Having recognized Vasily, Evvul dismissed his friends and students, and he himself brought Vasily to himself, and they spent three whole days in conversation, almost without eating food. By the way, Evvul asked Vasily what, in his opinion, is the essential merit of philosophy.

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

At the same time, he pointed out to Evvul the fragility of the world and all its pleasures, which at first seem really sweet, but then become extremely bitter for those who have become too attached to them.

“There are, along with these joys,” said Vasily, consolations of another kind, of heavenly origin. You cannot use both at the same time - "No one can serve two masters"(), - but we still, as far as possible for people attached to the things of life, crush the bread of true knowledge and bring the one who, even through his own fault, has lost the robe of virtue, under the roof of good deeds, pitying him, as we pity a person on the street naked

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

“But we have no reason, Evvul,” added Vasily, “to resort to such artificial means of persuasion.” We possess the truth itself, which can be comprehended by anyone who sincerely strives for it. Namely, we believe that we will all one day be resurrected - some to eternal life, and others to eternal torment and shame. The prophets clearly tell us about this: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and David and the divine Apostle Paul, as well as the Lord Himself, who calls us to repentance, Who found the lost sheep, and Who, embracing the prodigal son returning with repentance, kisses him with love, and adorns him with bright clothes and a ring and makes a feast for him (). He gives 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 to us who repent and are born of water and the Spirit, as it is written: eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of man is what He has prepared for those who love Him.

When Basil conveyed to Evvul a brief history of the economy of our salvation, starting with the fall of Adam and ending with the teaching of Christ the Redeemer, Evvul exclaimed:

- Oh, Vasily, revealed by heaven, through you I believe in the One God, the Father Almighty, Creator of all things, and I hope for 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 wish you to be born of water and the Spirit.

Then Vasily said:

to translate them into oratory, but could not do this and, being in such difficulty, was very sad. Vasily, seeing him sad, asked:

-What are you sad about, young man?

Philoxenus said:

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

When Vasily insisted on his own and promised that it would not be in vain that the young man would tell him the reason for his grief, the youth told him about the sophist and 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 poems, began to interpret them, translating them into simple speech; the boy, surprised 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 boy, taking the translation with joy, went with them in the morning to his teacher, Libanius. 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 youth said:

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

Livanius immediately hurried to the hotel to see this wanderer; Seeing Vasily and Evvul 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 Evvul, according to their custom, having tasted the bread and water, gave thanks to God, the giver of all good things. After this, Lebanon began to ask them various sophistic questions, and they offered him a word about the Christian faith. Livanius, having listened carefully to them, said that the time had not yet come to accept 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 have lent 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.”

When they came to Jerusalem and walked around all the holy places with faith and love, praying there to the One Creator of all, God, they appeared to the bishop of that city, Maximus, and asked him to baptize them in the Jordan. The bishop, seeing their great faith, fulfilled their request: taking his clergy, he went 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 sign to strengthen his faith. Then, standing up with trepidation, he took off his clothes, and with them “put aside the old man’s former way of life”, and, entering the water, prayed. When the saint approached to baptize him, a fiery lightning suddenly fell on them and, emerging from that lightning, a dove plunged into the Jordan and, stirring up the water, flew away to heaven. Those standing on the shore, seeing this, trembled and glorified God. Having received baptism, Vasily 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 Evvul and then anointed both with myrrh and communed the Divine Gifts.

- Since for your virtuous life he showed you the heir to your throne, then do with him as you please; for truly the man whom the will of God directs is worthy of all respect.

After this, the Archbishop called Basil and Evvul to him and began to talk with them about Scripture, wanting to find out how much they understood it. Hearing their speeches, he marveled at the depth of their wisdom and, leaving them with him, treated them with special respect. Vasily, while staying 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. So, imitating their life, he was a good monk and the Archbishop of Caesarea Eusebius made 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. Caring for the monks he had gathered, preaching the word of God, and other pastoral concerns did not allow him to be distracted by extraneous activities. At the same time, in his new field, he soon acquired 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, out of human weakness, began to envy and be hostile to Vasily. Saint Basil learned about this, and, not wanting to be the subject of envy, went into the Ionian desert. In the Ionian desert, Vasily 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 pleasant 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 labored in extreme deprivation, having only clothes to cover himself - a sorrel and a mantle; He also wore a hair shirt, but only at night, so that it would not be visible; He ate bread and water, seasoning this meager food with salt and roots. From strict abstinence he became very pale and skinny, and became extremely exhausted. He never went to the bathhouse or lit 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 solitude, Vasily and Gregory did everything together; prayed together; both abandoned the reading of worldly books, on which they had previously spent a lot of time, and began to devote themselves exclusively to the Holy Scriptures. Wanting to study it better, they read the works of the fathers and church writers who preceded them in time, especially Origen. Here Vasily and Gregory, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote the regulations for the monastic community, by which the monks of the Eastern Church for the most part are still guided today.

In relation to physical life, Vasily and Gregory found pleasure in patience; They worked with their own hands, carrying firewood, cutting stones, planting and watering trees, carrying manure, carrying heavy loads, so that calluses remained on their hands for a long time. Their dwelling had neither roof nor gate; there was never any fire or smoke there. The bread they ate was so dry and poorly baked that it could hardly be chewed with the teeth.

The time came, however, when both Basil and Gregory had to leave the desert, since their services were needed for the Church, which at that time was outraged by heretics. Gregory, to help the Orthodox, was taken to Nazianza by his father, Gregory, a man already old and therefore not having the strength to fight the heretics with firmness; 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 had taken up arms against. Blessed Basil, seeing such a need for the Church and preferring it to the benefits of the desert life, left solitude and came to Caesarea, where he worked a lot, protecting with words and writings Orthodox faith from heresy. When Archbishop Eusebius reposed, having given up his spirit to God in the arms of Basil, Vasily was elevated to the archbishop's throne and consecrated by a council of bishops. Among those bishops was the elderly Gregory, the father of Gregory of Nazianzus. Being weak and burdened by old age, he ordered to be escorted to Caesarea in order to convince Basil to accept the archbishopric and prevent the installation of any of the Arians on the throne.

While Saint Basil was a bishop, Christ was embarrassed by King Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy. He, having overthrown many Orthodox bishops from their thrones, elevated Arians in their places, and forced others, cowardly and fearful, to join his heresy. He was angry and tormented internally, seeing that Basil fearlessly remained on his throne, as an unshakable pillar of his faith, and reinforced and exhorted others to abhor Arianism, as a false teaching hated by God. Bypassing his possessions and extremely oppressing the Orthodox everywhere, the king, on the way to Antioch, arrived in Caesarea in Cappadocia and here began to use all measures to win Basil over to the side of Arianism. He inspired his governors, nobles and advisers to induce Vasily, either with prayers and promises, or with threats, to fulfill the king’s wishes. And the royal like-minded people persistently convinced the saint to do 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 one with the king. But no one could force this hierarch, unshakable in his faith, to fall away from Orthodoxy. Finally, Eparch Modest called Vasily to himself and, after he was unable to persuade him with flattering promises to fall away from Orthodoxy, he began to furiously threaten him with confiscation of his property, expulsion, etc. The saint boldly answered his threats:

“If you take away my property, you won’t enrich yourself, and you won’t make me a beggar.” I believe that you do not need these old clothes of mine and several books in which all my wealth lies. There is no exile for me, because I am not bound by place and the place where I live now is not mine, and wherever they send me will be mine. It’s better to say: God’s place is everywhere, wherever I am "wanderer and stranger"(). What can torment 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 to whom I have long been striving.

Amazed by these words, the ruler said to Vasily:

“No one has spoken to me so boldly before!”

“Yes,” answered the saint, “because you have never had the opportunity 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, imputing everything else for nothing, look only at Him alone; then fire, sword, beasts and iron, tormenting the body, will rather delight us than frighten us.

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

- We, king, are defeated by the abbot of the Church. This husband is higher than threats, firmer 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 a more decent excuse.

“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 thereby darken the truth. The senseless canes restrained his uncontrollable impetuosity, agreeing to break rather than serve as a weapon for his unjust sentence.

Having been brought to Antioch, Basil appeared before the diocesan court, and to the question: “Why does he not adhere to the faith that the king professes? - answered:

- It will never happen that I, having deviated from the true Christian faith, became a follower of the wicked Arian teaching; for I inherited from my fathers the faith in consubstantial things, which I confess and glorify.

At this time, the citizens, having learned about the incident, all rushed - not only men, but also women - to the palace of the eparch with weapons and daggers, intending to kill him for the 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; He will help you with this, if only you 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 it?

The slave said:

– I’m ready for this, just to get what I want.

“If you make such a promise,” said the wizard, “then I will be your assistant.”

Then, taking the charter, he wrote the following:

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

- Do you believe in me?

He answered: “I believe.”

The devil asked again:

– Do you renounce your Christ?

“I renounce,” answered the slave.

Then Satan said to him:

“You often 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 wish.

The slave, having taken the charter, wrote what he wanted from him. Then the destroyer of souls, the ancient serpent (i.e., the devil), sent demons of adultery, and they aroused such a thing in the girl strong love to the boy that she, out of carnal passion, fell to the ground and began shouting to her father:

“Have pity on me, have pity on your daughter and marry me to our slave, whom I loved with all my might.” If you don’t do this for me, your only daughter, then you will soon see me die from 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 seduced 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 the angels and in psalms and spiritual songs () glorify God, and for your sake I myself hoped to receive salvation, and you shamelessly talk about marriage! Do not bring me with sorrow to the underworld, my child, do not disgrace your noble title by marrying a slave.

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

“If you don’t do as I wish, then I will kill myself.”

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

- Go, you unfortunate thing, get married! But I think that later you will begin to strongly repent of your action, and that it will not benefit you.

Some time after this marriage took place, and the devil’s deed was completed, it was noticed that the newlywed did not go to church and did not partake of the Holy Mysteries. This was also stated to his unfortunate wife:

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

When she heard this, she became extremely sad and, falling to the ground, began to torment her face with her nails, tirelessly beat herself in the 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 to me, unfortunate one! What a ruin I found myself in! Why was I born and why did I not die at birth?

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

“If you want to assure me completely and take away the sadness 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 he could not hide the truth, had to, against his will, tell her everything about himself - how he betrayed himself. She, forgetting the woman’s weakness, hastily 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, calling her husband, asked him if what his wife was saying about him was true. He answered with tears:

- Yes, Saint of God, all this is true! and if I remain 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 turn to our Lord, Jesus Christ again?

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

- From what? – Vasily asked.

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

But Vasily said:

– Do not grieve about this, for God is a lover of mankind and accepts those who repent.

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

- Disciple of Christ! help us in whatever way you can.

Then the saint said to the slave:

– Do you believe that you can still be saved?

He said in response:

“I believe, sir, help my unbelief.”

- How do you feel, child?

“I am in an extremely distressed state, sir,” answered the young man, “I cannot endure the screams 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:

– Don’t be afraid, child, just believe.

And, having given 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 are you living, child?

He replied:

“From a distance I still hear threats and their screams, but I don’t see them.”

Vasily, having given him some food and prayed for him, locked him again and left. Then he came to him on the fortieth day and asked him:

- How are you living, child?

He also said:

“Okay, holy father, because I saw you in a dream, how you fought for me and defeated the devil.”

Having said a prayer, the saint led him out of the seclusion and brought him to his cell. The next morning he called the entire church clergy, monks and all Christ-loving people and said:

“Let us glorify, brother, the lover of God, for now the Good Shepherd wants to accept the lost sheep and bring it to church: on this night we must beg His goodness to defeat and shame the enemy of our souls.”

Believers gathered in church and prayed all night for the penitent, crying out: “Lord have mercy.”

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

- Saint of God, help me!

But the devil armed himself with such audacity and shamelessness against the young man that he also caused pain to Saint Basil, dragging the young man with him. Then the blessed one turned to the following words:

- The most shameless murderer, the prince of darkness and destruction! Isn’t your destruction enough for you, which you caused to yourself and those with you? Will you not cease to persecute the creatures of my God?

The devil cried out to him:

- May 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 on the day of judgment I will show to the universal Judge.

Vasily said:

Vasily told him:

– With all your other good deeds, also have obedience.

When Anastasius was performing the liturgy, then, during the offering of the Holy Mysteries, Saint Basil and others who were worthy saw the Most Holy Spirit descending in the form of fire and surrounding Anastasius and the holy altar. At the end of the divine service, everyone entered Anastasius’s house, and he offered a meal to Saint 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 answered:

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

Vasily told him:

“Call her your sister, as she really is, and tell me about your virtues.”

Anastasy answered:

“I haven’t done anything 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, Saint of God,” said Anastasius, “do not enter there, because there is nothing there except 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 one man there, stricken with severe leprosy, many parts of his body had already fallen away, having rotted. No one knew about him except the presbyter himself and his wife.

Vasily said to the presbyter:

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

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

Then Vasily said:

“You are performing a good deed, but let me also serve him this night, so that I too may be a participant in the reward that you receive.”

And so Saint Basil was left alone with the leper and, locking himself in, spent the whole night in prayer, and the next 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 teaching he gave to those present, returned to his home.

- Ephraim, Ephraim! How you see this pillar of fire is how Vasily is.

The Monk Ephraim immediately, taking with him a translator - for he did not know how to speak Greek - went to Caesarea and arrived there on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Standing in the distance and unnoticed by anyone, he saw Saint Basil walking into the church with great solemnity, dressed in light clothes, and his clergy, also dressed in light clothes. Turning to the translator accompanying him, Ephraim said:

“It seems, brother, that we worked in vain, for this is a man of such high rank that I have never seen anything like him.”

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

- We, “enduring the burden of the day and the heat”(), have achieved nothing, and this one, enjoying such fame and honor among people, is at the same time a pillar of fire. This surprises me.

When Saint Ephraim reasoned about 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, almost beardless and short in stature. Tell him: go and ascend to the altar, for the archbishop is calling you.

The archdeacon, with great difficulty, forced his way through the crowd, approached the place where the Monk Ephraim stood and said:

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

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

- You're wrong, brother! We are newcomers and unknown to the archbishop.

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

Then Vasily again said to the archdeacon:

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

The Archdeacon went and spoke as he was ordered. Ephraim was surprised at this and glorified God. Having then made a prostration, he said:

– Truly great 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 and greet him in a secluded place.

When the Divine service ended, Saint Basil went into the vessel guard and, calling the Monk Ephraim, gave him a kiss in the Lord and said:

– I greet you, Father, who multiplied Christ’s disciples in the desert and, by the power of Christ, cast out demons from it! Why, father, did you take on such 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 with his companion he communed with the Most Pure Mysteries from the holy hands of Vasily. When they sat down to a meal in Basil’s house, the Monk Ephraim said to Saint Basil:

- Holy Father! I ask you for one favor - deign to give it to me.

Basil the Great told him:

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

“I know, father,” said the venerable Ephraim, “that he gives you everything you ask of him; and I want you to implore His goodness to give me the ability to speak Greek.

Vasily answered:

“Your request is beyond my strength, but since you ask with firm hope, let us go, venerable father and desert mentor, to the temple of the Lord and pray to the Lord, who can fulfill your prayer, for it is said: “He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” ().

Having chosen a convenient time, they began to pray in the 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 sinner, sir! - Ephraim answered him through an interpreter.

- Oh, if only I had your sins! - said Vasily and added, - let’s bow to the ground.

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 dedication to the deacon. Then he said to the monk:

“Now tell us to get up from the ground.”

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

Everyone praised God for giving Ephraim the ability to understand and speak Greek. The Monk Ephraim stayed with Saint Basil for three days, in spiritual joy. Vasily made him a Deacon, and his translator a presbyter, and then released them in peace.

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

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

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

- Go and sort out their case; however, judge in such a way that you do not end up being an assistant to your fellow believers.

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

Having received the royal decree, the saint returned to Nicaea and, calling the Arians, said to them:

- So the king gave me the power to institute justice 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 place 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, through your prayer, the church doors open by themselves, then let the church be yours forever: if this does not happen, then we will pray for one night and go with the litany, while singing sacred chants, to the church; if it opens for us, we will own it forever; if it is not revealed to us, then the church will be yours again.

– Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us!

Stopping in front of the church doors, he said to the people:

– Raise your hands to heaven and cry out with zeal: “Lord have mercy!”

Then the saint ordered everyone to be silent and, approaching the doors, made the sign of the cross three times and said:

Then he entered the church with many Orthodox Christians and, having performed the divine service, dismissed the people with joy. Countless numbers of Arians, having seen that miracle, abandoned their delusion and joined the Orthodox. When the king learned about such a just decision of Vasily and about that glorious miracle, he was extremely surprised and began to blaspheme Arianism; however, being blinded by wickedness, he did not convert and subsequently died in a pitiful manner. 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 tsar followed after the repose of our holy father Vasily, but in the same year in which the saint also reposed.

- It’s good that you told me about this; I will go with you and reprove 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 left the city to meet Saint Basil for eight fields and, seeing his brother with a large number companions, smiled and said:

- Brother, how would you act against me like a robber?

Having given each other a kiss in the Lord, they entered the city and, having prayed in the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, came to the bishop's house. Vasily, seeing his daughter-in-law, said:

– Hello, my sister, it’s better to say – the bride of the Lord; I came here for you.

She answered:

- 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 you command me,” answered Peter.

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

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

They said:

– We see the angels of God fanning them and anointing their immaculate bed with fragrances.

Vasily then told them:

- Be silent and don’t tell anyone what you saw.

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

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

And when she did this, the saint said to those holding the brazier.

- Put burning coals in her clothes.

They fulfilled 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:

- Forgive your offense, brother.

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

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

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

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

When Peter and his wife threw the coals on the ground, no smoky smell was felt from them, and their clothes remained unburnt. Then Basil commanded the above-mentioned five virtuous men to tell everyone what they had seen, 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 anointing their immaculate bed with aromas. After this, everyone glorified God, who cleanses His saints from the lying slander of men.

In the days of our reverend father Basil in Caesarea there was one widow of noble origin, extremely rich; Living voluptuously, pleasing her flesh, she completely enslaved herself to sin and remained in prodigal uncleanness for many years. But He, who wants everyone to repent (), 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 mourn her situation like this:

- Woe to me, sinner and prodigal! How will I answer the righteous Judge for the sins I have committed? I corrupted the temple of my body, I desecrated my soul. Woe to me, the worst of sinners! Who can I compare myself to in terms of my sins? Is it with a harlot or with a publican? But no one has sinned like me. And - what’s especially scary - I committed so much evil already after receiving baptism. And who will tell me whether he will accept my repentance?

Sobbing, she remembered everything she had done from youth to old age, and, sitting down, wrote it on the charter. After all, she wrote down one of the most serious ones 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, Saint of God, I have sinned more than anyone!”

The saint stopped and asked her what she wanted from him; She, handing the sealed charter into his hands, said:

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

Vasily, taking the charter, raised his eyes to heaven and said:

- God! You alone can do this. For, if You took upon Yourself the sins of the whole world, then all the more can You cleanse the sins of this one soul, since all our sins, although counted by You, are still Your mercy 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.

The next 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 said to her:

- Did you hear, woman, that “who can forgive sins but God alone” ().

She also said:

“I heard, honest father, and that’s why I bothered you with a request to implore His goodness.”

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

The archbishop, tearing up with pity for her, said:

– Stand up, woman: I myself am a sinful man, and I need mercy and forgiveness; The same One who cleansed the rest of your sins can also cleanse your sin that has not yet been blotted out; If in the future you take care of yourself from sin and begin to walk in the path of the Lord, then you will not only be forgiven, but 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 from God, the Lover of Mankind.

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

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

Saint Ephrem, 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 in front of him and said:

– Archbishop Vasily sent me to you so that you, having prayed to God, would clear mine, which is written in this charter; He cleansed the rest of the sins, but don’t refuse to pray for one sin, for I was sent to you.

The Monk Ephraim said:

- No, child, the one who could beg God for many of your sins can all the more beg for one. So, go, go immediately to catch him alive before he goes to the Lord.

Then the woman, having bowed to the monk, returned to Caesarea.

- Woe is me, Saint of God! woe to me, unfortunate one! Is this why you sent me into the desert, so that, undisturbed by me, you could leave your body? And so I returned empty-handed, having made the difficult journey into the desert in vain. Let him see this and let him judge between me and you that you, having the opportunity to give me help yourself, sent me to another.

So crying out, she threw the charter over the saint’s bed, telling all the people about her grief. One of the clergy, wanting to see what was written in the charter, took it and, untying it, did not find any words on it: the entire charter became clean.

“Nothing is written here,” he said to the woman, “and you are sad in vain, 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 repose.

“The faith in which I was born is the one in which I want to die.”

The saint said to him:

- Believe me, neither I nor you will die while you "You are not born of water and the Spirit"(): for without such grace it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of God. Weren't your fathers baptized? "in the clouds and in the sea"()? Didn’t they drink from the stone, which was a prototype of the spiritual stone-Christ, born of the Virgin for the sake of our salvation? Your fathers crucified this Christ, but He, being buried on the third day, 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.

The saint told him many other things that were useful for the soul, but the Jew remained in his unbelief. When the time came for the saint's repose, he fell ill and called a Jew to him, as if needing him. medical care and he asked him:

– What do you say about me, Joseph?

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

“Prepare everything for burial, because his death must be expected any minute now.”

But Vasily said:

– You don’t know what you’re saying!

The Jew answered:

“Believe me, lord, that yours will come before sunset.”

Then Vasily told him:

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

Joseph replied:

- Let me die then!

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

– I know what you’re talking about, sir! - answered the Jew, - and so I swear to you that if you live until the 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 he was already dead. When he saw him really alive, he seemed to go into a frenzy, and then, falling at the feet of the saint, he said in an outburst of heart:

- Great is the Christian, and there is no other God but Him! I renounce the ungodly Judaism and convert to the true Christian faith. The holy father commanded that he immediately administer holy baptism to me, as well as to my entire household.

Saint Basil told him:

- I baptize you with my own hands!

The Jew approached him and touched him. right hand saint and said:

“Your strength, lord, has weakened, and your whole nature has completely weakened; you cannot baptize me yourself.

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

And, having risen, he entered the church and, in the presence of all the people, baptized the Jew and his whole family; he named him John and communed him with the Divine Mysteries, performing the liturgy himself that day. Having taught the newly baptized one about eternal life and addressed a word of edification to all his verbal sheep, the saint remained in the church until the ninth hour. Then, giving everyone a final kiss and forgiveness, he began to thank God for all His ineffable blessings and, while the word of thanksgiving was still on his lips, he gave his soul into the hands of God and, like 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.

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.

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia (†379)

BASILY THE GREAT (Basily of Caesarea) (c. 330-379), saint, archbishop of Caesarea (Asia Minor), church writer and theologian.

Born into a pious Christian family in the Cappadocian city of Caesarea, around 330, during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great.

His father was a lawyer and teacher of rhetoric. There were ten children in the family, five of whom were canonized: Vasily himself, his older sister, St. Macrina, brother Gregory, bishop. Nyssa, brother Peter, bishop. Sebastia of Armenia, and the younger sister of Bl. Feozva, deaconess. Their mother is also canonized. Emilia.

In the 26th year of his life, he went to Athens to study various sciences in the schools there. In Athens, Basil became friends with another glorious saint - Gregory the Theologian, who was also studying at that time in Athens schools.

Vasily and Gregory, being similar to each other in their good behavior, meekness and chastity, loved each other as much as if they had one soul - and they subsequently retained this mutual love forever. Vasily was so passionate about science that he often even forgot while reading books about the need to eat. In Constantinople and Athens, Basil studied rhetoric, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, physics and medicine. Feeling a calling to spiritual life, he went to Egypt, Syria and Palestine. There he studied the works of St. fathers, practiced ascetic deeds, visited famous hermits. Returning to his homeland, he became a presbyter and then a bishop. St. Basil spoke in defense of the Orthodox faith. As an archpastor, he cared about strict observance of the canons of the Church, about the clergy, about church discipline, and helped the poor and sick; founded two monasteries, an almshouse, a hotel, and a hospice. He himself led a strict and abstinent life, and thereby acquired from the Lord the gift of clairvoyance and miracles. He was revered not only by Christians, but also by pagans and Jews.

There are many known cases of miraculous healings performed by St. Basil the Great. The power of Saint Basil’s prayers was so great that he could boldly ask the Lord for forgiveness for a sinner who had renounced Christ, leading him to sincere repentance. Through the prayers of the saint, many great sinners who despaired of salvation received forgiveness and were freed from their sins. So, for example, a certain noble woman, ashamed of her prodigal sins, wrote them down and gave the sealed scroll to Saint 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 to the desert to the Monk 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 her for complete forgiveness from the Lord. Returning to Caesarea, the woman met a funeral procession with the tomb of St. Basil. In deep sorrow, she fell to the ground sobbing, throwing the scroll on the saint’s tomb. One of the clerics, wanting to see what was written on the scroll, took it and, unfolding it, saw Blank sheet; This is how the woman’s last sin was blotted out through the prayer of Saint Basil, which he performed posthumously.

