January 10 was set aside by the Lutheran Service Book list of commemorations to remember Cappadocian Fathers: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa
and his friend Gregory of Naziansus, for their
distinguished work and lives of holiness. This post is only about Basil. (Pronounced :Baahsil – sil as in pill, emphasis on first syllable). Here is information about this steadfast defender and confessor of the Holy Trinity. He is referred to several times in the Lutheran Confessions approvingly as one who faithfully confessed God’s Word. He is mentioned in the Formula of Concord in the articles on Original Sin, Free Will and Christ.

St. Basil
was Bishop of Caesarea (an area now in eastern Turkey) in the fourth
century and is one of the foremost Doctors of the Church, who along
with St. Athanasius, is noted as an outstanding defender of Christian
orthodoxy during the Arian heresy – a heresy which, among its other
errors, denied the Divine Nature of Christ. St. Basil was the son of
St. Basil the Elder and Emmelia, the daughter of a Christian martyr,
and was one of ten children, three of whom became saints – Basil,
Macrina and Gregory. Basil, along with his brother St. Gregory of Nyssa
and his friend St. Gregory of Naziansus, have been called the
“Cappadocian Fathers” – renowned in Church history for their
distinguished work and lives of holiness.

Raised
mostly by his grandmother, Basil studied in his hometown of Caesarea,
and later at both Athens and Constantinople where he developed his
lifelong friendship with Gregory of Naziansus. After completing his
education, Basil returned to Caesarea and became a teacher. Shortly
thereafter, Basil underwent a profound spiritual conversion and set out
on a journey in 357 to visit monasteries in Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia
and Palestine. Upon his return, he gathered disciples and founded a
monastic community near Annesi where his sister Macrina had already
established a religious community. The earlier influence of Macrina
seems to have diverted Basil’s course from that of being a prominent
lawyer to that of religious life. Because of his innovations and
philosophy of monastic life, and especially his creation of the Lesser
Rule and the Greater Rule, Basil is considered to be the Father of
Monasticism in the Eastern Churches. He gave monasticism a theological
content and transformed it into an intellectual movement from simply
the popular and evangelical movement it had been before. Basil’s
monasteries had schools attached to them, preparing children for life
in the monastery or for life as strong Christians “in the world”
outside the monasteries. The Rule of St. Basil is still followed by
members of religious communities in both the Eastern Catholic and the
Orthodox churches.

In the
year 360, Basil reluctantly left his hermitage and embarked on a
journey to Constantinople, the Imperial capital, to take part in a
church council. Some what later, after his ordination, Basil played a
major role in the administration of the diocese of Caesarea under
Bishop Eusebius and this eventually brought the two men into serious
conflict. Basil withdrew to his monastic community but was recalled in
365 at the urging of Gregory of Naziansus. In 370, he was chosen as
successor to the episcopal see at Caesarea, which had been elevated to
a metropolitan see. His appointment was lauded by St Athanasius but was
not welcomed by the Emperor Valens, who had fallen into the Arian
heresy. Throughout the next ten years, Basil was noted for his dutiful
care of the poor and disadvantaged, his defense of the rights of the
Church in the Empire, and most of all, his steadfast opposition to
heresy, especially the widespread Arian heresy. While defending himself
before the Emperor Valens, Basil was so fiery that a courtier
questioned his nerve, to which the saint gave his famous response:
“Perhaps you are not familiar with a proper bishop.”

Due to
the efforts of Valens to reduce Basil’s power and influence, and also
to the ongoing controversy over the heretical Bishop Melitus of
Antioch, Basil’s friendship with Gregory was severely strained. Basil
died on January 1. 379, at a time of terrible upheaval in the Roman
Empire – the Goths were on the attack against the Empire on many fronts
and the Arian heresy was raging with many leading church figures having
fallen into heresy. Because the saint was so beloved, his funeral was
attended by an enormous weeping crowd, including Christians, Jews and
pagans.

St. Basil
is ranked as a giant figure in Church history for his spiritual
achievements and for his vast contributions to the Church in the
tempestuous fourth century. The great saint was the one who formulated
the classic definition of the Holy Trinity as three Persons in one
Nature. His letters show us a remarkably holy and eloquent man, who,
while never strong physically, was utterly fearless in both his defense
of orthodox Christianity and while facing threats and pressure from the
imperial authorities. The saint has left us over three hundred letters,
mostly written after he became bishop. His other writings include – a
treatise “On the Holy Spirit”, three books against Enomius, an
heretical bishop, a compilation along with his friend Gregory from the
works of Origen in the Pholokalia, and the fragments of his Lesser Rule
and Greater Rule. He is also the ascribed formulator of the Liturgy of
Saint Basil, still used on certain days of the year by both Eastern
Catholic churches and Orthodox churches. His feast day is January 2.

Source