Saint Basil the Great (c330-379)

Saint Basil was born in c329 in Caesarea, Cappadocia. He grew up in a Christian family. He had a brilliant academic career at Caesarea, Constantinople and Athens
He decided to become a monk. For a while he became a hermit seeking a life of solitude. He then became the assistant to two Bishops of Caesarea When Eusebius, the second bishop, died in 370 Basil became the bishop.

He laid out near the town a great set of community buildings - a church, a bishop’s house, a monastery and a hospital for the poor.

He also drew up a monastic Rule which was later widely adapted. He believed that monks should live in communities, working hard at farming and giving practical help to those who lived near by. Up to this point monks had lived a simple life of prayer, spent in a solitary place, living like a hermit. Basil’s Rule predates Saint Benedict ideas.

Saint Basil was an eloquent and learned man. Many of his writings, including 300 of his letters, exist today.

Glossary Arianism - the Greek theologian Arius suggested that God was
superior/not equal to his son Jesus.
ascetic - a person given to practise self denial and abstains from the world’s comforts for religious reasons
homoiousian - a Christian who believes that the son is of like ( and not
identical) substance to the father.

Sources used wikipedia, The Church’s Year by Charles Alexander Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton