CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Basil the Great

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Basil the Great
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St. Basil the Great
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Bishop
of
Caesarea
, and one of the most distinguished
Doctors of the Church
. Born probably 329; died 1 January, 379. He ranks after
Athanasius
as a defender of the Oriental Church against the
heresies
of the fourth century. With his friend
Gregory of Nazianzus
and his brother
Gregory of Nyssa
, he makes up the trio known as "The Three Cappadocians", far outclassing the other two in practical genius and actual achievement.
Life
St. Basil the Elder, father of St. Basil the Great, was the son of a
Christian
of good birth and his wife, Macrina (Acta SS., January, II), both of whom suffered for the
faith
during the
persecution
of Maximinus Galerius (305-314), spending several years of hardship in the wild mountains of
Pontus
. St. Basil the Elder was noted for his virtue (Acta SS, May, VII) and also won considerable reputation as a teacher in
Caesarea
. He was not a
priest
(Cf. Cave, Hist. Lit., I, 239). He married Emmelia, the daughter of a
martyr
and became the father of ten children. Three of these, Macrina, Basil, and
Gregory
are
honoured
as
saints
; and of the sons, Peter,
Gregory
, and Basil attained the dignity of the episcopate.
Under the care of his
father
and his grandmother, the elder Macrina, who preserved the traditions of their countryman,
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus
(c. 213-275) Basil was formed in habits of
piety
and study. He was still young when his
father
died and the
family
moved to the estate of the elder Macrina at Annesi in
Pontus
, on the banks of the Iris. As a boy, he was sent to
school
at
Caesarea
, then "a metropolis of letters", and conceived a fervent admiration for the local
bishop
, Dianius. Later, he went to Constantinople, at that time "distinguished for its teachers of philosophy and rhetoric", and thence to Athens. Here he became the inseparable companion of
Gregory of Nazianzus
, who, in his famous panegyric on Basil (Or. xliii), gives a most interesting description of their academic experiences. According to him, Basil was already distinguished for brilliancy of mind and seriousness of character and associated only with the most earnest students. He was able, grave, industrious, and well advanced in rhetoric, grammar,
philosophy
astronomy
, geometry, and medicine. (As to his not knowing Latin, see Fialon,
Etude historique et littéraire sur St. Basile
, Paris, 1869). We
know
the names of two of Basil's teachers at
Athens
— Prohaeresius, possibly a
Christian
, and Himerius, a
pagan
. It has been affirmed, though probably incorrectly, that Basil spent some time under Libanius. He tells us himself that he endeavoured without success to attach himself as a pupil to Eustathius (Ep., I). At the end of his sojourn at
Athens
, Basil being laden, says
St. Gregory of Nazianzus
"with all the learning attainable by the nature of man", was well equipped to be a teacher. Caesarea took possession of him gladly "as a founder and second patron" (Or. xliii), and as he tells us (ccx), he refused the splendid offers of the citizens of Neo-Caesarea, who wished him to undertake the
education
of the youth of their city.
To the successful student and distinguished professor, "there now remained", says
Gregory
(Or. xliii), "no other need than that of spiritual perfection".
Gregory of Nyssa
, in his life of Macrina, gives us to understand that Basil's brilliant success both as a
university
student and a professor had left traces of worldliness and self-sufficiency on the
soul
of the young man. Fortunately, Basil came again in contact with Dianius,
Bishop
of
Caesarea
, the object of his boyish affection, and Dianius seems to have
baptized
him, and
ordained
him Reader soon after his return to Caesarea. It was at the same time also that he fell under the influence of that very remarkable
woman
, his sister Macrina, who had meanwhile founded a
religious
community on the
family
estate at Annesi. Basil himself tells us how, like a man roused from deep sleep, he turned his eyes to the marvellous
truth
of the Gospel, wept many tears over his miserable life, and
prayed
for guidance from
God
: "Then I read the Gospel, and saw there that a great means of reaching perfection was the selling of one's goods, the sharing of them with the
poor
, the giving up of all care for this life, and the refusal to allow the
soul
to be turned by any sympathy towards things of earth" (Ep. ccxxiii). To learn the ways of perfection, Basil now visited the
monasteries
of
Egypt
, Palestine, Coele-Syria, and Mesopotamia. He returned, filled with admiration for the austerity and
piety
of the
monks
, and founded a
monastery
in his native
Pontus
, on the banks of the Iris, nearly opposite Annesi. (Cf. Ramsay,
Hist. Geog. of
Asia Minor
, London, 1890, p. 326).
