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Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia (†379). The admonition of King Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy. Basil the Great: biography

January 14 is the day of memory of the teacher of the Church, St. Basil the Great.
On the same day, January 14: Great Church Feast -.
February 12 - Council of the Ecumenical Teachers: St. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom

WHAT DO YOU PRAY TO HOLY BASIL THE GREAT

holy teacher Basil the Great, first of all, assists in requests for deliverance from fears and strengthening of faith, it helps to get rid of persecution or unfair treatment from superiors.
Mercy and charity of Basil the Great still help people in healing from illnesses. You can ask the saint for help in studies, in scientific research - the saint himself was a very educated person and studied many sciences.
An excellent speaker, Basil the Great had the gift of convincing people, so he patronizes those people who are associated with education.
Also, the universal teacher Basil the Great can help in finding housing or improving housing conditions, in giving a good harvest, and in many other areas.

It must be remembered that icons or saints do not "specialize" in any particular area. It will be right when a person turns with faith in the power of God, and not in the power of this icon, this saint or prayer.
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THE LIFE OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT

Basil was born around 330 (during the reign of Constantine the Great) in Caesarea, the administrative center of Cappadocia. His family was a noble family, all children were brought up in a strong reverence for the Christian faith. The result of such upbringing was that five (out of ten) children were canonized as saints.

Basil received a good education in his homeland in Caesarea, then continued his studies in Constantinople, then he went to Athens, where fate brought Basil together with another very wise man - Gregory the Theologian. Both Ecumenical teachers were similar to each other in humility, meekness and good temper, they remained friends until the end of their days.

Saint Basil very painstakingly studied all the sciences, the reviews of his contemporaries have come down to us: “he studied everything in such a way that another does not study one subject, he studied each science to such perfection, as if he had not studied anything else. A philosopher, philologist, orator, lawyer, naturalist, who had a deep knowledge of medicine - it was like a ship loaded with learning as much as human nature can accommodate.

Returning from Athens, Vasily at first began to study rhetoric and jurisprudence at the suggestion of his father, but soon decided that his path on earth was to serve God and decided to be baptized.

Basil received Holy Baptism only at the age of about 25 - in those days it was a very important event in a person's life, sometimes it happened that people put it off almost until their death.
In order to improve his Christian faith, the newly converted Basil decided to indulge in asceticism and went to Egypt, where monastic asceticism was very developed. Here he also hoped to find "a guide to the knowledge of the truth." Vasily spent two years away from his homeland. He traveled to Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, where he met some famous ascetics of those times, studied their works and indulged himself in Christian deeds.

After returning to Cappadocia, Saint Basil distributed property to the poor. Together with their friend Gregory the Theologian and several other monks, they created a Christian community where they prayed together, worked and studied the works of the holy fathers. Their life was not easy, they ate what they grew, they did all the hard work with their own hands. At the same time, Saints Basil and Gregory carefully studied the Holy Scripture and its interpretation. At the same time, Basil compiled a Christian collection of rules for moral life, which was taken as a basis by many men's and women's monasteries.

In those years, the teaching of Arius, who refuted the unity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, acquired great danger, he argued that God the Father occupies a dominant position, and God the Son and the Holy Spirit obey the Father, which in principle was much more understandable to ordinary people.

The father of Gregory the Theologian, who served as a bishop in Nazianzus, was already an old man and physically did not have the strength to fight heretics, so he called his son to help him. So Saint Gregory was forced to leave his friend, and after his departure Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where he was ordained a deacon, and in the year 364 became a presbyter.
New cares were to the liking of Saint Basil, he enthusiastically took care of the monks and preached the word of God. Through his labors, he won such respect among people that even the Bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius, did not have. Until the death of Eusebius (370), Basil actually ruled the Caesarean church, although he was second in hierarchy.

St. Basil, a zealous supporter of the Nicene Confession, resisted the Arian threat by all means and, one might say, led the defenders of Orthodoxy in Caesarea. At this time, Basil the Great compiled a liturgy, a discourse on the Six Days, on the 16 chapters of the prophet Isaiah, on the psalms, the second collection of monastic rules, and also wrote three books against the Arians, preaching the slogan "three hypostases in one essence."
In the year 370, after the death of Eusebius, Saint Basil was elected archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, the saint is engaged in charity, intercedes for innocent and persecuted people, people loved their pastor very much for honesty and mercy.
During these years, he wrote a book about the Holy Spirit, which speaks of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and the unity of His nature with the Father and the Son. Basil the Great explained and supported the Orthodox in the fight against Arianism, many letters to various bishops, priests and ordinary people have been preserved.

The emperor Valens, who came to power, was a supporter of Arianism. He had a very negative attitude towards Archbishop Basil and even threatened him, to which he received an answer from the saint:

“All this means nothing to me, he does not lose his estate, who has nothing but shabby and worn-out clothes and a few books that contain all my wealth. There is no link for me, because I am not bound by a place, and the place where I live now is not mine, and wherever they throw me, it will be mine. It would be better to say: everywhere is God's place, wherever I am a stranger and a stranger (Ps. 38:13). And what can suffering do to me? I am so weak that only the first blow will be sensitive. Death is a blessing to me: it will sooner lead me to God, for whom I live and work, towards whom I have long been striving.”

After such a firm answer, the emperor secretly visited the church where Saint Basil served, listened to his sermon and recognized his intelligence and firmness in faith. After this, the attacks on Saint Basil ceased, although the emperor did not accept communion with Basil.

From his youth, the saint's illnesses, tireless asceticism, and the sorrows of pastoral service undermined Basil's strength. On January 1 (January 14, according to the new style), 379, the earthly life of St. Basil the Great, Ecumenical Teacher, ended. Only two years later he did not live to see the Second Ecumenical Council (381) in Constantinople, where his theological ideas were adopted.

The merits of St. Basil were manifested not only in the solution of the Arian crisis and the "calm" of the Church. He also put a lot of effort into ordering monasticism. Vasily's personal experience told him that if you become fascinated by monasticism, you can even “burn out”, tear yourself away from the Church with excessive zeal. Being already a bishop, the saint published the monastic rules in two editions, a lengthy and a short one. Through the efforts of Vasily, eight common prayers were introduced into the monastic routine during the day: matins, vespers, compline, midnight office and prayers of the first, third, sixth and ninth hours.

Saint Gregory the Theologian wrote about his friend Basil the Great as follows:

“He was the pillar of faith, the rule of truth, a model in the Church, the abode of the Spirit, a man who surpassed the measure of both human life and virtues, a man of many embracing, great and holy; his soul was divine, he was a courageous ascetic of truth, who breathed nothing but pious and saving teaching for the whole world; for everyone he was a model of faith and virtue, his word was highly sophisticated, deep and perfect.

Magnification

We magnify you, Saint Father Basil, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us Christ our God.

BASIL THE GREAT - A VIDEO ABOUT THE Ecumenical Saints

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, "belongs not to one Caesarean Church, and not only in his time, not only to his fellow tribesmen was useful, but in all countries and cities of the universe, and to all people he brought and brings benefit, and for Christians he has always been and will be a most salutary teacher," said St. Basil's contemporary, St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (+ 344; Comm. 23 November). Basil was born around the year 330 in Caesarea, the administrative center of Cappadocia, and came from a well-known family, famous for both nobility and wealth, as well as talents and zeal for the Christian faith. During the time of Diocletian's persecution, the saint's grandfather and grandmother had to hide in the forests of Pontus for seven years. Saint Basil's mother, Emilia, was the daughter of a martyr. The father of the saint, also named Basil, a lawyer and a well-known teacher of rhetoric, lived permanently in Caesarea.

There were ten children in the family, five sons and five daughters, of which five were later canonized as saints: Basil, Macrina (Comm. 19 July) - an example of ascetic life that had a strong influence on the life and character of St. Basil the Great, Gregory, later Bishop of Nyssa (Comm. January 10), Peter, Bishop of Sebaste (Comm. January 9), and the righteous Theozva - deaconess (Comm. January 10). Saint Basil spent the first years of his life on an estate on the Iris River that belonged to his parents, where he was brought up under the guidance of his mother and grandmother Macrina, a highly educated woman who preserved in her memory the tradition of the famous Cappadocian saint, Gregory the Wonderworker (Comm. 17 November). Basil received his initial education under the guidance of his father, then he studied with the best teachers of Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he met St. Gregory the Theologian, and later moved to the schools of Constantinople, where he listened to outstanding orators and philosophers. To complete his education, Saint Basil went to Athens, the center of classical education.

After four or five years in Athens, Basil the Great possessed all available knowledge: "He studied everything in such a way that another does not study one subject, he studied every science to such perfection, as if he had not studied anything else." A philosopher, philologist, orator, lawyer, naturalist, who had a deep knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and medicine - "it was a ship loaded with learning as much as human nature can accommodate." In Athens, a close friendship was established between Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, which lasted a lifetime. Later, in a eulogy to Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian spoke enthusiastically about this time: “We were led by equal hopes and in the most enviable thing - in teaching ... We knew two roads: one - to our sacred churches and to the teachers there; the other - to the instructors of the external sciences.

Around the year 357 Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where for some time he taught rhetoric. But soon, refusing the offer of the Caesareans, who wished to entrust him with the education of youth, Saint Basil embarked on the path of ascetic life.

After the death of her husband, Vasily's mother with her eldest daughter Macrina and several virgins retired to the family estate on the Iris River and led an ascetic life. Basil, having received Baptism from the Bishop of Caesarea Diania, was made a reader. As an interpreter of the Holy Books, he first read them to the people. Then, "desiring to find a guide to the knowledge of the truth," the saint undertook a journey to Egypt, Syria and Palestine, to the great Christian ascetics. Returning to Cappadocia, he decided to imitate them. Having distributed his property to the poor, Saint Basil settled not far from Emilia and Makrina on the other side of the river, gathering the monks around him into a hostel. With his letters, Basil the Great attracted his friend Gregory the Theologian to the desert. Saints Basil and Gregory labored in strict abstinence: in their dwelling, without a roof, there was no hearth, food was the most meager. They themselves hewed stones, planted and watered trees, carried weights. From great labors, corns did not leave their hands. Of the clothes, Basil the Great had only a srach and a mantle; He only wore a sackcloth at night so that it was not visible. In seclusion, Saints Basil and Gregory intensively studied the Holy Scriptures according to the guidelines of the most ancient interpreters and, in particular, Origen, from whose works they compiled a collection - Philokalia (Philokalia). At the same time, Basil the Great, at the request of the monks, wrote a collection of rules for moral life. By his example and sermons, Saint Basil the Great contributed to the spiritual improvement of the Christians of Cappadocia and Pontus; many flocked to him. Men's and women's monasteries were formed, in which Vasily sought to combine the life of the kinovial with the hermit.

In the reign of Constantius (337-361), the false teaching of Arius spread, and the Church called both saints to the ministry. Saint Basil returned to Caesarea. In 362 he was ordained a deacon by Meletios, Bishop of Antioch, and then, in 364, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, ordained a presbyter. “But seeing,” as Gregory the Theologian narrates, “that everyone extremely reveres and praises Basil for wisdom and holiness, Eusebius, due to human weakness, was carried away by jealousy towards him and began to show dislike for him.” The monks came to the defense of St. Basil. In order not to cause church division, he retired to his desert and set about building monasteries. With the coming to power of the emperor Valens (364-378), a resolute supporter of the Arians, hard times come for Orthodoxy - "a great struggle lay ahead." Then Saint Basil hastily returned to Caesarea at the summons of Bishop Eusebius. According to Gregory the Theologian, for Bishop Eusebius he was "a good adviser, a righteous representative, an interpreter of God's Word, a rod of old age, a faithful support in internal affairs, the most active in external affairs." From that time on, the church government passed to Vasily, although he occupied the second place in the hierarchy. He preached sermons daily, and often twice - in the morning and in the evening. At this time, Saint Basil composed the order of the Liturgy; he also wrote Discourses on the Six Days, on the 16 chapters of the prophet Isaiah, on the Psalms, the second collection of monastic rules. Against the teacher of the Arians, Eunomius, who, with the help of Aristotelian constructions, gave Arian dogma a scientific and philosophical form, turning Christian teaching into a logical scheme of abstract concepts, Basil wrote three books.

St. Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the activities of Basil the Great in that period, points to "the provision of food for the poor, hospitality, care for virgins, written and unwritten rules for monastics, the order of prayers (Liturgy), decorating altars, and other things." After the death of Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, in 370, Saint Basil was elevated to his cathedra. As Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil the Great was subject to 50 bishops of eleven provinces. Saint Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria (Comm. 2 May), welcomed with joy and gratitude to God the gift of such a bishop as Basil to Cappadocia, who became famous for his holiness, deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, great learning, and labors for the benefit of church peace and unity. In the empire of Valens, external dominance belonged to the Arians, who, solving the question of the divinity of the Son of God in different ways, were divided into several parties. The question of the Holy Spirit was added to the earlier dogmatic disputes. In books against Eunomius, Basil the Great taught about the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and the unity of His nature with the Father and the Son. Now, in order to fully clarify the Orthodox teaching on this issue, at the request of St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, the saint wrote a book about the Holy Spirit.

The general sad situation was aggravated for the Bishop of Caesarea by such circumstances as the division of Cappadocia into two parts during the distribution of provincial districts by the government; the Antioch schism caused by the hasty installation of a second bishop; the negative and arrogant attitude of Western bishops towards attempts to involve them in the fight against Arianism and the transition to the side of the Arians of Eustathius of Sebastia, with whom Basil had a close friendship. Amid constant dangers, Saint Basil supported the Orthodox, affirmed their faith, calling for courage and patience. The holy bishop wrote numerous letters to churches, bishops, clergy, and private individuals. Deposing heretics "with the weapons of the mouth and the arrows of the writings," Saint Basil, as a tireless defender of Orthodoxy, aroused hostility and all sorts of intrigues of the Arians all his life.

Emperor Valens, who mercilessly sent into exile bishops objectionable to him, having planted Arianism in other provinces of Asia Minor, came to Cappadocia with the same purpose. He sent Prefect Modest to Saint Basil, who began to threaten him with ruin, exile, torture, and even death. “All this,” Vasily answered, “means nothing to me, he does not lose his estate, who has nothing but shabby and worn-out clothes and a few books that contain all my wealth. There is no link for me, because I don’t I am bound by a place, and the place where I now live is not mine, and wherever they throw me, it will be mine.It would be better to say: everywhere is God's place, wherever I am a wanderer and a stranger (Ps. 38, 13). can do to me? - I am so weak that only the first blow will be sensitive. Death is a blessing for me: it will rather lead me to God, for whom I live and work, for whom I have long been striving. The ruler was surprised by this answer. “Perhaps,” continued the saint, “you have not met the bishop; otherwise, no doubt, you would have heard the same words. But when it comes to God and they dare to rebel against Him, then we, imputing everything else for nothing, look only at Him alone, then fire, sword, beasts and iron, tormenting the body, will rather be a pleasure for us than frighten."

Reporting to Valens about the steadfastness of Saint Basil, Modest said: "We have been defeated, tsar, by the rector of the Church." Basil the Great showed the same firmness in the face of the emperor himself and, by his behavior, made such an impression on Valens that he did not support the Arians, who demanded the exile of Basil. “On the day of the Epiphany, with a large gathering of people, Valens entered the temple and mingled with the crowd to show the appearance of unity with the Church. When the psalmody began in the temple, his hearing was struck like thunder. his splendor; ahead of all is Basil, who does not exclaim with either his body or his eyes, as if nothing new had happened in the temple, but turned only to God and the throne, and his clergy in fear and reverence.

Saint Basil served Divine Liturgy almost daily. He was especially concerned about the strict observance of the canons of the Church, making sure that only those who were worthy entered the clergy. He indefatigably went around his churches, observing that church discipline was not violated anywhere, eliminating all partiality. In Caesarea, Saint Basil built two monasteries, male and female, with a temple in honor of 40 martyrs, where their holy relics were kept. Following the example of the monks, the clergy of the metropolia of the saint, even deacons and presbyters, lived in extreme poverty, worked and led a pure and virtuous life. For the clergy, Saint Basil sought to be freed from taxes. He used all his personal funds and the income of his church for the benefit of the poor; in each district of his metropolis, the saint created almshouses; in Caesarea - an inn and a hospice.

Illnesses from youth, labors of study, feats of abstinence, cares and sorrows of pastoral service exhausted the strength of the saint early. Saint Basil reposed on January 1, 379 at the age of 49. Shortly before his death, the saint blessed Saint Gregory the Theologian to accept the See of Constantinople.

Upon the repose of Saint Basil, the Church immediately began to celebrate his memory. St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (+ 394), in his sermon on the day of the death of St. Basil the Great, said: “It was not without reason and not by chance that the divine Basil was released from the body and reposed from the earth to God on the day of the Circumcision of Jesus, celebrated between the day of Christmas and Baptism Therefore, this Most Blessed One, preaching and praising the Nativity and the Baptism of Christ, extolled spiritual circumcision, and himself, putting off his body, was deemed worthy to ascend to Christ precisely on the sacred day of remembrance of the Circumcision of Christ. triumph."

Basil, the great saint of God and God-wise teacher of the Church, was born of noble and pious parents in the Cappadocian city of Caesarea, around the year 330, during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great. His father's name was also Vasily, and his mother was Emmelia. The first change of piety was sown in his soul by his pious grandmother, Macrina, who in her youth was worthy to hear instructions from the lips of St. Gregory the Wonderworker - and by his mother, the pious Emmelia. Basil's father instructed him not only in the Christian faith, but also taught secular sciences, which he was well aware of, since he himself taught rhetoric, that is, oratory, and philosophy. When Vasily was about 14 years old, his father died, and the orphaned Vasily spent two or three years with his grandmother Macrina, not far from Neokesaria, near the river Iris, in a country house owned by his grandmother and which was later converted into a monastery. From here, Basil often went to Caesarea to visit his mother, who, with her other children, lived in this city, where she was from.

Adolescence, teaching science

Basil the Great

After the death of Macrina, Basil, at the age of 17, settled again in Caesarea in order to study various sciences in local schools. Thanks to his special sharpness, mind, Basil soon caught up in knowledge with his teachers and, looking for new knowledge, went to Constantinople, where at that time the young sophist Livanius was famous for his eloquence. But even here Basil did not stay long and went to Athens - the city that was the mother of all Hellenic wisdom. In Athens, he began to listen to the lessons of a glorious pagan teacher named Eevvula, while attending the schools of two other glorious Athenian teachers, Iberius and Proeresius. Vasily at that time was already twenty-six years old and he showed extreme zeal in his studies, but at the same time he deserved universal approval for the purity of his life. He knew only two roads in Athens - one leading to the church, and the other to the school. In Athens, Basil made friends with another glorious saint, Gregory the Theologian, who was also studying at that time in Athenian schools. Vasily and Grigory, being similar to each other in their good temper, meekness and chastity, loved each other so much, as if they had one soul, and they subsequently preserved this mutual love forever. Vasily was so passionate about the sciences that he often even forgot, sitting at books, about the need to eat. He studied grammar, rhetoric, astronomy, philosophy, physics, medicine and the natural sciences. But all these secular, earthly sciences could not saturate his mind, which was looking for a higher, heavenly illumination, and, having stayed in Athens for about five years, Vasily felt that worldly science could not give him a solid support, in business, for Christian improvement. Therefore, he decided to go to those countries where Christian ascetics lived, and where he could become fully acquainted with true Christian science.

Basil the Great comes to Egypt, fasting exploits, acquaintances with ascetics

Illustration from the book of Dimitry of Rostov "Lives of the Saints"

Basil the Great

So, while Gregory the Theologian remained in Athens, having already become a teacher of rhetoric, Basil went to Egypt where monastic life flourished. Here, with a certain Archimandrite Porfiry, he found a large collection of theological works, in the study of which he spent a whole year practicing at the same time in fasting feats. In Egypt, Basil observed the life of famous contemporary ascetics - Pachomius, who lived in the Thebaid, Macarius the Elder and Macarius of Alexandria, Paphnutius, Paul and others. From Egypt, Basil went to Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia to survey the holy places and get acquainted with the life of the ascetics there. But on the way to Palestine, he went to Athens and there he had an interview with his former mentor Euvulus, and also argued about the true faith with other Greek philosophers.

