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:''For other uses, see [[Basil (disambiguation)]]''
[[File:01 basil2.jpg|right|frame|Icon of Saint Basil at Skete.com]]Our father among the saints '''Basil the Great''' (ca. 330 - [[January 1]], 379), was [[bishop]] of [[Caesarea]], a leading churchman in the 4th century, known especially for his [[philanthropic]] labors and theological works. The Church considers him a [[saint]] and one of the [[Three Holy Hierarchs]], together with Saints [[Gregory the Theologian]] (Gregory Nazianzus) and [[John Chrysostom]]. Basil, Gregory the Theologian, and Basil's brother Saint [[Gregory of Nyssa]] are called the [[Cappadocian Fathers]]. The [[Roman Catholic Church]] also considers him a saint and calls him a Doctor of the Church.
Basil's memory is celebrated on [[January 1]]; he is also remembered on [[January 30]] with the [[Three Holy Hierarchs]]. In Greek tradition, he is supposed to visit children and give presents every [[January 1]]. This festival is also marked by the baking of [[Vasilopita|Saint Basil's bread]] (Gr. ''Vasilópita''), a sweet bread with a coin hidden inside.
He was [[ordination|ordained]] [[presbyter]] of the Church at Caesarea in 365, and his ordination was probably the result of the entreaties of his ecclesiastical superiors, who wished to use his talents against the Arians, who were numerous in that part of the country and were favoured by the Arian emperor, Valens, who then reigned in Constantinople.
In 370 Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, died, and Basil was chosen to succeed him. It was then that his great powers were called into action. Caesarea was an important [[diocese]], and its [[bishop]] was, ''ex officio'', [[exarch]] of the great diocese of Pontus. Hot-blooded and somewhat imperious, Basil was also generous and sympathetic. His zeal for orthodoxy did not blind him to what was good in an opponent; and for the sake of peace and [[charity ]] he was content to waive the use of orthodox terminology when it could be surrendered without a sacrifice of truth.
With all his might he resisted the emperor Valens, who strove to introduce Arianism into his diocese, and impressed the emperor so strongly that, although inclined to banish the intractable bishop, he left him unmolested. To an imperial prefect, astonished at Saint Basil's temerity, he said, "Perhaps you have never before dealt with a proper bishop."
To save the Church from Arianism, Basil entered into connections with the West, and with the help of Athanasius, he tried to overcome its distrustful attitude toward the Homoousians. The difficulties had been enhanced by bringing in the question as to the essence of the Holy Spirit. Although Basil advocated objectively the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, he belonged to those, who, faithful to Eastern tradition, would not allow the predicate homoousios to the former; for this he was reproached as early as 371 by the Orthodox zealots among the [[monk]]s, and Athanasius defended him.
His relations also with [[Eustathius of Sebaste|Eustathius]] were maintained in spite of dogmatic differences and caused suspicion. On the other hand, Basil was grievously offended by the extreme adherents of Homoousianism, who seemed to him to be reviving the Sabellian heresy.
He did not live to see the end of the unhappy factional disturbances and the complete success of his continued exertions in behalf of Rome and the East. He suffered from liver illness and his excessive [[asceticism]] seems to have hastened him to an early death.
Saint Basil had used all his personal wealth and the income from his church for the benefit of the destitute; in every center of his diocese he had a poor-house built. A lasting monument of his episcopal care for the poor was the Basiliad, a great institute he founded before the gates of Caesarea, which was used functioned as a combination of poorhouse, hospital, and hospicehostel for the homeless.
==Writings==
“Are you poor? You know someone even poorer. You have provisions for only ten days, but someone else has enough only for one day. As a good and generous person, redistribute your surplus to the needy. Do not shrink from giving the little that you have; do not prefer your own benefit to remedying the common distress. And if you have only one remaining loaf of bread, and someone comes knocking at your door, bring forth the one loaf from your store, hold it heavenward, and say this prayer, which is not only generous on your part, but also calls forth the Lord’s pity: ‘Lord, you see this one loaf, and you know the threat of starvation is imminent, but I place your commandment before my own well-being, and from the little I have I give to this famished brother. Give, then, in return to me your servant, since I am also in danger of starvation. I know your goodness and am emboldened by your power. You do not delay your grace indefinitely, but distribute your gifts when you will.’ And when you have thus spoken and acted, the bread you have given from your straitened circumstances will become seed for sowing that bears a rich harvest, a promise of food, an envoy of mercy.” (''In Time of Famine and Drought'')
==Hymns==
==Bibliography==
* Holy Apostles Convent, ''The Lives of the Three Great Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom'' (Holy Apostles Convent Pubns, 2001) (ISBN 0944359116)
* ''On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great (Popular Patristics)'' edited by C. Paul Schroeder
==See also==
*[[Philanthropy]]
*[[Almsgiving]]
==External links==
[[fr:Basile le Grand]]
[[pt:Basílio, o Grande]]
[[ro:Vasile cel Mare]]