Eustathius of Sebaste
had already introduced the
eremitical
life into
Asia Minor
; Basil added the cenobitic or community form, and the new feature was imitated by many companies of men and
women
. (Cf.
Sozomen
Church History
VI.27
; Epiphanius, Haer., lxxv, 1; Basil, Ep. ccxxiii;
Tillemont
, Mém., IX, Art. XXI, and note XXVI.) Basil became known as the father of Oriental monasticism, the forerunner of St. Benedict. How well he deserved the title, how seriously and in what spirit he undertook the systematizing of the
religious life
, may be seen by the study of his Rule. He seems to have read
Origen's
writings very systematically about this time, for in union with
Gregory of Nazianzus
, he published a selection of them called the "Philocalia".
Basil was drawn from his retreat into the area of
theological
controversy in 360 when he accompanied two delegates from
Seleucia
to the emperor at Constantinople, and supported his namesake of
Ancyra
. There is some dispute as to his
courage
and his perfect
orthodoxy
on this occasion (cf. Philostorgius, Hist. Eccl., IV, xii; answered by
Gregory of Nyssa
Answer to Eunomius' Second Book
, and Maran, Proleg., vii;
Tillemont
, Mém., note XVIII). A little later, however, both qualities seem to have been sufficiently in evidence, as Basil forsook Dianius for having signed the
heretical
creed of
Rimini
. To this time (c. 361) may be referred the "Moralia"; and a little later came two books against
Eunomius
(363) and some correspondence with
Athanasius
. It is possible, also, that Basil wrote his monastic rules in the briefer forms while in
Pontus
, and enlarged them later at Caesarea. There is an account of an invitation from
Julian
for Basil to present himself at court and of Basil's refusal, coupled with an admonition that angered the emperor and endangered Basil's safety. Both incident and correspondence however are questioned by some critics.
Basil still retained considerable influence in
Caesarea
, and it is regarded as fairly probable that he had a hand in the election of the successor of Dianius who died in 362, after having been reconciled to Basil. In any case the new
bishop
Eusebius
, was practically placed in his office by the elder
Gregory of Nazianzus
Eusebius
having persuaded the reluctant Basil to be
ordained
priest
, gave him a prominent place in the administration of the
diocese
(363). In ability for the management of affairs Basil so far eclipsed the
bishop
that ill-feeling rose between the two. "All the more eminent and wiser portion of the church was roused against the
bishop
" (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii; Ep. x), and to avoid trouble Basil again withdrew into the solitude of
Pontus
. A little later (365) when the attempt of
Valens
to impose
Arianism
on the
clergy
and the people necessitated the presence of a strong
personality
, Basil was restored to his former position, being reconciled to the
bishop
by
St. Gregory of Nazianzus
. There seems to have been no further disagreement between
Eusebius
and Basil and the latter soon became the real head of the
diocese
. "The one", says
Gregory of Nazianzus
(Or. xliii), "led the people the other led their leader". During the five years spent in this most important office, Basil gave evidence of being a man of very unusual powers. He laid down the
law
to the leading citizens and the imperial governors, settled disputes with wisdom and finality, assisted the spiritually needy, looked after "the support of the
poor
, the entertainment of strangers, the care of maidens, legislation written and unwritten for the monastic life, arrangements of
prayers
, (liturgy?), adornment of the sanctuary" (op. cit.). In time of famine, he was the saviour of the poor.