Conversation with teacher Evul

Wanting to convert his teacher to the true faith and thereby pay him for the good that he himself received from him, Vasily began to look for him throughout the city. For a long time he did not find him, but at last he met him outside the city walls, while Evulus was talking with other philosophers about some important subject. Having listened to the dispute and not yet revealing his name, Vasily entered into a conversation, immediately resolving the difficult question, and then, for his part, asked a new question to his teacher. When the listeners wondered who could answer and object to the famous Eevvul, the latter said:

This is either some god, or Basil.

Recognizing Basil, Eevvul released his friends and students, and he himself brought Basil to him, and they spent three whole days in conversation, almost without eating food. Incidentally, Eevvul asked Basil about what, in his opinion, was the essential merit of philosophy.

The essence of philosophy, - answered Vasily, - lies in the fact that it gives a person the remembrance of death.

At the same time, he pointed out to Eevvul the fragility of the world and all its comforts, which at first seem really sweet, but then later become extremely bitter for someone who had too much time to become attached to them.

There are, along with these pleasures, - said Vasily, consolations of a different kind, of heavenly origin. It is impossible to use both at the same time - "No one can serve two masters" (Matt. 6:24), - but we still, as far as possible for people who are attached to worldly things, break the bread of true knowledge and the one who , even through his own fault, he lost the robe of virtue, we introduce him under the roof of good deeds, pitying him, as we pity a naked man on the street.

Following this, Basil began to speak to Evvul about strength; repentance, describing the images he once saw of virtue and vice, which in turn attract a person to themselves, and the image of repentance, near which, like his daughters, stand various virtues.

But we have nothing, Eevvul, - added Vasily, - to resort to such artificial means of persuasion. We own the very truth, which can be comprehended by anyone who sincerely strives for it. Indeed, we believe that we will all resurrect someday, some for eternal life, and others for eternal torment and shame. We are clearly told about this by the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and David and the divine apostle Paul, as well as the Lord Himself calling us to repentance, Who found the lost sheep, and Who returns with repentance the prodigal son, embracing with love, kisses and adorns him with bright clothes and with a ring, and makes a feast for him (Luke, ch.15). He gives an equal reward to those who came at the eleventh hour, as well as to those who endured the burden of the day and the heat. He gives us those who repent and are born by water and the Spirit as it is written: eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and that has not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him.

When Basil gave Evvulus a brief history of the dispensation of our salvation, beginning with the fall of Adam and ending with the doctrine of Christ the Redeemer, Evbul exclaimed:

Oh, Basil, revealed by heaven, through you, I believe in the One God, the Almighty Father, the Creator of all things, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the future age, amen. And here is the proof of my faith in God for you: I will spend the rest of my life with you, and now I want to be born from water and the Spirit.

Then Vasily said:

Blessed be our God from now on and forever, Who has illuminated your mind with the light of truth, Eevvul, and led you out of extreme error into the knowledge of His love. If you want, as you said, to live with me, then I will explain to you how we can take care of our salvation, getting rid of the nets of this life. Let's sell all our possessions and distribute the money to the poor, and we ourselves will go to the holy city to see the miracles there; there we will be even more strengthened in the faith.

Having thus distributed all their possessions to the needy and having bought themselves white clothes, which were required to be baptized, they went to Jerusalem and on the way converted many to the true faith.

Antioch. The youth Philoxenus, sermon of Basil the Great to the disciples of Livani

You would lend me a lot, Vasily, - he concluded, - if you had not refused to present your teaching for the benefit of the students who are with me.

Soon the disciples of Livanius gathered, and Basil began to teach them that they should acquire spiritual purity, bodily dispassion, modest tread, quiet speech, a modest word, moderation in food and drink, silence in the presence of the elders, attentiveness to the words of the wise, obedience to superiors, unhypocritical love for equal to themselves and to the lower ones, so that they would move away from evil passionate and attached to carnal pleasures, so that they would speak less and listen and understand more, would not be reckless in the word, would not be verbose, would not laugh boldly at others, would be adorned with modesty, would not enter into conversation with immoral women, lowered their eyes to the bottom, and turned their souls to grief, avoided disputes, would not seek the dignity of a teacher, and the honors of this world would be imputed to nothing. If anyone does anything for the benefit of others, let him expect a reward from God and an eternal reward from Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus Basil spoke to the disciples of Livanius, and they listened to him with great astonishment, and after this he, together with Evulus, again set off on the road.

Jerusalem. Baptism in Jordan

When they came to Jerusalem and went around with faith and love all the holy places, praying there to the One Creator of all God, they appeared to the bishop of that city, Maxim, and asked him to baptize them in the Jordan. The bishop, seeing their great faith, fulfilled their request: taking his clerics, he set off with Basil and Evvul to the Jordan. When they stopped on the shore, Vasily fell to the ground and with tears prayed to God to show him some kind of sign to strengthen his faith. Then, rising with trepidation, he took off his clothes, and with them "put off the former way of life of the old man," and, entering the water, he prayed. When the saint approached to baptize him, a fiery lightning suddenly fell on them and, emerging from that lightning, the dove plunged into the Jordan and, stirring up the water, flew away to heaven. Those who stood on the shore, seeing this, trembled and glorified God. Having received baptism, Basil came out of the water, and the bishop, marveling at his love for God, clothed him in the clothes of Christ's resurrection, while praying. He baptized Eevvulus and then anointed both with myrrh and communed the Divine Gifts.

Basil the Great returns to Antioch, deaconate, rank of presbyter

Returning to the holy city, Basil and Evvul stayed there for one year. Then they went to Antioch, where Basil was made a deacon by Archbishop Meletios, then he was engaged in the interpretation of Scripture. A little while later, he went with Evulus to his fatherland, Cappadocia. As they approached the city of Caesarea, the archbishop of Caesarea, Leontius, was announced in a dream of their arrival, and it was said that Basil would in time be the archbishop of that city. Therefore, the archbishop, calling his archdeacon and several honorary clerics, sent them to the eastern gate of the city, ordering them to bring to him with honor two strangers whom they would meet there. They went and, having met Basil with Evvul, when they entered the city, they took them to the archbishop; he, seeing them, was surprised, for it was them that he saw in a dream, and glorified God. Having asked them about where they were coming from and what they were called, and, having learned their names, he ordered them to be taken to a meal and treated, while he himself, having called his clergy and honorary citizens, told them everything that he had seen in a vision from God about Basil . Then the clear unanimously said:

Since God has appointed you an heir to your throne for your virtuous life, do with him as you please; for the man who is directly pointed out by the will of God is truly worthy of all respect.

Ionian desert. The feat of wilderness living, together with a friend Gregory

Saint Basil, learning about this, and not wanting to be an object of envy, went into the Ionian desert. In the Ionian desert, Basil retired to the Iris River, to the area in which his mother Emmelia and his sister Macrina had retired before him, and which belonged to them. Macrina built a monastery here. Near it, at the foot of a high mountain, covered with dense forest and irrigated by cold and clear waters, Vasily settled. The desert was so pleasing to Vasily with its imperturbable silence that he intended to end his days here. Here he imitated the exploits of those great men whom he saw in Syria and Egypt. He asceticised in extreme deprivation, having only one garment to cover himself - a cloak and a mantle; he also wore a hair shirt, but only at night, so that it was not visible; He ate bread and water, seasoning this meager food with salt and roots. From strict abstinence, he became very pale and thin. and became utterly exhausted. He never went to the bath and did not light a fire. But Vasily did not live for himself alone: he gathered monks into a hostel; with his letters he attracted his friend Gregory to his desert.
In their seclusion, Vasily and Gregory did everything together; prayed together; both left the reading of worldly books, for which they had previously spent a lot of time, and began to occupy themselves solely with the Holy Scriptures. Wishing to study it better, they read the writings of the fathers and church writers who preceded them in time, especially Origen. Here Vasily and Gregory, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote the statutes of the monastic community, by which the monks of the Eastern Church are for the most part guided even today.

In relation to bodily life, Vasily and Gregory found pleasure in patience; they worked with their own hands, carrying firewood, hewing stones, planting and watering trees, carrying manure, carrying weights, so that calluses on their hands remained for a long time. Their dwelling had neither a roof nor a gate; there was never fire or smoke there. The bread they ate was so dry and badly baked that they could hardly chew it with their teeth.

Return to Caesarea, at the request of Eusebius, Archbishop of Caesarea

However, the time came when both Basil and Gregory had to leave the desert, since their services were needed by the Church, which at that time was revolted by heretics. Gregory, to help the Orthodox, was taken to Nazianzus by his father, Gregory, a man already old and therefore not having the strength to fight with firmness against heretics; Basil was persuaded to return to himself by Eusebius, the archbishop of Caesarea, who reconciled with him in a letter and asked him to help the Church, which the Arians took up arms. Blessed Basil, seeing such a need for the Church and preferring it to the benefits of a desert life, left solitude and came to Caesarea, where he labored hard, protecting the Orthodox faith from heresy with words and writings. When Archbishop Eusebius reposed, betraying his spirit to God in Basil's arms, Basil was elevated to the archbishop's throne and consecrated by a council of bishops. Among those bishops was the elderly Gregory, father of Gregory of Nazianzus. Being weak and troubled by old age, he ordered that he be escorted to Caesarea in order to convince Basil to accept the archbishopric and prevent the enthronement of any of the Arians.

Basil successfully ruled the Church of Christ, but he consecrated his brother, Peter, to the presbyter, so that he would help him in his work on the affairs of the Church, and subsequently made him bishop of the city of Sebastia. At this time, their mother, blessed Emmelia, departed to the Lord, having lived for more than 90 years.

The miraculous appearance of the Lord to Basil the Great, through his prayer. The beginning of the creation of the prayers of the Holy Liturgy

Some time later, blessed Basil asked God to enlighten his mind so that he could make an offering of a bloodless sacrifice to God in his own words, and that the grace of the Holy Spirit would be sent down to him for this. Six days later, on the seventh, when Basil, standing before the throne in the temple, began to offer bread and a cup, the Lord Himself appeared to him in a vision with the apostles and said:

At your request, let your lips be filled with praise, so that you can perform bloodless service, saying your prayers.

After this, Vasily began to speak and write down such words: “May my lips be filled with praise, may I sing your glory”, “O Lord our God, create us and bring us into this life” and other prayers of the holy liturgy. At the end of the prayer, he raised the bread, fervently praying with these words: "Hear, Lord Jesus Christ our God, in the heavens of your dwelling place and at the throne of your kingdom, and come to sanctify us, and sit on this mountain, and here with us remain invisible: and grant with your hand to give us your most pure body and blood to all of us people." When the saint was doing this, Eevvul with the higher clerics saw the light of heaven, illuminating the altar and the saint and some bright men in white robes, who surrounded Saint Basil. Seeing this, they were greatly horrified and fell on their faces, shedding tears and glorifying God.

At that time, Basil, calling on a goldsmith, ordered him to make a dove from pure gold - in the image of the dove that appeared over the Jordan - and placed it over the holy throne, so that he would, as it were, guard the Divine Secrets.

The Miracle of the Baptism of a Jew

The Lord God, with some miraculous signs, testified during the life of Basil about his holiness. Once, when he was performing a divine service, a certain Jew, wanting to know what the holy mysteries consisted of, joined the other believers, as if he were a Christian, and, entering the church, he saw that St. Basil was holding a baby in his hands and crushing him into pieces. . When the faithful began to take communion from the hands of the saint, a Jew also approached, and the saint gave him, as he did to other Christians, part of the holy gifts. Taking them in his hands, the Jew saw that it was really flesh, and when he approached the cup, he saw that it really was blood. He hid the remnant of Holy Communion and, having come home, showed it to his wife and told her about everything that he had seen with his own eyes. Believing that the Christian sacrament is really terrible and glorious, he went in the morning to the blessed Basil and begged to honor him with holy baptism. Basil, giving thanks to God, immediately baptized the Jew with his entire family.

The miracle of helping a poor woman and the miracle of foresight of Basil the Great

When the saint once walked along the road, a certain poor woman, offended by one boss, fell at the feet of Basil, begging him to write about her to the boss, as a person whom he highly respected. The saint, taking a charter, wrote to the chief as follows: "This wretched woman came to me, saying that my letter is of great importance to you. If this is so, then prove it to me in practice and show mercy to this woman." Having written these words, the saint gave the charter to that poor woman, and she took it and carried it to the chief. After reading the letter, he wrote in response to the saint as follows: "According to your letter, holy father, I would like to show mercy to that woman, but I cannot do this, because she is subject to a national tax." The saint again wrote to him the following: "Well, if you wanted to, but could not do it; and if you could, but did not want to, then God will put you yourself among the needy, so that you cannot do what you want." These words of the saint were soon fulfilled: a little time later, the king became angry with that leader, for he found out that he was inflicting great oppression on the people, and put him in chains so that he would pay all those whom he had offended. The head of the prison sent a petition to Saint Basil, so that he would take pity on him and appease the king with his petition. Basil hastened to ask the king for him. and after six days came a decree freeing the chief from condemnation. The chief, seeing how merciful the saint was to him, hurried to him to thank him, and gave the aforementioned poor woman from his estate twice as much as he had taken from her.

Miracle manifested through the prayer of Basil: Saint Mercury kills Tsar Julian the Apostate, the great persecutor of Christians

While this saint of God, the Great Basil, courageously fought in Caesarea in Cappadocia for the holy faith of Christ, Tsar Julian the Apostate, a blasphemer and a great persecutor of Christians, who boasted that he would destroy Christians, went to war against the Persians. Saint Basil then prayed in the church before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, at whose feet there was an image, and the holy Great Martyr Mercury in form; warrior with a spear. He prayed that God would not allow Julian, the persecutor and destroyer of Christians, to return alive from the Persian war. And so he saw that the image of Saint Mercury, who was standing near the Most Holy Theotokos, had changed, and the image of the martyr had become invisible for some time. After some time, the martyr appeared again, but with a bloodied spear. At this very time, Julian was pierced in the Persian War by the holy martyr Mercury, sent by the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos to destroy the enemy of God.

The gift of grace from Basil the Great, a miracle performed at the liturgy

Saint Basil the Great also had such a gift of grace. When he offered up the holy gifts during the liturgy, the golden dove with divine gifts, which hung over the holy throne, moved by the power of God, shook three times. Once, when Basil served and offered holy gifts, there was no usual sign with a dove, which, by its shaking, indicated the descent of the Holy Spirit. When Basil was thinking about the reason for this, he saw that one of the deacons holding the ripids was looking at a woman who was standing in the church. Basil commanded that deacon to depart from the holy altar and appointed him a penance - to fast and pray for seven days, to spend whole nights without sleep in prayer, and to distribute alms to the poor from his estate. From that time on, Saint Basil commanded that a curtain and a partition be built in the church in front of the altar, so that not a single woman could look into the altar during the performance of the divine service; He commanded the disobedient to be taken out of the church and excommunicated from Holy Communion.

The admonition of King Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy

While Saint Basil was a bishop, the Church of Christ was embarrassed by Tsar Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy. He, having overthrown many Orthodox bishops from their thrones, raised Arians to their places, and forced others who were cowardly and fearful to join his heresy. He was angry and tormented inwardly, seeing that Basil fearlessly abides on his throne, as an unshakable pillar of his faith, and strengthens and exhorts others to abhor Arianism, as a false doctrine hated by God. Bypassing his possessions, and extremely oppressing the Orthodox everywhere, the tsar, on the way to Antioch, arrived at Caesarea in Cappadocia and here began to use all measures to persuade Basil to the side of Arianism. He inspired his governors, nobles - and advisers, so that they, with prayers and promises, then with threats, prompted Vasily to fulfill the desire of the king. And the royal supporters persistently urged the saint to this; in addition, some noble women, who enjoyed the favor of the king, began to send their eunuchs to the saint, persistently advising him that he should think at the same time with the king. But no one could force this hierarch, unshakable in his faith, to fall away from Orthodoxy. Finally, eparch Modest called Basil to him and, after being unable to persuade him with flattering promises to fall away from Orthodoxy, began to furiously threaten him with the seizure of property, exile and death. The saint boldly answered his threats:

If you take away my property, you will not enrich yourself with it, and you will not make me a beggar. I suppose that you do not need these shabby clothes of mine and a few books that contain all my wealth. There is no link for me, because I am not bound by a place, and the place where I live now is not mine, and whatever I am sent to will be mine. It would be better to say: everywhere is the place of God, wherever I am "a stranger and a stranger" (Ps. 38:13). And what can suffering do to me? - I am so weak that only the first blow will be sensitive to me. Death for me is a blessing: it will sooner lead me to God, for whom I live and work, and for whom I have long been striving.

Amazed by these words, the ruler said to Basil:

No one has ever spoken to me so boldly!

Yes, - answered the saint, - because you did not happen to speak with the bishop before. In everything else, we show meekness and humility, but when it comes to God, and they dare to rebel against Him: then we, everything else, imputing nothing, look only at Him alone; then the fire, the sword, the beasts, and the iron that torment the body will rather please us than frighten us.

Reporting to Valens about the inflexibility and fearlessness of Saint Basil, Modest said:

We are defeated, king, by the rector of the Church. This husband is above threats, stronger than arguments, stronger than convictions.

After this, the king forbade disturbing Vasily and, although he did not accept communication with him, ashamed to show himself changed, he began to look for more decent excuses.

But, having retired to Antioch, he again became irritated against Basil, being excited to this by evil people, believing whose denunciations he condemned Basil to exile. But when the king wanted to sign this sentence, the throne on which he was sitting swayed and the cane broke, with which he was supposed to sign. The king took another cane, but it was the same with that one; the same happened with the third. Then his hand trembled, and fear fell upon him; seeing the power of God in this, the king tore up the charter.

But the enemies of Orthodoxy again began to persistently pester the tsar about Basil, so that he would not leave him alone, and a dignitary named Anastasius was sent from the tsar to bring Basil to Antioch. When this dignitary came to Caesarea and announced to Basil about the command of the king, the saint answered:

I, my son, learned some time ago that the king, listening to the advice of foolish people, broke three canes, wanting to sign a decree about my imprisonment and darken the truth through this. The insensible canes restrained his irresistible impetuosity, agreeing to break rather than serve as a weapon for his unrighteous sentence.

Being brought to Antioch, Basil appeared before the court of the eparch, and to the question: "Why does he not adhere to the faith that the king professes?" he answered:

It will never happen that I, having deviated from the true Christian faith, become a follower of the impious Arian doctrine; for I have inherited from the fathers the faith in those who are of the same essence, which I confess and glorify.

The judge threatened him with death, but Vasily answered:

What? let me suffer for the truth and free myself from the bonds of the body; I have been wanting this for a long time - only you will not change your promise.

The eparch informed the king that Vasily was not afraid of threats, that his convictions could not be changed, that his heart was adamant and firm. The king, inflamed with anger, began to think about how to destroy Basil. But at this very time, the son of the king, Galat, suddenly fell ill and the doctors had already doomed him to death. His mother, having come to the king, said to him with irritation:

Since you believe incorrectly and persecute the bishop of God, the lad dies for this.

Hearing this, Valens called Basil and said to him:

If God is pleased with the teaching of your faith, then heal my son with your prayers!

The saint replied:

O king! If you convert to the Orthodox faith and give peace to the churches, then your son will remain alive.

When the tsar promised to fulfill this, Saint Basil immediately turned to God with a prayer, and the Lord sent relief to the tsar's son in his illness. After this, Vasily was released with honors to his throne. The Arians, hearing and seeing this, were inflamed with envy and malice, and said to the king:

And we could do it!

They again deceived the king, so that he did not prevent them from performing the baptism of his son. But when the Arians took the king's son to baptize him, he immediately died in their arms. The aforementioned Anastasius saw this with his own eyes and told about this to the king Valentinian, who reigned in the west, the brother of the eastern king, Valens. Valentinian, surprised at such a miracle, glorified God, and through Anastasius sent great gifts to Saint Basil, accepting which Basil set up hospitals in the cities of his dioceses and gave shelter to many weak and wretched people.

