ST BASIL THE GREAT BISHOP OF CAESAREA

IT WAS THE INFLUENCE OF HIS PIOUS SISTER MACRINA THAT MADE HIM CONFIRM HIS EARLIER INCLINATION TO THE ASCETIC LIFE
Basil was born of a distinguished family of Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia, which was a province of Asia Minor of special importance in the 4th century due to its position on the military road between Constantinople and Antioch. The family had been Christian since the days of the persecutions of Christians, which ended early in the 4th century. One of Basil's uncles was a bishop, as later were two of his brothers Gregory and Peter of Sebaste. He received a literary education, however, which would have fitted him to follow in his father's footsteps as lawyer and orator. He studied at Caesarea and Constantinople and, finally, at Athens, where he developed his friendship with St. Gregory of Nazianzus. On returning home he began a secular career, but the influence of his pious sister Macrina, later a nun and abbess, confirmed his earlier inclination to the ascetic life. With a group of friends, he established a monastic settlement on the family estate at Annesi in Pontus.
In 357 he made an extensive tour of the monasteries of Egypt, and in 360 he assisted the Cappadocian bishops at a synod at Constantinople. He had been distressed by the general acceptance of the Arian Creed of the Council of Ariminum the previous year and especially by the fact that his own bishop, Dianius of Caesarea, had supported it. Shortly before the death of Dianius (362), Basil was reconciled to him and later was ordained priest to assist Dianius's successor, the new convert Eusebius. Basil's abilities and prestige, as well as Eusebius's dislike of asceticism, led to tension between them, and Basil withdrew to Annesi.
In 365 he was called back to Caesarea, when the church was threatened by the Arian emperor Valens. His theological and ecclesiastical policy thereafter aimed to unite against Arianism the former semi-Arians and the supporters of Nicaea under the formula " three persons" (hypostases) in one substance (ousia)," thus preserving both unity and the necessary distinctions in the theological concept of the Godhead. On Eusebius's death in 370, Basil became his successor, although he was opposed by some of the other bishops in the province.
As bishop of Caesarea, Basil was metropolitan (ecclesiastical primate of a province) of Cappadocia, and his own diocese covered the great estates of eastern Cappadocia, where he was assisted by a number of "country bishops" (chorepiscopi). He also founded charitable institutions to aid the poor, the ill, and travelers. When Valens passed through Caesarea.
In 371, Basil dramatically defied his demand for submission. But in 372 Valens divided the province, and Basil considered this a personal attack, since Anthimus of Tyana thus became metropolitan for the cities of western Cappadocia. Basil countered by installing supporters in some of the border towns St. Gregory of Nazianzus at Sasima and his own brother St. Gregory at Nyssa. This tactic was only partially successful, but Basil escaped the attacks that Valens launched on orthodox bishops elsewhere. Meanwhile, Basil tried to secure general support for the former semi-Arian St. Meletius as bishop of Antioch (one of the five major patriarchates of the early church) against Paulinus, the leader of the strict Nicene minority, since he feared that the extreme Nicenes at this point were lapsing into Sabellianism, a heresy exaggerating the oneness of God. During Basil's lifetime, however, this was prevented by the recognition of Paulinus by the bishops of Alexandria and in spite of a series of negotiations after 375 by Pope Damascus I. Basil's health was poor, perhaps because of the rigors of his ascetic life. He died soon after Valens's death in the Battle of Adrianoples had opened the way for the victory of Basil's cause. Vigorous and firm and sure of his own position, in his own time he seems to have been admired rather than loved, even by his intimates. But he was widely mourned and was soon numbered among the saints.