In 370 Basil succeeded to the See of Caesarea, being
consecrated
according to tradition on 14 June. Caesarea was then a powerful and wealthy city (
Sozomen
Church History
V.5
). Its
bishop
was
Metropolitan
of Cappadocia and Exarch of
Pontus
which embraced more than half of
Asia Minor
and comprised eleven provinces. The see of Caesarea ranked with Ephesus immediately after the patriarchal sees in the councils, and the
bishop
was the superior of fifty
chorepiscopi
Baert
). Basil's actual influence, says Jackson (Prolegomena, XXXII) covered the whole stretch of country "from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and from the Aegean to the Euphrates". The need of a man like Basil in such a see as Caesarea was most pressing, and he must have known this well. Some think that he set about procuring his own election; others (e.g. Maran,
Baronius
Ceillier
) say that he made no attempt on his own behalf. In any event, he became
Bishop
of
Caesarea
largely by the influence of the elder
Gregory of Nazianzus
. His election, says the
younger Gregory
(loc. cit.), was followed by disaffection on the part of several suffragan
bishops
"on whose side were found the greatest scoundrels in the city". During his previous administration of the
diocese
Basil had so clearly defined his
ideas
of discipline and
orthodoxy
, that no one could
doubt
the direction and the vigour of his policy.
St. Athanasius
was greatly pleased at Basil's election (Ad Pallad., 953; Ad Joann. et Ant., 951); but the
Arianizing
Emperor Valens
, displayed considerably annoyance and the defeated minority of
bishops
became consistently hostile to the new
metropolitan
. By years of tactful conduct, however, "blending his correction with consideration and his gentleness with firmness" (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii), he finally overcame most of his opponents.
Basil's letters tell the story of his tremendous and varied activity; how he worked for the exclusion of unfit candidates from the sacred ministry and the deliverance of the
bishops
from the temptation of
simony
; how he required exact discipline and the faithful observance of the canons from both
laymen
and
clerics
; how he rebuked the
sinful
, followed up the offending, and held out hope of pardon to the penitent. (Cf. Epp. xliv, xlv, and xlvi, the beautiful letter to a fallen virgin, as well as Epp. liii, liv, lv, clxxxviii, cxcix, ccxvii, and Ep. clxix, on the strange incident of Glycerius, whose story is well filled out by Ramsay,
The Church in the Roman Empire
, New York, 1893, p. 443 sqq.) If on the one hand he strenuously defended
clerical
rights
and
immunities
(Ep. civ), on the other he trained his
clergy
so strictly that they grew famous as the type of all that a
priest
should be (Epp. cii, ciii). Basil did not confine his activity to
diocesan
affairs, but threw himself vigorously into the troublesome
theological
disputes then rending the unity of
Christendom
. He drew up a summary of the
orthodox
faith
; he attacked by word of mouth the
heretics
near at hand and wrote tellingly against those afar. His correspondence shows that he paid visits, sent messages, gave interviews, instructed, reproved, rebuked, threatened, reproached, undertook the protection of nations, cities,
individuals
great and small. There was very little chance of opposing him successfully, for he was a cool, persistent, fearless fighter in defence both of
doctrine
and of principles. His bold stand against
Valens
parallels the meeting of
Ambrose
with
Theodosius
. The emperor was dumbfounded at the
archbishop's
calm indifference to his presence and his wishes. The incident, as narrated by
Gregory of Nazianzus
, not only tells much concerning Basil's character but throws a clear light on the type of
Christian bishop
with which the emperors had to deal and goes far to explain why
Arianism
, with little court behind it, could make so little impression on the ultimate history of
Catholicism
While assisting
Eusebius
in the care of his
diocese
, Basil had shown a marked interest in the poor and afflicted; that interest now displayed itself in the erection of a magnificent institution, the Ptochoptopheion, or Basileiad, a house for the care of friendless strangers, the medical treatment of the sick poor, and the industrial training of the unskilled. Built in the suburbs, it attained such importance as to become practically the centre of a new city with the name of
he kaine polis
or "Newtown". It was the motherhouse of like institutions erected in other
dioceses
and stood as a constant reminder to the rich of their privilege of spending wealth in a truly
Christian
way. It may be mentioned here that the social
obligations
of the wealthy were so plainly and forcibly preached by St. Basil that modern sociologists have ventured to claim him as one of their own, though with no more foundation than would exist in the case of any other consistent teacher of the principles of
Catholic
ethics. The
truth
is that St. Basil was a practical lover of
Christian poverty
, and even in his exalted position preserved that simplicity in food and clothing and that austerity of life for which he had been remarked at his first renunciation of the world.
