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Saint/s of the Day -2 January – Sts Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen

ST BASIL the GREAT – (329-379) Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church – Patron of  Hospital administrators, Reformers, Monks, education, exorcism, Liturgists, Russia, Cappadocia.

St Basil the Great, the illustrious doctor and intrepid champion of the church, was born towards the close of the year 329 at Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia. His parents were Cappadocians by birth, both equally illustrious for their nobility and descended from a long line of renowned heroes.  Our saint’s father, St. Basil the Elder, and his wife, St. Emmelia, adorned the conjugal state by their saintly conversation. Their marriage was blessed with ten children, of which they left nine living, all eminent for virtue; those that were married and lived in the world seeming no way inferior in piety to those who served God in holy virginity, as St. Gregory Nazianzen tells us. Four were sons and the other five daughters. St. Macrina the Younger, was the eldest of all these children, and assisted her mother in training up the rest in perfect virtue. The eldest among the boys was St. Basil; the other three were Naucratius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebaste. Our saint was the fruit of his mother’s prayers, and in his infancy by the same means recovered his health in dangerous sickness, when he had been given over by the physicians, as St. Gregory of Nyssa relates. He received the first tincture of virtue from his grandmother, St. Macrina the Elder, under whose care he passed his infancy in a country house near Neocaesarea, in Pontus; and he testifies himself that during his whole life he never forgot the strong impressions of piety which her exhortations and holy example made upon his tender mind.

Basil was educated in Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens in the fourth century. He enjoyed stimulating university life. There he met Gregory Nazianzen, a quiet, scholarly man. The two became close friends.

Basil traveled through the East and studied monastic life. As a result, he formed his own monastic group. Gregory joined him. From their discussions, Basil composed a rule of life for monks. He allowed monks and nuns to operate hospitals and guesthouses and work outside the community. His principles still influence Eastern monasticism.

The two friends lived the monastic life for only about five years. Then Gregory had to return home to care for his father, who was a bishop. When Gregory got home, he was ordained a priest, although he did not think himself worthy. He watched over his father’s diocese.

In 374, Basil was made bishop of Caesarea. The Church called on him to refute the Arian heresy, which claimed that Jesus was not God. Emperor Valens promoted the heresy. Basil believed the Church must remain independent of the emperor and boldly defended the Church. He preached morning and evening to large crowds. When a famine struck, he gave his money to people who were poor. He organized a soup kitchen and served the people himself. Basil even built a town, which included a church, a hospital and a guesthouse.

Basil continued to write for the Church and to clarify the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. When one town was falling away from the faith, Basil ordained Gregory bishop and sent him there. Gregory went unhappily because he disliked conflict. The two friends were later reconciled.

St Basil died on the 1 or 2 of January 379.  We commemorate and celebrate his memory on 2 January.   The emperor had tried to tax St Basil’s diocese (area) so much, that he would not be able to pay. However, the many faithful followers, gave him money and jewels to help pay the taxes. The tax-collector was so amazed that he refused the money. t Basil had no way of knowing who to return the money and jewels to.  So, he had many cakes baked and in them placed the coins and jewels; he then distributed these cakes to the poor. Traditionally Basil’s cakes or sweet bread) is made in Orthodox households and they are also brought to the church. There they (called  Vasilopita) are blessed and cut by the priest; pieces are cut to honour Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, St Basil, the priest, the poor and others.

St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Bishop, Theologian, Doctor of the Church Patron of Harvests and Poets

St Gregory who, from his profound skill in sacred learning, is surnamed the Theologian, was a native of Arianzum, an obscure village in the territory of Nazianzum, a small town in Cappadocia not far from Caesarea His parents are both honoured in the calendars of the church: his father on the 1st of January and his mother Nonna on the 5th of August.

After his baptism at 30, Gregory gladly accepted his friend Basil’s invitation to join him in a newly founded monastery. The solitude was broken when Gregory’s father, a bishop, needed help in his diocese and estate. It seems that Gregory was ordained a priest practically by force and only reluctantly accepted the responsibility. He skillfully avoided a schism that threatened when his own father made compromises with Arianism. At 41, Gregory was chosen suffragan bishop of Caesarea and at once came into conflict with Valens, the emperor, who supported the Arians.

For 30 years, Constantinople had been under the leadership of supporters of the Arian movement. The bishops of the surrounding areas begged Gregory to come and restore the faith, and again he went, dreading the task. When protection for Arianism ended with the death of Valens, Gregory was called to rebuild the faith in the great see of Constantinople, which had been under Arian teachers for three decades. Retiring and sensitive, he dreaded being drawn into the whirlpool of corruption and violence. He first stayed at a friend’s home, which became the only orthodox church in the city. In such surroundings, he began giving the great sermons on the Trinity for which he is famous. In time, Gregory did rebuild the faith in the city but at the cost of great suffering, slander, insults and even personal violence. An interloper even tried to take over his bishopric.

His last days were spent in solitude and austerity. He wrote religious poetry, some of it autobiographical, of great depth and beauty. He was acclaimed simply as “the Theologian.”

Both Basil and Gregory were misunderstood, but in spite of this, they rebuilt the faith. Basil died at age 49. Gregory resigned from Constantinople because of opposition and spent his last years reading, writing his autobiography, and enjoying his gardens.

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