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

The night passed and, to Joseph’s amazement, Saint Basil not only did not die, but, getting up from his bed, came to the temple, performed the sacrament of Baptism over Joseph, served the Divine Liturgy, gave Joseph communion, taught him a lesson, and then, saying goodbye to everyone, He went to the Lord with prayer without leaving the temple.

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

For his services to the Orthodox Church, Saint 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.” Saint Basil the Great is the heavenly patron of the enlightener of the Russian Land - the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, named Vasily in Baptism. Saint Vladimir deeply revered his Angel and built several churches in Rus' in his honor. Saint Basil the Great, along with Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, has since ancient times enjoyed special veneration among the Russian believing people.

HThe collection of the relics of St. Basil still remains in the Pochaev Lavra. The Honest Head of St. Basil reverently kept in the Lavra of St. Athanasius on Athos , A right hand him - in the altar Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem .

In Moscow in Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God in Vladykino there is an icon of three saints: St. Basil the Great, St. Nicholas and the Military Medical Center Barbarians with particles of relics (metro station “Vladykino”, Altufevskoe highway, 4).

Works of St. Basil the Great

Saint Basil the Great was a man of primarily practical activity. That's why most his literary works consist of conversations; another significant part is letters. The natural aspiration of his spirit was directed towards questions of Christian morality, towards what could have practical application. But due to the circumstances of his church activity, Saint Basil often had to defend Orthodox teaching against heretics or the purity of his faith against slanderers. Hence, not only in many conversations and letters of St. Basil there is a dogmatic-polemical element, but he also owns entire dogmatic-polemical works, in which he shows himself to be a deep metaphysician and theologian. All the works written by Saint Basil have not reached us: Cassiodorus, for example, reports that he wrote a commentary on almost all of the Holy Scriptures.

The surviving works of Saint Basil are divided into five groups in content and form: dogmatic-polemical works, exegetical, ascetic, conversations and letters.

Dogmatic-polemical creations

The most important dogmatic and polemical work of St. Vasily - "Refutation of the defensive speech of the evil Eunomius". The content of this work is determined by the dogmatic provisions of Eunomius, revealed by him in his “Apology”; From this work of Eunomius, Saint Basil cites passages and writes a refutation of them.

Eunomius, Bishop of Cyzicus, was a representative of that strict Arianism that arose in the 50s. IV century, to which Arius himself seemed insufficiently consistent.

The founder and first leader of this new Arianism (Anomie) was Aetius. His only gifted student was Eunomius the Cappadocian, who presented in his works a detailed and systematic disclosure of the theological principles of Aetius.

Possessing a strictly logical mind, he sharply criticized the Nicene doctrine of consubstantiality, and the influence of his views was so strong that such authoritative church leaders and writers as Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Apollinaris of Laodicea, Theodore of Mopsuestia had to come out to fight him. It was created directly by the energy of the Almighty and, like the most perfect work of an artist, is an imprint of the entire power of the Father, His deeds, thoughts and desires. Not being equal to the Father either in essence, or in dignity, or in glory, the Son, however, infinitely rises above creatures and is even called by Eunomius the true God, Lord and King of glory, as the Son of God and God. The Holy Spirit is the third in order and dignity, therefore, the third in essence, the creation of the Son, different in essence from Him - since the work of the first creation must be different from the work of God Himself, but also different from other creatures - like the first work of the Son .

Eunomius, who had gained the favor of the Arian Eudoxius (bishop of Antioch, and from 360 of Constantinople), became bishop of Cyzicus in 360, but since his teaching caused church unrest, next year at the insistence of the more confident Arians, he was deposed by Constantius and exiled. On this occasion, Eunomius set out his teaching in writing and called his book “Apology”; in it he clearly expressed the essence of his teaching that the Son is a creature, although elevated above other creatures, and is unlike the Father in essence and in every respect. This work was highly valued by many Arians and the rigor of the development of the system and dialectical and syllogistic subtleties aroused surprise in many. Therefore, Saint Basil the Great, at the request of the monks, undertook in 363-364. a written refutation of it.

The work “Against Eunomius” consists of five books, but only the first three indisputably belong to St. Basil, and the fourth and fifth in their structure, presentation and language are significantly inferior to the genuine works of St. Basil, in some opinions and interpretations they diverge to the point of contradiction from his genuine works and represent not so much a coherent work specifically against Eunomius, but rather a collection of evidence in general against Arian false teachings regarding the Holy Trinity. There was an attempt to assimilate these books to Apollinaris of Laodicea, but in Lately in science, the view has been established that they belong to Didimus of Alexandria.

The first book is busy exposing those sophisms that Eunomius wove around the term “unborn.” St. Basil refutes the main position of Eunomius, that the essence of the Divinity is ungeneracy. Based on general usage and Holy Scripture, St. Vasily explains that the essence of things is comprehended by the human mind in parts, and not perceived directly, and is expressed by several different names, each of which defines only one attribute. The names adopted by God have the same meaning - both positive: holy, good, etc., and negative: unborn, immortal, invisible and similar. Only from all of them taken together does it seem like an image of God, very pale and weak compared to reality, but still sufficient for our imperfect mind. Therefore, the term “unborn” alone cannot be perfect and full definition the being of God: one can say that the being of God is ungenerate, but it cannot be said that ungeneracy is the being of God. The term "unborn" indicates only the origin or mode of being of something, but does not define the nature or being. Finally, St. Basil speaks of the communicability of the Divine nature through birth and the equality of the Father and the Son. Against the paradoxical assertion of Eunomius that he comprehended the very essence of God, St. Basil says that the human mind testifies only to the existence of God, and does not determine what God is, and the Holy Scripture certifies that the being of God is incomprehensible to the human mind and, in general, to any creature.

In the second book of St. Basil proves that the Son is truly and from eternity born, since there is no time in God. God has within Himself a patronymic co-extended with His eternity; therefore the Son, who exists from eternity and always exists, did not begin to be at any time, but when the Father, then also the Son. The Son is not a creature or creation, but as begotten of the Father, He is of one essence with Him and equal in dignity with Him.

In the third book, briefly and precisely doc.the deity of the Holy Spirit is called out and the assertion of Eunomius is refuted that He, being third in dignity and order, is third in nature.

The fourth book first gives an abbreviated repetition of the evidence against Eunomius set forth in the first and second books, and then explains the passages of Holy Scripture which, apparently, can serve as evidence against the deity of the Son and which were actually cited by the Arians.

The fifth book speaks in detail about the deity of the Holy Spirit, His consubstantiality with the Father and the Son, and explains the passages of Holy Scripture related here.

"About the Holy Spirit" , in 30 chapters. The work was written at the request of Basil the Great's friend, Bishop Amphilochius of Iconia, around 375, in response to the changes made by Saint Basil in the final doxology. Then they usually ended prayers and chants with a doxology "To the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit". This formula was accepted by both the Arians and the Doukhobors, since it allowed for the possibility of explaining it in the sense of their teaching about the created subordination of the Son and the Spirit; the heretics referred to it in support of their opinion. To make such references impossible, St. Vasily began to preferably use doxology "The Father with the Son and the Holy Spirit". Rumors began about this, and St. Vasily was accused of innovation. Amphilochius asked St. Vasily to justify the change he introduced. In response to this request, St. Basil compiled the aforementioned dogmatic-polemical work, which aims to prove that the Son and the Holy Spirit have equal honor with the Father, since They are of the same nature with Him. St. Basil first points out that it is indeed necessary to discover the hidden meaning in every utterance and in every syllable, but that heretics direct their sophistic reasoning about syllables and prepositions to confirm their false teaching about the difference in essence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The subtle distinction of the prepositions “with”, “through”, “in” was borrowed by heretics from external wisdom, and in the Holy Scripture the use of these prepositions is not strictly observed, and they are applied to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, so that it cannot be found in the previous doxology confirmation for Arian views. Moving on to defending his own formula of doxology, St. Basil first speaks of the glorification of the Son. The heretics argued that since the Son is not together with the Father, but is necessarily after the Father, therefore, below the Father, then the glory of the Father is given “through” Him, and not together “with” Him, insofar as the first expression denotes a service relationship, and the last - equality. St. Basil asks on what basis the heretics say that the Son is after the Father, and proves that the Son cannot be inferior either in time, or in rank, or in dignity. Therefore, both formulas of doxology can be accepted and known in the Church, with the only difference being that “when we take into consideration the greatness of the nature of the Only Begotten and the excellence of His dignity, then we testify that He has glory “with the Father”; and when we imagine , that He gives us blessings and brings us to God and makes Him His own, then we confess that this grace is accomplished “by Him” and “in Him.” Therefore, the saying “with Him” is characteristic of those who glorify, and the saying “Them” is predominant befittingly thanking."

In the final chapter of St. Basil picturesquely depicts the sad state of the Church, like a ship subjected to a terrible storm; it is the result of disrespect for paternal rules, the insidious machinations of heretics, self-interest and rivalry of the clergy, which is worse than open war.

Exegetical creations

Cassiodorus says that St. Basil interpreted all Holy Scripture. But at present the interpretations of his conversation “On the Sixth Day” and on some psalms are known as undoubtedly authentic.

"Nine Discourses on the Sixth Day" were pronounced by St. Basil, when he was still a presbyter (before 370), during the first week of Great Lent, in the church, before a mixed audience, but mainly from the common people. St. Basil conducted conversations on some days twice. Their subject was the account of the book of Genesis about the creation of the world in six days (Genesis 1:1-26). The conversations stop on the fifth day of creation, and in the ninth conversation of St. Basil only points out the participation of all the Persons of the Holy Trinity in the creation of man, and an explanation of what the image of God consists of and how man can participate in His likeness is promised in another discussion. This intention was probably not fulfilled, and the well-known three conversations - two about the creation of man and the third about paradise, sometimes appended to the “Six Days” as its continuation, are not authentic. Later, Gregory of Nyssa supplemented the “Six Days” of St. Basil with his work “On the Structure of Man,” thereby confirming that St. Vasily did not finish talking about the creation of man; St. Ambrose of Milan also knew only nine conversations of Basil the Great.

In the conversations of St. Basil’s goal is to depict the creative Divine power, harmonious order and beauty in the world and to show that the teachings of philosophers and Gnostics about peacemaking are unreasonable fabrications and that, on the contrary, the Mosaic narrative alone contains Divine truth, consistent with reason and scientific data. In accordance with the didactic and polemical purpose of his work, he is guided almost exclusively by the literal meaning of Holy Scripture, eliminating allegorism in interpretations and even in passing rebels against its abuse. He carefully determines the meaning of the sayings being interpreted, explores, using scientific data, the properties and laws of nature and artistically describes them. The authenticity of the conversations “On the Sixth Day” is beyond any doubt: Gregory the Theologian already calls them at the head of the works of St. Vasily, and throughout history they were highly valued not only in the East, but also in the West.

"Conversations on Psalms" were pronounced by St. Vasily, probably still in the rank of presbyter. Thirteen are recognized as authentic: psalms 1, 7, 14, 28, 29, 32, 33, 44, 45, 48, 59, 61 and 114. These conversations probably represent only part of his commentary on the psalms; there are fragments of his commentaries on other psalms, if the fragments published by Cardinal Pitra are genuine; in addition, in the conversation on Psalm 1, only the first two verses are explained, and in Psalm 14, only the last verses, but in both conversations the interpretation of the remaining verses is also indicated; Finally, the conversation on Psalm 1 is preceded by a general preface, treating in general the merits of the psalms, which apparently suggests an intention to systematically explain the entire Psalter.

"Interpretation of the Prophet Isaiah" - a detailed and publicly accessible explanation of the first 16 chapters of the book of the prophet Isaiah. The author follows for the most part the literal meaning of the text and then gives a moral application of the prophet's words. The style of this work is significantly inferior in treatment to other works of St. Vasily. Enough big number places literally borrowed from Eusebius’s interpretation of the book of the prophet. Isaiah, even more borrowings from Origen.

Ascetic creations

Together with Gregory the Theologian, as the latter certifies, St. Vasily already in 358 - 359. in Pontic solitude on Iris, he compiled written rules and canons for monastics. Gregory the Theologian also reports on the written laws of St. Basil for monks and about those established by him convents with written statutes.

"Ascetic Destiny" - an exhortation to those who seek Christian perfection to look upon themselves as spiritual warriors of Christ, obliged to conduct spiritual warfare with all care and fulfill their service in order to achieve victory and eternal glory.

“A word of asceticism and an exhortation to renounce the world” - contains a call for renunciation of the world and moral perfection. The author compares worldly life with monastic life and gives preference to the latter, without condemning the former, but pointing out that unconditional obedience to the Gospel is necessary in it, gives instructions regarding various pious exercises and describes the degrees of Christian perfection that are achieved only by great labor and constant struggle with sinful aspirations .