Blessed Gregory of Nazianzus also reports that Saint Basil also healed that eparch Modest, who was so severe towards the saint, by prayer from a serious illness, when he, in his illness, with humility, sought help from his holy prayers.

Help for the widow Vestiana, indignation of the people in defense of Basil the Great

After some time, a relative of the king, named Eusebius, was put in the place of Modest. In Caesarea in his time there lived a widow, young, rich and very beautiful, named Vestiana, daughter of Araxes, who was a member of the senate. Eparch Eusebius wanted to marry this widow by force to one dignitary, but she, being chaste, and wanting to keep the purity of her widowhood unsullied, to the glory of God, did not want to marry. When she found out that they wanted to kidnap her by force and force her to marry, she ran away to church and fell at the feet of the bishop of God, Saint Basil. He, having taken her under his protection, did not want to give her out of the church to the people who came for her, and then secretly sent her to a nunnery, to his sister, the Monk Macrina. Angry at Blessed Basil, the eparch sent soldiers to take that widow from the church by force, and when she was not found there, he ordered them to look for her in the saint's bedchamber. The eparch, as an immoral person, thought that Vasily, with a sinful intention, kept her at his place and hid her in his bedchamber. However, not finding it anywhere. He called Vasily to him and with great fury scolded him, threatened to hand him over to torture if he did not give him a widow. But Saint Basil showed himself ready for torment.

If you order my body to be cut with iron,” he said, “then you will heal my liver, which, as you see, greatly disturbs me.

At this time, the citizens, having learned about the incident, rushed all - not only men, but also women - to the eparch's palace with weapons and a dracula, intending to kill him for their holy father and shepherd. And if Saint Basil had not calmed the people, the eparch would have been killed. The latter, seeing such popular indignation, was very frightened and released the saint unharmed and free.

The miracle of saving the unfortunate slave from the devil

Ellady, an eyewitness to the miracles of Basil and his successor on the episcopal throne, a virtuous and holy man, told the following. One Orthodox senator named Proterius, visiting holy places, set out to give his daughter to serve God in one of the monasteries; the devil, the primordial hater of good, aroused in one slave Proterius a passion for his master's daughter. Seeing the unfulfillment of his desire, and not daring to say anything about his passion to the girl, the slave went to a magician who lived in that city and told him about his difficulty. He promised the magician a lot of gold if he would help him marry his master's daughter with his magic. The wizard at first refused, but finally said:

If you wish, I will send you to my master, the devil; he will help you in this, if only you will fulfill his will.
The unfortunate servant said:

Whatever he commands me, I promise to do.

The wizard then said:

Will you deny your Christ and give a receipt for that?

The slave said:

Get ready for this, just to get what you want.

If you make such a promise, - said the magician, - then I will be your assistant.

Then, taking the charter, he wrote the following to the devil:

Since I must, my lord, try to tear people away from the Christian faith and bring them under your authority in order to multiply your subjects, I am now sending you the bearer of this letter, a young man, inflamed with passions for a girl, and I ask for him to help him fulfill his wish. Through this, I will become famous, and I will attract more admirers to you.

Having written such a letter to the devil, the magician gave it to that young man and sent him with these words:

Go at this hour of the night and stand in the Greek cemetery, raising the charter to the top; then immediately those who will lead you to the devil will appear to you.

The unfortunate slave quickly went and, stopping at the cemetery, began to call demons. And immediately crafty spirits appeared before him and joyfully led the deceived one to their prince. Seeing him sitting on a high throne, and the darkness of evil spirits surrounding him, the slave gave him a letter from the magician. The devil, taking the letter, said to the slave:

Do you believe in me?

The same answered: "I believe."

The devil asked again:

Do you deny your Christ?

I renounce, - answered the slave.

Then Satan said to him:

Often you deceive me, Christians: when you ask me for help, then come to me, and when you achieve your goal, you again renounce me and turn to your Christ, Who, as kind and philanthropic, accepts you. Give me a receipt that you voluntarily renounce Christ and baptism and promise to be mine forever and from the day of judgment you will endure eternal torment with me: in this case, I will fulfill your desire.

The slave, taking the charter, wrote what the devil wanted from him. Then the destroyer of souls, the ancient serpent (that is, the devil), sent the demons of adultery, and they aroused in the girl such a strong love for the lad that she, from carnal passion, fell to the ground and began to cry to her father:

Have pity on me, have pity on your daughter, and marry me to our slave, whom I have loved with all my might. If you don’t do this for me, your only daughter, then you will see me soon die of severe torment and you will give an answer for me on the day of judgment.

Hearing this, the father was horrified and said with tears:

Woe to me, a sinner! what happened to my daughter? Who stole my treasure from me? Who deceived my child? Who has darkened the light of my eyes? I wanted my daughter to betroth you to the Heavenly Bridegroom, so that you would be like angels and glorify God in psalms and spiritual hymns (Eph. 5:19), and I myself hoped to receive salvation for you, and you shamelessly repeat about marriage! Do not bring me from sorrows to the underworld, my child, do not shame your noble rank, marrying a slave.

She, not paying attention to the words of the parent, said one thing:

If you don't do what I want, I'll kill myself.

The father, not knowing what to do, on the advice of his relatives and friends, agreed to better fulfill her will than to see her dying a cruel death. Calling his servant, he gave him his daughter and a large estate as a wife and said to his daughter:

Go, unhappy, marry! But I think that you will become very remorseful after your actions, and that you will not benefit from this.

Some time after this marriage was completed, and the devil's work was fulfilled, it was noticed that the newlywed did not go to church and did not partake of the Holy Mysteries. This was also announced to his unfortunate wife:

Do you not know, they said to her, that your husband, whom you have chosen, is not a Christian but a stranger to the faith of Christ?

When she heard this, she became extremely sad and, falling to the ground, began to tear her face with her nails, tirelessly beat her chest with her hands, and screamed like this:

No one who disobeyed his parents could ever be saved! Who will tell my father about my shame? Woe unfortunate me! What a death I have fallen into! Why was I born and why did I not die at birth?

When she sobbed so, her husband heard her and hurried to ask her about the reason for her sobs. When he found out what was the matter, he began to console her, saying that she had been told lies about him and convincing her that he was a Christian. She, calming down a little from his words, said to him:

If you want to fully assure me and remove sorrow from my unfortunate soul, then go to church with me in the morning and partake of the Most Pure Mysteries before me: then I will believe you.

Her unfortunate husband, seeing that he could not hide the truth, had, against his will, to tell her everything about himself - how he betrayed himself to the devil. But she, forgetting her feminine infirmity, hurriedly went to Saint Basil and cried out to him:

Have pity on me, disciple of Christ, have pity on the disobedient will of her father, who succumbed to demonic seduction! - and told him everything in detail about her husband.

The saint called her husband and asked him if what his wife was saying about him was true. He answered with tears:

Yes, Holy Hierarch of God, it's all true! and if I become silent, then my deeds will cry out about it, - and he told everything in order, how he surrendered to demons.

The saint said:

Do you want to return to our Lord, Jesus Christ?

Yes, I want to, but I can’t, he answered.

From what? - asked Vasily.

Because, - answered the husband, - that I gave a receipt that I renounce Christ and betray myself to the devil.

But Vasily said:

Do not grieve over this, for God is philanthropic and accepts those who repent.

The wife, throwing herself at the feet of the saint, implored him, saying:

Disciple of Christ! help us where you can.

Then the saint said to the servant:

Do you believe that you can still be saved?

He also said in response:

I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.

After that, the saint, taking him by the hand, overshadowed him with the sign of the cross and locked him in a room located inside the church fence, commanding him to pray to God without ceasing. He himself spent three days in prayer, and then visited the penitent and asked him:

How do you feel child?

I am in an extremely distressed state, Vladyka, answered the young man, “I cannot endure the cries of demons and fears and shooting and blows with stakes. For the demons, holding my receipt in their hands, revile me, saying: "You came to us, and not we to you!"

The saint said:

Do not be afraid, child, but only believe.

And giving him some food, he made the sign of the cross over him and locked him up again. A few days later he visited him again and said:

How do you live, child?

He replied:

From a distance I still hear threats and their cry, but I do not see myself.

Basil gave him some food and prayed for him, locked him up again and left. Then he came to him on the fortieth day and asked him:

How do you live, child.

He also said:

Well, holy father, for I saw you in a dream, how you fought for me and defeated the devil.

Having made a prayer, the saint led him out of the seclusion and brought him to the cell. In the morning he called the whole clergy, monks and all people who love Christ and said:

Let us glorify the brother, the lover of God, for now the Good Shepherd wants to take the dead sheep on the frame and bring it to the church: on this night we must implore his goodness, so that He defeats and shames the enemy of our souls.

The believers gathered in church and prayed all night for the penitent, crying out: "Lord have mercy."

When morning came, Basil, taking the penitent by the hand, led him with all the people to the church, singing psalms and hymns. And so the devil shamelessly came there invisibly with all his pernicious power, wanting to snatch the young man from the hands of the saint. The young man began to yell:

Saint of God, help me!

But the devil, with such impudence and shamelessness, armed himself against the young man, that he caused pain to St. Basil, dragging the young man along with him. Then the blessed one turned to the devil with these words:

Shameless murderer, prince of darkness and perdition! Is not your destruction sufficient for you, which you caused yourself and those who are with you? Won't you stop chasing the creatures of my God?

The devil cried out to him:

God forbid you, oh devil!

The devil again said to him:

Vasily, you offend me! After all, it was not I who came to him, but he to me: he denied his Christ, giving me a receipt, which I have in my hand, and which I will show to the universal Judge on the day of judgment.

Vasily said:

Blessed be the Lord my God! These people will not lower their hands raised to the sky until you give that receipt.
Then, turning to the people, the saint said:

Raise your hands in grief and cry: "Lord have mercy!" And after the people, raising their hands to heaven, for a long time cried out with tears: “Lord have mercy!”, The young man’s receipt, in front of everyone, was brought through the air right into the hands of St. Basil. Taking this receipt, the saint rejoiced and gave thanks to God, and then in the hearing of everyone he said to the young man:

Do you know this receipt, brother?

The young man replied:

Yes, holy hierarch of God, this is my receipt; I wrote it with my own hand.

Basil the Great immediately tore it apart in front of everyone and, having led the young man into the church, communed him with the Divine Mysteries and offered a plentiful meal to all those present. After that, having given instruction to the young man and indicating the appropriate rules of life, he returned it to his wife, and he did not stop, glorified and thanked God.

The miracle of the foresight of Basil the Great and the salvation of the leper, through his prayer

The same Yelladiy told the following about St. Basil. Once our great father Vasily, being illumined by divine grace, said to his clergy:

Follow me, children, and we will see the glory of God, and together we will glorify our Lord.

With these words, he left the city, but no one knew where he wanted to go. At that time, the presbyter Anastasia lived in one village with his wife Theognia. For forty years they lived with each other in virginity, and many thought that Theognia was barren, for no one knew the pure virginity they kept in secret. Anastasius, for his holy life, was worthy to receive the grace of the Spirit of God, and was a seer. Foreseeing in spirit that Basil wanted to visit him, he said to Theognia:

I’m going to cultivate the field, and you, my sister, clean the house and, at the ninth hour of the day, lighting candles, go out to meet the holy Archbishop Basil, for he is coming to visit us sinners.

She was surprised at the words of her master, but she carried out his order. When Saint Basil was not far from the house of Anastasius, Theognia went out to meet him and bowed to him.

Are you well, Mrs. Theognia? - asked Vasily. She, hearing that he calls her by name, was horrified and said:

I am healthy, holy lord!

The saint said:

Where is Mr. Anastassy, your brother?

She replied:

This is not a brother, but my husband; he went into the field.

Vasily said:

He's at home - don't worry!

Hearing this, she was even more frightened, for she realized that the saint had penetrated into their secrets, and with trembling fell at the feet of the saint and said:

Pray for me, a sinner, saint of God, for I see that you can do great and wonderful things.

Where do I; it is that the saint of my Lord came to me.

The saint, giving him a kiss in the Lord, said:

It's good that I found you, disciple of Christ; let's go to church and do the service of God.

That presbyter had the custom of fasting all days of the week, except Saturday and Sunday, and ate nothing but bread and water. When they arrived at the church, Saint Basil ordered Anastassy to serve the Liturgy, but he refused, saying:

You know, sir, what the Scripture says: "The lesser is blessed by the greater" (Heb. 7:7).

Basil said to him:

With all your other good deeds, also have obedience.

When Anastassy celebrated the Liturgy, then, during the offering of the Holy Mysteries, Saint Basil and others who were worthy saw the Most Holy Spirit descend in the form of fire and surround Anastassy and the holy altar. At the end of the divine service, everyone entered the house of Anastassy, and he offered a meal to St. Basil and his clergy.

During the meal, the saint asked the presbyter:

Where do you get your treasure and what is your life like? Tell me.

The presbyter replied:

Saint of God! I am a sinful person and subject to public taxes; I have two pairs of oxen, of which I work with one myself, and with the other - my hired hand; what I receive with the help of one pair of oxen, I spend on calming the strangers, and what I receive with the help of another pair goes to pay taxes: my wife also works with me, serving the strangers and me.

Basil said to him:

Call her your sister, as you really are, and tell me about your virtues.

Anastasius replied:

I have done nothing good on earth.

Then Vasily said:

Let's get up and go together, - and, having risen, they came to one of the rooms of his house.

Open these doors for me, - said Vasily.

No, holy hierarch of God, - said Anastassy, - do not enter there, because there is nothing there but household things.

Vasily said:

But I came for these things.

Since the presbyter still did not want to open the doors, the saint opened them with his word and, entering, found there one man, stricken with severe leprosy, in which many parts of the body had already fallen off, having rotted away. No one knew about him except the presbyter himself and his wife.

Basil said to the presbyter:

Why did you want to hide this treasure of yours from me?

This is an angry and quarrelsome man, - answered the presbyter, - and therefore I was afraid to show him, so that he would not offend your holiness with any word.

Then Vasily said:

You are doing a good deed, but give me also this night to serve him, so that I can be an accomplice in the reward that you receive.

And so Saint Basil was left alone with the leper and, locking himself up, spent the whole night in prayer, and in the morning he brought him out completely unharmed and healthy. The presbyter with his wife and everyone who was there, seeing such a miracle, glorified God, and Saint Basil, after a friendly conversation with the presbyter and the instruction given by him to those present, returned to his house.

Acquaintance of Basil the Great and Ephraim the Syrian. The miracle of giving Ephraim from the Lord the knowledge of the Greek language, through joint prayer

When St. Ephraim the Syrian, who lived in the wilderness, heard about Saint Basil, he began to pray to God that He would show him what Basil is like. And then one day, being in a state of spiritual delight, he saw a pillar of fire, whose head reached the sky, and heard a voice saying:

Ephraim, Ephraim! As you see this fiery pillar, such is Basil.

The Monk Ephraim immediately, taking with him an interpreter - for he could not speak Greek - went to Caesarea and arrived there on the feast of the Theophany of the Lord. Standing in the distance and unnoticed by anyone, he saw Saint Basil walking to church with great solemnity, dressed in light clothes, and his clergy, also dressed in light clothes. Turning to the interpreter who accompanied him, Ephraim said:

It seems, brother, that we have labored in vain, for this is a man of such high rank that I have not seen such a man.

Entering the church. Ephraim stood in a corner, invisible to anyone, and spoke to himself like this:

We, "having endured the burden of the day and the heat" (Matthew 20:12), have not achieved anything, but this one, who enjoys such glory and honor among people, is at the same time a pillar of fire. This surprises me.

When Saint Ephraim spoke of him in this way, Basil the Great learned from the Holy Spirit and sent his archdeacon to him, saying:

Go to the western gates of the church; there you will find in the corner of the church a monk standing with another man of almost beardless and short stature. Show him: go and go up to the altar, for the archbishop is calling you.

The archdeacon, pushing his way through the crowd with great difficulty, approached the place where the Monk Ephraim was standing and said:

Father! go, - I beg you - and go up to the altar: the archbishop is calling you.

Ephraim, having learned through the interpreter what the archdeacon had said, answered the latter:

You are wrong brother! we are strangers and strangers to the archbishop.

The archdeacon went to tell Basil about this, who at that time was explaining the Holy Scripture to the people. And then the Monk Ephraim saw that fire was coming out of the mouth of Basil who was speaking.

Then Basil again said to the archdeacon:

Go and tell that newcomer monk: Mr. Ephraim! I beg you - go up to the holy altar: the archbishop is calling you.

The archdeacon went and said as he was ordered. Ephraim was surprised at this and glorified God. After making a prostration, he said:

Truly great is Basil, truly he is a pillar of fire, truly the Holy Spirit speaks through his mouth!

Then he begged the archdeacon to inform the archbishop that, at the end of the holy service, he wanted to bow to him in a secluded place and greet him.

When the Divine Service was over, Saint Basil entered the vessel-guardian and, calling to the Monk Ephraim, gave him a kiss in the Lord and said:

I salute you, father, who multiplied the disciples of Christ in the wilderness and cast out demons from it by the power of Christ! Why, father, did you undertake such a labor, coming to see a sinful man? May the Lord reward you for your work.

Ephraim, answering Vasily through an interpreter, told him everything that was in his heart, and communed with his companion the Most Pure Mysteries from the holy hands of Basil. When they sat down to a meal in Basil's house, the Monk Ephraim said to Saint Basil:

Holy Father! One favor I ask of you - deign to give it to me.

Basil the Great said to him:

Say what you need: I owe you a great debt for your work, for you have undertaken such a long journey for me.

I know, father, - said the venerable Ephraim, - that God gives you everything that you ask of him; but I want you to beg his goodness that He would give me the ability to speak Greek.

Vasily replied:

Your petition is beyond my strength, but since you ask with firm hope, then let us go, venerable father and desert teacher, to the temple of the Lord and pray to the Lord, Who can fulfill your prayer, for it is said: “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him, hears their cry and saves them" (Ps. 145:19).

Having chosen a convenient time, they began to pray in church and prayed for a long time. Then Basil the Great said;

Why, honest father, do you not accept ordination to the rank of presbyter, being worthy of it?

Because I am a sinful lord! - Ephraim pumped him out through an interpreter.

Oh, that I also had your sins! - said Vasily and added, - let's make a prostration.

When they fell to the ground, Saint Basil laid his hand on the head of the Monk Ephraim and said the prayer laid down at the consecration to the deacon. Then he said to the Reverend:

Now they ordered us to get up from the ground.

For Ephraim, Greek speech suddenly became clear, and he himself said in Greek: "Intercede, save, have mercy, save us, God, with your grace."

Everyone glorified God, who gave Ephraim the ability to understand and speak Greek. Saint Ephraim stayed with Saint Basil for three days, in spiritual joy. Basil made him a deacon, and his interpreter a presbyter, and then released them in peace.

Nicaea. The fight against the Arian heresy, the conversion of many Arians to Orthodoxy at the liturgy of Basil the Great

The ashamed cook again said something in response, but the saint said:

Your job is to think about food, and not to cook church dogmas.

And Demosthenes, being put to shame, fell silent. The king, now excited by anger, now feeling shame, said to Vasily:

Go and look into their case; however, judge in such a way that you do not turn out to be an assistant to your fellow believers.

If I judge unfairly, - answered the saint, - then send me into prison, but expel my fellow believers, and give the church to the Arians.

Taking the royal uk, the saint returned to Nicaea and, calling the Arians, said to them:

So the tsar gave me the authority to bring judgment between you and the Orthodox regarding the church, which you seized by force.

They answered him:

The saint then said:

Go, you Arians, and you Orthodox, and close the church; having locked it, seal it with seals: you with yours, and you with yours, and set up reliable guards on both sides. Then first you Arians will pray for three days and three nights, and then go to the church. And if, at your prayer, the church doors open of their own accord, then let the church be yours forever: if this does not happen, then we will pray one night and go with litia, while singing sacred hymns, to the church; if it is revealed to us, then we will own it forever; if it is not opened to us, then the church will be yours again.
The Arians liked this proposal, while the Orthodox were upset with the saint, saying that he judged not by truth, but by fear of the king. Then, when both sides firmly and firmly locked the holy church, after sealing it, vigilant guards were posted to it. When the Arians, having prayed for three days and three nights, came to the church, nothing miraculous happened: they prayed here from morning until the sixth hour, standing and crying out: Lord have mercy. But the church doors did not open before them, and they left in shame. Then Basil the Great, having gathered all the Orthodox with their wives and children, went out of the city to the Church of the Holy Martyr Diomedes and, having performed an all-night vigil there, in the morning went with everyone to the sealed cathedral church, singing:
- Holy God, holy strong, holy immortal, have mercy on us!

