Abba Ho Pater

Sources

St Basil

the Great

St Basil: Basil the Great (detail)
Basil the Great (detail), 1674. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Βασίλειος Καισαρείας

Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370, defended the divinity of the Holy Spirit and organised monastic and charitable life. He reposed on 1 January 379.

Born
c. 329/330
Died
1 January 379
Feast
6 Tobah · Commemoration of his repose (Coptic Synaxarium, 6 Tobah).
Era
4th century
See
Caesarea in Cappadocia (Archbishop)
Apologist Fathers

Life

Basil was born about 329 or 330, most likely in Caesarea of Cappadocia, to a family of rhetoricians and confessors; his sister Macrina and his brothers Gregory (Nyssa) and Peter (Sebaste) were also prominent [3]. He studied in Constantinople and Athens [9]; St-Takla adds that he studied rhetoric under Libanius and practised law [1]. He was baptised in 357 and then visited the monastic settlements of Palestine, Mesopotamia, Coele-Syria and Egypt [5][4].

He was ordained presbyter (NPNF's table says 364; see below) and in 370 was chosen archbishop of Caesarea [4][1]. Under the Arian emperor Valens he stood firm before the prefect Modestus, and on Epiphany 372 the emperor himself attended his church [12]. He organised relief during a famine in 368 and later built a complex of hospice, poorhouse and hospital outside the city, known as the Basiliad [9][10].

Pressed by his friend Amphilochius during a visit in 374, he wrote the treatise On the Holy Spirit [7]. He had earlier written the first three books against Eunomius, assigned to 364 [8].

Worn down by illness and trouble, he reposed on 1 January 379, aged about fifty, with the words "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" [6]. The Coptic Church commemorates his repose on 6 Tobah [1][9].

Where the sources disagree

Birth: 329 or 330 (NPNF), 330 (Wikipedia EN/AR, St-Takla's caption 329/330). Ordination as presbyter: 362 (St-Takla Synaxarium), 364 (NPNF table), 365 (Wikipedia and OrthodoxWiki); Wikipedia also says he was made deacon in 362. Baptism: 357 (NPNF; "reasonably accepted"). Death: 1 January 379 (NPNF, OrthodoxWiki), 1 or 2 January (Wikipedia EN and AR, noting that historians disagree). The Synaxarium's 6 Tobah is the Coptic commemoration date; Wikipedia lists 14 January as its equivalent.

Timeline

  1. c. 329/330Born, most likely in Caesarea of Cappadocia.[3]
  2. 357Baptised; visits monastic centres in Palestine, Mesopotamia, Coele-Syria and Egypt.[5]
  3. 364Ordained presbyter by Eusebius (NPNF table); the first three books Against Eunomius are assigned to this year.[4]
  4. 368Organises famine relief; his homily on the famine is dated to this year.[9]
  5. 370Chosen archbishop of Caesarea.[4]
  6. 372Epiphany: Emperor Valens attends his church and speaks with him.[12]
  7. 374Amphilochius's visit prompts the treatise On the Holy Spirit.[7]
  8. 1 Jan 379Reposes at Caesarea.[6]

Works

Words by topic

The Doctrine of Theosis

Apologist Fathers1

Do We Worship One God?

Apologist Fathers1

Topics cited in

The Doctrine of TheosisDo We Worship One God?

Notes

  1. [1]St-Takla, Coptic Synaxarium, 6 Tobah (Basil)
  2. [2]St-Takla, biography of St. Basil (Coptic Saints Story 458)
  3. [3]NPNF2-08, Prolegomena: Parentage and Birth
  4. [4]NPNF2-08, Chronological Table
  5. [5]NPNF2-08, Prolegomena: Life at Caesarea; Baptism; Monastic Life
  6. [6]NPNF2-08, Prolegomena: Troubles of the Closing Years
  7. [7]NPNF2-08, Preface to De Spiritu Sancto
  8. [8]NPNF2-08, Prolegomena: Dogmatic works
  9. [9]Wikipedia (EN), Basil of Caesarea
  10. [10]OrthodoxWiki, Basil the Great
  11. [11]Wikipedia (AR), باسيليوس القيصري
  12. [12]NPNF2-08, Prolegomena: Basil as Archbishop

Bibliography