In the midst of his labours, Basil underwent suffering of many kinds.
Athanasius
died in 373 and the elder Gregory in 374, both of them leaving gaps never to be filled. In 373 began the painful estrangement from
Gregory of Nazianzus
. Anthimus,
Bishop
of
Tyana
, became an open enemy, Apollinaris "a
cause
of sorrow to the churches" (Ep. cclxiii),
Eustathius of Sebaste
a traitor to the Faith and a personal foe as well.
Eusebius of Samosata
was banished,
Gregory of Nyssa
condemned and deposed. When Emperor Valentinian died and the
Arians
recovered their influence, all Basil's efforts must have seemed in vain. His health was breaking, the
Goths
were at the door of the empire, Antioch was in
schism
Rome
doubted
his sincerity, the
bishops
refused to be brought together as he wished. "The notes of the church were obscured in his part of
Christendom
, and he had to fare on as best he might,--admiring, courting, yet coldly treated by the Latin world, desiring the friendship of
Rome
, yet wounded by her reserve,--suspected of
heresy
by Damasus, and accused by
Jerome
of
pride
" (
Newman
, The Church of the Fathers). Had he lived a little longer and attended the Council of Constantinople (381), he would have seen the death of its first president, his friend Meletius, and the forced resignation of its second,
Gregory of Nazianzus
. Basil died 1 January, 379. His death was regarded as a public bereavement;
Jews
pagans
, and foreigners vied with his own flock in doing him
honour
. The earlier Latin
martyrologies
(Hieronymian and
Bede
) make no mention of a feast of St. Basil. The first mention is by Usuard and Ado who place it on 14 June, the supposed date of Basil's
consecration
to the episcopate. In the Greek "Menaea" he is commemorated on 1 January, the day of his death. In 1081, John,
Patriarch
of Constantinople, in consequence of a vision, established a feast in common
honour
of St. Basil,
Gregory of Nazianzus
, and
John Chrysostom
, to be celebrated on 30 January. The
Bollandists
give an account of the origin of this feast; they also record as worthy of note that no
relics
of St. Basil are mentioned before the twelfth century, at which time parts of his body, together with some other very extraordinary
relics
were reputed to have been brought to
Bruges
by a returning
Crusader
Baronius
(c. 1599) gave to the
Naples
Oratory a
relic
of St. Basil sent from Constantinople to the
pope
. The
Bollandists
and
Baronius
print descriptions of Basil's personal appearance and the former reproduce two icons, the older copied from a codex presented to Basil, Emperor of the East (877-886).
By common consent, Basil ranks among the greatest figures in
church history
and the rather extravagant panegyric by
Gregory of Nazianzus
has been all but equalled by a host of other eulogists. Physically delicate and occupying his exalted position but a few years, Basil did magnificent and enduring work in an age of more violent world convulsions than
Christianity
has since experienced. (Cf.
Newman
The
Church
of the Fathers
). By personal virtue he attained distinction in an age of
saints
; and his purity, his monastic fervour, his stern simplicity, his friendship for the poor became traditional in the history of
Christian
asceticism. In fact, the impress of his genius was stamped indelibly on the Oriental conception of
religious life
. In his hands the great
metropolitan
see
of Caesarea took shape as the sort of model of the
Christian diocese
; there was hardly any detail of episcopal activity in which he failed to mark out guiding lines and to give splendid example. Not the least of his glories is the fact that toward the officials of the State he maintained that fearless dignity and independence which later history has shown to be an indispensable condition of healthy life in the
Catholic
episcopate.