Stopping before the doors of the church, he said to the people:

Raise your hands to heaven and cry out with zeal: "Lord have mercy!"

Then the saint commanded everyone to be silent and, going up to the doors, made the sign of the cross three times over them and said:

Blessed be the Christian God always, now and forever, and forever and ever.

When the people exclaimed: “Amen,” the earth immediately shook, and the locks began to break, the shutters fell out, the seals broke, and the gates opened, as if from a strong wind and storm, so that the doors hit the walls. Saint Basil began to sing:
- "Lift up, gates, your tops, and rise up, eternal doors, and the King of glory will enter!" (Ps. 23:7).

Then he entered the church with a multitude of Orthodox and, having performed the divine service, dismissed the people with joy. Countless Arians, seeing that miracle, lagged behind their error and joined the Orthodox. When the king found out about such a just decision of Basil and about that glorious miracle, he was extremely surprised and began to blaspheme Arianism; however, being blinded by wickedness, he did not convert to Orthodoxy and subsequently perished in a miserable way. It was when he was struck and wounded in the war in the Thracian country that he ran away and hid in a barn where straw lay. His pursuers surrounded the barn and set it on fire, and the king, having burned there, went into the unquenchable fire. The death of the king followed after the repose of our holy father Basil, but in the same year in which the saint also reposed.

Intercession for the slandered brother, Peter, Bishop of Sebaste

Once, before Saint Basil, his brother, Bishop Peter of Sebaste, was slandered. They said about him that he allegedly continues cohabitation with his wife, whom he left before consecration to the bishops - it is not fitting for a bishop to be married. Hearing about this, Vasily said:

It's good that you told me about it; I will go with you and rebuke him.

When the saint approached the city of Sebastia, Peter learned in spirit about the coming of his brother, for Peter, too, was filled with the Spirit of God and lived with his imaginary wife, not as with a wife, but as with a sister, chastely. So, he went out of the city to meet St. Basil for eight fields and, seeing his brother with a large number of companions, he smiled and said:

Brother, how would you go against me against a robber?

Having kissed each other in the Lord, they entered the city, and having prayed in the church of the holy forty martyrs, they came to the episcopal house. Vasily, seeing his daughter-in-law, said:

Hello, my sister, it is better to say - the bride of the Lord; I came here for you.

She replied:

Hello you too, most honorable father; and I have long wanted to kiss your honest feet.

And Basil said to Peter:

I ask you, brother, spend the night with your wife in the church.

I will do everything that you command me, ”Peter answered.

When night fell, and Peter rested in the church with his wife, Saint Basil was there with five virtuous men. Around midnight he woke these men and said to them:

What do you see over my brother and over my daughter-in-law?

They also said:

We see the angels of God enveloping them and smearing with aromas their immaculate bed.

Vasily then said to them:

Be silent, and tell no one what you have seen.

In the morning, Vasily ordered the people to gather in the church and bring here a brazier with burning coals. After that he said:

Stretch, my honest daughter-in-law, your clothes.

And when she had done this, the saint said to those who held the brazier.

Put burning coals in her clothes.

They carried out this command. Then the saint said to her:

Keep these coals in your clothes until I tell you.

Then he again ordered to bring new burning coals and said to his brother:

When he fulfilled this command, Basil said to the servants:

Pour the coals from the brazier into the phelonion, and they poured out.

When Peter and his wife kept burning coals in their clothes for a long time and did not suffer any harm from this, the people who saw this marveled and said:

The Lord preserves His saints and grants them blessings while still on earth.

When Peter and his wife threw coals on the ground, they did not smell any smoky smell, and their clothes remained unburnt. Then Basil commanded the aforementioned five virtuous men to tell everyone about what they saw, and they told the people how they saw in the church the angels of God hovering over the bed of blessed Peter and his wife, and smearing their immaculate bed with aromas. After this, everyone glorified God, who cleanses His saints from the false slander of man.

A miracle manifested through the prayer of Basil the Great, for a sinner - the remission of sins

In the days of our venerable father Basil in Caesarea there was a widow of noble birth, extremely wealthy; living voluptuously, pleasing her flesh, she completely enslaved herself to sin and for many years dwelt in fornication. God, Who wants everyone to repent (2 Pet. 3:8), touched her heart with His grace, and the woman began to repent of her sinful life. Once left alone with herself, she reflected on the immeasurable multitude of her sins and began to lament her situation like this:

Woe to me, sinful and prodigal! How will I answer the righteous Judge for the sins I have committed? I have corrupted the temple of my body, defiled my soul. Woe to me, the most grievous of sinners! With whom can I compare myself in my sins? With a harlot, or with a publican? But no one sinned like me. And - what is especially scary - I have committed so much evil already after being baptized. And who will tell me whether God will accept my repentance?

Weeping so, she remembered everything that she had done from youth to old age, and, sitting down, she wrote it on the charter. After all, she wrote down one sin, the most serious one, and sealed this charter with a lead seal. Then, choosing the time when Saint Basil went to church, she rushed to him and, throwing herself at his feet with the charter, exclaimed:

Have mercy on me, holy hierarch of God - I have sinned more than anyone!

The saint stopped and asked her what she wanted from him; she, giving him a sealed charter, said:

Here, lord, I wrote all my sins and iniquities on this charter and sealed it; but you, the saint of God, do not read it and do not remove the seal, but only cleanse them with your prayer, for I believe that the One who gave me this thought will hear you when you pray for me.

Basil, taking the charters, raised his eyes to heaven and said:

God! To you alone this is possible. For if you took upon yourself the sins of the whole world, then the more you can cleanse the sins of this one soul, since all our sins, although they are counted by you, but your mercy is immeasurable and unsearchable!
Having said this, Saint Basil entered the church, holding the charter in his hands, and, prostrating himself before the altar, spent the whole night in prayer for that woman.

In the morning, having performed the divine service, the saint called the woman and gave her the sealed charter in the form in which he received it, and at the same time he said to her:

You have heard, woman, that "no one can forgive sins but God alone" (Mark 2:7).

She also said:

I heard, honest father, and that's why I bothered you with a request to implore his goodness.

Having said this, the woman untied her charter and saw that her sins were blotted out here; only that grave sin that was written down by her after was not blotted out. At the sight of this, the woman was horrified and, striking herself in the chest, fell at the feet of the saint, crying out:

Have mercy on me, servant of the Most High God, and as you had mercy on all my iniquities and begged God for them, so beg for this, so that it would be completely cleansed.

The archbishop, shedding tears of pity for her, said:

Arise, woman: I myself am a sinful person, and I need mercy and forgiveness; The same one who cleansed your other sins can also cleanse your sin that has not yet been blotted out; but if for the future time you save yourself from sin and begin to walk in the way of the Lord, you will not only be forgiven, but you will also be worthy of heavenly glorification. This is what I advise you: go into the desert: there you will find a holy man named Ephraim; give him this charter and ask him to ask for mercy for you from God the Lover of mankind.

The woman, according to the word of the saint, went into the wilderness and, after walking a long distance, found the cell of blessed Ephraim. Knocking on the door, she said:

Have mercy on me, a sinner, reverend father!

Saint Ephraim, having learned in his spirit about the purpose with which she came to him, answered her:

Get away from me, woman, for I am a sinful person and I myself need the help of other people.

She then threw the charter before him and said:

Archbishop Basil sent me to you so that you, having prayed to God, cleansed my sin, which is written in this charter; he cleansed the rest of the sins, and you do not refuse to pray for one sin, for I have been sent to you.

Saint Ephraim said:

No, child, the one who could plead with God for many of your sins, all the more can plead for one. So, go, go now, so that you may find him alive before he goes to the Lord.

Then the woman, bowing to the monk, returned to Caesarea.

But she came here just in time for the burial of Saint Basil, for he had already passed away, and his holy body was being carried to the place of burial. Having met the funeral procession, the woman sobbed loudly, threw herself on the ground and said to the saint, as if alive:

Woe to me, saint of God! woe to me, unfortunate! Did you send me into the wilderness so that, undisturbed by me, you could leave the body? And so I returned empty-handed, having made the difficult journey into the desert in vain. Let God see this and let Him judge between me and you that you, having the opportunity to help me yourself, sent me to another.

So crying, she threw the charter on top of the saint's bed, telling all people about her grief. One of the clergy, wanting to see what was written in the charter, took it and, having untied it, did not find any words on it: the whole charter became clean.

Nothing is written here,” he said to the woman, “and in vain do you grieve, not knowing the indescribable love of God that has manifested itself in you.

All the people, seeing this miracle, glorified God, who gave such power to His servants even after their death.

Conversion to the true faith of a Jew and his entire family

In Caesarea there lived a Jew named Joseph. He was so skilled in the science of healing that he determined, by observing the movement of blood in the veins, the day of the death of the patient in three or five days, and even indicated the very hour of death. Our God-bearing father Basil, foreseeing his future conversion to Christ, loved him very much and, often inviting him to talk with him, persuaded him to leave the Jewish faith and accept holy baptism. But Joseph refused, saying:

In which faith I was born, in that I want to die.

The saint said to him:

Believe me that neither I nor you will die until you are “born of water and spirit” (John 3:5): for without such grace it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of God. Were not your fathers baptized "in the clouds and in the sea" (1 Corinthians 10:1)? did they not drink from the stone, which was a type of the spiritual stone, Christ, who was born of the Virgin for our salvation. This Christ your fathers crucified, but being buried on the third day, he rose again, and having ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of the Father, and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

There were many other things useful for the soul, the saint told him, but the Jew remained in his unbelief. When the time came for the repose of the saint, he fell ill and called the Jew to him, as if in need of his medical help, and she asked him:
- What do you say about me, Joseph?

The same, having examined the saint, said to his household:

Prepare everything for burial, for any minute you need to expect his death.

But Vasily said:

You don't know what you're talking about!

The Jew replied:

Believe me, lord, that your death will come before sunset.

Then Vasily said to him:

And if I stay alive until the morning, until the sixth hour, what will she do then?

Joseph replied:

Let me die then!

Yes, - said the saint, - die, but die to sin in order to live for God!

I know what you're talking about, my lord! - answered the Jew, - and now I swear to you that if you live until morning, I will fulfill your desire.

Then Saint Basil began to pray to God that He would continue his life until the morning to save the soul of the Jew, and he received what he asked for. In the morning he sent for him; but he did not believe the servant who told him that Vasily was alive; however, he went to see him, as he thought already dead. When he saw him really alive, he went as if into a frenzy, and then, falling at the feet of the saint, he said in a fit of heart:

Great is the Christian God, and there is no other God but Him! I renounce ungodly Judaism and convert to the true, Christian faith. Order, holy father, to immediately give me holy baptism, as well as to my whole house.

Saint Basil said to him:

I baptize you with my own hands!

The Jew, going up to him, touched the right hand of the saint and said:

Your strength, lord, has weakened, and your whole being has finally failed; you cannot baptize me yourself.

We have a Creator who strengthens us, - answered Vasily.

And, having risen, he entered the church and before the face of all the people he baptized the Jew and all his family; he called him the name John and communed him with the Divine Mysteries, having himself celebrated the liturgy that day. Having instructed the newly baptized about eternal life and having addressed with a word of edification to all his verbal sheep, the saint remained in the church until the ninth hour. Then, giving everyone the last kiss and forgiveness, he began to thank God for all his inexpressible blessings and, when the word of thanksgiving was still on his lips, he gave his soul into the hands of God and, as a bishop, joined the deceased bishops, and like a great verbal thunder - to the preachers on the first day of January 379, during the reign of Gratian, who reigned after his father, Valentinian.

Death of Basil the Great

Saint Basil the Great shepherded the Church of God for eight years, six months and sixteen days, and all the years of his life were forty-nine.

The newly baptized Jew, seeing the saint dead, fell on his face and said with tears:

Truly, God's servant Basil, even now you would not have died if you yourself had not wanted to.

The burial of St. Basil was a significant event and showed how high respect he enjoyed. Not only Christians, but also Jews and pagans rushed in crowds into the street in great numbers and persistently crowded to the tomb of the deceased saint. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus also arrived at Basil's burial and wept much for the saint. The bishops who gathered here sang tomb hymns and buried the honest relics of the great saint of God Basil in the church of the holy martyr Eupsychius, praising God, the One in the Trinity, to him be glory forever. Amen.

