2nd January is the official day for celebrating
the lives of two 4th century saints whose lives were closely linked,
namely Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen.
Both Basil and Gregory was born in Caesarea in central Asia
Minor in 329 or 330, but they only got to know each other when they were
students in Athens, where Basil also became a teacher.
However, Basil decided to leave the university to become a
hermit living on the banks of the River Iris in Pontus. So many people came to
hear him preach that he set up a monastery where men with a real vocation could
live together as a Christian community. The rules that Basil established for
his monastery are still used by monks in the Eastern Church.
Gregory persuaded Basil to leave the monastery because he
believed that Basil’s gifts as a preacher needed to be used in a much wider
context. This led to Basil becoming the Archbishop of Caesarea. As Archbishop,
Basil refused to enrich himself and he gave everything he had to good causes,
including building a hospital to serve the poor.
When the forces of the Roman Empire caught up with him,
Basil was told that he faced one of three punishments, namely confiscation of
his property, exile or death. He replied that he had no property to lose, that
exile made no sense since he was a stranger wherever he went because his true
home was with God, and death would not punish him because it would take him
where he wanted to be, namely Heaven. The Roman prefect conceded all these
points and left Basil alone from then on.
Gregory was made a bishop by Basil although he was not happy
with the pomp and ceremony that went with the job. He was, however, a gifted
preacher like Basil and drew enormous crowds.
Basil died in 379 and Gregory in 390. Both have been
recognized as “doctors of the Church”.
© John Welford
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