Archbishop of Caesarea
Saint Basil the Great
At a glance
- Feast
- January 1
- Region
- Caesarea in Cappadocia
- Virtues
- charity, theology, pastoral leadership
Tags
Saint Basil combined brilliant theology with pastoral innovation. Alongside Saints Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa, he articulated the Orthodox teaching on the Holy Spirit against Arian errors, preserving the Nicene faith.
He authored the Divine Liturgy prayed during the Great Fast and established hospitals and shelters known as the Basiliad. His rule for monastic life emphasized communal charity and obedience to Scripture.
Basil’s letters and sermons remain guides for confessors, social workers, and students of patristics. He shows that rigorous doctrine and radical mercy spring from the same love of the Triune God.
Troparion
Your voice resounded through the world that accepted your teachings. You gave a well-ordered nature to things. You clothed the royal priesthood in magnificence. Pray to Christ our God, O Father Basil, to grant us great mercy.
Kontakion
You were revealed as the sure foundation of the Church, granting all men a lordship that cannot be taken away, sealing it with your precepts, O venerable Basil.
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