1 Cappadocia - a province of the Roman Empire, was located in the east of Asia Minor and was known during the time of Basil the Great for the education of its inhabitants. At the end of the 11th century, Cappadocia fell under the rule of the Turks and still belongs to them. Caesarea - the main city of Cappadocia; The church of Caesarea has long been famous for the education of its archpastors. St. Gregory the Theologian, who started his education here, calls Caesarea the capital of enlightenment.
2 Emperor Constantine the Great reigned from 324 to 337.
3 Vasily's father, also named Vasily, known for his charity, was married to a noble and rich girl Emmelia. From this marriage were born five daughters and five sons. The eldest daughter - Macrina, after the untimely death of her fiancé, remained faithful to this blessed union, devoting herself to chastity (her memory is July 19); Vasily's other sisters got married. Of the five brothers, one died in early childhood; three were bishops and canonized as saints; the fifth died hunting. Of the survivors, the eldest son was Basil, followed by Gregory, later Bishop of Nyssa (his memory is January 10), and Peter, at first a simple ascetic, then the bishop of Sebaste (his memory is January 9). - Basil's father, probably shortly before his death, took the priesthood, as this can be concluded from the fact that Gregory the Theologian calls the mother of Basil the Great the wife of a priest.
4 Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea (north of Caesarea in Cappadocia), compiled the creed and the canonical epistle, and also wrote several other works. He died in 270, his memory is November 17.
5 Neokesaria - the current Nixar, the capital of Pontus Polemoniacus, famous for its beauty, in the north of Asia Minor; especially known for the church council that took place there (in 315). Iris River in Pontus, originates at Antitaurus.
6 Sophists are scholars who have devoted themselves primarily to the study and teaching of eloquence. - Livanius and later, when Basil was already a bishop, maintained written relations with him.
7 Athens - the main city of Greece, has long attracted the color of the Greek mind and talent. Famous philosophers Socrates and Plato once lived here, as well as the poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and others. - By Hellenic wisdom we mean pagan learning, pagan education.
8 Proheresius, the most famous teacher of philosophy at that time, was a Christian, as is evident from the fact that he closed his school when the emperor Julian forbade Christians from teaching philosophy. Nothing is known about what religion Hiereus adhered to.
9 Gregory (Nazianzen) was later for some time the Patriarch of Constantinople and is known for his lofty creations, for which he received the title of Theologian. He had known Basil in Caesarea, but he became close friends with him only in Athens. His memory is January 25th.
10 Egypt has long served as a place where the Christian ascetic life was especially developed. Similarly, there was a great multitude of Christian scholars, of whom Origen and Clement of Alexandria were the most famous.
11 That is, according to Evvulus, Basil had a mind that exceeded the measure of the mind that is usual for a person, and in this respect he approached the gods.
12 That is, he only deserves the honorary name "philosopher" who looks at death as a transition to a new life and therefore leaves this world without fear.
13 Such pictures in ancient times were often used by moralists in order to make a greater impression on the listeners.
14 That is, heat, heat, which is very heavy in the east (Matt. 20:12).
15 That is, what we now cannot imagine by any means (1 Corinthians 2:9).
16 That is, various sights, such as the tomb of Christ Golgotha and so on.
17 Both now and in ancient times, the newly baptized, as a sign of the cleansing they received from sins, were clothed in white clothes.
18 Here, of course, Syrian Antioch, by the Orontes River, was called Great.
19 Homer is the greatest Greek poet who lived in the 9th century. to R. Khr.; wrote famous poems: "Iliad" and "Odyssey".
20 That is, the time has not yet come to replace philosophy and pagan religion with Christian faith. Livanius died a pagan (about 391, in Antioch).
21 Maximus III - Patriarch of Jerusalem - from 333 to 350.
22 The ancient Christians received St. baptism is partly out of humility, partly in the consideration that, having been baptized not long before death, they will receive forgiveness of all their sins in baptism.
23 That is, he was freed from hereditary ancestral sin (Epistle to Ephesians ch. 4, article 22).
24 This miracle was reminiscent of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove onto Christ the Savior, who was baptized in the Jordan.
25 The Lord Jesus Christ, being in the tomb, was wrapped in white sheets.
26 Basil the Great wrote many works. Like all actions of St. Basil were distinguished by extraordinary grandeur and importance, so all his writings are imprinted with the same character of the height and grandeur of the Christian. In his works, he is both a preacher and a dogmatist-polemist and interpreter of the Holy Scriptures and a teacher of morality and piety, and, finally, the organizer of church services. Of his conversations, in terms of strength and animation, they are considered the best: against; usurers, against drunkenness and luxury, about fame, about hunger. In his letters to St. Vasily vividly portrays the events of his time; many of the letters contain excellent instructions on love, meekness, forgiveness of offenses, on the upbringing of children, against the avarice and pride of the rich against a vain oath, or with spiritual advice for monks. As a dogmatist and polemicist, he appears before us in his three books written against the Arian false teacher Eunomius, in an essay against Savelius and Anomei on the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, Basil the Great wrote a special book on the Holy Spirit against Aetius, whose champion was Eunomius. Dogmatic writings also include some conversations and letters of St. Vasily. As an interpreter of the Holy Scriptures, St. Vasily with nine conversations on "Shestodnev", where he showed himself to be an expert not only on the Word of God, but also on philosophy and natural science. Also known are his conversations on the psalms and on 16 chapters of the book of the prophets. Isaiah. Conversations both on the Six Days and on the Psalms were spoken in the temple and therefore, along with the explanation, they contain exhortations, consolations and teachings. He dealt with the teachings of piety in his famous "instruction to young men how to use pagan writers" and in two books on asceticism. The canonical writings include the epistles of Basil the Great to some bishops. - Gregory the Theologian speaks in this way about the dignity of the works of Basil the Great "Everywhere one and the greatest delight is the writings and creations of Vasilyeva. After him, writers do not need other wealth, except for his writings. Instead of all, he alone became sufficient for students for education." “Whoever wants to be an excellent civil orator,” says the learned Patriarch Photius, “neither Demosthenes nor Plato is needed, if he takes Basil’s words as a model and studies them. St. Basil is excellent in all his words. , graceful majestic; in the order of thoughts he takes first place. He combines persuasiveness with pleasantness and clarity. " Saint Gregory the Theologian says this about the knowledge and writings of Saint Basil: “Who more than Basil was enlightened by the light of knowledge, saw into the depths of the Spirit, and with God explored everything that is known about God? In Basil, virtue was beauty, greatness was theology, procession was the unceasing striving and ascent to God, power was the sowing and distribution of the word. And therefore, without stumbling, I can say: their voice went through all the earth, and to the ends of the universe their words, and to the ends of the universes his verbs, that St. Paul spoke about the apostles (Rom. 10, 18)... - When I have the Six Days in his hands and pronounce it orally: then I converse with the Creator, I comprehend the laws of creation and marvel at the Creator more than before - having one sight as my mentor. When I have before me his accusatory words against false teachers: then I see the fire of Sodom, with which crafty and lawless tongues are burned to ashes. When I read the words about the Spirit: then I find the God I have again and feel in myself the boldness to speak the truth, ascending the degrees of his Theology and contemplation. When I read his other interpretations, which he also clarifies for people with low vision: then I am convinced not to stop at one letter, and look not only at the surface, but stretch further, from one depth to enter into a new one, calling on the abyss of the abyss and acquiring light with light, until reach the highest point. When I am busy with his praises to the ascetics, then I forget the body, I converse with those who are praised, I am aroused to achievement. When I read his moral and active words: then I am cleansed in soul and body, I become an organ acceptable to God as a temple, into which the Spirit strikes with the chanter of God's glory and God's power, and through this I am transformed, I come to prosperity, from one person I become another, I am changed by Divine change "(Funeral word of Gregory the Theologian to St. Basil).
27 The archdeacons were of great importance in the ancient church, as the closest assistants to the bishops.
28 Eusebius was taken to the chair of the bishop, at the request of the people, directly from the civil service and therefore could not have special authority as a theologian and teacher of the faith.
29 One of his most important occupations at this time was the preaching of the word of God. Often he preached not only every day, but also twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Sometimes after preaching in one church, he came to preach in another. In his teachings, Basil vividly and convincingly for the mind and heart revealed the beauty of Christian virtues and denounced the vileness of vices; offered incentives to strive for the former to move away from the latter, and showed everyone the path to achieving perfection, since he himself was an experienced ascetic. His very interpretations are directed, first of all, to the spiritual edification of his listeners. Whether he explains the history of the creation of the world, he sets himself the goal, firstly, to show that "the world is a school of theology" (discourse 1 on the Six Days), and through this to arouse in his listeners reverence for the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, revealed in His creations, small and great, beautiful, varied, countless. Secondly, he wants to show how nature always teaches man a good moral life. The lifestyle, properties, habits of four-legged animals, birds, reptile fish, everything - even the former one-day one - gives him an opportunity to draw instructive lessons for the lord of the earth - man. Whether he explains the book of Psalms, which, according to his expression, combines everything that is useful in others: prophecy, history, and edification, he mainly applies the sayings of the Psalmist to life, to the activity of a Christian.
30 Pontus is a region in Asia Minor, along the southern coast of the Black Sea, not far from Neocaesarea. The Pontic Desert was barren, and its climate was far from favorable for health. The hut in which Vasily lived here had neither strong doors, nor a real hearth, nor a roof. True, some hot food was served at the meal, but, according to the words of Gregory the Theologian, with such bread in pieces, from its extreme callousness, the teeth first slipped, and then got stuck in them. In addition to common prayers, readings of St. Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian and other monks there themselves were engaged in carrying firewood, hewing stones, caring for garden vegetables, and they themselves drove a huge cart with manure.
31 These rules served and serve as a guide for the life of the monks of the entire East and, in particular, for our Russian monks. In his rules, Basil gives priority to a cenobitic life over a hermit and solitary one, since, living together with others, a monk has more opportunities to serve the cause of Christian love. Basil establishes for the monks the obligation of unquestioning obedience to the rector, prescribes to be hospitable towards strangers, although he forbids serving them special dishes. Fasting, prayer and constant work - this is what the monks should do, according to the rules of Basil, and, however, they should not forget about the needs of the unfortunate and sick people around them who need care.
32 Heretics - the Arians taught that Christ was a created being, not eternally existing and not of the same nature with God the Father. This heresy received its name from the presbyter of the Alexandrian church, Arius, who began to preach these thoughts in the year 319.
33 Sevastia is a city in Cappadocia.
34 Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (in the middle of the 5th century) says that St. Basil compiled a shorter liturgy in view of the fact that many Christians of his time began to express their dissatisfaction with the length of the church service. To this end, he shortened the usual public prayers, expanding at the same time the prayers of the clergy. - In addition to the liturgies, Basil the Great composed: a) a prayer before communion; b) prayers on the eve of Pentecost and c) prayer and incantation over the possessed.
35 Prayer at the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
36 Charter - papyrus paper or parchment, which was written in antiquity; manuscript, scroll (3 Mac. 4:15; 2 John 1:12).
37 "If not for Basil," says the church historian Sozomen, "the heresy of Eunomius would have spread to Taurus, and the heresy of Apollinaris from Taurus to Egypt."
38 Julian the Apostate reigned from 361 to 363. Having become emperor, he apostatized from the Christian faith and set the task of his life to restore paganism; That's why he's called the "Apostate".
39 Saint Mercury the warrior suffered martyrdom in Caesarea in Cappadocia. His memory is November 24th.
40 Rapida - (Greek fan, a tool for driving away flies). These are metal circles on rather long handles with images of beetle-winged seraphim on them. With them, the deacons, during their hierarchical service, blow, sway over St. gifts, so that no insect falls into them; at the same time, the ripides remind us that during the sacred service of the liturgy, St. angels, the images of which are on the ripids. Ripids are used in hierarchical service; when serving as a priest, they are replaced by a patron.
41 The veils were, in fact, arranged in front of the section of the temple where the women stood; these veils were lowered during the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, and women, under the threat of being removed from the temple, were forbidden to lift them at this time. The altar was separated from the rest of the church by a through lattice, which later turned into the current iconostasis.
42 Emperor Valens reigned from 364 to 378.
43 This eparch was the ruler of the entire East and at the same time the head of the Praetorians or the royal guard
44 The tool with which the ancients wrote was nothing like a pen, pencil, or lead (see Ps. 44, vv. 1-3).
45 That is, that the Son of God is consubstantial with God the Father and equal to him.
46 Valentinian reigned from 364 to 376.
47 Churches in antiquity, from the time of Constantine the Great, were granted the so-called right of asylum: the innocently persecuted hid in them and the authorities had, thus time to make sure of their innocence.
48 Basil the Great was an extremely sickly person and often completely lost his bodily Forces. “Continuous and severe fevers,” he wrote himself, “has exhausted my body so much that I am no different from a web. Every path is impassable for me, every breath of wind is more dangerous than anxiety for swimmers ... I have an illness following an illness.”
49 The graves of the pagans, as unclean, were considered among the ancient Christians as the favorite haunt of demons.
50 Take it on your shoulders, like an oriental shepherd takes a tired sheep on his shoulders.
51 The ancient Christians used to raise their hands to heaven during prayer. From there, in our Church song it says: the recompense by my hand is the evening sacrifice (Stikhira at Vespers).
52 Leprosy is a disease that destroys the entire human body and, moreover, is contagious.
53 St. Ephraim the Syrian is a famous Christian ascetic and writer. His memory is January 28. He was named Sirin, that is, the Syrian, because Mesopotamia, in which he was born, was ranked among Syria in ancient times.
54 An exclamation from a small litany pronounced by a deacon at Vespers on the day of Pentecost.
55 Nicaea is a city in the Asia Minor province of Bithynia. The first ecumenical council was here in 325.
56 Demosthenes was the most famous orator of ancient Greece; lived from 384 - 322 BC.
57 That is, as the king himself would judge.
58 Lithia, from Greek. means fervent prayer. It was usually performed outside the temple, but now it is performed in the vestibule.
59 The memory of Diomedes, the unmercenary doctor and martyr, is celebrated on August 16.
60 This took place in the city of Adrianople, in present-day Bulgaria.
61 The field is a measure of distances; it was equal to our 690 fathoms.
62 Phelon - this was the name in ancient times of the upper, long and wide clothing, sleeveless, hugging the body from all sides. Christian antiquity, out of reverence for the Savior and his apostles, who used if not such, then similar outer clothing, accepted the phelonion among the sacred vestments and from ancient times adopted it, both for bishops and priests.
63 That is, having a special gift of eloquence, persuasiveness and power of speech.
64 Gratian ruled the empire (at first with his father Valentinian I) from 375 to 383.
65 Where are the relics of St. Basil - unknown: on Mount Athos (in the Lavra of St. Athanasius) only his head is shown; his holy body, according to the legends of Western writers, during the crusades was taken from Caesarea and transferred by the crusaders in the West - to Flanders. - For his merits to the Church and the extraordinary highly moral and ascetic life of St. Basil is called the Great and is glorified as "the glory and beauty of the Church", "the light and eye of the universe", the teacher of dogmas, the chamber of learning, the "leader of life".
66 At the all-night vigil in memory of St. Basil the Great, the Church pronounces two proverbs in honor of the Circumcision of the Lord, and one in honor of the ecumenical teacher and Saint Basil - about the high perfection of the righteous and the good from them for their neighbors (Prov. 10, 31 - 32; 11, 1 - 12). The morning gospel in honor of the saint (John 10:1-9) proclaims the dignity of a true shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. At the liturgy, which happens on the 1st day of January, St. Basil the Great, by reading the Apostle in honor of him, the Church proclaims the most perfect bishop - the Son of God, whom Saint Basil the Great imitated in his life (Heb. 7, 26 - 8, 2). The gospel at the liturgy (one - to Circumcision, the other - to St. Basil) in honor of the saint proclaims the teaching of Jesus Christ about the blessedness of the poor in spirit, hungry and thirsty for the truth and persecuted for the faith of Christ (Luke 6, 17 - 23), which was also St. Basil the Great.
67 The words "imzhe divinely taught you" - point to the great learning of St. Basil - for his deep knowledge of the laws of nature. St. Basil left behind many writings, in which he explained, among other things, God's wise arrangement of everything that exists. - The words: "human customs have adorned thou" - indicate that St. Basil wrote many rules and statutes, by which he introduced many pious customs into use.

Saint Basil the Great was born around the year 330 in the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia (Asia Minor), into the pious Christian family of Basil and Emilia. The saint's father was a lawyer and teacher of rhetoric. There were ten children in the family, of whom five were canonized by the Church as saints: Saint Basil himself, his elder sister the Monk Macrina (+380; Comm. 19 July), brother Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (+385; Comm. 10 January), brother Peter, Bishop of Sebastia (+lV; Comm. 9 January) and younger sister - Righteous Theozva, deaconess (+385; Comm. 10 January). The saint's mother, the righteous Emilia (+IV; Comm. 1 January), is also numbered among the saints.

Saint Basil received his early education under the guidance of his parents and grandmother Macrina, a highly educated Christian woman who in her younger years heard the teachings of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea (+c. 266-270; Comm. 17 November).

After the death of his father and grandmother, Saint Basil went for further education to Constantinople, and then to Athens. Here he stayed for about five years, having perfectly studied various sciences - rhetoric and philosophy, astronomy and mathematics, physics and medicine. Saint Gregory the Theologian (+389; Comm. 25 January) was also studying at that time in Athens; a close friendship was established between them, which lasted a lifetime. Subsequently, Gregory the Theologian, recalling those years, wrote that in Athens they knew only two roads - one to the church, and the other to the school.

Around the year 357, Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where he taught rhetoric for some time. Feeling a call to the spiritual life, he decided to go to the place where asceticism flourished. With this pill, the saint undertook a journey to Egypt, Syria and Palestine.

In Egypt, Saint Basil spent a whole year with Archimandrite Porfiry, studying the theological works of the holy fathers and exercising in fasting ascetic labors; then he visited the Monk Pachomius, who asceticized in the Thebaid desert, the Monks Macarius the Elder and Macarius of Alexandria, Paphnutius, Paul and other ascetics. After this, Saint Basil made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he bowed to the holy places of the Savior's earthly life.

On the way back, Saint Basil spent some time in Antioch, where in 362 he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Meletios.

In Caesarea, Saint Basil led a strict monastic life. In 364 he was ordained a presbyter by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea. Fulfilling his ministry, Saint Basil preached zealously and tirelessly cared for the needs of his flock, thanks to which he won high respect and love. Bishop Eusebius, due to human weakness, was imbued with envy towards him and began to show his dislike. In order to avoid confusion, Saint Basil withdrew to the Pontic Desert (the southern coast of the Black Sea), where he settled not far from the monastery founded by his mother and elder sister. Here Saint Basil labored in ascetic labors together with his friend Saint Gregory the Theologian. Guided by the Holy Scriptures, they wrote the statutes of monastic life, which were later adopted by Christian monasteries.

After the death of Emperor Constantine the Great, under his son Constance (337-361), the Arian false doctrine, condemned at the 1st Ecumenical Council in 325, began to spread again and especially intensified under the emperor Valens (364-378), a supporter of the Arians. For Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, the hour has come when the Lord called them out of prayer solitude into the world to fight heresy. Saint Gregory returned to Nazianzus, and Saint Basil to Caesarea, heeding the written request of Bishop Eusebius, who reconciled with him. Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (author of the famous Church History) died in the arms of Saint Basil the Great, blessing him to be his successor.

Soon Saint Basil was elected by the Council of Bishops to the See of Caesarea. In a difficult time for the Church, he showed himself as an ardent defender of the Orthodox faith, protecting her from heresies with his words and messages. Of particular note are his three books against the Arian false teacher Eunomius, in which St. Basil the Great taught about the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and the unity of His nature with the Father and the Son.

In his unceasing feats of fasting and prayer, Saint Basil acquired from the Lord the gift of clairvoyance and miracle-working. Once, during a prayer service before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Great Martyr Mercury (3rd century, Comm. 24 November), Saint Basil received a revelation about the death of Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363), who was trying to reaffirm paganism. Saint Basil saw how the image of the great martyr, Mercury, disappeared, and when it reappeared on the icon, the spear of the great martyr was stained with blood. At this very time, Julian the Apostate was speared and died in the Persian War.

When Emperor Valens (361-378) gave the Orthodox Church in Nicaea to the Arians, St. Basil proposed resorting to God's judgment: hand over the church to that party (Orthodox or Arians) through whose prayer its locked, sealed doors would be opened.

For three days and three nights the Arians prayed, but all was in vain. After this, Saint Basil approached the church with the Orthodox clergy and people, and through the prayer of the saint, the doors of the temple opened.

Many cases of miraculous healings performed by St. Basil the Great are known. The power of St. Basil's prayers was so great that he could boldly ask the Lord for forgiveness for a sinner who had denied Christ, leading him to sincere repentance. Through the prayers of the saint, many great sinners who despaired of salvation received forgiveness and were resolved from their sins. So, for example, a certain noble woman, ashamed of her prodigal sins, wrote them down and gave the sealed scroll to St. Basil. The saint prayed all night for the salvation of this sinner. In the morning he gave her an unopened scroll, in which all sins were blotted out, except for one terrible sin. The saint advised the woman to go into the wilderness to St. Ephraim the Syrian. However, the monk, who personally knew and deeply revered Saint Basil, sent the repentant sinner back, saying that only Saint Basil was able to ask the Lord for her complete forgiveness. Returning to Caesarea, the woman met the funeral procession with the coffin of St. Basil. In deep grief, she fell to the ground with sobs, throwing the scroll on the tomb of the saint. One of the clerics, wanting to see what was written on the scroll, took it and, unfolding it, saw a blank sheet; thus the last sin of the woman was blotted out through the prayer of St. Basil, performed by him posthumously.

While on his deathbed, the saint converted to Christ his physician, the Jew Joseph. The latter was sure that the saint would not be able to live until morning, and said that otherwise he would believe in Christ and be baptized. The saint asked the Lord to delay his death.

The night passed and, to Joseph’s astonishment, Saint Basil not only did not die, but, rising from his bed, came to the church, himself performed the sacrament of Baptism over Joseph, served the Divine Liturgy, communed Joseph, taught him a lesson, and then, having said goodbye to everyone, with a prayer he went to the Lord, without leaving the temple.

Not only Christians, but pagans and Jews gathered for the burial of St. Basil the Great. Saint Gregory the Theologian arrived to see off his friend, whom Saint Basil, shortly before his death, blessed to accept the See of Constantinople.

During his short life (+379), St. Basil left us many theological works: nine discourses on the Six Days, 16 discourses on various psalms, five books in defense of the Orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity; 24 talks on various theological topics; seven ascetic treatises; monastic rules; ascetic charter; two books on Baptism; a book about the Holy Spirit; several sermons and 366 letters to various persons.

St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (+394; Comm. 23 November), in his funeral homily about St. Basil said: “He has always been and will be a most salutary teacher for Christians.”

For his services to the Orthodox Church, St. Basil is called the Great and is glorified as "the glory and beauty of the Church", "the luminary and eye of the universe", "teacher of dogmas", "chamber of learning".

St. Basil the Great is the heavenly patron of the Enlightener of the Russian Land - the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, who was named Vasily in Baptism. Saint Vladimir deeply revered his Angel and built several churches in Rus' in honor of him. Saint Basil the Great, along with Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, from ancient times enjoyed special reverence among the Russian believing people. A particle of the relics of St. Basil still remains in the Pochaev Lavra. The honest head of St. Basil is reverently kept in the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos, and his right hand is in the altar of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem.

Basil, the great saint of God and God-wise teacher of the Church, was born of noble and pious parents in the Cappadocian city of Caesarea, around the year 330, during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great. His father's name was also Vasily, and his mother - Emilia. The first seeds of piety were sown in his soul by his pious grandmother, Macrina, who in her youth was worthy to hear instructions from the lips of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, and by his mother, the pious Emilia. Basil's father instructed him not only in the Christian faith, but also taught secular sciences, which he was well aware of, since he himself taught rhetoric, that is, oratory, and philosophy. When Vasily was about 14 years old, his father died, and the orphaned Vasily spent two or three years with his grandmother Macrina, not far from Neokesaria, near the Iris River, in a country house owned by his grandmother and which was later converted into a monastery. From here, Basil often went to Caesarea to visit his mother, who, with her other children, lived in this city, where she was from.

After the death of Macrina, Basil, at the age of 17, settled again in Caesarea in order to study various sciences in local schools. Thanks to his special sharpness, mind, Basil soon caught up in knowledge with his teachers and, looking for new knowledge, went to Constantinople, where at that time the young sophist Livanius was famous for his eloquence. But even here Basil did not stay long and went to Athens - the city that was the mother of all Hellenic wisdom. In Athens, he began to listen to the lessons of a glorious pagan teacher named Eevvula, while attending the schools of two other glorious Athenian teachers, Iberius and Proeresius. Vasily at that time was already twenty-six years old and he showed extreme zeal in his studies, but at the same time he deserved universal approval for the purity of his life. He knew only two roads in Athens - one leading to the church, and the other to the school. In Athens, Basil made friends with another glorious saint, Gregory the Theologian, who was also studying at that time in Athenian schools. Vasily and Grigory, being similar to each other in their good temper, meekness and chastity, loved each other so much as if they had one soul - and they subsequently preserved this mutual love forever. Vasily was so passionate about the sciences that he often even forgot, sitting at books, about the need to eat. He studied grammar, rhetoric, astronomy, philosophy, physics, medicine and the natural sciences. But all these secular, earthly sciences could not saturate his mind, which was looking for a higher, heavenly illumination, and, having stayed in Athens for about five years, Vasily felt that worldly science could not give him a solid support, in business, for Christian improvement. Therefore, he decided to go to those countries where Christian ascetics lived, and where he could become fully acquainted with true Christian science.

- This is either some god, or Basil.

“The essence of philosophy,” answered Vasily, “is that it gives a person the remembrance of death.

“There are, along with these pleasures,” said Vasily, “consolations of a different kind, of heavenly origin. It is impossible to use both at the same time - "No one can serve two masters" (Matt. 6:24), - but we still, as far as possible for people who are attached to worldly things, break the bread of true knowledge and that, who, even through his own fault, has lost the robe of virtue, we bring him under the roof of good deeds, pitying him, as we pity a naked man in the street.

Following this, Basil began to speak to Evvul about the power of repentance, describing the images he once saw of virtue and vice, which in turn attract a person to themselves, and the image of repentance, near which, like his daughters, various virtues stand.

“But we have nothing, Eevvul,” added Vasily, “to resort to such artificial means of persuasion. We own the very truth, which can be comprehended by anyone who sincerely strives for it. Indeed, we believe that we will all be resurrected one day, some for eternal life, and others for eternal torment and shame. We are clearly told about this by the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and David and the divine apostle Paul, as well as the Lord Himself calling us to repentance, Who found the lost sheep, and Who returns with repentance the prodigal son, embracing with love, kisses, adorns him with light clothes and a ring and makes a feast for him (Luke, ch.15). He gives an equal reward to those who came at the eleventh hour, as well as to those who endured the burden of the day and the heat. He gives us those who repent and are born by water and the Spirit as it is written: eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and that has not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him.

When Basil gave Evvulus a brief history of the dispensation of our salvation, beginning with the fall of Adam and ending with the doctrine of Christ the Redeemer, Evbul exclaimed:

- Oh, Basil, revealed by heaven, through you I believe in the One God, the Almighty Father, the Creator of all things, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century, amen. And here is the proof of my faith in God: I will spend the rest of my life with you, and now I want to be born from water and the Spirit.

