The Family of Saint Basil the Great – School of Holiness

A model of holiness for the contemporary Christian family is the family of Saint Basil the Great. The family of saints of the great Cappadocian, Saint Basil, is one of the most famous in the history of the Orthodox Church. About this family, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel writes, in the Foreword to the 2026 Christian Orthodox Calendar, that “in the 4th century, the family of Saint Basil the Great offers us a remarkable example of how holiness breeds holiness: the parents Basil and Emilia, the grandmother Macrina the Elder, and five of the children – Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Peter of Sebaste, Saint Venerable Navcratius (a great hermit and miracle worker in the Sinai desert) and Saint Macrina the Younger – all became eight saints in the Church calendar, showing that Christian education and the living of the evangelical virtues in the family can bear fruits of holiness for all generations.”

This family of saints shows us how, 17 centuries ago, in Asia Minor, the Christian faith was lived and especially how the values ​​of the Gospel built in the souls of the children of the rector Basil and his wife, Emilia, with the support of their grandmother Macrina, gave birth to saints in the calendar of the Orthodox Church. The family into which these saints of the Orthodox Church were born was a rich and important one in Cappadocia.

The greatest achievement of this family, belonging to the aristocracy of the Roman Empire, "was to adorn the vesture of the Church with a row of saints, like jewels." One of Saint Basil the Great's maternal ancestors, Emilia, "obtained the crown of martyrdom, and his paternal grandparents, Basil, confessed Christ during the persecutions of Emperor Maximian Daia and took refuge in the mountains of the Pontus region, where they remained for seven years (306-313), during which time they were fed by wild animals (they are not mentioned in the Byzantine synaxarion; in the West they are commemorated on January 14, in the Roman Martyrology). His parents, Saint Basil the Elder and Saint Emilia, became known for their virtues, for the care they showed to the poor, and for the fact that they had guided their ten children on the path of holiness," as Father Makarios Simonopetrit records in his work, Synaxarion - Lives of the Saints.

He also tells us that the true spiritual guide of the family was the sister of Saint Basil the Great, “Saint Macrina, also called the Philosopher,” celebrated by the Church on July 19. She “encouraged both her mother and her brothers to enter monastic life: Saint Naucratius (June 8), Saint Gregory, who would become Bishop of Nyssa (January 10), and Saint Peter, the future Bishop of Sebastia (January 9).”

A major influence in the formation of these saints of the Orthodox Church was their grandmother, Saint Macrina, called the Elder, to distinguish her from her granddaughter, Saint Macrina, also called the Younger. The grandmother of Saint Basil the Great is one of the important Christian women in the history of the Church, being the mother and grandmother of saints, but also a great confessor of the Christian faith. Saint Macrina the Elder was the disciple of Saint Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea, the wonderworker, whom we celebrate on November 17. The teachings of this holy hierarch of the Church were passed on by the saint to her grandchildren, contributing to their theological formation.

Saint Basil the Great testifies in his epistles to the influence that his grandmother and mother had on his Christian formation:

“I have preserved in myself the same teaching that I received from my late mother and from my grandmother, Macrina. I did not modify this faith later, when I became more mature, but only deepened it, but still along the line that my parents transmitted to me from the beginning.”

The most important saint that this Cappadocian family gave to the Church is Saint Basil the Great. Every year, on January 1, we celebrate the Great Father of the Church, as an example for all Christians. He was “loving wisdom” and lived ascetic, studying the “Law of God”. He chose “living together with God” above all else and guarded “the dignity of the soul unscathed”, submitting the carnal mind to the Spirit, and for this he stands before Christ as His friend.

Saint Basil the Great was born in Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia at the end of the third decade of the fourth century. In some hagiographic texts we find the year of his birth 329, in others 330. In his childhood he was guided on the path of faith by his mother and grandmother, and his father, a well-known rhetoric teacher, taught him the profane sciences. After his father’s death, he continued his studies with important teachers of his era. He ends up studying in Athens, alongside his friend, Saint Gregory the Theologian. Here, Saint Basil the Great excels in all the fields he studies. He gains notoriety among his colleagues, who, after completing their studies, want to be their teacher. He does not want to stay in Athens and returns to Cappadocia, where he begins a promising career as a rhetorician, following the example of his father.

Urged by his sister Macrina and having the example of the ascetics of Cappadocia before him, he gives up his career as a rhetorician and follows the ascetic path of spiritual perfection. Wanting to find a spiritual guide, he goes to the ascetic centers of Egypt, the Holy Land, Syria and Mesopotamia. Returning to Cappadocia, he establishes a monastic hearth in a deserted valley. Here he will also bring his friend, Saint Gregory the Theologian. The two lead a life of harsh ascetic hardship combined with prayer and the study of biblical texts. Over time, more Christians join them, following them on this ascetic path, which leads Saint Basil the Great to compose his famous Rules for monks.

In 360, he was called to Caesarea in Cappadocia and ordained a deacon, and in 363 he was ordained a priest. During this period, he was responsible for organizing the monks of Cappadocia into cloisters. Saint Basil returned to his hermitage and remained there until Emperor Valens, a supporter of Arianism, became emperor. Faced with this great danger to Nicene Orthodoxy, the great Cappadocian left his monastic hearth and came to Caesarea in Cappadocia to defend the truths of faith formulated at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325.

Being an excellent orator, he strengthened Christians in Nicene Orthodoxy and instilled in them a love for Holy Scripture, but also for the fulfillment of virtues. During the famine of 367, he opened the granaries of the rich to feed the population of Caesarea in Cappadocia, saving thousands of people from death. He offers, first of all, his personal example, sharing with the needy even the last of his possessions.

In 370 he was elected Archbishop of Caesarea Cappadocia and, in this capacity, became an important defender of Nicene Orthodoxy in the face of the Arian assault supported by Emperor Valens. His theological authority extended beyond his metropolitanate, and after the passing to the Lord of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, he became the most important defender of Orthodoxy in the face of Arianism and other heresies in the Roman Empire. His activity was not limited to theological, because he developed a social-philanthropic activity that became a model for all Orthodox hierarchs of all times. Thus, near Caesarea Cappadocia, the famous “city of charity” called Vasiliada was born.

Saint Basil the Great had only a few months of peace in his confrontation with the Arians, after the death of Emperor Valens, in 378, when the pious Emperor Theodosius ascended the imperial throne. On January 1, 379, the great Cappadocian passed away to the Lord, and we, at the beginning of each year, honor as we should the one who is an exceptional example for us Orthodox Christians.

Fr. Ciprian Florin Apetrei