“A Word on Asceticism, How a Monk Should Decorate” - in brief provisions gives excellent instructions for the entire behavior of a monk and for spiritual life in general, so that it meets the requirements of ascetic perfection in all respects.

"Preface on the Judgment of God" . The author says that during his travels he observed endless bickering and discord in the Church; and, what is saddest of all, the primates themselves disagree in beliefs and opinions, allow things contrary to the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, mercilessly tear the Church apart, mercilessly disturb His flock. Having thought about the reason for such a sad state, he found that such disagreement and strife between members of the Church occur as a result of apostasy from God, when everyone deviates from the teachings of the Lord, arbitrarily chooses theoretical and moral rules for himself and wants not to obey the Lord, but rather to dominate over it. After exhortations to maintain unanimity, a union of peace, and strength in spirit, the author recalls the manifestations of Divine judgment in the Old and New Testaments and points out the need for everyone to know the law of God, so that everyone can obey it, with all diligence pleasing God and avoiding everything that is displeasing to Him. In view of the above, St. Vasily considered it proper and at the same time necessary to first set forth the sound faith and pious teaching about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and to this add moral rules.

"About Faith". He says that he will expound only what is taught by the inspired Scripture, beingware of those names and sayings that are not literally found in the divine Scripture, although they preserve the thought contained in the Scripture. Then the teaching of the Holy Scriptures concerning the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is presented in a condensed form, with an admonition to teachers to be devoted to this faith and to beware of heretics.

"Moral Rules" , numbering 80, each further subdivided into chapters; the rules are truly set out in the words of Holy Scripture and determine all Christian life and activity, both in general and in prison, [and] especially in different states (preachers of the Gospel, primates living in marriage, widows, slaves and masters, children and parents, virgins, warriors, sovereigns and subjects).

"Rules laid out at length" , in questions and answers, consist, in fact, of 55 separate rules, presented in the form of questions from monks and answers from St. Vasily, or, better to say, his concisely stated reasoning regarding the most important issues religious life. As can be seen from the preface, during the composition of this work, St. Vasily was in desert solitude, surrounded by people who assumed the same goal of a pious life and expressed a desire to learn what was necessary for salvation. From the answers of St. Vasily compiled, as it were, a complete collection of the laws of monastic life, or a doctrine of the highest moral perfection, but without a strict plan.

"The Rules, Briefly Stated" , numbering 313 - also in questions and answers, contain almost the same thoughts as those revealed in the lengthy rules, with the difference that the lengthy rules set out the basic principles of spiritual life, and the short ones - more special, detailed instructions.

Ascetic works of St. Basil provide evidence of the form of monastic life that spread in this era in Cappadocia and throughout Asia Minor, and in turn had a strong influence on the development of monasticism in the East: little by little they became the generally accepted rule of monastic life. St. Basil does not recommend the solitary life of anchorites, which he even considers dangerous; he does not seek to reproduce those huge monastic colonies that he observed in Egypt - he prefers monasteries with a small number of inhabitants, so that everyone can know their boss and be known to him. He considers manual labor obligatory, but it must be interrupted for general prayer at certain hours. St. Basil gave instructions full of wisdom and knowledge of life on those cases, frequent in ancient society, when married people insisted on being admitted to the monastery, when slaves sought refuge in them, when parents brought their children to them. Despite its purpose for monastics, the ascetic instructions of St. Basil and for all Christians can serve as a guide to moral improvement and a truly saving life.

Liturgical works of St. Basil

The general tradition of the Christian East testifies that St. Basil compiled the order of the liturgy, that is, he organized in writing and brought into a uniform, stable form the liturgy that had been preserved in the Churches from apostolic times. This is evidenced by a number of testimonies, starting with St. Gregory the Theologian, who among the works of St. Basil mentions the orders of prayers, the decoration of the altar, and St. Proclus of Constantinople, who reports a reduction in the duration of the service [liturgy] of St. Basil and then John Chrysostom, to the Councils of Trullo and the Seventh Ecumenical Council. Text of the Liturgy of St. Basil has been attested since the beginning of the 6th century, and its lists agree with each other in essentials, which proves its origin from the same original. But over the centuries, there have undoubtedly been many changes in details, so that in the latest scientific publications the oldest and most recent texts are compared.

In addition, St. Basil introduced in his district the custom, apparently borrowed from Antioch, of singing psalms in two choirs, which, however, was not agreed upon, for example, in Neocaesarea, citing the fact that such an order did not exist under St. Gregory the Wonderworker.

St. Basil the Great belongs to the outstanding preachers of Christian antiquity. His eloquence is characterized by oriental charm and youthful enthusiasm. "Who wants to be a perfect speaker - says Photius, - he does not need either Plato or Demosthenes if he chooses Basil as a model. His language is rich and beautiful, his evidence is strong and convincing." Conversations of St. Vasily is considered one of the best works of preaching literature.

Letters

The Benedictines published 365 letters of St. Basil or his correspondents and divided them into three classes: 1 - 46 letters written before the bishopric, 47 - 291 letters dating back to the time of the bishopric of St. Vasily, and, finally, those for which there is no dating data. This chronological distribution of letters is recognized as thorough even today, after former doubts and new research.

Letters from St. Basil's works are distinguished by outstanding literary merits and are of great importance: directed to many people of different positions, they reflect the life history of Basil the Great himself and his time, and provide church historians with rich and valuable material, which has not yet been completely exhausted. They reflect in colorful images the multifaceted activities and exceptional virtues of the mind and heart of St. Basil, his constant concern for the good of all Churches, deep sorrow for the many and such great disasters that befell the Church in his time, zeal for the true faith, desire for peace and harmony, love and benevolence towards everyone, especially towards the needy, prudence in knowledge affairs, peace of mind in the face of the most severe and unfair insults, and restraint in relation to rivals and enemies. Like a shepherd, he gives advice in times of need and doubt; as a theologian he takes an active part in dogmatic disputes; as a guardian of the faith, he insists on observing the Nicene Creed and recognizing the deity of the Holy Spirit; as the guardian of church discipline, he strives to eliminate disorder in the life of the clergy and to establish church legislation; finally, as a church politician, with the support of St. Athanasius, is concerned about revitalizing relations with the Western Church in the interests of supporting Orthodoxy in the eastern half of the empire.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

for the Temple Life-Giving Trinity on Vorobyovy Gory

Troparion to St. Basil the Great, tone 1
Thy message went out into the whole earth, / because thou didst receive thy word, / which thou hast most gloriously taught, / thou hast clarified the nature of beings, / thou hast adorned human customs, / the royal veneration, reverend father,/ pray to Christ God// to save our souls.

Kontakion to Saint Basil the Great, tone 4
Thou hast appeared as an unshakable foundation to the Church,/ giving to all unstealthy dominion by man,/ sealing with thy commands,// the unappearing Vasily, Reverend.

Prayer to Saint Basil the Great
Oh, great in the hierarchy, God-wise teacher of the universe, blessed Father Vasily! Your great deeds and labors, which you have accomplished for the glory of the Holy Church: you have been a steadfast confessor and a lamp of the faith of Christ on earth, illuminating the faithful with the light of the knowledge of God. , destroy false teachings, and proclaim the word of saving truth to the whole world. Now, having greatness in Heaven, have boldness towards the Holy Trinity, help us, who bow to you with humility, to firmly and unchangeably preserve the holy Orthodox faith until the end of our lives, from lack of faith But keep doubts and waverings in faith, so that we will not be deceived by those who are contrary to God and soul-destroying teachings in words. The spirit of holy zeal, which thou hast blazed with, O glorious shepherd of the Church of Christ, kindle with thy intercession also in us, whom Christ has appointed to be shepherds, so that we may diligently enlighten and confirm in Right to the faith is the verbal flock of Christ. Ask, O merciful saint, from the Father of lights and everyone, every gift that everyone needs: growth in the passion of God for the child, chastity for the young, strength for the old and weak, consolation for the afflicted, for those in need of healing, admonition and correction for those who have gone astray, intercession for the offended, orphans and widows protection, grace-filled help to those who are tempted, those who have departed from this temporary life, blessed repose to our fathers and brothers. To her, Holy One of God, look down with mercy from the abodes of the heavens upon us who are humble, overwhelmed by many temptations and misfortunes, and lead those who are devoted from the earth to the heights of heaven. Grant us, most blessed Father, your archpastoral and holy blessing, so that we may be blessed with it in this new summer and at all other times of our lives in peace, repentance and obedience to the Holy Orthodox Church Let us live the Church, diligently doing the commandments of Christ, fighting the good fight of faith, and so We will achieve the Kingdom of Heaven, and together with you and all the saints, grant the Holy Trinity, Consubstantial and Indivisible, to sing and glorify forever and ever. Ah min.

Eparch Modest called Vasily to himself and, after he was unable to persuade him with flattering promises to fall away from Orthodoxy, he began to furiously threaten him with confiscation of his property, exile and death. The saint boldly answered his threats: - If you take away my property, you will not enrich yourself, and you will not make me a beggar. I believe that you do not need these old clothes of mine and several books in which all my wealth lies. There is no exile for me, because I am not bound by place and the place where I live now is not mine, and wherever they send me will be mine. It’s better to say: God’s place is everywhere, wherever I am “a stranger and a stranger” (Ps. 39:13). What can torment 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 to whom I have long been striving.

The Life of Our Holy Father Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea

The great saint of God and God-wise teacher of the Church, Basil, was born of noble and pious parents in the Cappadocian city of Caesarea, around 330, during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great. His father's name was also Vasily, and his mother was Emmelia. The first seeds of piety were sown in his soul by his pious grandmother, Macrina, who in her youth was honored to hear instructions from the lips of St. Gregory the Wonderworker - and by his mother, the pious Emmelia. Vasily’s father instructed him not only in the Christian faith, but also taught him secular sciences, which were well known to him, 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 Neokesarea, near the Iris River, in a country house that his grandmother owned and which was later converted into a monastery. From here Vasily often went to Caesarea to visit his mother, who lived with her other children in this city, where she was from.

After the death of Macrina, Vasily, in the 17th year of his life, again settled in Caesarea to study various sciences in the local schools. Thanks to his special sharpness of mind, Vasily soon equaled his teachers in knowledge and, seeking new knowledge, went to Constantinople, where at that time the young sophist Livanius was famous for his eloquence. But even here Vasily 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 one glorious pagan teacher, named Evvula, while visiting the schools of two other famous Athenian teachers, Iberius and Proaresia. At this time, Vasily 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 became friends with another glorious saint, Gregory the Theologian, who was also studying at Athens schools at that time. Vasily and Gregory, being similar to each other in their good behavior, meekness and chastity, loved each other as much as if they had one soul - and they subsequently retained this mutual love forever. Vasily was so passionate about science that he often even forgot while reading books about the need to eat. He studied grammar, rhetoric, astronomy, philosophy, physics, medicine and natural Sciences. But all these secular, earthly sciences could not satiate his mind, which was seeking higher, heavenly illumination, and after staying in Athens for about five years, Vasily felt that worldly science could not give him firm support in the matter of 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.

So, while Gregory the Theologian remained in Athens himself, having become a teacher of rhetoric, Vasily 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 whole year practicing at the same time in fasting feats. In Egypt, Vasily observed the lives of famous contemporary ascetics - Pachomius, who lived in Thebaid, Macarius the Elder and Macarius of Alexandria, Paphnutius, Paul and others. From Egypt, Vasily went to Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia to explore the holy places and get acquainted with the life of the ascetics there. But on the way to Palestine, he stopped in Athens and here had an interview with his former mentor Eubulus, and also argued about the true faith with other Greek philosophers.

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 finally, outside the city walls, he met him while Evvul was talking with other philosophers about some important subject. Having listened to the argument and not yet revealing his name, Vasily entered into the conversation, immediately resolving the difficult question and then, for his part, asked a new question to his teacher. When the listeners were perplexed as to who could answer and object to the famous Evvul in this way, the latter said: “It’s either some god, or Vasily.” Having recognized Vasily, Evvul dismissed his friends and students, and he himself brought Vasily to himself, and they spent three whole days in conversation, almost without eating food. By the way, Evvul asked Vasily what, in his opinion, is the essential merit of philosophy. “The essence of philosophy,” answered Vasily, “is that it gives a person remembrance of death.” At the same time, he pointed out to Evvul the fragility of the world and all its pleasures, which at first seem really sweet, but then become extremely bitter for those who have become too attached to them.