Then Vasily said:

“Blessed be our God from now on and forever, Who has illumined your mind with the light of truth, Eevvul, and led you out of extreme error into the knowledge of His love. If you want, as you said, to live with me, then I will explain to you how we can take care of our salvation, getting rid of the nets of this life. Let us sell all our possessions and distribute the money to the poor, and we ourselves will go to the holy city to see the miracles there; there we will be even more strengthened in the faith.

Having thus distributed all their possessions to those in need, and having bought for themselves the white robes that those who received baptism were required to have, they went to Jerusalem and on the way converted many to the true faith.

When they arrived at Antioch, they went into an inn. The innkeeper's son, Philoxenus, was sitting at the door in great distress at that time. As a student of the sophist Livanius, he took from him some of the poems of Homer in order to translate them into oratory, but he could not do this, and, being in such a difficulty, he was very mournful. Vasily, seeing him sad, asked:

“What are you sad about, young man?

Philoxenus said:

“If I tell you the reason for my grief, what good will you do me?”

When Basil insisted on his own and promised that it would not be in vain that the young man would tell him about the reason for his grief, the youth told him both about the sophist and about the verses, adding that the reason for his grief was that he did not know how to clearly convey the meaning of those verses. Vasily, taking the verses, began to interpret them, translating them into simple speech; the lad, wondering and rejoicing, asked him to write that translation for him. Then Basil wrote a translation of those Homeric verses in three different ways, and the lad, having taken the translation with joy, went with them in the morning to his teacher, Livanius. Livanius, having read it, was surprised and said:

“I swear by Divine Providence that there is no one among modern philosophers who could give such an interpretation! Who wrote this to you, Philoxenus?

The lad said:

- There is a stranger in my house who wrote this interpretation very quickly and without any difficulty.

Livanius immediately hurried to the inn to see this wanderer; seeing Basil and Evbulus here, he was surprised at their unexpected arrival and rejoiced at them. He asked them to stay at his house and when they came to him, he offered them a sumptuous meal. But Basil and Eevvul, according to their custom, having tasted bread and water, offered thanks to God, the giver of all blessings. After this, Livanius began to ask them various sophistical questions, and they offered him a word about the Christian faith. Livanius, after carefully listening to them, said that the time had not yet come for the adoption of this word, but that if such was the will of Divine Providence, no one would be able to resist the teachings of Christianity.

“You would lend me a lot, Vasily,” he concluded, “if you didn’t refuse to present your teaching for the benefit of the students who are with me.

Soon the disciples of Livanius gathered, and Basil began to teach them that they should acquire spiritual purity, bodily dispassion, modest tread, quiet speech, a modest word, moderation in food and drink, silence in the presence of the elders, attentiveness to the words of the wise, obedience to superiors, unhypocritical love for equal to themselves and to the lower ones, so that they would move away from evil, passionate and attached to carnal pleasures, so that they would speak less and listen and understand more, would not be reckless in speech, would not be verbose, would not laugh boldly at others, would be adorned with modesty, would not enter in conversation with immoral women, lowered their eyes to the bottom, and turned their souls to grief, avoided disputes, would not seek the rank of teacher, and the honors of this world would be imputed to nothing. If anyone does anything for the benefit of others, let him expect a reward from God and an eternal reward from Jesus Christ our Lord. So Basil spoke to the disciples of Livanius, and they listened to him with great amazement, and after this he, together with Evulus, again set off on the road.

When they came to Jerusalem and walked with faith and love all the holy places, praying there to the One Creator of all God, they appeared to the bishop of that city, Maxim, and asked him to baptize them in the Jordan. The bishop, seeing their great faith, fulfilled their request: taking his clerics, he set off with Basil and Evvul to the Jordan. When they stopped on the shore, Vasily fell to the ground and with tears prayed to God to show him some kind of sign to strengthen his faith. Then, rising with trepidation, he took off his clothes, and together with them “putting aside the former way of life of the old man,” and, entering the water, he prayed. When the saint approached to baptize him, a fiery lightning suddenly fell on them, and a dove emerging from that lightning plunged into the Jordan and, stirring up the water, flew away to heaven. Those who stood on the shore, seeing this, trembled and glorified God. Having received baptism, Basil came out of the water and the bishop, marveling at his love for God, clothed him in the clothes of Christ's resurrection, while praying. He baptized Eevvulus and then anointed both with myrrh and communed the Divine Gifts.

Returning to the holy city, Basil and Evvul stayed there for one year. Then they went to Antioch, where Basil was made a deacon by Archbishop Meletios, and then he was engaged in the interpretation of Scripture. A little while later, he went with Evulus to his fatherland, Cappadocia. As they approached the city of Caesarea, the archbishop of Caesarea, Leontius, was announced in a dream of their arrival, and it was said that Basil would in time be the archbishop of that city. Therefore, the archbishop, calling his archdeacon and several honorary clerics, sent them to the eastern gates of the city, ordering them to bring to him with honor two strangers whom they would meet there. They went and, having met Basil with Evvul, when they entered the city, they took them to the archbishop; he, seeing them, was surprised, for it was them that he saw in a dream, and glorified God. Having asked them about where they were coming from and what they were called, and, having learned their names, he ordered them to be taken to the refectory and treated, while he himself, having called his clergy and honorary citizens, told them everything that was told to him in a vision from God about Basil . Then the clear unanimously said:

- Since for your virtuous life God has indicated to you the heir to your throne, then do with him as you please; for the man who is directly pointed out by the will of God is truly worthy of all respect.

After this, the archbishop called Basil and Eubulus to him and began to reason with them about the Scripture, wanting to know how much they understand it. Hearing their words, he marveled at the depth of their wisdom and, leaving them with him, treated them with special respect. Basil, while in Caesarea, led the same life that he learned from many ascetics when he traveled through Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia and looked closely at the ascetic fathers who lived in those countries. Thus, imitating their life, he was a good monk, and the Archbishop of Caesarea, Eusebius, appointed him presbyter and leader of the monks in Caesarea. Having accepted the rank of presbyter, Saint Basil devoted all his time to the labors of this ministry, so much so that he even refused to correspond with his former friends. Care for the monks he had gathered, preaching the word of God and other pastoral cares did not allow him to be distracted by extraneous activities. At the same time, in the new field, he soon gained such respect for himself that the archbishop himself, who was not yet quite experienced in church affairs, did not enjoy, since he was elected to the throne of Caesarea from among the catechumens. But barely a year of his presbytery had passed, when Bishop Eusebius began, due to human weakness, to envy and ill-will Basil. Saint Basil, having learned about this, and not wanting to be an object of envy, went into the Ionian desert. In the Ionian desert, Basil retired to the Iris River, to the area in which his mother Emmelia and his sister Macrina had retired before him, and which belonged to them. Macrina built a monastery here. Near it, at the foot of a high mountain, covered with dense forest and irrigated by cold and clear waters, Vasily settled. The desert was so pleasing to Vasily with its imperturbable silence that he intended to end his days here. Here he imitated the exploits of those great men whom he saw in Syria and Egypt. He asceticised in extreme deprivation, having only one garment to cover himself - a cloak and a mantle; he also wore a hair shirt, but only at night, so that it was not visible; He ate bread and water, seasoning this meager food with salt and roots. From strict abstinence, he became very pale and thin, and became extremely exhausted. He never went to the bath and did not light a fire. But Vasily did not live for himself alone: he gathered monks into a hostel; with his letters he attracted his friend Gregory to his desert.

In their seclusion, Vasily and Gregory did everything together; prayed together; both left the reading of worldly books, for which they had previously spent a lot of time, and began to occupy themselves solely with the Holy Scriptures. Wishing to study it better, they read the writings of the church fathers and writers who preceded them in time, especially Origen. Here Basil and Gregory, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote the statutes of the monastic community, by which the monks of the Eastern Church are for the most part guided even today31.

- At your request, let your lips be filled with praise, so that you can perform bloodless service, saying your prayers.

After this, Vasily began to speak and write down such words: “Let my lips be filled with praise, let me sing your glory”, “O Lord our God, who created us and bring us into this life” and other prayers of the holy liturgy. At the end of the prayer, he raised the bread, fervently praying with these words: “Hear, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, in the heaven of your dwelling place and at the throne of your kingdom, and come to sanctify us, and sit on this mountain and stay here with us invisible, and make me worthy with Your hand to give us Your most pure Body and Blood to all of us, people. When the saint was doing this, Eevvul with the higher clerics saw the light of heaven, illuminating the altar and the saint, and some bright men in white robes, who surrounded Saint Basil. Seeing this, they were greatly horrified and fell on their faces, shedding tears and glorifying God.

When the saint once walked along the road, a certain poor woman, offended by one boss, fell at the feet of Basil, begging him to write about her to the boss, as a person whom he highly respected. The saint, having taken the charter36, wrote the following to the chief: “This wretched woman came to me, saying that my letter is of great importance to you. If this is so, then prove it to me by deeds and show mercy to this woman. Having written these words, the saint gave the charter to that poor woman, and she took it and carried it to the chief. After reading the letter, he wrote in response to the saint as follows: “According to your letter, holy father, I would like to show mercy to that woman, but I cannot do this, because she is subject to a national tax.” The saint again wrote to him the following: “well, if you wanted to, but could not do it; and if you could, but did not want to, then God will put you in the number of those in need, so that you cannot do what you want. These words of the saint were soon fulfilled: a little time later, the king became angry with that leader, for he found out that he was inflicting great oppression on the people, and put him in chains so that he would pay all those whom he had offended. The head of the prison sent a petition to Saint Basil, so that he would take pity on him and appease the king with his petition. Basil hastened to ask the king for him. and after six days came a decree freeing the chief from condemnation. The chief, seeing how merciful the saint was to him, hurried to him to thank him, and gave the aforementioned poor woman from his estate twice as much as he had taken from her.

While this saint of God, the Great Basil, courageously fought in Caesarea in Cappadocia for the holy faith of Christ,37 Tsar Julian the Apostate, a blasphemer and a great persecutor of Christians,38 boasting that he would destroy Christians, went to war against the Persians. Saint Basil then prayed in the church before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, at whose feet there was an image, and the holy Great Martyr Mercury in form; a warrior with a spear39. He prayed that God would not allow Julian, the persecutor and destroyer of Christians, to return alive from the Persian war. And so he saw that the image of Saint Mercury, who was standing near the Most Holy Theotokos, had changed, and the image of the martyr had become invisible for some time. After some time, the martyr appeared again, but with a bloodied spear. At this very time, Julian was pierced in the Persian War by the holy martyr Mercury, sent by the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos to destroy the enemy of God.

Saint Basil the Great also had such a gift of grace. When he offered up the holy gifts during the liturgy, the golden dove with divine gifts, which hung over the holy throne, moved by the power of God, shook three times. Once, when Basil served and offered holy gifts, there was no usual sign with a dove, which, by its shaking, indicated the descent of the Holy Spirit. When Basil was thinking about the reason for this, he saw that one of the deacons holding the ripids40 was looking at a woman standing in the church. Basil commanded that deacon to depart from the holy altar and appointed him a penance - to fast and pray for seven days, to spend whole nights without sleep in prayer, and to distribute alms to the poor from his estate. From that time on, Saint Basil commanded that a curtain and a partition be built in the church in front of the altar, so that not a single woman could look into the altar during the performance of the divine service; He commanded the disobedient to be taken out of the church and excommunicated from Holy Communion.

While Saint Basil was a bishop, the Church of Christ was troubled by Tsar Valens42, blinded by the Arian heresy. He, having overthrown many Orthodox bishops from their thrones, raised Arians to their places, and forced others who were cowardly and fearful to join his heresy. He was angry and tormented inwardly, seeing that Basil fearlessly abides on his throne, as an unshakable pillar of his faith, and strengthens and exhorts others to abhor Arianism, as a false doctrine hated by God. Bypassing his possessions, and extremely oppressing the Orthodox everywhere, the tsar, on the way to Antioch, arrived at Caesarea in Cappadocia and here began to use all measures to persuade Basil to the side of Arianism. He inspired his governors, nobles - and advisers, so that they either with prayers and promises, or with threats, prompted Basil to fulfill the desire of the king. And the royal supporters persistently urged the saint to this; in addition, some noble women, who enjoyed the favor of the king, began to send their eunuchs to the saint, persistently advising him that he should think at the same time with the king. But no one could force this hierarch, unshakable in his faith, to fall away from Orthodoxy. Finally, eparch Modest43 called Basil to him and, after being unable to persuade him with flattering promises to fall away from Orthodoxy, began to furiously threaten him with the confiscation of property, exile and death. The saint boldly answered his threats:

“If you take away my property, you won’t enrich yourself with it, and you won’t make me a beggar. I suppose that you do not need these shabby clothes of mine and a few books that contain all my wealth. There is no link for me, because I am not bound by a place, and the place where I live now is not mine, and whatever I am sent to will be mine. It would be better to say: everywhere is the place of God, wherever I am a “stranger and a stranger” (Ps. 38:13). And what can suffering do to me? - I am so weak that only the first blow will be sensitive to me. Death for me is a boon: it will bring me more quickly to God, for whom I live and work, and for whom I have long been striving.

Amazed by these words, the ruler said to Basil:

No one has ever spoken to me so boldly!

“Yes,” answered the saint, “because you have never spoken to a bishop before. In everything else, we show meekness and humility, but when it comes to God, and they dare to rebel against Him: then we, everything else, imputing nothing, look only at Him alone; then the fire, the sword, the beasts, and the iron that torment the body will rather please us than frighten us.

Reporting to Valens about the inflexibility and fearlessness of Saint Basil, Modest said:

– We are defeated, tsar, by the rector of the Church. This husband is above threats, stronger than arguments, stronger than convictions.

After this, the king forbade disturbing Vasily and, although he did not accept communication with him, ashamed to show himself changed, he began to look for more decent excuses.

The feast of the Epiphany has arrived. The king with his retinue entered the church where Basil served and, having entered the midst of the people, by this he wanted to show a form of unity with the Church. Looking at the splendor and order of the church and listening to the singing and prayers of the faithful, the king marveled, saying that he had never seen such order and splendor in his Arian churches. Saint Basil, going up to the king, began to talk with him, instructing him from the Holy Scriptures; Gregory of Nazianzus, who happened to be there at that time, was also a listener of this conversation, and he wrote about it. Since that time, the king began to treat Basil better. But, having retired to Antioch, he again became irritated against Basil, being excited to this by evil people, believing whose denunciations he condemned Basil to exile. But when the king wanted to sign this verdict, the throne on which he was sitting swayed and the cane44 with which he was supposed to sign was broken. The king took another cane, but it was the same with that one; the same happened with the third. Then his hand trembled, and fear fell upon him; seeing the power of God in this, the king tore up the charter. But the enemies of Orthodoxy again began to persistently pester the tsar about Basil, so that he would not leave him alone, and a dignitary named Anastasius was sent from the tsar to bring Basil to Antioch. When this dignitary came to Caesarea and announced to Basil about the command of the king, the saint answered:

- I, my son, learned some time ago that the king, listening to the advice of foolish people, broke three canes, wanting to sign a decree on my imprisonment and darken the truth through this. The insensible canes restrained his irresistible impetuosity, agreeing to break rather than serve as a weapon for his unrighteous sentence.

Being brought to Antioch, Basil appeared before the court of the eparch, and to the question: “why does he not adhere to the faith that the king professes? - answered:

- It will never happen that I, deviating from the true Christian faith, become a follower of the impious Arian doctrine; for I have inherited from the fathers the faith in those who are of the same essence,45 which I confess and glorify.

The judge threatened him with death, but Vasily answered:

- What? let me suffer for the truth and free myself from the bonds of the body; I have been wanting this for a long time - only you will not change your promise.

The eparch informed the king that Vasily was not afraid of threats, that his convictions could not be changed, that his heart was adamant and firm. The king, inflamed with anger, began to think about how to destroy Basil. But at that very time, the king's son, Galat, suddenly fell ill and the doctors had already doomed him to. His mother, having come to the king, said to him with irritation:

– Since you believe incorrectly and persecute the bishop of God, the lad dies for this.

Hearing this, Valens called Basil and said to him:

- If God is pleased with the teaching of your faith, then heal my son with your prayers!

The saint replied:

- O king! If you convert to the Orthodox faith and give peace to the churches, then your son will remain alive.

And we could do it!

They again deceived the king, so that he did not prevent them from performing the baptism of his son. But when the Arians took the king's son to baptize him, he immediately died in their arms. The aforementioned Anastasius saw this with his own eyes and told about this to the king Valentinian46, who reigned in the west, the brother of the eastern king, Valens. Valentinian, surprised at such a miracle, glorified God, and through Anastasius sent great gifts to Saint Basil, accepting which Basil set up hospitals in the cities of his dioceses and gave shelter to many weak and wretched people.

After some time, a relative of the king, named Eusebius, was put in the place of Modest. In Caesarea in his time there lived a widow, young, rich and very beautiful, named Vestiana, daughter of Araxes, who was a member of the senate. Eparch Eusebius wanted to marry this widow by force to one dignitary, but she, being chaste, and wanting to keep the purity of her widowhood unsullied, to the glory of God, did not want to marry. When she found out that they wanted to kidnap her by force and force her to marry, she ran away to the church and fell at the feet of the bishop of God, Saint Basil47. He, having taken her under his protection, did not want to give her out of the church to the people who came for her, and then secretly sent her to a nunnery, to his sister, the Monk Macrina. Angry at Blessed Basil, the eparch sent soldiers to take that widow from the church by force, and when she was not found there, he ordered them to look for her in the saint's bedchamber. The eparch, as an immoral person, thought that Vasily, with a sinful intention, kept her at his place and hid her in his bedchamber. However, not finding it anywhere. He called Vasily to him and with great fury scolded him, threatened to hand him over to torture if he did not give him a widow. But Saint Basil showed himself ready for torment.

“If you order my body to be cut with iron,” he said, “then you will heal my liver, which, as you see, greatly disturbs me.”

At this time, the citizens, having learned about the incident, rushed all - not only men, but also women - to the eparch's palace with weapons and dracula, intending to kill him for their holy father and their shepherd. And if Saint Basil had not calmed the people, the eparch would have been killed. The latter, seeing such popular indignation, was very frightened and released the saint unharmed and free.

- If you want, then I will send you to my master, the devil; he will help you in this, if only you will fulfill his will.

The unfortunate servant said:

“Whatever he commands me, I promise to do.

The wizard then said:

– Will you renounce your Christ and give a receipt for that?

The slave said:

- Prepare for this, just to get what you want.

- If you make such a promise, - said the magician, - then I will be your assistant.

Then, taking the charter, he wrote the following to the devil:

- Since I must, my lord, try to tear people away from the Christian faith and bring them under your power to multiply your subjects, I am now sending you the bearer of this letter, a young man, kindled by passions for a girl, and I ask for him, so that you help him fulfill his desire. Through this, I will become famous, and I will attract more admirers to you.

Having written such a letter to the devil, the magician gave it to that young man and sent him with these words:

- Go at this hour of the night and stand at the Hellenic cemetery49, raising the charter to the top; then immediately those who will lead you to the devil will appear to you.

- Do you believe in me?

The same one answered: “I believe”.

The devil asked again:

Do you deny your Christ?

“I renounce,” replied the slave.

Then Satan said to him:

– Often you deceive me, Christians: when you ask me for help, then come to me, and when you achieve your goal, you again renounce me and turn to your Christ, Who, as kind and philanthropic, accepts you. Give me a receipt that you voluntarily renounce Christ and baptism and promise to be mine forever and from the day of judgment you will endure eternal torment with me: in this case, I will fulfill your desire.

“Have pity on me, have pity on your daughter, and give me in marriage to our slave, whom I have loved with all my might. If you don’t do this for me, your only daughter, then you will see me soon die of severe torment and you will give an answer for me on the day of judgment.

Hearing this, the father was horrified and said with tears:

- Woe to me, a sinner! what happened to my daughter? Who stole my treasure from me? Who deceived my child? Who has darkened the light of my eyes? I wanted my daughter to betroth you to the Heavenly Bridegroom, so that you would be like angels and glorify God in psalms and spiritual hymns (Eph. 5:19), and I myself hoped to receive salvation for you, and you shamelessly repeat about marriage! Do not bring me from sorrows to the underworld, my child, do not shame your noble rank, marrying a slave.

