This great father and teacher of the Orthodox Church was born in 329 AD, according to others in 330 AD, in Neo-Caesarea of Pontus in the village of Annissa and grew up in Caesarea of Cappadocia. The encyclopedic dictionaries mention M. Vassiliou’s hometown as Caesarea in Cappadocia. He had 8 siblings, 3 boys and five girls. Of the 4 boys, 3 boys became bishops (Basilios of Caesarea, Grigorios Nyssis and Petros Sebastias) and one became a monk (Naukratios). Of his 5 sisters, the first, and at the same time the oldest child in the family, Makrina, became a nun. The parents of Vasilios (and he), who came from Neocaesarea of Pontus and Emmelia, who came from Cappadocia, although by worldly noble and rich, had at the same time a flourishing Christian attitude. They even laid the first – of decisive importance – spiritual foundations of the Saint.
Armed with this Christian upbringing, Vasilios begins an amazing upward spiritual journey. Having the gifts of ingenuity and memory, he mastered almost all the sciences of his time. And most importantly, he masters the divine theory of the Gospel, which he immediately puts into practice with his strict ascetic life.
But let’s briefly mention the course of his activities. After his first studies in Caesarea and then in Byzantium, he visited, still young, Athens, where he completed his studies for four years, studying philosophy, rhetoric, grammar, astronomy and medicine, having as fellow students Gregory of Nazianzus (the theologian ) and Julian the Transgressor.
From Athens he returned to Caesarea and taught the art of rhetoric. However, he decided to follow the monastic life and therefore he went to the centers of asceticism, to learn about the monastic state in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia. When he returned, he retired to a Pontus Monastery, after becoming a monk, and practiced there with all rigor for five years (357 – 362 AD). Already perfectly qualified in the Orthodox Faith, he was ordained deacon and elder by the bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius. The exemplary way of his spiritual work did not take long to elevate him to the throne of the high priesthood, succeeding Eusebius in the bishopric of Caesarea (370 AD). With firmness and brave attitude, as a high priest he fought many battles for the Orthodox Faith. With the orthodox discourses he wrote, he blasted the opinions of the non-Orthodox.
In his struggles against Arianism he emerged as adamant, neither the royal flattery of Wallendas (364 – 378 AD), who personally went to Caesarea to convert him to Arianism, nor the threats of Modestus could bend the orthodox opinion of the Saint. He courageously defended Orthodoxy, surprising the king and the Arians. Still, he fought against moral decay and brought about wise reforms in monasticism.
And the rest of his pastoral activity was unparalleled, building the famous “Vassiliada”, a complex with noble institutions, such as a poorhouse, an orphanage, an old people’s home, a hotel and a hospital, etc., where thousands of sufferers of all ages, genders and races found food and care .
Basil the Great has a rich and important literary work. His main works are the 9 discourses on the Six Days, discourses on the Psalms, many and various other discourses, ascetic works and letters. Apart from his other works, he also wrote a Divine Liturgy, which, after the prevalence of this shorter one of St. John Chrysostom, is celebrated 10 times a year: on January 1 (where his memory is also celebrated), on the first five Sundays of Lent, on the eve of Christmas and Epiphany, on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday.
In his fifties, Basil the Great, due to his illness and his strict ascetic life (some sources say from severe liver or kidney disease), on January 1, 378 AD. or according to others in 379 to 380 AD, he leaves this perishable and futile world, leaving behind a bequest and sacred heritage to humanity a huge spiritual work.