Along with these joys, Vasily said, there are consolations of a different kind, of heavenly origin. You cannot use both at the same time - " No one can serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24),- but we still, as far as possible for people attached to everyday things, crush the bread of true knowledge and bring someone who, even through his own fault, has lost the robe of virtue, under the roof of good deeds, pitying him, as we pity a naked man on the street. Following this, Vasily began to talk to Evvul about the power of repentance, describing the images he once saw of virtue and vice, which alternately attract a person to themselves, and the image of repentance, next to which, like his daughters, stand various virtues. “But we have no reason, Evvul,” added Vasily, “to resort to such artificial means of persuasion.” We possess the truth itself, which can be comprehended by anyone who sincerely strives for it. Namely, we believe that we will all one day be resurrected - some to eternal life, and others to eternal torment and shame. The prophets tell us clearly about this: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and David and the divine Apostle Paul, as well as the Lord Himself, who calls us to repentance, Who found the lost sheep, and Who, embracing the prodigal son returning with repentance, embraces him with love, kisses him, and adorns him with light clothes and a ring, and makes a feast for him (Luke 15). He gives 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 to us who repent and are born of water and the Spirit, as it is written: The eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and what God has prepared for those who love Him has not entered into the heart of man.

When Basil conveyed to Evvul a brief history of the economy of our salvation, starting with the Fall of Adam and ending with the teaching of Christ the Redeemer, Evvul exclaimed: “Oh, Vasily revealed by heaven, through you I believe in the One God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of all things, and the tea of the resurrection of the dead and 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 wish you to be born of water and the Spirit. Then Basil said: “Blessed is our God from now on and forever, Who illuminated your mind with the light of truth, Evvul, and led you from extreme error to 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 by getting rid of the snares of this life. Let's sell all our property and give 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 our faith. Having thus distributed all their property to the needy and bought themselves the white clothes that those receiving baptism were required to have, they went to Jerusalem and along the way they converted many to the true faith.

Arriving in Antioch, they entered an inn. The innkeeper's son Philoxenus was sitting at the door at that time in great distress. Being a student of the sophist Livanius, he took from him some of Homer’s poems in order to translate them into oratory, but he could not do this and, being in such difficulty, was very sad. Vasily, seeing him sad, asked:-What are you sad about, young man? Philoxenus said: “Even if I tell you the reason for my grief, what good will it do me?” When Vasily insisted on his own and promised that it would not be in vain that the young man would tell him the reason for his grief, the youth told him about the sophist and 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 poems, began to interpret them, translating them into simple speech; the boy, surprised 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 youth, taking the translation with joy, went with them in the morning to his teacher, Libanius. 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 youth said:“There is a wanderer in my house who wrote this interpretation very quickly and without any difficulty.Livanius immediately hurried to the hotel to see this wanderer; Seeing Vasily and Evvul 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 Evvul, according to their custom, having tasted the bread and water, gave thanks to God, the giver of all good things. After this, Lebanon began to ask them various sophistic questions, and they offered him a word about the Christian faith. Livanius, having listened to them carefully, said that the time had not yet come to accept 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 have lent 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 Livaniya gathered, and Vasily began to teach them so that they would acquire spiritual purity, bodily dispassion, modest gait, quiet speech, modest speech, moderation in food and drink, silence in front of elders, attentiveness to the words of the wise, obedience to superiors, unfeigned love for equal to themselves and to the lower ones, so that they distance themselves from evil, passionate and attached to carnal pleasures, so that they speak less and listen and delve more deeply, are not reckless in speech, are not verbose, do not laugh impudently at others, are adorned with modesty, do not enter into conversation with immoral women, they would cast their eyes down, and their souls would be turned to grief, they would avoid disputes, they would not seek the teaching rank, and the honors of this world would be considered nothing. If anyone does anything to benefit others, let him expect reward from God and eternal reward from Jesus Christ our Lord. This is what Basil said to the disciples of Libanius, and they listened to him with great surprise, and after this he, together with Evvul, set off on the road again.When they came to Jerusalem and walked around all the holy places with faith and love, praying there to the One Creator of all, God, they appeared to the bishop of that city, Maximus, and asked him to baptize them in the Jordan. The bishop, seeing their great faith, fulfilled their request: taking his clergy, he went 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 sign to strengthen his faith. Then, rising with trepidation, he took off his clothes, and with them " put aside the old way of life of the old man", and, entering the water, he prayed. When the saint approached to baptize him, suddenly a fiery lightning fell on them and a dove emerging from that lightning plunged into the Jordan and, stirring up the water, flew away to heaven. Those standing 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, praying at the same time. He baptized Evvul and then anointed both with myrrh and communed with 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 Meletius, then he was engaged in explaining the Scriptures. A little time later, he left with Evvul to his homeland, Cappadocia. As they approached the city of Caesarea, the Archbishop of Caesarea, Leontius, was announced in a dream of their arrival and told that Basil would eventually be the archbishop of this city. Therefore, the archbishop, calling his archdeacon and several honorary clergy, sent them to the eastern gate of the city, ordering them to bring to him with honor the two strangers whom they would meet there. They went and, meeting Basil and Evvul, when they entered the city, they took them to the archbishop; when he saw them, he was surprised, for it was them he had seen in his dream, and he glorified God. Having asked them 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 to food, and he himself, having called his clergy and honorable citizens, told them everything that had been told to him in a vision from God about Vasily . Then the clergy unanimously said: “Since God has shown you an heir to your throne for your virtuous life, then do with him as you please, for truly the person whom the will of God directly indicates is worthy of all respect.”After this, the Archbishop called Basil and Evvul to him and began to talk with them about Scripture, wanting to find out how much they understood it. Hearing their speeches, he marveled at the depth of their wisdom and, leaving them with him, treated them with special respect. Vasily, while staying 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. So, imitating their life, he was a good monk and the Archbishop of Caesarea, Eusebius, made 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. Caring for the monks he had gathered, preaching the word of God, and other pastoral concerns did not allow him to be distracted by extraneous activities. At the same time, in his new field, he soon acquired 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, out of human weakness, began to envy and benevolently Vasily. Saint Basil learned about this, and, not wanting to be the subject of envy, went into the Ionian desert. In the Ionian desert, Vasily 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 pleasant 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 labored in extreme deprivation, having only clothes to cover himself - a sorrel and a mantle; He also wore a hair shirt, but only at night, so that it would not be visible; He ate bread and water, seasoning this meager food with salt and roots. From strict abstinence he became very pale and skinny, and became extremely exhausted. He never went to the bathhouse or lit a fire. But Vasily did not live for himself alone: he gathered monks into a hostel, and with his letters attracted his friend Gregory to him in the desert.

In their solitude, Vasily and Gregory did everything together: they prayed together, both abandoned the reading of worldly books, on which they had previously spent a lot of time, and began to focus solely on the Holy Scriptures. Wanting to study it better, they read the works of the fathers and church writers who preceded them in time, especially Origen. Here Vasily and Gregory, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote the regulations for the monastic community, by which the monks of the Eastern Church for the most part are still guided today. In relation to physical life, Vasily and Gregory found pleasure in patience; They worked with their own hands, carrying firewood, cutting stones, planting and watering trees, carrying manure, carrying heavy loads, so that calluses remained on their hands for a long time. Their dwelling had neither a roof nor a gate, there was never any fire or smoke there. The bread they ate was so dry and poorly baked that it could hardly be chewed with the teeth.The time came, however, when both Basil and Gregory had to leave the desert, since their services were needed for the Church, which at that time was outraged by heretics. Gregory was taken to Nazianza by his father, Gregory, who was already an old man and therefore did not have the strength to fight the heretics with firmness, to help the Orthodox, but Basil was persuaded to return to him by Eusebius, Archbishop of Caesarea, who reconciled with him in a letter and asked him to help the Church, which the Arians took up arms against. Blessed Basil, seeing such a need for the Church and preferring it to the benefits of the desert life, left solitude and came to Caesarea, where he worked hard, protecting the Orthodox faith from heresy with words and writings. When Archbishop Eusebius reposed, having given up his spirit to God in the arms of Basil, Vasily was elevated to the archbishop's throne and consecrated by a council of bishops. Among those bishops was the elderly Gregory, the father of Gregory of Nazianzus. Being weak and burdened by old age, he ordered to be escorted to Caesarea in order to convince Basil to accept the archbishopric and prevent the installation of any of the Arians on the throne.Basil successfully ruled the Church of Christ, and he ordained his brother, Peter, as a presbyter, so that he would help him in his work on the affairs of the Church, and later appointed 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.

Some time later, Blessed Basil asked God to enlighten his mind so that he could make a bloodless sacrifice to God in his own words, and so 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 the bread and the 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 the following words: “May my lips be filled with praise, may I sing your glory,” “Lord our God, who created us and brought us into this life,” and other prayers of the holy liturgy. At the end of the prayer, he raised the bread, fervently praying in these words: “Hear, Lord Jesus Christ our God, in the heavens of your habitation and at the throne of your kingdom, and come to sanctify us, and sit on this mountain and abide here with us invisible: and grant with your hand Give us Your most pure body and blood to all of us people." When the saint was doing this, Evvul and the highest clergy saw a heavenly light 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 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 above the holy throne, so that it seemed to guard the Divine Mysteries.

During Vasily’s lifetime, the Lord God testified to his holiness with some miraculous signs. 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 Saint Basil was holding a baby in his hands and breaking him into pieces . When the believers began to receive communion from the hands of the saint, a Jew also came up, and the saint gave him, like 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 there was really blood in it. He hid the remainder of the holy communion and, coming home, showed it to his wife and told her about everything that he had seen with his own eyes. Believing that the Christian sacrament was truly terrible and glorious, he went to Blessed Basil in the morning and begged him to be honored with holy baptism. Vasily, having given thanks to God, immediately baptized the Jew and his entire family.

When the saint was walking along the road one day, a certain poor woman, offended by a certain boss, fell at Vasily’s feet, begging him to write about her to the boss, as a person whom he greatly respected. The saint, having taken the charter, wrote the following to the commander: “This wretched woman appeared to me, saying that my letter is for you.” great importance. 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 took it to the boss. Having read the letter, he wrote in response to the saint like this: "according to the letter to yours, holy father, I would like to show mercy to that woman, but I cannot do this, because she is subject to national taxes." The saint again wrote to him the following: "It’s good if you wanted to, but could not do it, and if you could , but did not want to, then God will put you among the needy, so that you will not be able to do what you want." These words of the saint were soon fulfilled: a little time after this, the king was angry with that boss, for he found out what he was doing great oppression of the people, and imprisoned him so that he would pay everyone he had offended. The commander from prison sent a petition to Saint Basil so that he would take pity on him and appease the king with his petition. Vasily hastened to ask the king for him, and after six days a decree came, freeing the boss from condemnation. The chief, seeing how merciful the saint was to him, hurried to him to bring him gratitude, and gave to 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, King Julian the Apostate, blasphemer and great persecutor of Christians, 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 the form of a warrior with a spear. He prayed that God would not allow the persecutor and destroyer of Christians, Julian, to return alive from the Persian War. And then he saw that the image of Saint Mercury, standing near the Most Holy Theotokos, had changed, and the image of the martyr became invisible for some time. After a little time, the martyr appeared again, but with a bloody spear. At this very time, Julian was pierced during the Persian War by the holy martyr Mercury, sent by the Most Pure Virgin Mary 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, hanging over the holy throne, moved by the power of God, shook three times. One day, when Vasily served and offered up the holy gifts, the usual sign with a dove, which with its shaking indicated the descent of the Holy Spirit, was not there. When Vasily thought about the reason for this, he saw that one of the deacons holding the ripids was looking at one woman standing in the church. Basil ordered that deacon to retreat from the holy altar and assigned him penance - to fast and pray for seven days, to spend whole nights without sleep in prayer and to give alms to the poor from his property. From that time on, Saint Basil ordered that a curtain and a partition be erected in the church in front of the altar, so that no woman could look at the altar during the divine service; He ordered 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 confused by Tsar Valens, blinded by the Arian heresy. He, having overthrown many Orthodox bishops from their thrones, elevated Arians in their places, and forced others, cowardly and fearful, to join his heresy. He was angry and tormented internally, seeing that Basil fearlessly remained on his throne, as an unshakable pillar of his faith, and reinforced and exhorted others to abhor Arianism, as a false teaching hated by God. Bypassing his possessions and extremely oppressing the Orthodox everywhere, the king, on the way to Antioch, arrived in Caesarea in Cappadocia and here began to use all measures to win Basil over to the side of Arianism. He inspired his governors, nobles and advisers, so that they, with prayers and promises, or threats, would induce Vasily to fulfill the king’s desire. And the royal like-minded people persistently convinced the saint to do this; in addition, some noble women, who enjoyed the king’s favor, began to send their eunuchs to the saint, persistently advising him to think with the king. But no one could force this hierarch, unshakable in his faith, to fall away from Orthodoxy. Finally, Eparch Modest called Vasily to himself and, after he was unable to persuade him with flattering promises to fall away from Orthodoxy, he began to furiously threaten him with confiscation of his 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 believe that you do not need these old clothes of mine and several books in which all my wealth lies. There is no exile for me, because I am not bound by place and the place where I live now is not mine, and wherever they send me will be mine. It’s better to say: God’s place is everywhere, wherever I am." wanderer and stranger" (Ps. 39:13). What can torment 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 to whom I have long been striving.Amazed by these words, the ruler said to Vasily: “No one has spoken to me so boldly before!” “Yes,” answered the saint, “because you have never had the opportunity 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, imputing everything else for nothing, look only at Him alone, then fire, sword, beasts and iron tormenting the body , will rather delight us than frighten us. Reporting to Valens about the inflexibility and fearlessness of Saint Basil, Modest said: “We, king, have been defeated by the abbot of the Church.” This husband is higher than threats, firmer 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 a more decent excuse.