She, not paying attention to the words of the parent, said one thing:

If you don't do what I want, I'll kill myself.

- Go, unhappy, get married! But I think that you will become very remorseful after your actions, and that you will not benefit from this.

“Don’t you know,” they said to her, “that your husband, whom you have chosen, is not a Christian, but a stranger to the faith of Christ?

When she heard this, she became extremely sad and, falling to the ground, began to tear her face with her nails, tirelessly beat her chest with her hands, and screamed like this:

“No one who disobeyed his parents could ever be saved!” Who will tell my father about my shame? Woe unfortunate me! What a death I have fallen into! Why was I born and why did I not die at birth?

- If you want to fully assure me and remove sorrow from my unfortunate soul, then in the morning go with me to church and partake of the Most Pure Mysteries before me: then I will believe you.

Her unfortunate husband, seeing that it was impossible for him to hide the truth, had, against his will, to tell her everything about himself - how he betrayed himself to the devil. But she, forgetting her feminine infirmity, hurriedly went to Saint Basil and cried out to him:

- Have pity on me, disciple of Christ, have pity on the disobedient will of her father, who succumbed to demonic seduction! and told him all the details about her husband.

The saint called her husband and asked him if what his wife was saying about him was true. He answered with tears:

Yes, Holy Hierarch, it's all true! and if I become silent, then my deeds will cry out about it, - and he told everything in order, how he had given himself over to demons.

The saint said:

– Do you want to turn again to our Lord, Jesus Christ?

“Yes, I want to, but I can’t,” he replied.

- From what? Vasily asked.

“Because,” answered the husband, “I gave a receipt that I renounce Christ and betray myself to the devil.”

But Vasily said:

– Do not grieve over this, for God is philanthropic and accepts those who repent.

The wife, throwing herself at the feet of the saint, implored him, saying:

- Disciple of Christ! Help us where you can.

Then the saint said to the servant:

Do you believe that you can still be saved?

He also said in response:

“I believe, sir, help my unbelief.

- How do you feel child?

“I am in an extremely distressed state, Vladyka,” answered the young man, “I cannot endure the cries of demons, and fears, and shooting, and blows with stakes. For the demons, holding my receipt in their hands, revile me, saying: “You came to us, and not we to you!”

The saint said:

- Do not be afraid, child, but only believe.

And having given him some food, he made the sign of the cross over him and shut him up again. A few days later he visited him again and said:

- How do you live, child?

He replied:

“From a distance I still hear threats and their cry, but I don’t see myself.

Basil gave him some food and prayed for him, locked him up again and left. Then he came to him on the fortieth day and asked him:

- How do you live, child?

He also said:

- Well, holy father, because I saw you in a dream, how you fought for me and defeated the devil.

Having made a prayer, the saint led him out of the seclusion and brought him to the cell. In the morning he called the whole clergy, monks and all people who love Christ and said:

“Let us glorify the brothers, the lover of God, for now the Good Shepherd wants to take the dead sheep50 on the frame and bring it to the church: on this night we must beg his goodness, so that He will overcome and shame the enemy of our souls.

The believers gathered in church and prayed all night for the penitent, crying out: "Lord have mercy."

- Saint of God, help me!

- The most shameless murderer, the prince of darkness and death! Is not your destruction sufficient for you, which you caused yourself and those who are with you? Won't you stop chasing the creatures of my God?

The devil cried out to him:

“God forbid you, oh devil!”

The devil again said to him:

- Vasily, you offend me! After all, it was not I who came to him, but he to me: he denied his Christ, giving me a receipt, which I have in my hand, and which I will show to the universal Judge on the day of judgment.

Vasily said:

- Blessed be the Lord my God! These people will not lower their hands raised to the sky51 until you give that receipt.

Then, turning to the people, the saint said:

- Raise your hands to grief and cry out: “Lord have mercy!” And after the people, raising their hands to heaven, for a long time cried out with tears: “Lord, have mercy!”, The young man’s receipt, in front of everyone, was brought through the air right into the hands of St. Basil. Taking this receipt, the saint rejoiced and gave thanks to God, and then in the hearing of everyone he said to the young man:

Do you know this receipt, brother?

The young man replied:

– Yes, saint of God, this is my receipt; I wrote it with my own hand.

The same Yelladiy told the following about St. Basil. Once our great father Vasily, being illumined by divine grace, said to his clergy:

- Follow me, children, and we will see the glory of God, and together we will glorify our Lord.

- I'm going to cultivate the field, and you, my sister, clean the house and, at the ninth hour of the day, lighting the candles, go out to meet the holy Archbishop Basil, for he is coming to visit us sinners.

She was surprised at the words of her master, but she carried out his order. When Saint Basil was not far from the house of Anastasius, Theognia went out to meet him and bowed to him.

“Are you well, Mrs. Theognia?” Vasily asked. She, hearing that he calls her by name, was horrified and said:

- I'm healthy, lord saint!

The saint said:

- Where is Mr. Anastassy, your brother?

She replied:

- This is not a brother, but my husband; he went into the field.

Vasily said:

- He's at home - don't worry!

Hearing this, she was even more frightened, for she realized that the saint had penetrated into their secrets, and with trembling fell at the feet of the saint and said:

- Pray for me, a sinner, saint of God, for I see that you can do great and wonderful things.

- Where do I; it is that the saint of my Lord came to me.

The saint, giving him a kiss in the Lord, said:

- It's good that I found you, disciple of Christ; let's go to church and do the service of God.

– You know, master, what is said in Scripture: “the lesser is blessed by the greater” (Heb. 7:7).

Basil said to him:

- In all your other good deeds, also have obedience.

During the meal, the saint asked the presbyter:

- Where do you get the treasure and what is your life like? Tell me.

The presbyter replied:

- Saint of God! I am a sinful person and subject to public taxes; I have two pairs of oxen, of which I work with one myself, and with the other - my hired hand; what I receive with the help of one pair of oxen, I spend on calming the strangers, and what I receive with the help of another pair goes to pay taxes: my wife also works with me, serving the strangers and me.

Basil said to him:

- Call her your sister, as it really is, and tell me about your virtues.

Anastasius replied:

“I have done nothing good on earth.

Then Vasily said:

- Let's get up and go together, - and, having risen, they came to one of the rooms of his house.

“Open these doors for me,” Vasily said.

“No, holy hierarch of God,” said Anastassy, “do not go in there, because there is nothing there but household things.”

Vasily said:

“But I came for these things.

Since the presbyter still did not want to open the doors, the saint opened them with his word and, going in, found there one man, stricken with severe leprosy,52 from whom many parts of the body had already fallen off, having rotted away. No one knew about him except the presbyter himself and his wife.

Basil said to the presbyter:

“Why did you want to hide this treasure of yours from me?”

“He is an angry and quarrelsome man,” answered the presbyter, “and therefore I was afraid to show him, lest he offend your holiness with any word.

Then Vasily said:

“You are doing a good deed, but let me also serve him this night, so that I can be an accomplice in the reward that you receive.”

When St. Ephraim the Syrian,53 who lived in the desert, heard about Saint Basil, he began to pray to God that He would show him what Basil is like. And then one day, being in a state of spiritual delight, he saw a pillar of fire, whose head reached the sky, and heard a voice saying:

- Ephraim, Ephraim! As you see this fiery pillar, such is Basil.

The Monk Ephraim immediately, taking with him an interpreter, for he could not speak Greek, went to Caesarea and arrived there on the feast of the Theophany of the Lord. Standing in the distance and unnoticed by anyone, he saw Saint Basil walking to church with great solemnity, dressed in light clothes, and his clergy, also dressed in light clothes. Turning to the interpreter who accompanied him, Ephraim said:

“It seems, brother, that we have labored in vain, for this is a man of such high rank that I have not seen such a person.

Entering the church. Ephraim stood in a corner, invisible to anyone, and spoke to himself like this:

– We, “having endured the burden of the day and the heat” (Matthew 20:12), have not achieved anything, but this one, who enjoys such fame and honor among people, is at the same time a pillar of fire. This surprises me.

When Saint Ephraim spoke of him in this way, Basil the Great learned from the Holy Spirit and sent his archdeacon to him, saying:

- Go to the western gates of the church; there you will find in the corner of the church a monk standing with another man of almost beardless and short stature. Show him: go and go up to the altar, for the archbishop is calling you.

The archdeacon, pushing his way through the crowd with great difficulty, approached the place where the Monk Ephraim was standing and said:

- Father! go, - I beg you - and go up to the altar: the archbishop is calling you.

Ephraim, having learned through the interpreter what the archdeacon had said, answered the latter:

You are wrong, brother! we are strangers and strangers to the archbishop.

Then Basil again said to the archdeacon:

“Go and tell that new monk: Mr. Ephraim!” I ask you to go up to the holy altar: the archbishop is calling you.

The archdeacon went and said as he was ordered. Ephraim was surprised at this and glorified God. After making a prostration, he said:

- Truly great is Basil, truly he is a pillar of fire, truly the Holy Spirit speaks through his mouth!

Then he begged the archdeacon to inform the archbishop that, at the end of the holy service, he wanted to bow to him in a secluded place and greet him.

When the Divine Service was over, Saint Basil entered the vessel-guardian and, calling to the Monk Ephraim, gave him a kiss in the Lord and said:

“Greetings to you, father, who multiplied the disciples of Christ in the wilderness and cast out demons from it by the power of Christ!” Why, father, did you undertake such a labor, coming to see a sinful man? May the Lord reward you for your work.

- Holy Father! One favor I ask of you - deign to give it to me.

Basil the Great said to him:

“Tell me what you need: I am indebted to you for your work, for you undertook such a long journey for me.

“I know, father,” said Venerable Ephraim, “that God gives you everything you ask of him; but I want you to beg his goodness that He would give me the ability to speak Greek.

Vasily replied:

“Your petition is beyond my strength, but since you ask with firm hope, then let’s go, venerable father and desert teacher, to the temple of the Lord and pray to the Lord, Who can fulfill your prayer, for it is said: “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him, hears their cry and saves them” (Ps. 144:19).

Having chosen a convenient time, they began to pray in church and prayed for a long time. Then Basil the Great said;

“Why, honest father, do you not accept ordination to the rank of presbyter, being worthy of it?”

“Because I am a sinful lord!” - Ephraim pumped him out through an interpreter.

Oh, if only I had your sins! - said Vasily and added, - let's make a prostration.

When they fell to the ground, Saint Basil laid his hand on the head of the Monk Ephraim and said the prayer laid down at the consecration to the deacon. Then he said to the Reverend:

“Now order us to rise from the ground.

For Ephraim, Greek speech suddenly became clear, and he himself said in Greek: “Intercede, save, have mercy, save us, O God, with your grace”54.

In the city of Nicaea,55 the impious king once stopped, and representatives of the Arian heresy turned to him with a request that he expel the Orthodox from the cathedral church of that city, and give the church to the Arian congregation. The tsar, himself a heretic, did just that: he took the church from the Orthodox by force and gave it to the Arians, and he himself went to Constantinople. When the entire large community of Orthodox was plunged into great sorrow, the common representative and intercessor of all churches, Saint Basil the Great, came to Nicaea; then the whole Orthodox flock came to him with cries and sobs, and told him about the insults caused to them by the king. The saint, comforting them with his words, immediately went to the king in Constantinople and, standing before him, said:

- "And the power of the king loves judgment" (Ps.99:4). Why, then, Tsar, did you pronounce an unjust verdict, expelling the Orthodox from the holy church and giving its management to the unthinking?

The king said to him:

- You started insulting me again, Vasily! it's not right for you to do that.

Vasily replied:

“It is good for me to die for the truth.

When they competed and bickered with each other, they were heard by the king's chief cook, Demosthenes, who was there. He, wishing to help the Arians, said something rude, in reproach to the saint.

The saint said:

– Here we see before us the unlearned Demosthenes.

The ashamed cook again said something in response, but the saint said:

“Your job is to think about food, and not to cook church dogmas.

And Demosthenes, being put to shame, fell silent. The king, now excited by anger, now feeling shame, said to Vasily:

“Go and look into their case; however, judge in such a way that you do not turn out to be an assistant to your fellow believers.

“If I judge unfairly,” answered the saint, “then send me into prison, but drive out my fellow believers, and give the church to the Arians.”

Taking the royal uk, the saint returned to Nicaea and, calling the Arians, said to them:

“The tsar gave me the authority to bring judgment between you and the Orthodox regarding the church, which you seized by force.

They answered him:

Judge, but according to the royal court57.

The saint then said:

- Go, you Arians, and you Orthodox, and close the church; having locked it, seal it with seals: you with yours, and you with yours, and set up reliable guards on both sides. Then first you Arians will pray for three days and three nights, and then go to the church. And if, at your prayer, the doors of the church open of themselves, then let the church be yours forever: if this does not happen, then we will pray one night and go with litiya58, while singing sacred hymns, to the church; if it is revealed to us, then we will own it forever; if it is not opened to us, then the church will be yours again.

The Arians liked this proposal, while the Orthodox were upset with the saint, saying that he judged not by truth, but by fear of the king. Then, when both sides firmly and firmly locked the holy church, after sealing it, vigilant guards were posted to it. When the Arians, having prayed for three days and three nights, came to the church, nothing miraculous happened: they prayed here from morning until the sixth hour, standing and crying out: Lord have mercy. But the church doors did not open before them, and they left in shame. Then Basil the Great, having gathered all the Orthodox with their wives and children, went out of the city to the Church of the Holy Martyr Diomedes59 and, having performed an all-night vigil there, in the morning he went with everyone to the sealed cathedral church, singing:

“Holy God, holy strong, holy immortal, have mercy on us!”

Stopping before the doors of the church, he said to the people:

- Raise your hands to heaven and cry out with zeal: "Lord have mercy!"

Then the saint commanded everyone to be silent and, going up to the doors, made the sign of the cross three times over them and said:

Blessed be the Christian God always, now and forever, and forever and ever.

“Lift up, you gates, your heads, and lift up, you eternal doors, and the King of glory will enter!” (Ps. 23:7).

Then he entered the church with a multitude of Orthodox and, having performed the divine service, dismissed the people with joy. Countless Arians, seeing that miracle, lagged behind their error and joined the Orthodox. When the king found out about such a just decision of Basil and about that glorious miracle, he was extremely surprised and began to blaspheme Arianism; however, being blinded by wickedness, he did not convert to Orthodoxy and subsequently perished in a miserable way. It was when he was struck and wounded in the war in the Thracian country that he ran away and hid in a barn where straw lay. His pursuers surrounded the shed and set it on fire, and the king, having burned there, went into the unquenchable fire. The death of the king followed after the repose of our holy father Basil, but in the same year in which the saint also reposed.

- It's good that you told me about it; I will go with you and rebuke him.

When the saint approached the city of Sebastia, Peter learned in spirit about the coming of his brother, for Peter, too, was filled with the Spirit of God and lived with his imaginary wife, not as with a wife, but as with a sister, chastely. So, he went out of the city to meet St. Basil for eight fields61 and, seeing his brother with a large number of companions, he smiled and said:

“Brother, how would you go against me against a robber?”

Having kissed each other in the Lord, they entered the city, and having prayed in the church of the holy forty martyrs, they came to the episcopal house. Vasily, seeing his daughter-in-law, said:

- Hello, my sister, it is better to say - the bride of the Lord; I came here for you.

She replied:

- Hello you too, most honorable father; and I have long wanted to kiss your honest feet.

And Basil said to Peter:

“I beg you, brother, spend the night with your wife in the church.

“I will do whatever you tell me,” replied Peter.

When night fell, and Peter rested in the church with his wife, Saint Basil was there with five virtuous men. Around midnight he woke these men and said to them:

- What do you see over my brother and over my daughter-in-law?

They also said:

- We see the angels of God wrapping around them and smearing with aromas their immaculate bed.

Vasily then said to them:

“Be quiet, and don’t tell anyone what you saw.”

In the morning, Vasily ordered the people to gather in the church and bring here a brazier with burning coals. After that he said:

- Stretch, my honest daughter-in-law, your clothes.

And when she had done this, the saint said to those who held the brazier.

“Put burning coals in her clothes.

They carried out this command. Then the saint said to her:

“Keep these coals in your clothes until I tell you to.”

Then he again ordered to bring new burning coals and said to his brother:

“Stretch out your felon, brother.”

When he fulfilled this command, Basil said to the servants:

- Pour the coals from the brazier into the phelonion - and they poured out.

When Peter and his wife kept burning coals in their clothes for a long time and did not suffer any harm from this, the people who saw this marveled and said:

– The Lord preserves His saints and grants them blessings while still on earth.

“Have mercy on me, holy hierarch of God, I have sinned more than anyone!”

The saint stopped and asked her what she wanted from him; she, giving him a sealed charter, said:

- Here, Vladyka, I wrote all my sins and iniquities on this charter and sealed it; but you, the saint of God, do not read it and do not remove the seal, but only cleanse them with your prayer, for I believe that the One who gave me this thought will hear you when you pray for me.

Basil, taking the charters, raised his eyes to heaven and said:

- God! To you alone this is possible. For if you took upon yourself the sins of the whole world, then the more you can cleanse the sins of this one soul, since all our sins, although they are counted by you, but your mercy is immeasurable and unsearchable!

Having said this, Saint Basil entered the church, holding the charter in his hands, and, prostrating himself before the altar, spent the whole night in prayer for that woman.

In the morning, having performed the divine service, the saint called the woman and gave her the sealed charter in the form in which he received it, and at the same time he said to her:

“You have heard, woman, that “no one can forgive sins except God alone” (Mark 2:7).

She also said:

- I heard, honest father, and that's why I bothered you with a request to beg his goodness.

- Have mercy on me, servant of the Most High God, and as you had mercy on all my iniquities and begged God for them, so beg for this, so that it would be completely cleansed.

The archbishop, shedding tears of pity for her, said:

- Arise, woman: I myself am a sinner, and I need pardon and forgiveness; The same one who cleansed your other sins can also cleanse your sin that has not yet been blotted out; but if for the future time you save yourself from sin and begin to walk in the way of the Lord, you will not only be forgiven, but you will also be worthy of heavenly glorification. This is what I advise you: go into the desert: there you will find a holy man named Ephraim; give him this charter and ask him to ask for mercy for you from God the Lover of mankind.

The woman, according to the word of the saint, went into the wilderness and, after walking a long distance, found the cell of blessed Ephraim. Knocking on the door, she said:

- Have mercy on me, a sinner, reverend father!

Saint Ephraim, having learned in his spirit about the purpose with which she came to him, answered her:

- Get away from me, woman, for I am a sinful person and I myself need the help of other people.

She then threw the charter before him and said:

- Archbishop Vasily sent me to you so that, having prayed to God, you would cleanse my sin, which is written in this charter; he cleansed the rest of the sins, and you do not refuse to pray for one sin, for I have been sent to you.

Saint Ephraim said:

- No, child, the one who could beg God for many of your sins, all the more can beg for one. So, go, go now, so that you may find him alive before he goes to the Lord.

Then the woman, bowing to the monk, returned to Caesarea.

- Woe to me, saint of God! woe to me, unfortunate! Did you send me into the wilderness so that, undisturbed by me, you could leave the body? And so I returned empty-handed, having made the difficult journey into the desert in vain. Let God see this and let Him judge between me and you that you, having the opportunity to help me yourself, sent me to another.

“Nothing is written here,” he said to the woman, “and in vain do you grieve, not knowing the indescribable love of God that has manifested itself in you.

All the people, seeing this miracle, glorified God, who gave such power to His servants even after their death.

In what faith I was born, in that I want to die.

The saint said to him:

“Believe me that neither I nor you will die until you are “born of water and spirit” (John 3:5): for without such grace it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of God. Were not your fathers baptized “in the clouds and in the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1)? did they not drink from the stone, which was a type of the spiritual stone, Christ, who was born of the Virgin for our salvation. This Christ your fathers crucified, but being buried on the third day, he rose again, and having ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of the Father, and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

“What do you say about me, Joseph?

