Saint Basil the Great, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor
S. Basilii Magni Episcopi Confessoris et Ecclesiae Doctoris
Saint Basil the Great, Bishop of Cæsarea and father of Eastern monasticism, is honoured as one of the great Doctors of the Church, a fearless defender of the divinity of the Holy Ghost and a shepherd renowned for his charity to the poor.
Saint Basil was born about the year 330 at Cæsarea in Cappadocia, of a family rich in saints: his grandmother Macrina, his parents Basil and Emmelia, his sister Saint Macrina the Younger, and his brothers Saint Gregory of Nyssa and Saint Peter of Sebaste are all venerated by the Church. Endowed with a brilliant mind, he studied at Athens, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Saint Gregory Nazianzen, and afterward renounced a promising worldly career to give himself wholly to God.
Monk and bishop
Drawn to the ascetic life, Basil visited the monks of Egypt and Syria and then established communities in his own land, drawing up rules for the common life that became the foundation of monasticism throughout the Christian East. His Rule shaped the spiritual life of countless religious for centuries, ordering it around prayer, obedience, labour, and works of mercy.
Made Bishop of Cæsarea about the year 370, Basil governed his Church in a time of great trial, when the Arian heresy, supported by the imperial power, denied the true divinity of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. He withstood threats and intimidation with calm courage, refusing to betray the faith of Nicæa, and his treatise On the Holy Spirit remains a classic defence of the Godhead of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. He was no less great in charity: he built near Cæsarea a vast complex of hospitals, hostels, and houses for the poor, the sick, and the stranger, that came to be called the “Basiliad.”
Doctor of the Church
Worn out by austerity and labour, Saint Basil died on the first of January, 379, mourned by Christian and pagan alike. For the breadth of his learning and the holiness of his life he is venerated as one of the great Doctors of the Church and, with Saint Gregory Nazianzen and Saint Gregory of Nyssa, as one of the three Cappadocian Fathers. The Eastern Churches honour him among the three Holy Hierarchs, and the ancient Liturgy that bears his name is still celebrated. The collect of his feast asks that, through his merits, God may loose us from all our sins.
The Collect
Graciously hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers which we offer on the solemnity of blessed Basil thy Confessor and Bishop: and, by the intercession of his merits who served thee worthily, absolve us from all our sins.
Exáudi, quæsumus, Dómine, preces nostras, quas in beáti Basílii Confessóris tui atque Pontíficis solemnitáte deférimus: et, qui tibi digne méruit famulári, ejus intercedéntibus méritis, ab ómnibus nos absólve peccátis.
Patronage
He is venerated as a Doctor of the Church and a father of Eastern monasticism, and is honoured as a patron of hospital administrators and of those who care for the poor and the sick.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar Saint Basil is celebrated together with Saint Gregory Nazianzen on 2 January as an obligatory memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Basil the Great?
In the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal his feast is kept on 14 June as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar he is commemorated with Saint Gregory Nazianzen on 2 January.
Who was Saint Basil the Great?
He was the fourth-century Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, a father of Eastern monasticism, a defender of the divinity of the Holy Ghost against the Arians, and a great benefactor of the poor. He is honoured as a Doctor of the Church.
Why is he called ‘the Great’?
The title honours the greatness of his learning, his leadership of the Church in a time of heresy, his monastic legislation that shaped Eastern religious life, and his extraordinary charity. He is one of only a few saints to whom the Church has given this name.
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