The feast of the Epiphany has arrived. The Tsar and his retinue entered the church where Vasily served and, having entered the midst of the people, thereby wanted to show the appearance 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 in his Arian churches he had never seen such order and splendor. Saint Basil, approaching the king, began to talk with him, teaching him from the Holy Scriptures; Gregory of Nazianzus, who happened to be there at that time, also listened to this conversation and wrote about it. From that time on, the king began to treat Vasily better. But, having retired to Antioch, he again became irritated against Vasily, being incited 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 shook and the cane with which he was supposed to sign broke broke. The king took another cane, but the same thing happened to that one, and the same thing happened to the third one. Then his hand trembled, and fear attacked 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 king about Vasily so that he would not leave him alone, and the king sent one dignitary named Anastasius to bring Basil to Antioch. When this dignitary came to Caesarea and announced to Basil about the king’s command, the saint answered: “I, my son, learned some time ago that the king, having listened to the advice of foolish people, broke three canes, wanting to sign a decree about my imprisonment and thereby darken the truth.” . The senseless canes restrained his uncontrollable impetuosity, agreeing to break rather than serve as a weapon for his unjust sentence. Having been brought to Antioch, Basil appeared before the diocesan court, 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, became a follower of the wicked Arian teachings.” , for I inherited from my fathers the faith in the consubstantial, which I profess and glorify. The judge threatened him with death, but Vasily answered: “What? Let me suffer for the truth and be freed from bodily bonds, I have long desired this, - only you will not change yours.” promise.

The eparch reported to the tsar that Vasily was not afraid of threats, that his convictions could not be changed, that his heart was unyielding and firm. The king, inflamed with anger, began to think about how to destroy Vasily. But at this very time, the king’s son, Galat, suddenly fell ill and the doctors had already doomed him to death. His mother, having come to the king, told him with irritation: “Since you believe incorrectly and are persecuting the bishop of God, the boy is dying for this.” Hearing this, Valens called Vasily and said to him: “If God pleases the teaching of your faith, then heal my son with your prayers!” The saint answered: - 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 prayer, and the Lord sent the Tsar’s son relief from 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 baptizing 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 King Valentinian, who reigned in the west, brother of the eastern king Valens. Valentinian, surprised by such a miracle, glorified God, and sent great gifts to Saint Basil, through Anastasius, after accepting which Basil set up hospitals in the cities of his dioceses and gave shelter there to many of the weak and wretched.

Blessed Gregory of Nazianzus also reports that Saint Basil also healed the eparch Modestus, who was so severe towards the saint, with prayer from a serious illness, when he, in his illness, humbly sought help from his holy prayers. After some time, a relative of the king named Eusebius was appointed eparch in Modest's place. In Caesarea during his time there lived a widow, young, rich and very beautiful, named Vestiana, daughter of Arax, who was a member of the Senate. Eparch Eusebius wanted to forcefully marry this widow to a certain dignitary, but she, being chaste and wanting to preserve the purity of her widowhood unsullied, for the glory of God, did not want to get married. When she found out that they wanted to kidnap her by force and force her into marriage, she fled to the church and fell at the feet of the bishop of God, Saint Basil. He, having taken her under his protection, did not want to hand her over from the church to the people who came for her, and then secretly sent her to a nunnery, to his sister, the Venerable 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 to look for her in the saint’s bedchamber. The eparch, as an immoral person, thought that Vasily, with sinful intentions, kept her with him and hid her in his bedchamber. However, I couldn't find it anywhere. He called Vasily to him and scolded him with great fury, threatening to give him over to torture if he did not hand over the widow to him. But Saint Basil showed himself ready for torment. “If you order my body to be whittled with iron,” he said, “then you will heal my liver, which, as you see, worries me greatly.” At this time, the citizens, having learned about the incident, all rushed - not only men, but also women - to the palace of the eparch with weapons and daggers, intending to kill him for the 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.

Elladius, an eyewitness to Basil's miracles and his successor on the episcopal throne, a virtuous and holy man, said the following. One Orthodox senator named Proterius, visiting holy places, intended to give his daughter to serve God in one of the monasteries, but the devil, the original hater of good, aroused in one slave Proterius a passion for the daughter of his master. Seeing the unrealizability of his desire, and not daring to say anything about his passion to the girl, the slave went to one wizard who lived in that city and told him about his difficulty. He promised the wizard a lot of gold if he used his magic to help him marry his master’s daughter. The wizard at first refused, but finally said: “If you want, I will send you to my master, the devil, he will help you with this, if only you 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 it?” The slave said: “I’m ready for this, just to get what I want.” “If you make such a promise,” said the wizard, “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 increase your subjects, I am now sending you the bearer of this letter , a young man inflamed by passion for a girl, and I ask for him that you help him fulfill his desire. Through this I will become famous and attract more admirers to you. Having written such a message to the devil, the wizard gave it to that young man and sent him with these words: “Go at this hour of the night and stand in the Hellenic cemetery, holding up the charter, then immediately those who will lead you to the devil will appear to you.”

The unfortunate slave quickly walked and, stopping at the cemetery, began to call upon demons. And immediately the evil spirits appeared before him and joyfully led the seduced man 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 wizard, the devil, taking the letter, said to the slave: “Do you believe in me?” He answered: “I believe.” The devil asked again: “Are you denying your Christ?” “I renounce,” answered the slave. Then Satan said to him: “You often deceive me, Christians: when you ask me for help, then come to me, and when you achieve your goal, then again you 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 until the day of judgment you will endure eternal torment with me: in this case, I will fulfill your desire. The slave, having taken the charter, wrote what the devil wanted from him. Then the ancient destroyer of souls, the serpent (i.e., the devil), sent demons of adultery, and they aroused in the girl such a strong love for the boy that she, from carnal passion, fell to the ground and began shouting to her father: “Have pity on me, have pity.” your daughter and give me in marriage to our slave, whom I loved with all my might. If you don’t do this for me, your only daughter, then you will soon see me die from 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 seduced 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 the angels and glorify God in psalms and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19), and for your sake I myself hoped to receive salvation, and you shamelessly talk about marriage! Do not bring me from sorrow to hell, my child, do not disgrace your noble title by marrying a slave. She, not paying attention to the words of her parent, said one thing: “If you don’t do as I wish, then I will kill myself.” The father, not knowing what to do, on the advice of his relatives and friends, agreed to do her will better than to see her die a cruel death. Calling his servant, he gave him his daughter and a large estate as his wife and said to his daughter: “Go, unfortunate one, get married!” But I think that later you will begin to strongly repent of your action, and that it will not benefit you.

Some time after this marriage took place and the devil’s deed was completed, it was noticed that the newlywed did not go to church and did not partake of the Holy Mysteries. This was stated to his unfortunate wife: “Don’t you know,” they told her, “that your husband, whom you have chosen, is not a Christian, but is alien to the faith of Christ?” When she heard this, she became extremely sad and, falling to the ground, began to torment her face with her nails, tirelessly beat herself in the 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 to me, unfortunate one! What a ruin I found myself in! Why was I born and why did I not die at birth? When she sobbed like that, her husband heard her and hurried to ask her about the reason for her sobs. Having learned what was the matter, he began to console her, saying that she had been told lies about him and convinced her that he was a Christian. She, having calmed down a little from his speeches, said to him: “If you want to completely assure me and take away the sadness 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 he could not hide the truth, had to, against his will, tell her everything about himself - how he betrayed himself to the devil. She, forgetting the woman’s weakness, hastily 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, calling her husband, asked him if what his wife was saying about him was true. He answered with tears: “Yes, Saint of God, all this is true!” and if I remain 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 turn again to our Lord, Jesus Christ?” “Yes, I want to, but I can’t,” he answered. - From what? - Vasily asked. “Because,” the husband answered, “I gave a receipt that I renounce Christ and surrender myself to the devil.” But Vasily said: “Do not grieve about this, for God is a lover of mankind and accepts those who repent.” The wife, throwing herself at the feet of the saint, begged him saying: “Disciple of Christ!” help us in whatever way you can. Then the saint said to the slave: “Do you believe that you can still be saved?” He said in response: “I believe, sir, help my unbelief.”

After this, the saint, taking him by the hand, made the sign of the cross over him and locked him in a room located inside the church fence, commanding him to continually pray to God. 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, sir,” answered the young man, “I cannot bear the screams 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: “Don’t be afraid, child, just believe.” And, having given 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 are you living, child?” He answered: “From a distance I still hear threats and their screams, but I don’t see them.” Vasily, having given him some food and prayed for him, locked him again and left. Then he came to him on the fortieth day and asked him: “How are you living, child?” He said: “Okay, holy father, for I saw you in a dream, how you fought for me and defeated the devil.” Having said a prayer, the saint led him out of the seclusion and brought him to his cell. In the morning, he called the entire church clergy, monks and all Christ-loving people and said: “Let us glorify God, brother, lover of mankind, for now the Good Shepherd wants to accept the lost sheep and bring it to church: this night we must implore his goodness so that He defeated and put to shame the enemy of our souls.

Believers gathered in church and prayed all night for the penitent, crying out: “Lord have mercy.” When morning came, Vasily, taking the penitent by the hand, led him and all the people to church, singing psalms and hymns. And so the devil shamelessly came there invisibly with all his destructive power, wanting to snatch the young man from the hands of the saint. The young man began to scream: “Saint of God, help me!” But the devil armed himself with such audacity and shamelessness against the young man that he also caused pain to Saint Basil, dragging the young man with him. Then the blessed one turned to the devil with these words: “The most shameless murderer, the prince of darkness and destruction!” Isn’t your destruction enough for you, which you caused to yourself and those with you? Will you not cease to persecute the creatures of my God? The devil cried out to him: “You offend me, Vasily!” - and many heard this devilish voice. Then the saint said: “May the Lord forbid you, O 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 on the day of judgment I will show to the universal Judge. 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 and cry out: “Lord have mercy!” And so, after the people, raising their hands to the sky, cried out with tears for a long time: “Lord have mercy!”, the receipt of that young man, in front of everyone’s eyes, was carried through the air directly into the hands of Saint 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, brother, this receipt?” The young man answered: “Yes, Saint of God, this is my receipt, I wrote it with my own hand.” Basil the Great immediately tore it into pieces in front of everyone and, leading the young man into the church, communed him with the Divine Mysteries and offered a hearty meal to all those present. After that, having given instruction to the young man and indicating the appropriate rules of life, he returned him to his wife, and he, without stopping, glorified and thanked God.

