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January 1: Feast of our Holy Father Basil the
Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in
Cappadocia
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| Icon of Saint Basil provided by Theologic
and used with permission. |
Life of the Saint
Saint Basil the Great was born in the year 329 in Caesarea of Cappadocia,
to a family renowned for their learning and holiness. His parents'
names were Basil and Emmelia. His mother Emmelia (commemorated July
19 and May 30) and his grandmother Macrina (January 14) are Saints
of the Church, together with all his brothers and sisters: Macrina,
his elder sister (July 19), Gregory of Nyssa (January 10), Peter
of Sebastia (January 9), and Naucratius. Basil studied in Constantinople
under the sophist Libanius, then in Athens, where also he formed
a friendship with the young Gregory, a fellow Cappadocian, later
called "the Theologian." Through the good influence of
his sister Macrina, he chose to embrace the ascetical life, abandoning
his worldly career. He visited the monks in Egypt, in Palestine,
in Syria, and in Mesopotamia, and upon returning to Caesarea, he
departed to a hermitage on the Iris River in Pontus, not far from
Annesi, where his mother and his sister Macrina were already treading
the path of the ascetical life; here he also wrote his ascetical
homilies.
About the year 370, when the bishop of his country reposed, he
was elected to succeed to his throne and was entrusted with the
Church of Christ, which he tended for eight years, living in voluntary
poverty and strict asceticism, having no other care than to defend
holy Orthodoxy as a worthy successor of the Apostles. The Emperor
Valens, and Modestus, the Eparch of the East, who were of one mind
with the Arians, tried with threats of exile and of torments to
bend the Saint to their own confession, because he was the bastion
of Orthodoxy in all Cappadocia, and preserved it from heresy when
Arianism was at its strongest. But he set all their malice at nought,
and in his willingness to give himself up to every suffering for
the sake of the Faith, showed himself to be a martyr by volition.
Modestus, amazed at Basil's fearlessness in his presence, said that
no one had ever so spoken to him. "Perhaps," answered
the Saint, "you have never met a bishop before." The Emperor
Valens himself was almost won over by Basil's dignity and wisdom.
When Valens' son fell gravely sick, he asked Saint Basil to pray
for him. The Saint promised that his son would be restored if Valens
agreed to have him baptized by the Orthodox; Valens agreed, Basil
prayed and the son was restored. But afterwards the Emperor had
him baptized by Arians, and the child died soon after. Later, Valens,
persuaded by his counselors, decided to send the Saint into exile
because he would not accept the Arians into communion; but his pen
broke when he was signing the edict of banishment. He tried a second
time and a third, but the same thing happened, so that the Emperor
was filled with dread, and tore up the document, and Basil was not
banished. The truly great Basil, spent with extreme ascetical practices
and continual labors, at the helm of the church, departed to the
Lord on the 1st of January in 379, at the age of forty-nine.
His writings are replete with wisdom and erudition, and with these
gifts he set forth the doctrines concerning the mysteries both of
the creation (see his Hexaemeron) and of the Holy Trinity (see On
the Holy Spirit). Because of the majesty and keenness of his eloquence,
he is honored as "the revealer of heavenly things" and
"the Great."
Saint Basil is also celebrated on January 30 with Saint Gregory
the Theologian and Saint John Chrysostom. These great Fathers and
Theologians of the Church are commemorated on this day as the “Three
Hierarchs.”
Reading adapted from Holy Transfiguration
Monastery, Brookline, MA
Orthodox Christian Celebration of the Feast of Saint Basil
The feast and commemoration of Saint Basil is celebrated with the
Divine Liturgy attributed to him, the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil.
This is one of ten times during the year when the Liturgy of Saint
Basil is celebrated. The Liturgy is conducted on the morning of
the feast and preceded by a Matins (Orthros) service. A Great Vespers
is conducted on the evening before the day of the Feast. Also on
this day, the Church commemorates the Circumcision of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Eight days after his birth, Jesus was circumcised
(Luke 2:21) in accordance with the command given by God to Abraham
when He promised to make an everlasting covenant with him and all
his descendants (Genesis 17:10-12).
Scripture readings for the feast are the following: At Vespers:
Genesis
17:1-14; Proverbs 8:22-30; Additional reading from Proverbs and
the Wisdom of Solomon. At the Matins: John
10:1-9. At the Divine Liturgy: Colossians
2:8-12; Luke
2:20-21,40-52.
Hymns of the Saint
Apolytikion (First Tone)
Your voice resounded throughout the world that received your word
by which, in godly manner, you taught dogma, clarified the nature
of beings, and set in order the character of people. Venerable father,
Royal Priesthood, intercede to Christ God to grant us great mercy.
Kontakion (FOURTH Tone)
For the Church art thou in truth a firm foundation, granting an
inviolate lordship unto all mortal men and sealing it with what
thou hast taught, O righteous Basil, revealer of heavenly things.
Apolytikion courtesy of Narthex
Press, Northridge, CA
Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline,
MA
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