Some difficulty has arisen out of the correspondence of St. Basil with the
Roman See
. That he was in communion with the Western
bishops
and that he wrote repeatedly to
Rome
asking that steps be taken to assist the
Eastern Church
in her struggle with schismatics and
heretics
is undoubted; but the disappointing result of his appeals drew from him certain words which require explanation. Evidently he was deeply chagrined that
Pope Damasus
on the one hand hesitated to condemn Marcellus and the Eustathians, and on the other preferred Paulinus to Meletius in whose right to the See of Antioch St. Basil most firmly believed. At the best it must be admitted that St. Basil criticized the
pope
freely in a private letter to
Eusebius of Samosata
(Ep. ccxxxix) and that he was indignant as well as hurt at the failure of his attempt to obtain help from the West. Later on, however, he must have recognized that in some respects he had been hasty; in any event, his strong emphasis of the influence which the
Roman See
could exercise over the Eastern
bishops
, and his abstaining from a charge of anything like usurpation are great facts that stand out obviously in the story of the disagreement. With regard to the question of his association with the
Semi-Arians
, Philostorgius speaks of him as championing the
Semi-Arian
cause, and
Newman
says he seems unavoidably to have
Arianized
the first thirty years of his life. The explanation of this, as well as of the disagreement with the
Holy See
, must be sought in a careful study of the times, with due reference to the unsettled and changeable condition of
theological
distinctions, the lack of anything like a final pronouncement by the
Church's
defining power, the "lingering imperfections of the Saints" (Newman), the substantial
orthodoxy
of many of the so-called
Semi-Arians
, and above all the great plan which Basil was steadily pursuing of effecting unity in a disturbed and divided
Christendom
Writings
Dogmatic
Of the five books against
Eunomius
(c. 364) the last two are classed as spurious by some critics. The work assails the equivalent
Arianism
of
Eunomius
and defends the Divinity of the Three Persons of the Trinity; it is well summarized by Jackson (Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Series II, VIII). The work
On the Holy Spirit
, or treatise on the Holy Spirit (c. 375) was evoked in part by the Macedonian denial of the Divinity of the Third Person and in part by charges that Basil himself had "slurred over the Spirit" (Gregory Naz., Ep. lviii), that he had advocated communion with all such a should admit simply that the Holy Ghost was not a creature (Basil, Ep. cxiii), and that he had sanctioned the use of a novel
doxology
, namely, "Glory be to the Father with the Son together with the Holy Ghost" (De Sp. S., I, i) The treatise teaches the
doctrine
of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, while avoiding the phrase "God, the Holy Ghost" for prudential reasons (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii). Wuilcknis and Swete affirm the necessity of some such reticence on Basil's part. (Cf. Jackson, op. cit., p. XXIII, note.) With regard to Basil's teaching on the Third Person, as expressed in his work against
Eunomius
(III, i), a controversy arose at the
Council of Florence
between the Latins and the Greeks; but strong arguments both external and internal, availed to place Basil on the side of the "Filioque". The dogmatic writings were edited separately by Goldhorn, in his "S. Basilii Opera Dogmatica Selecta" (Leipzig, 1854). The
On the Holy Spirit
, was translated into English by Johnston (Oxford, 1892); by Lewis in the Christian Classic Series (1888); and by Jackson (op. cit.).
Exegetical
These include nine
homilies
"On the Hexaemeron" and thirteen (Maran) genuine
homilies
on particular Psalms. A lengthy commentary on the first sixteen chapters of Isaias is of
doubtful
authenticity (Jackson), though by a contemporary hand. A commentary on Job has disappeared. "The Hexaemeron" was highly admired by
Gregory of Nazianzus
(Or. xliii, no. 67). It is translated entire by Jackson (op. cit.). The
homilies
on the Psalms are moral and hortatory rather than strictly
exegetical
. In interpreting the Scripture, Basil uses both the literal and the allegorical methods, but favours the literal system of Antioch. His second
homily
contains a denunciation of
usury
which has become famous.