The same Helladius told the following about Saint Basil. One day, our great father Vasily, being illuminated by divine grace, said to his clergy: “Come, children, follow me and we will see the glory of God, and together we will glorify our Master.” With these words he left the city, but no one knew where he wanted to go. At that time, presbyter Anastasius lived in the same village with his wife Theognia. They lived with each other in virginity for forty years, and many thought that Theognia was barren, for no one knew the pure virginity they kept secret. Anastasius, for his holy life, was honored to receive the grace of the Spirit of God, and was a seer. Seeing in spirit that Vasily wanted to visit him, he said to Theognia: “I am going to cultivate the field, and you, my sister, clean the house and, at nine o’clock in the afternoon, having lit the candles, go out to meet the holy Archbishop Vasily, for he is coming to visit us sinners.” . She was surprised at her master’s words, but carried out his orders. When Saint Basil was not far from Anastasia’s house, Theognia came out to meet him and bowed to him. -Are you healthy, Mrs. Feognia? - Vasily asked. She, hearing that he called her by name, was horrified and said: “I’m healthy, holy lord!” The saint said: “Where is Mr. Anastasius, your brother?” She answered: “This is not my 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 their secret, and with trepidation she 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 wondrous things.” The saint prayed for her and moved on. When he entered the presbyter’s house, Anastasius himself met him and, kissing the saint’s feet, said: “Where does this come from to me, that the saint of my Lord came to me?” The saint, giving him a kiss about the Lord, said: “It’s good that I found you, disciple of Christ; Let's go to church and perform God's service. That presbyter had the custom of fasting all days of the week, except Saturday and Sunday, and did not eat anything except bread and water. When they came to the church, Saint Basil ordered Anastasius to serve the liturgy, but he refused, saying: “You know, Vladyka, what is said in Scripture: “ the lesser is blessed by the greater" (Heb.7:7). Vasily said to him: “With all your other good deeds, also have obedience.” When Anastasius was performing the liturgy, then, during the offering of the Holy Mysteries, Saint Basil and others who were worthy saw the Most Holy Spirit descending in the form of fire and surrounding Anastasius and the holy altar. At the end of the divine service, everyone entered the house of Anastasius, and he offered a meal to Saint 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 answered: - Holy Hierarch of God! I am a sinful person and am subject to national taxes; I have two pairs of oxen, of which I work with one myself, and with the other my hired man; I spend what I receive with the help of one pair of oxen to calm the wanderers, and what I receive with the help of another pair goes to pay taxes: my wife also works with me, serving the wanderers and me. Vasily said to him: “Call her your sister, as she really is, and tell me about your virtues.” Anastasy answered: “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, Saint of God,” said Anastasius, “don’t go there, because there is nothing there except 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 one man there, stricken with severe leprosy, many parts of his body had already fallen off, having rotted. No one knew about him except the presbyter himself and his wife. Vasily said to the presbyter: “Why did you want to hide this treasure of yours from me?” “This is an angry and abusive man,” answered the presbyter, “and therefore I was afraid to show him, lest he offend your holiness with some word.” Then Vasily said: “You are performing a good deed, but let me also serve him this night, so that I too can be a partner in the reward that you receive.” And so Saint Basil was left alone with the leper and, locking himself in, 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 teaching he gave to those present, returned to his home.

When the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, who lived in the desert, heard about Saint Basil, he began to pray to God to show him what Basil was like. And then one day, being in a state of spiritual delight, he saw a pillar of fire, the head of which reached to the sky, and heard a voice saying: - Ephraim, Ephraim! How you see this pillar of fire is how Vasily is.The Monk Ephraim immediately, taking with him a translator - for he did not know how to speak Greek - went to Caesarea and arrived there on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Standing in the distance and unnoticed by anyone, he saw Saint Basil walking into the church with great solemnity, dressed in light clothes, and his clergy, also dressed in light clothes. Turning to the translator accompanying him, Ephraim said: “It seems, brother, we worked in vain, for this is a man of such a high rank that I have not seen such a person.” Entering the church, Ephraim stood in the corner, invisible to anyone, and spoke to himself like this: “We,” endured the burden of the day and the heat" (Matthew 20:12), they achieved nothing, and this one, enjoying such fame and honor among people, is at the same time a pillar of fire. This surprises me.When Saint Ephraim reasoned about 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, almost beardless andsmall in stature. Tell him: go and ascend to the altar, for the archbishop is calling you. The archdeacon, with great difficulty, forced his way through the crowd, approached the place where the Monk Ephraim stood and said: “Father!” go, I beg you, and ascend to the altar: the archbishop is calling you. Ephraim, having learned through the translator what the archdeacon had said, answered the latter: “You were mistaken, brother!” We are newcomers and unknown to the archbishop. The archdeacon went to tell Vasily about this, who at that time was explaining the Holy Scriptures to the people. And then the Monk Ephraim saw that fire was coming from the mouth of Basil who was speaking. Then Vasily again said to the archdeacon: “Go and tell the visiting monk: Mr. Ephraim!” I ask you to go up to the holy altar: the archbishop is calling you. The Archdeacon went and spoke as he was ordered. Ephraim was surprised at this and glorified God. Having then bowed to the ground, he said: “Truly great is Basil, truly he is a pillar of fire, truly the Holy Spirit speaks through his lips!”

Then he begged the archdeacon to inform the archbishop that, at the end of the holy service, he wanted to bow to him and greet him in a secluded place. When the Divine service ended, Saint Basil went into the vessel and, calling the Monk Ephraim, gave him a kiss in the Lord and said: “I greet you, Father, who multiplied the disciples of Christ in the desert and by the power of Christ cast out demons from it!” Why, father, did you take on such 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 with his companion he communed with the Most Pure Mysteries from the holy hands of Vasily. When they sat down to a meal in Vasily’s house, the Monk Ephraim said to Saint Basil: “Holy Father!” I ask you for one favor - deign to give it to me. Basil the Great said to him: “Tell me what you need: I am in great debt to you 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 you ask of him, and I want you to beg his goodness to give me the ability to speak Greek.” Vasily answered: “Your request is beyond my strength, but since you ask with firm hope, then, venerable father and desert mentor, let us go to the temple of the Lord and pray to the Lord, who can fulfill your prayer, for it is said: “ He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them." (Ps. 144:19).

Having chosen a convenient time, they began to pray in the 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 sinner, sir! - Ephraim told him through an interpreter. - Oh, if only I had your sins! - said Vasily and added, - let’s bow to the ground. 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 dedication to the deacon. Then he said to the monk: “Now order us to rise from the ground.” For Ephraim, the Greek speech suddenly became clear, and he himself said in Greek: “Intercede, save, have mercy, save us, O God, with your grace.” Everyone praised God for giving Ephraim the ability to understand and speak Greek. The Monk Ephraim stayed with Saint Basil for three days, in spiritual joy. Vasily made him a deacon, and his translator a presbyter, and then released them in peace.

The wicked king once stopped in the city of Nicaea, 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 the church gave them to the Arian congregation. The king himself, being a heretic, did just that: he took the church by force from the Orthodox and gave it to the Arians, and he himself went to Constantinople. When the entire large community of Orthodox Christians was plunged into great sadness, the common representative and patron of all churches, Saint Basil the Great, came to Nicaea; then the entire Orthodox flock came to him with screams and sobs, and told him about the insult they had suffered from the king. The saint, having consoled them with his words, immediately went to the king in Constantinople and, appearing before him, said: “ And the king's power loves judgment" (Ps.98:4). Why did you, Tsar, pronounce an unjust sentence, expelling the Orthodox from the holy church and giving control of it to the unjust? The king told him: “You began to insult me again, Vasily!” It's not right for you to do this. Vasily replied: “It’s good for me to die for the truth.” When they competed and bickered with each other, they were listened to by the chief royal cook who was there, named Demosthenes. He, wanting to help the Arians, said something rude, as a 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 business is to think about food, and not to cook church dogmas.” And Demosthenes, being put to shame, fell silent. The Tsar, now aroused by anger, now feeling ashamed, said to Vasily: “Go and sort out their case, however, judge in such a way as not to turn out to be an assistant to your fellow believers.” “If I judge unfairly,” answered the saint, “then send me to prison, drive out my fellow believers, and give the church to the Arians.”Having taken the royal decree, the saint returned to Nicaea and, calling the Arians, said to them: “The king has given me the power to institute judgment between you and the Orthodox regarding the church, which you seized by force.” They answered him: “Judge, but according to the royal court.” The saint then said: “Go, you Arians and you Orthodox, and close the church, lock it, seal it with seals: you with yours, and you with yours, and place 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, through your prayer, the church doors open by themselves, then let the church be yours forever: if this does not happen, then we will pray for one night and go with the litany, while singing sacred hymns, to the church, if it opens for us , then we will own it forever, but if it is not revealed to us, then the church will be yours again.

The Arians liked this proposal, but the Orthodox were upset with the saint, saying that he did not judge according to truth, but out of fear of the king. Then, when both sides had tightly locked the holy church, after it was sealed, a vigilant guard was 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 the morning until the sixth hour, standing and crying: Lord have mercy. But the church doors did not open for them, and they left in shame. Then Basil the Great, having gathered all the Orthodox Christians with their wives and children, left the city to the church of the holy martyr Diomede and, having celebrated the all-night vigil there, in the morning he went with everyone to the sealed cathedral church, chanting: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” ! Stopping in front of the church doors, 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, approaching the doors, made the sign of the cross three times and said: “Blessed is the Christian God always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.” When the people exclaimed: “Amen,” the earth immediately shook, and the locks began to break, the shutters fell out, the seals were broken, and the gates opened, as if from strong wind and storms, so that the doors hit the walls. Saint Basil began to chant: - " Lift up your gates, O princes, and lift up the everlasting gates, and the King of glory will come in!" (Ps. 23:7). Then he entered the church with many Orthodox Christians and, having performed the divine service, dismissed the people with joy. Countless numbers of Arians, having seen that miracle, abandoned their delusion and joined the Orthodox. When the king learned about such a just decision of Vasily 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 died in a pitiful manner. 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 tsar followed after the repose of our holy father Vasily, but in the same year in which the saint also reposed.

Once before Saint Basil, his brother, Bishop Peter of Sebastia, was slandered. They said about him that he allegedly continued to cohabit with his wife, whom he left before being consecrated as a bishop - but it is not proper for a bishop to be married. Hearing about this, Vasily said: “It’s good that you told me about this, I will go with you and expose 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 left the city to meet Saint Basil in eight fields and, seeing his brother with a large number of companions, smiled and said: “Brother, how would you stand against me like a robber?” Having given each other a kiss in the Lord, they entered the city and, having prayed in the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, came to the bishop's house. Vasily, seeing his daughter-in-law, said: “Hello, my sister, or better yet, the bride of the Lord, I came here for you.” She answered: “Hello to you too, most honorable father, and I have long wanted to kiss your honest feet.” And Vasily said to Peter: “I ask you, brother, spend the night with your wife in the church.” “I will do everything you command me,” answered Peter. When night fell and Peter was resting in the church with his wife, Saint Basil was there with five virtuous men. Around midnight he woke up these men and said to them: “What do you see over my brother and over my daughter-in-law? They said: “We see the angels of God fanning them and anointing their immaculate bed with fragrances.” Vasily then told them: “Be silent, 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 did this, the saint said to those holding the brazier. - Put burning coals in her clothes. They fulfilled 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: “Spread, brother, your phelonion.” When he fulfilled this command, Vasily said to the servants: “Pour the coals from the brazier into the phelonion,” and they poured out. When Peter and his wife held 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 protects His saints and grants them blessings while still on earth.” When Peter and his wife threw the coals on the ground, no smoky smell was felt from them, and their clothes remained unburnt. Then Basil commanded the above-mentioned five virtuous men to tell everyone what they had seen, 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 anointing their immaculate bed with aromas. After this, everyone glorified God, who cleanses His saints from the lying slander of men.

In the days of our venerable father Basil in Caesarea there was a widow of noble birth, extremely rich, living voluptuously, pleasing her flesh, she completely enslaved herself to sin and for many years remained in prodigal uncleanness. God, who wants everyone to repent (2 Peter 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 mourn her situation like this: “Woe to me, a sinner and a prodigal one!” How will I answer the righteous Judge for the sins I have committed? I corrupted the temple of my body, I desecrated my soul. Woe to me, the worst of sinners! Who can I compare myself to in terms of my sins? Is it with a harlot or with a publican? But no one has sinned like me. And - what’s especially scary - I committed so much evil already after receiving baptism. And who will tell me whether God will accept my repentance? Sobbing, she remembered everything she had done from youth to old age, and, sitting down, wrote it on the charter. After all, she wrote down one most serious sin 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, Saint of God,” I have sinned more than anyone! The saint stopped and asked her what she wanted from him; She, handing the sealed charter into his hands, said: “Here, lord, I wrote all my sins and iniquities on this charter and sealed it, but you, saint of God, do not read it and do not remove the seal, but just cleanse them with your prayer.” , for I believe that the One who gave me this thought will hear you when you pray for me. Vasily, taking the charter, raised his eyes to heaven and said: “Lord! You alone can do this. For, if You took upon Yourself the sins of the whole world, then all the more can You cleanse the sins of this one soul, since all our sins, although counted by You, are still Your mercy 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. The next 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 said to her: “You heard, woman, that” no one can forgive sins except God alone" (Mark 2:7). She said: “I heard it, 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; The only thing that was not erased was the grave sin that was recorded by her afterwards. At the sight of this, the woman was horrified and, hitting herself in the chest, fell at the feet of the saint, crying out: “Have mercy on me, servant of the Most High God, and just as you had mercy on all my iniquities and begged God for them, so beg for this too, so that it was completely cleared. The archbishop, shedding tears of pity for her, said: “Get up, woman: I myself am a sinful man, 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 you protect yourself from sin in the future and begin to walk in the path of the Lord, you will not only be forgiven, but 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 from God, the Lover of Mankind. The woman, according to the word of the saint, went into the desert and, having walked a long distance, found the cell of blessed Ephraim. Knocking on the door, she said: “Have mercy on me, a sinner, Reverend Father!” Saint Ephrem, having learned in his spirit about the purpose for which she came to him, answered her: “Get away from me, woman, for I am a sinful man and I myself need the help of other people.” She then threw the charter in front of him and said: “Archbishop Vasily sent me to you, so that you, having prayed to God, 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 sent to you. The Monk Ephraim said: “No, child, the one who could beg God for many of your sins can all the more beg for one.” So, go, go immediately to catch him alive before he goes to the Lord. Then the woman, having bowed to the monk, returned to Caesarea.

