Saint Basil the Great

Saint Basil the Great

  • Short, concise biography of Saint Basil the Great
  • History, Life, Biography, Facts and Information about Saint Basil the Great
  • Fast, concise facts and information
  • Date of Birth and Death
  • Important Dates surrounding the life of Saint Basil the Great
  • Life History, Story, Biography, Myths and Legends
  • Description / Title of the Saint : Bishop of Caesarea

Saint Basil the Great

Fast, concise facts and information about Saint Basil the Great
The following provides fast and concise facts and information:

  • Memorial Day / Feast Day of Saint Basil the Great: June 14
  • Description / Title of the Saint : Bishop of Caesarea
  • Date of Death: Saint Basil the Great died 379
 
 

The Story and History of Saint Basil the Great
The story and history of Saint Basil the Great. Basil was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers became bishops, and, together with his mother and sister, are honored as Saints. He studied with great success at Athens, where he formed with St. Gregory Nazianzen the most tender friendship. He then taught oratory; but dreading the honors of the world, he gave up all, and became the father of the monastic life in the East. The Arian heretics, supported by the court, were then persecuting the Church; and Basil was summoned from his retirement by his bishop to give aid against them. His energy and zeal soon mitigated the disorders of the Church, and his solid and eloquent words silenced the heretics. On the death of Eusebius, he was chosen Bishop of Caesarea. His commanding character, his firmness and energy, his learning and eloquence, and not less his humility and the exceeding austerity of his life, made him a model for bishops. When St. Basil was required to admit the Arians to Communion, the prefect, finding that soft words had no effect, said to him, "Are you mad, that you resist the will before which the whole world bows? Do you not dread the wrath of the emperor, nor exile, nor death?" "No," said Basil calmly; "he who has nothing to lose need not dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole earth is my home; as for death, it would be the greatest kindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot harm me: one blow would end my frail life and my sufferings together." "Never," said the prefect, "has any one dared to address me thus." "Perhaps," suggested Basil, "you never before measured your strength with a Christian bishop." The emperor desisted from his commands. St. Basil's whole life was one of suffering. He lived amid jealousies and misunderstandings and seeming disappointments. But he sowed the seed which bore goodly fruit in the next generation, and was God's instrument in beating back the Arian and other heretics in the East, and restoring the spirit of discipline and fervor in the Church. He died in 379, and is venerated as a Doctor of the Church.

Prayer to St. Basil - Patron Saint of Reformers

Feast Day of Saint Basil the Great
The Feast Day of Saint Basil the Great is June 14. The origin of Feast Days: most saints have specially designated feast days and are associated with a specific day of the year and these are referred to as the saint's feast day. The feast days first arose from the very early Christian custom of the annual commemoration of martyrs on the dates of their deaths at the same time celebrating their birth into heaven.

 

Saint Basil the Great

  • Short, concise biography of Saint Basil the Great
  • History, Life, Biography, Facts and Information
  • Fast, concise facts and information about Saint Basil the Great
  • Memorial, or Feast Day, of Saint Basil the Great - June 14
  • History, Life, Biography, Dates, Facts and Information
  • Date of Death: 379
  • Important Dates surrounding the life of Saint Basil the Great
  • Life History, Story, Biography, Myths and Legends
  • Description / Title of the Saint : Bishop of Caesarea
 
 

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Saint Basil the Great