{"id":25216,"date":"2010-01-02T07:28:21","date_gmt":"2010-01-02T11:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/01\/saint-basil-the-great-saint-gr\/"},"modified":"2010-01-02T07:28:21","modified_gmt":"2010-01-02T11:28:21","slug":"saint-basil-the-great-saint-gr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/01\/saint-basil-the-great-saint-gr\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Basil the Great & Saint Gregory Nazianzian"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"Sts<\/a><\/p>\n

Saint Basil the Great<\/b>, bishop of Caesarea was one of the
\nmost distinguished Doctors of the Church. He lived c. 329 to January 1, 379.
\nTheologians place Saint Basil after Saint Athanasius as a defender of the
\nChurch against the heresies of the fourth century (the most destructive of the
\nfaith was the Arian heresy).<\/p>\n

Saint
\nGregory of Nazianzus<\/b> (c. 325-389) was also from Cappadocia and a friend of Basil, followed
\nthe monastic way of life for some years. Eventually the Church called Nazianzus to be a priest and later bishop of Constantinople (in 381). Saint
\nGregory was given the title “The Theologian” because of his learning
\nand oratory.<\/p>\n

Many icons of Saints Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil include
\nNazianzus’ brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa. The group is known as “The
\nThree Cappadocians.” Some make the claim that Basil outshines Nazianzus and
\nNyssa in practical genius and actual achievement. BTW, the icon presented here does not include Nyssan but Saint John Chrysostom.<\/p>\n

The liturgical prayer for today’s memorial may be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saint Basil the Great writes on life’s journey:<\/i><\/p>\n

We read in the Book of
\nPsalms: ‘Blessed is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor
\nfollows in the way of sinners.’ Life has been called a ‘way’ because everything
\nthat has been created is on the way to its end. When people are on a sea
\nvoyage, they can sleep while they are being transported without any effort of
\ntheir own to their port of call. The ship brings them closer to their goal
\nwithout their even knowing it. So we can be transported nearer to the end of
\nour life without our noticing it, as time flows by unceasingly. Time passes
\nwhile you are asleep. While you are awake time passes although you may not notice.<\/p>\n

All
\nof us have a race to run towards our appointed end. So we are all ‘on the way’.
\nThis is how you should think of the ‘way’. You are a traveller in this life.
\nEverything goes past you and is left behind. You notice a flower on the way, or
\nsome grass, or a stream, or something worth looking at. You enjoy it for a
\nmoment, then pass on. Maybe you come on stones or rocks or crags or cliffs or
\nfences, or perhaps you meet wild beasts or reptiles or thorn bushes or some
\nother obstacles. You suffer briefly then escape. That is what life is like.<\/p>\n

Pleasures
\ndo not last but pain is not permanent either.<\/p>\n

The ‘way’ does not belong to you
\nnor is the present under your control. But as step succeeds step, enjoy each
\nmoment as it comes and then continue on your ‘way’.<\/p>\n

Commentary
\non Psalm 1, 4<\/i> (PG<\/i> 29, 220)<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saint Basil the Great, bishop of Caesarea was one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church. He lived c. 329 to January 1, 379. Theologians place Saint Basil after Saint Athanasius as a defender of the Church against the heresies of the fourth century (the most destructive of the faith was the Arian heresy). … Continue reading Saint Basil the Great & Saint Gregory Nazianzian<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1710],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}