The same, having examined the saint, said to his household:

“Prepare everything for burial, for we must expect his death any minute.

But Vasily said:

- You don't know what you're talking about!

The Jew replied:

- Believe me, lord, that your death will come before sunset.

Then Vasily said to him:

- And if I stay alive until the morning, until the sixth hour, what will she do then?

Joseph replied:

Let me die then!

“Yes,” said the saint, “die, but die to sin in order to live for God!”

"I know what you're talking about, my lord! - answered the Jew, - and now I swear to you that if you live until morning, I will fulfill your desire.

Then Saint Basil began to pray to God that He would continue his life until the morning to save the soul of the Jew, and he received what he asked. In the morning he sent for him; but he did not believe the servant who told him that Vasily was alive; however, he went to see him, as he thought already dead. When he saw him really alive, he went as if into a frenzy, and then, falling at the feet of the saint, he said in a fit of heart:

Saint Basil said to him:

“I baptize you with my own hands!”

Yerey, going up to him, touched the right hand of the saint and said:

“Your strength, lord, has weakened, and your whole being has finally failed; you cannot baptize me yourself.

“We have a Creator who strengthens us,” Vasily answered.

Saint Basil the Great shepherded the Church of God for eight years, six months and sixteen days, and all the years of his life were forty-nine.

The newly baptized Jew, seeing the saint dead, fell on his face and said with tears:

“Truly, servant of God Vasily, even now you would not have died if you yourself had not wanted to.

The burial of St. Basil was a significant event and showed how high respect he enjoyed. Not only Christians, but also Jews and pagans rushed in crowds into the street in great numbers and persistently crowded to the tomb of the deceased saint. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus also arrived at Basil's burial and wept much for the saint. The bishops who gathered here sang tomb chants and buried the honest relics of the great saint of God Basil in the church of the holy martyr Eupsychius, praising God, the One in the Trinity, to him be glory forever. Amen.

Troparion, tone 1:

Your broadcast has gone out into the whole earth, as if you had received your word, and you have taught it divinely, you have clarified the nature of beings, you have adorned human customs, the royal priesthood of the reverend father: pray to Christ God to be saved to our souls.

Kontakion, tone 4:

Thou hast appeared as an unshakable foundation to the church, giving all unstolen dominion by man, imprinting with your commands, unrevealed Basil the Monk.

_____________________________________________________

2 Emperor Constantine the Great reigned from 324 to 337.

3 Vasily's father, also named Vasily, known for his charity, was married to a noble and rich girl Emmelia. From this marriage were born five daughters and five sons. The eldest daughter, Macrina, after the untimely death of her fiancé, remained faithful to this blessed union, devoting herself to chastity (her memory is July 19); Vasily's other sisters got married. Of the five brothers, one died in early childhood; three were bishops and canonized as saints; the fifth died hunting. Of the survivors, the eldest son was Basil, followed by Gregory, later Bishop of Nyssa (his memory is January 10), and Peter, at first a simple ascetic, then the bishop of Sebaste (his memory is January 9). - Basil's father, probably shortly before his death, took the priesthood, as this can be concluded from the fact that Gregory the Theologian calls the mother of Basil the Great the wife of a priest.

4 Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea (north of Caesarea Cappadocia) compiled the creed and the canonical epistle, and also wrote several other works. He died in 270, his memory is November 17.

5 Neocaesarea - the current Nixar, the capital of Pontus Polemoniacus, famous for its beauty, in the north of Asia Minor; especially known for the church council that took place there (in 315). Iris River in Pontus, originates at Antitaurus.

6 Sophists are scholars who have devoted themselves primarily to the study and teaching of eloquence. - Livanius and later, when Basil was already a bishop, maintained written relations with him.

7 Athens is the main city of Greece, which has long attracted the color of the Greek mind and talent. Famous philosophers Socrates and Plato once lived here, as well as the poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and others. - By Hellenic wisdom, we mean pagan learning, pagan education.

8 Proeresius, the most famous teacher of philosophy at that time, was a Christian, as is evident from the fact that he closed his school when the emperor Julian forbade Christians from teaching philosophy. Nothing is known about what religion Hiereus adhered to.

9 Gregory (Nazianzen) was later for some time Patriarch of Constantinople and is known for his lofty creations, for which he received the title of Theologian. He had known Basil in Caesarea, but he became close friends with him only in Athens. His memory is January 25th.

10 Egypt has long served as a place where the Christian ascetic life was especially developed. Similarly, there was a great multitude of Christian scholars, of whom Origen and Clement of Alexandria were the most famous.

11 That is, according to Euvulus, Basil had a mind that exceeded the measure of the mind common to a person, and in this respect he approached the gods.

12 That is, he only deserves the honorary name of “philosopher”, who looks at death as a transition to a new life and therefore leaves this world without fear.

13 Such pictures in ancient times were often used by moralists in order to make a greater impression on listeners.

14 That is, heat, heat, which is very heavy in the east (Matt. 20:12).

15 That is, what we now cannot imagine by any means (1 Corinthians 2:9).

16 That is, various sights, such as the tomb of Christ Golgotha and so on.

17 As now, so in ancient times, the newly baptized, as a token of their cleansing from sins, were clothed in white robes.

18 Here, of course, is Syrian Antioch, by the river Orontes, which was called Great.

19 Homer is the greatest Greek poet who lived in the ninth century. to R. Khr.; wrote famous poems: "Iliad" and "Odyssey".

20 That is, the time has not yet come to replace philosophy and pagan religion with Christian faith. Livanius died a pagan (about 391, in Antioch).

21 Maximus III - Patriarch of Jerusalem - from 333 to 350.

22 The ancient Christians received St. baptism is partly out of humility, partly in the consideration that, having been baptized not long before death, they will receive forgiveness of all their sins in baptism.

23 That is, he was freed from hereditary ancestral sin (Epistle to Ephesians ch. 4, article 22).

24 This miracle was reminiscent of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove onto Christ the Savior, who was baptized in the Jordan.

25 The Lord Jesus Christ, being in the tomb, was wrapped in white linen.

26 Basil the Great wrote many works. Like all actions of St. Basil were distinguished by extraordinary grandeur and importance, so all his writings are imprinted with the same character of the height and grandeur of the Christian. In his works, he is both a preacher and a dogmatist-polemist and interpreter of the Holy Scriptures and a teacher of morality and piety, and, finally, the organizer of church services. Of his conversations, in terms of strength and animation, they are considered the best: against; usurers, against drunkenness and luxury, about fame, about hunger. In his letters to St. Vasily vividly portrays the events of his time; many of the letters contain excellent instructions on love, meekness, forgiveness of offenses, on the upbringing of children, against the avarice and pride of the rich against a vain oath, or with spiritual advice for monks. As a dogmatist and polemicist, he appears before us in his three books written against the Arian false teacher Eunomius, in an essay against Savelius and Anomei on the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, Basil the Great wrote a special book on the Holy Spirit against Aetius, whose champion was Eunomius. Dogmatic writings also include some conversations and letters of St. Vasily. As an interpreter of the Holy Scriptures, St. Vasily with nine conversations on "Shestodnev", where he showed himself to be an expert not only on the Word of God, but also on philosophy and natural science. Also known are his conversations on the psalms and on 16 chapters of the book of the prophets. Isaiah. Conversations both on the Six Days and on the Psalms were spoken in the temple and therefore, along with the explanation, they contain exhortations, consolations and teachings. He touched on the teachings of piety in his famous “instruction to young men how to use pagan writers”, and in two books on asceticism. The canonical writings include the epistles of Basil the Great to some bishops. - Gregory the Theologian speaks of the dignity of the works of Basil the Great in this way: “Everywhere one and the greatest delight is the writings and creations of Vasilyeva. After him, writers need no other wealth than his writings. Instead of all - he alone became sufficient for students for education. “Who wants to be an excellent civil orator,” says the learned Patriarch Photius, “neither Demosthenes nor Plato is needed, if he takes Basil’s words as a model and studies them. In all the words of his St. Vasily is excellent. He especially speaks a clean, graceful, majestic language; in the order of thought for him first place. He combines persuasiveness with pleasantness and clarity. Saint Gregory the Theologian says this about the knowledge and writings of Saint Basil: “Who more than Basil was enlightened by the light of knowledge, saw into the depths of the Spirit, and with God explored everything that is known about God? In Basil beauty was virtue, greatness was theology, procession was the unceasing striving and ascent to God, power was the sowing and distribution of the word. And therefore, without stumbling, I can say: their voice went through all the earth, and to the ends of the universe their words, and to the ends of the universes his verbs, that St. Paul spoke about the apostles (Rom. 10, 18)…. - When I have the Six Days in my hands and pronounce it orally: then I converse with the Creator, comprehend the laws of creation and marvel at the Creator more than before - having one sight as my mentor. When I have before me his accusatory words against false teachers: then I see the fire of Sodom, with which crafty and lawless tongues are burned to ashes. When I read the words about the Spirit: then I find the God I have again and feel in myself the boldness to speak the truth, ascending the degrees of his Theology and contemplation. When I read his other interpretations, which he also clarifies for people with low vision: then I am convinced not to stop at one letter, and look not only at the surface, but stretch further, from one depth to enter into a new one, calling on the abyss of the abyss and acquiring light with light, until reach the highest point. When I am busy with his praises to the ascetics, then I forget the body, I converse with those who are praised, I am aroused to achievement. When I read his moral and active words: then I am cleansed in soul and body, I become an organ acceptable to God as a temple, into which the Spirit strikes with the chanter of God's glory and God's power, and through this I am transformed, I come to prosperity, from one person I become another, I am changed by Divine change ” (Funeral word of Gregory the Theologian to St. Basil).

27 The archdeacons were of great importance in the ancient church, as the closest assistants to the bishops.

28 Eusebius was taken to the chair of the bishop, at the request of the people, straight from the civil service and therefore could not have special authority as a theologian and teacher of the faith.

29 One of his most important occupations during this time was preaching the word of God. Often he preached not only every day, but also twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Sometimes after preaching in one church, he came to preach in another. In his teachings, Basil vividly and convincingly for the mind and heart revealed the beauty of Christian virtues and denounced the vileness of vices; offered incentives to strive for the former to move away from the latter, and showed everyone the path to achieving perfection, since he himself was an experienced ascetic. His very interpretations are directed, first of all, to the spiritual edification of his listeners. Whether he explains the history of the world creation, he sets himself the goal, firstly, to show that “the world is a school of theology” (conversation 1 on Six Days), and through this arouse in his listeners reverence for the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, revealed in His creations, small and great, beautiful, varied, countless. Secondly, he wants to show how nature always teaches man a good moral life. The lifestyle, properties, habits of four-legged animals, birds, reptile fish, everything - even the former one-day - gives him the opportunity to draw instructive lessons for the lord of the earth - man. Whether he explains the book of Psalms, which, according to his expression, combines everything that is useful in others: prophecy, history, and edification, he mainly applies the sayings of the Psalmist to life, to the activity of a Christian.

30 Pontus is a region in Asia Minor, on the southern coast of the Black Sea, not far from Neocaesarea. The Pontic Desert was barren, and its climate was far from favorable for health. The hut in which Vasily lived here had neither strong doors, nor a real hearth, nor a roof. True, some hot food was served at the meal, but, according to the words of Gregory the Theologian, with such bread in pieces, from its extreme callousness, the teeth first slipped, and then got stuck in them. In addition to common prayers, readings of St. Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian and other monks there themselves were engaged in carrying firewood, hewing stones, caring for garden vegetables, and they themselves drove a huge cart with manure.

31 These rules served and serve as a guide for the life of the monks of the entire East and, in particular, for our Russian monks. In his rules, Basil gives priority to a cenobitic life over a hermit and solitary one, since, living together with others, a monk has more opportunities to serve the cause of Christian love. Basil establishes for the monks the obligation of unquestioning obedience to the rector, prescribes to be hospitable towards strangers, although he forbids serving them special dishes. Fasting, prayer and constant work - this is what the monks should do, according to the rules of Basil, and, however, they should not forget about the needs of the unfortunate and sick people around them who need care.

32 Heretics - the Arians taught that Christ was a created being, not eternally existing and not of the same nature with God the Father. This heresy received its name from the presbyter of the Alexandrian church, Arius, who began to preach these thoughts in the year 319.

33 Sebastia is a city in Cappadocia.

34 Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (in the middle of the 5th century) says that St. Basil compiled a shorter liturgy in view of the fact that many Christians of his time began to express their dissatisfaction with the length of the church service. To this end, he shortened the usual public prayers, expanding at the same time the prayers of the clergy. – In addition to the liturgies, Basil the Great composed: a) a prayer before communion; b) prayers on the eve of Pentecost and c) prayer and incantation over the possessed.

35 Prayer at the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.

36 Charter - papyrus paper or parchment, on which they wrote in antiquity; manuscript, scroll (3 Mac. 4:15; 2 John 1:12).

37 “If not for Basil,” says the church historian Sozomen, “the heresy of Eunomius would have spread to Taurus, and the heresy of Apollinaris from Taurus to Egypt.”

38 Julian the Apostate reigned from 361 to 363. Having become emperor, he apostatized from the Christian faith and set the task of his life to restore paganism; that's why he is called "Apostate".

39 Saint Mercury the soldier suffered a martyr's death in Caesarea in Cappadocia. His memory is November 24th.

40 Rapida - (Greek fan, a tool for driving away flies). These are metal circles on rather long handles with images of beetle-winged seraphim on them. With them, the deacons, during their hierarchical service, blow, sway over St. gifts, so that no insect falls into them; at the same time, the ripides remind us that during the sacred service of the liturgy, St. angels, the images of which are on the ripids. Ripids are used in hierarchical service; when serving as a priest, they are replaced by a patron.

41 The veils were, in fact, arranged in front of the section of the temple where the women stood; these veils were lowered during the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, and women, under the threat of being removed from the temple, were forbidden to lift them at this time. The altar was separated from the rest of the church by a through lattice, which later turned into the current iconostasis.

42 Emperor Valens reigned from 364 to 378.

43 This eparch was the ruler of the whole East and at the same time the head of the Praetorians or the royal guard

44 The instrument with which the ancients wrote was nothing like a pen, pencil, or stylus (see Ps. 44, vv. 1-3).

45 That is, that the Son of God is consubstantial with God the Father and equal to him.

46 Valentinian reigned from 364 to 376.

47 Churches in antiquity, from the time of Constantine the Great, were granted the so-called right of asylum: the innocently persecuted hid in them and the authorities had, thus time to be convinced of their innocence.

48 Basil the Great was an extremely sickly person and often completely lost his bodily strength. “Continuous and violent fevers,” he wrote himself, “have exhausted my body so much that I am no different from a web. Every path is impassable for me, every breath of wind is more dangerous than anxiety for swimmers... I have illness after illness.”

49 The graves of the pagans, being unclean, were considered among the ancient Christians as the favorite haunt of demons.

50 Take it on your shoulders, like an eastern shepherd takes a tired sheep on his shoulders.

51 The ancient Christians used to raise their hands to heaven when they pray. From there, in our Church song it says: the recompense by my hand is the evening sacrifice (Stikhira at Vespers).

52 Leprosy is a disease that destroys the whole body of a person and, moreover, is contagious.

53 St. Ephraim the Syrian is a famous Christian ascetic and writer. His memory is January 28. He was named Sirin, that is, the Syrian, because Mesopotamia, in which he was born, was ranked among Syria in ancient times.

54 An exclamation from a small litany pronounced by a deacon at Vespers on the day of Pentecost.

55 Nicaea is a city in the Asia Minor province of Bithynia. The first ecumenical council was here in 325.

56 Demosthenes was the most famous orator of ancient Greece; lived from 384 - 322 BC.

57 That is, as the king himself would judge.

58 Litiya, from Greek. means fervent prayer. It was usually performed outside the temple, but now it is performed in the vestibule.

60 It was in the city of Adrianople, in what is now Bulgaria.

61 The field is a measure of distances; it was equal to our 690 fathoms.

62 Phelon - this was the name in ancient times for upper, long and wide clothes, without sleeves, hugging the body from all sides. Christian antiquity, out of reverence for the Savior and his apostles, who used if not such, then similar outer clothing, accepted the phelonion among the sacred vestments and from ancient times adopted it, both for bishops and priests.

63 That is, having a special gift of eloquence, persuasiveness and power of speech.

64 Gratian ruled the empire (at first with his father Valentinian I) from 375 to 383.

65 Where are the relics of St. Basil - unknown: on Mount Athos (in the Lavra of St. Athanasius) they show only his head; his holy body, according to the legends of Western writers, during the crusades was taken from Caesarea and transferred by the crusaders in the West - to Flanders. - For his merits to the Church and the extraordinary highly moral and ascetic life of St. Basil is called the Great and is glorified as “the glory and beauty of the Church”, “the luminary and eye of the universe”, the teacher of dogmas, the chamber of learning, the “leader of life”.

66 At the all-night vigil in memory of St. Basil the Great, the Church pronounces two sayings in honor of the Circumcision of the Lord, and one in honor of the ecumenical teacher and Saint Basil - about the high perfection of the righteous and the good from them for their neighbors (Prov. 10, 31 - 32; 11, 1 - 12). The morning gospel in honor of the saint (John 10:1-9) proclaims the dignity of a true shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. At the liturgy, which happens on the 1st day of January, St. Basil the Great, by reading the Apostle in honor of him, the Church proclaims the most perfect bishop - the Son of God, whom Saint Basil the Great imitated in his life (Heb. 7, 26 - 8, 2). The gospel at the liturgy (one for Circumcision, the other for St. Basil) in honor of the saint proclaims the teaching of Jesus Christ about the blessedness of the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst for the truth and are persecuted for the faith of Christ (Luke 6, 17-23), such as St. Basil the Great.

67 The words “whom thou hast taught divinely” point to the great learning of St. Basil - for his deep knowledge of the laws of nature. St. Basil left behind many writings, in which he explained, among other things, God's wise arrangement of everything that exists. - The words: “human customs have adorned thou” - indicate that St. Basil wrote many rules and statutes, by which he introduced many pious customs into use.

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LIVES OF THE SAINTS

according to Saint Demetrius,

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia (†379). The admonition of King Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy. Basil the Great: biography

WHAT DO YOU PRAY TO HOLY BASIL THE GREAT

THE LIFE OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT

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BASIL THE GREAT - A VIDEO ABOUT THE Ecumenical Saints

Adolescence, teaching science

Basil the Great

Basil the Great comes to Egypt, fasting exploits, acquaintances with ascetics

Illustration from the book of Dimitry of Rostov "Lives of the Saints"

Basil the Great

Conversation with teacher Evul

Antioch. The youth Philoxenus, sermon of Basil the Great to the disciples of Livani

Jerusalem. Baptism in Jordan

Basil the Great returns to Antioch, deaconate, rank of presbyter

Ionian desert. The feat of wilderness living, together with a friend Gregory

Return to Caesarea, at the request of Eusebius, Archbishop of Caesarea

The miraculous appearance of the Lord to Basil the Great, through his prayer. The beginning of the creation of the prayers of the Holy Liturgy

The Miracle of the Baptism of a Jew

The miracle of helping a poor woman and the miracle of foresight of Basil the Great

Miracle manifested through the prayer of Basil: Saint Mercury kills Tsar Julian the Apostate, the great persecutor of Christians

The gift of grace from Basil the Great, a miracle performed at the liturgy

The admonition of King Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy

Help for the widow Vestiana, indignation of the people in defense of Basil the Great

The miracle of saving the unfortunate slave from the devil

The miracle of the foresight of Basil the Great and the salvation of the leper, through his prayer

Acquaintance of Basil the Great and Ephraim the Syrian. The miracle of giving Ephraim from the Lord the knowledge of the Greek language, through joint prayer

Nicaea. The fight against the Arian heresy, the conversion of many Arians to Orthodoxy at the liturgy of Basil the Great

Intercession for the slandered brother, Peter, Bishop of Sebaste

A miracle manifested through the prayer of Basil the Great, for a sinner - the remission of sins

Conversion to the true faith of a Jew and his entire family

Death of Basil the Great

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia (†379). The admonition of King Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy. Basil the Great: biography