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St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great

Feastday: January 2
Patron of hospital administrators
Died: 379

St. Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. Several of his brothers and sisters are honored among the saints. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he became acquainted with St. Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea and practiced law. Eventually he decided to become a monk and found a monastery in Pontus which he directed for five years. He wrote a famous monastic rule which has proved the most lasting of those in the East. After founding several other monasteries, he was ordained and, in 370, made bishop of Caesaria. In this post until his death in 379, he continued to be a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of "Great" during his life and Doctor of the Church after his death. Basil was one of the giants of the early Church. He was responsible for the victory of Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East, and the denunciation of Arianism at the Council of Constantinople in 381-82 was in large measure due to his efforts. Basil fought simony, aided the victims of drought and famine, strove for a better clergy, insisted on a rigid clerical discipline, fearlessly denounced evil wherever he detected it, and excommunicated those involved in the widespread prostitution traffic in Cappadocia. He was learned, accomplished in statesmanship, a man of great personal holiness, and one of the great orators of Christianity. His feast day is January 2.

 
from Wikipedia

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1 - 20 of 25 Comments

  1. Joseph Mathew
    4 months ago

    St. Basil the Great, please pray for me.

  2. Jan
    4 months ago

    To Sharon . I feel for you and hope everything works out for the best . I will pray to St Bazil for you. Janet .

  3. Sharon
    4 months ago

    Please pray for me health and happiness and so on etc..And that me and my man get back together.So I can get out my depression I'm in.I can't even sleep or sometimes I can't get out of bed days.I just want to be along.please forgive St.Basil for all my sin's.And I'm so sorry for ever I did wrong.Please pray for me.Thank you very much.

  4. Jan
    4 months ago

    Catholics do worship the saints .I for one certainly do . Wish people would get their facts right before posting it .( Chris )

  5. christopher
    4 months ago

    St.Basil the great please help me and pray for me and my family
    god bless you
    Amen

  6. Uemoon francis Benetito
    4 months ago

    i ike basil please send me fullstory

  7. general usmc acmf sas usnf ****
    4 months ago

    2nd dec 2012:st basil pray fo us.

  8. chet bas
    4 months ago

    happy feast day St. Basil the Great. i hope to visit your church again in LA. please help me to be accepted into a medical residency hospital. thank you

  9. janay3470
    1 year ago

    i think this saint must have been very wise! hes a Capricorn like me :)

  10. christie
    1 year ago

    St Basil the Great, we honour you for your committed leadership in combating arianism, and for affirming the truths of our Faith as contained in the Nicene creed, which we recite during Holy Mass. Pray for the pilgrim Church on earth. We know that Jesus restores His church, we are the church. Help us to be like you St. Basil, in leadership within family, church and work situations. Not all of have the this rare gift, but teach and inspire us to speak up more thoughtfully and wisely, patiently and lovingly. Often we are quick to be reactive in responding to comments. Help us with discernment and discretion, send us these gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that we benefit from these special attributes as we begin the New Year 2012. Amen.

  11. NENETTE HECHANOVA
    1 year ago

    how great to understand the life of all the saints, their works and holy life are of great and good examples for to read and to learn and to follow their good works. thank you so much for this wonderful article.

  12. Robert Ormsbee
    1 year ago

    Basil The Great! Yes...He is a role model for our Church, its leaders, adherent Catholics, and our times of struggle today. Pow! What a "great" movie it would be--"The Greatness of Basil!"

  13. Joseph Mathew
    1 year ago

    Dear St. Basil, You are a beacon of the Eastern Church. Please pray for me.

  14. Chris
    1 year ago

    Catholics believe in the "community of saints". Many times you'll hear a pastor or preacher of other Christian denominations ask for prayers, "pray for me". If we can ask our fellow brothers and sisters who are sinners to pray us to God for help, then why not ask those who by the example of their beautiful lives have gone to heaven to interceed for us.
    Catholics do not worship the saints - we ask for their help. Its part of our faith. Also, for those who are Christian but not catholic - I have 2 names for you/ Cardinal John Newman and Scott Han. Two of the biggested converts to the Catholic faith. read about them.

  15. Fr.Joseph santiago cmf
    1 year ago

    He was outstanding in learning and Viture, Bishop of Caesarea. He combated the Arian herasy, wrote many books, and wrote the monastic rules and hound outstanding in helping the poor. May he help us to learn god's truth with humility and practice it in faith and love.

  16. Roberto
    1 year ago

    Hi, my name is Rob Heyen and I love St. Basil the Great. I met him once...he was pretty cool.

  17. missy
    1 year ago

    I was informed Basil is also very good in leadership, getting his point across warring faction and bringing them together to his way of thinking and making people work together effectively. Catholics honor them because these saints worked so hard to reach holiness and we all need to reach holiness just like them.I thought saints had to perform some documented miracle to become a saint, but I could be wrong as i am not catholic and we do not worship saints.

  18. livebyfaith
    1 year ago

    this is to Jason...Catholics DO NOT worship saints.. Catholics honor them because these saints worked so hard to reach holiness and we all need to reach holiness just like them..... Not all Saints perfomed miracles.. Some are known for being humble.. they are all different and each of them have their own stories.

  19. jason
    1 year ago

    I thought saints had to perform some documented miracle to become a saint, but I could be wrong as i am not catholic and we do not worship saints.
    maybe i missed it in the article , but it looks like he was just a learned monk.

  20. Marc
    2 years ago

    Yeah Man, Basil is wicked awesome. ;;]


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