you need to hunt the truth, and the truth is found in love and prayer.
So, how do we get closer in prayer to God? St Basil’s answer to the question bears repeating: “we should not express our prayer merely in syllables, but the power of prayer should be expressed in the moral attitude of our soul and in the virtuous actions that extend throughout our life. This is how you pray continually – not by offering prayer in words, but by joining yourself to God through your whole way of life, so that your life becomes one continuous and uninterrupted prayer.” Prayer, to St Basil, was practical help of one’s neighbour. Prayer is about sharing. As he declared: “I know many who fast, pray, sigh, and demonstrate every manner of piety, so long as it costs them nothing, yet would not part with a penny to help those in distress.”
St Basil together with St Gregory the Theologian and St John Chrysostom are known as the Three Hierarchs and their feast day is celebrated on 30 January.
May the calendar year 2022 bring us all joy, contentment, and the peace of the Lord. May we find the Lord in the face of our neighbour.