But she came here just in time for the burial of Saint Basil, for he had already reposed, 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 is me, saint of God!” woe to me, unfortunate one! Is this why you sent me into the desert, so that, undisturbed by me, you could leave your 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 give me help yourself, sent me to another. So crying out, she threw the charter over the saint’s bed, telling all the people about her grief. One of the clergy, wanting to see what was written in the charter, took it and, untying it, did not find any words on it: the entire charter became clean. “Nothing is written here,” he said to the woman, “and you are sad in vain, not knowing the ineffable 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 repose.

There lived a Jew in Caesarea 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 death of the patient in three or five days, and even pointed to the very hour of death. Our God-bearing father Vasily, foreseeing his future conversion to Christ, loved him very much and, often inviting him to a conversation with himself, 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, neither I nor you will die until you” you are not born of water and spirit" (John 3:5), for without such grace one cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Weren't your fathers baptized" in the clouds and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:1)? Didn’t they drink from the stone, which was a prototype of the spiritual stone-Christ, born of the Virgin for the sake of our salvation? This Christ your fathers crucified, but He, being buried on the third day, rose again and, having ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of the Father and from there will come to judge the living and the dead. The saint told him many other things that were useful for the soul, but the Jew remained in his unbelief. When the time came for the saint’s repose, he fell ill and called a Jew to him, as if in need of his medical help, and he asked him: “What do you say about me, Joseph?” The same, having examined the saint, said to his household: “Prepare everything for burial, for from minute to minute his death must be expected.” But Vasily said: “You don’t know what you’re saying!” The Jew answered: “Believe me, sir, that your death will come before sunset.” Then Vasily said to him: “And if I remain alive until the morning, until the sixth hour, what will you do then?” Joseph replied: “Let me die then!” “Yes,” the saint said to this, “die, but die to sin in order to live for God!” - I know what you’re talking about, sir! - answered the Jew, - and so I swear to you that if you live until the 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. The next morning he sent for him, but he did not believe the servant who told him that Vasily was alive, but he went to see him, as he thought he was already dead. When he saw him really alive, he seemed to go into a frenzy, and then, falling at the saint’s feet, he said in an outburst of heart: “Great is the Christian God, and there is no other God besides Him!” I renounce the ungodly Judaism and convert to the true Christian faith. The holy father commanded that he immediately administer holy baptism to me, as well as to my entire household. Saint Basil told him: “I baptize you with my own hands!” The Jerei, approaching him, touched the saint’s right hand and said: “Your strength, sir, has weakened, and your whole nature has completely weakened; you cannot baptize me yourself.” “We have a Creator who strengthens us,” answered Vasily. And, having risen, he entered the church and, in the presence of all the people, baptized the Jew and his whole family; he named him John and communed him with the Divine Mysteries, performing the liturgy himself that day. Having taught the newly baptized one about eternal life and addressed a word of edification to all his verbal sheep, the saint remained in the church until the ninth hour. Then, giving everyone his last kiss and forgiveness, he began to thank God for all his ineffable blessings and, while the word of thanksgiving was still on his lips, he gave his soul into the hands of God and, like 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.

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, you would not have died even now if you had not wanted to.” The burial of St. Basil represented significant event and showed how highly respected he was. Not only Christians, but also Jews and pagans flocked to the street in great numbers and persistently pressed towards the tomb of the deceased saint. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus also arrived at Basil’s burial and wept a lot for the saint. The bishops gathered here sang funeral hymns and buried the honorable relics of the great saint of God Basil in the church of the holy martyr Eupsychios, praising God, One in the Trinity, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

(329/30–379)

Birth, childhood, youth and young years of the saint

Saint Basil the Great was born in Cappadocia around 330. He came from a noble, rich and very godly family. His paternal grandmother, Macrina the Elder, was once a student of Gregory the Wonderworker. Her husband, the grandfather of Basil the Great, was also a zealous Christian. Both of them became famous by confessing the Lord. During times of persecution, they had to hide, endure many hardships and forced grief.

Their son, Vasily the Elder, father of Basil the Great, was a recognized lawyer and, at the same time, a teacher of rhetoric. He had possessions in Cappadocia, Pontus, and Lesser Armenia. From his marriage with the rare beauty Emelia, an orphan, the daughter of a martyr, who revered chastity and virginity, but married in order to avoid obsessive harassment from wicked people, five daughters and four sons were born: Basil, Naucratius, Gregory and Peter.

Naucratius died quite young, Gregory eventually became the famous saint of Nyssa, and Peter became the bishop of Sebaste. Mother Emelia, after the death of her beloved husband, devoted her life to monastic feat. Her daughter, Macrina the Younger, sister of Basil the Great, also chose the monastic path.

Vasily spent his childhood on his father's estate in Pontus. As an infant, he suffered a serious illness, from which he was healed by no less than a miracle. Vasily's early views and behavior were formed with the participation of his mother. But his grandmother, Macrina, played a special role in his upbringing. When the child grew up, his father took over his education. In particular, he taught his son Greek grammar and literature.

Vasily received further education in Caesarea in Cappadocia. It was probably there that he first met the future Saint Gregory the Theologian. After this, Basil studied in Constantinople, where it is believed that he met the famous sophist Livanius.

Finally, Vasily went to the “center of enlightenment”, Athens. There he replenished his knowledge of literature and philosophy, honed his skills of eloquence and oratory. They say that in addition to this, Vasily mastered astronomy and medicine. In Athens, the Providence of God again brought him together with Gregory the Theologian, who arrived there a little earlier. Being together nurtured and strengthened their friendship. Here Vasily met the future Emperor Julian, the persecutor and destroyer of the Church.

The first steps of Basil the Great in the Christian field

Around 358, after almost five years in Athens, Basil returned to Caesarea. For some time, at the request of his fellow citizens, he taught rhetoric. During this period, he received Baptism, possibly from the Bishop of Caesarea, Diania, whom he revered. Despite the fact that Vasily himself was baptized at such a mature age, he subsequently pointed out the inappropriateness of delaying this event.

Soon, driven by curiosity and the desire to become acquainted with the ascetic life, Vasily set off on a journey through the lands of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Here he became closest to the ideals of the ascetics.

Having returned, he distributed all his property to those in need, leaving with him only the necessary clothes, and, together with a few like-minded people, retired to the deserted place of Pontus. Staying in solitude, he engaged in physical labor, indulged in prayers, reading the Scriptures and writings of the fathers, and ascetic deeds. Vasily's usual food was bread and water. He slept on the ground. Soon his faithful comrade Gregory the Theologian joined him. During this period, friends compiled a collection based on excerpts from the works of Origen - Philocalia.

The harsh deeds and highly moral life of Christian hermits attracted many imitators and supporters, who, when they came, settled nearby. Vasily took an active part in organizing the religious and moral life of the multiplying communities.

It must be said that Basil the Great’s ideas about monasticism differed from the beliefs that then prevailed among the ascetics of Egypt. As is known, he gave preference to the communal structure of monasteries, believing that this form of monasticism provides more opportunities for the realization of fraternal Christian love. At the request of the hermits, Vasily compiled a set of moral rules necessary for them.

The dogmatic disputes that worried the Church also did not go unnoticed by him. It is alleged that in order to promote the Church, Vasily could afford to leave a refuge dear to his heart. So, in 360 he went with Bishop Dianius, who, by that time, had ordained him as a reader, to Constantinople, to the Church Council.

The ministry of Basil the Great in the rank of presbyter

In 363 or 364, Eusebius of Caesarea, successor of Dianias, invited Basil to Caesarea and ordained him a priest. At first, Vasily objected, considering himself unworthy and saddened by the need to lose the opportunity of the monastic solitude he loved.

The state of the Church at that time was confused, if not depressing. The greed of priests, simony, the triumph of heretical errors, intrigue, enmity - these are just a few of the difficulties that Vasily encountered in the nature of his pastoral work.

Being an outstanding personality, from now on he became an assistant to the bishop both in administrative matters and in the fight for the purity of faith and morals among Christians. Subsequently, this caused unhealthy jealousy in the bishop, who was significantly inferior to Vasily in eloquence and education, and discord arose between them. Not wanting to aggravate the already complicated situation, Vasily showed prudence and again retired into solitude. Meanwhile, with the strengthening of the influence of Arianism, Vasily considered it his duty to return. The discord was smoothed out and overcome.

Sainthood of Basil the Great

In 370, after the death of Eusebius, despite the disagreement and opposition of some laymen and bishops, Basil the Great took the see. Emperor Valens, who declared himself a strict champion of Arianism, made great efforts to break the fortitude of his opponents, including St. Basil, faithful to Orthodoxy. Orthodox people faced persecution, deprivation and expulsion.

At this time, Cappadocia was divided into two provinces, which led to a decrease in the territory canonically governed by Orthodox shepherds: one of its parts was headed, in religious terms, by the wicked Bishop of Tyana Anthimus. In turn, Vasily, firm in his convictions, did not stop fighting for the purity of the faith throughout Cappadocia and continued to install worthy bishops. In this regard, for example, the brother of St. Basil, Gregory, was appointed bishop of Nyssa.

In addition to ascetic and pastoral piety, the activities of Basil the Great were marked by the organization of assistance to the poor, despite the fact that he himself, by his own free will, was one of the poorest people. Among other things, the saint organized almshouses. For example, in Caesarea he set up a hospital and a hospice.

Basil the Great died on January 1, 379, a couple of years before the Second Ecumenical Council. Almost the entire population of Caesarea mourned him. For his merits and the highest holiness of life, Vasily is canonized by the Church and is revered with the name “Great”.

The work of Saint Basil as a church writer

Throughout his literary career, Basil the Great proved himself to be a writer of broad outlook and many theological directions. Among his works, works of an ascetic and spiritual-moral, polemical and dogmatic nature stand out. A significant part of creative work consists of conversations and letters. In addition, the authorship of the Great Cappadocian belongs to many rules.

Unfortunately, not all of the saint’s works have survived to this day. At the same time, a small number of works traditionally attributed to him raise doubts about their authenticity.

In his ascetic writings, Basil the Great examined and revealed such topics as love for God and neighbors; questions about faith, sin, repentance; about truth and lies; about those who are tempted and those who seduce, about firmness in temptations; about poverty and wealth; about rancor; sorrow at the sight of a brother sinning; about the gifts of God; God's judgment; joy from suffering for Christ; about grief for the dying; human glory; about children and parents, virgins and widows, warriors, sovereigns, etc.

In the field of Orthodox dogma, the most important thing was and continues to be his clearly formulated definition and distinction between the concepts of “essence” and “hypostasis”, necessary for a correct understanding of the dogma of the Holy Trinity. He analyzed the doctrine of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the essay "".

The saint paid much attention to the Sacraments of the Church - Baptism and the Eucharist - and to the question of priestly service. One of the most important merits of the archpastor is the compilation of the rite of the Divine Liturgy (see more details:).

Among the exegetical works of Basil the Great, , and .

Troparion to Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, tone 1

Thy message has gone out into the whole earth, / as if it has received your word, / which thou hast divinely taught, / thou hast clarified the nature of beings, / thou hast adorned human customs, / the royal priesthood, Reverend Father, / pray to Christ God / for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion to Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, tone 4

Thou hast appeared as an unshakable foundation to the Church, / giving to all the unstealthy dominion of man, / sealing with thy commands, / the unappearing Venerable Basil.

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia (†379)

Works of St. Basil the Great

Dogmatic-polemical creations

Exegetical creations

Ascetic creations

Liturgical works of St. Basil

Letters

Birth, childhood, youth and young years of the saint

The first steps of Basil the Great in the Christian field

The ministry of Basil the Great in the rank of presbyter

Sainthood of Basil the Great

The work of Saint Basil as a church writer

Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia (†379)