Homiletical
Twenty-four sermons,
doctrinal
, moral, and panegyrical in character, are looked upon as generally genuine, certain critical difficulties, however, remaining still unsolved. Eight of these sermons were translated into Latin by Rufinus. The discourses place Basil among the very greatest of
Christian
preachers and evince his special gift for preaching upon the responsibilities of wealth. The most noteworthy in the collection are the
homilies
on the rich (vi and vii) copied by St. Ambrose (De Nabuthe Jez., v, 21-24), and the
homily
(xxii) on the study of
pagan
literature. The latter was edited by Fremion (Paris, 1819, with
French
translation), Sommer (Paris, 1894), Bach (Münster, 1900), and Maloney (New York, 1901). With regard to Basil's style and his success as a preacher much has been written. (Cf. Villemain, "Tableau d'éloq. Chrét. au IVe siècle", Paris, 1891; Fialon, "Etude Litt. sur St. B.", Paris, 1861); Roux, "Etude sur la prédication de B. le Grand",
Strasburg
, 1867; Croiset, "Hist. de la litt. Grecque", Paris, 1899.)
Moral and ascetical
This group contains much of spurious or doubtful origin. Probably authentic are the latter two of the three prefatory treatises, and the five treatises: "Morals", "On the Judgment of God", "On Faith", "The Longer Monastic Rules", "The Shorter Monastic Rules". The twenty-four sermons on
morals
are a cento of extracts from the writings of Basil made by
Simeon Metaphrastes
. Concerning the authenticity of the Rules there has been a good deal of discussion. As is plain from these treatises and from the
homilies
that touch upon ascetical or moral subjects, St. Basil was particularly felicitous in the field of spiritual instruction.
Correspondence
The extant letters of Basil are 366 in number, two-thirds of them belonging to the period of his episcopate. The so-called "Canonical Epistles" have been assailed as spurious, but are almost surely genuine. The correspondence with
Julian
and with Libanius is probably
apocryphal
; the correspondence with
Apollinarus
is uncertain. All of the 366 letters are translated in the "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers". Some of the letters are really dogmatic treatises, and others are apologetic replies to personal attacks. In general they are very useful for their revelation of the
saint's
character and for the pictures of his age which they offer.
Liturgical
A so-called
"Liturgy of St. Basil"
exists in Greek and in Coptic. It goes back at least to the sixth century, but its connexion with Basil has been a matter of critical discussion (Brightman, "Liturgies, Eastern and Western", Oxford, 1896, I; Probst, "Die Liturgie des vierten Jahrhunderts und deren Reform", Münster, 1893, 377-412).
Editions of St. Basil
The
editio princeps
of the original text of the extant works of Basil appeared at Basle, 1551, and the first complete Latin translation at
Rome
, 1515 (autograph
manuscript
in the British Museum). The best edition is that of the
Maurist
Benedictines
, Garnier and Maran (Paris, 1721-30), republished with appendixes by
Migne
(P.G., XXIX-XXXII). For fragments attributed to Basil with more or less
certainty
, and edited by Matthaei,
Mai
, Pitra, and others, see Bardenhewer, "Patrologie" (Freiburg, 1901), 247. Portions of letters recently discovered in
Egyptian
papyri were published by H. Landwehr, "Grieschische Handschriften aus Fayûm", in "Philologus", XLIII (1884).
Sources
GREG. NAZ.,
Prationes
, especially xliii; IDEM,
Epistolae
; Carm. de vitá suâ; GREG. NYSS.,
Vita Macrinae
; IDEM,
Or. in laudem fratris Basilii
; IDEM,
Answer to Eunomius' Second Book
; SOCRATES,
Church History
IV.26
and
VI.3
; SOZOMEN,
Church History
VI.26
and
VII.15-17, 22
; RUFINUS,
Hist. Eccl.
, II, ix; THEODORET,
Church History
IV.19
; PHILOSTORGIUS,
Hist. Eccl.
, VIII, xi-xiii; EPHILEM SYRUS,
Encomium in Bas.
, ap. COTELIER,
Mon. Eccl. Gr.
, II; JEROME,
De Vir. Illust.
, cxvi. The
Vita Basilii
by AMPHILOCHIUS is a forgery of about the ninth century. NEWMAN,
Church of the Fathers
, I-III
About this page
APA citation.
McSorley, J.
(1907).
St. Basil the Great.
In
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company.
MLA citation.
McSorley, Joseph.
"St. Basil the Great."
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Vol. 2.
New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1907.
.
Transcription.
This article was transcribed for New Advent by Janet Grayson.
Ecclesiastical approbation.
Nihil Obstat.
1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.
Imprimatur.
+John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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