Homily for Memorial of Sts. Basil and Gregory

Homily for the Memorial
of Sts. Basil the Great 

& Gregory Nazianzen

Jan. 2, 2020

Collect
Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

In this season of light, the Collect for Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen speaks of the light that they brought to Christ’s Church by their example and teaching.  They came from the same part of the Roman Empire, from Cappadocia in what’s now Turkey, and they were friends, admirers, and supporters of each other from their youth.  As the excerpt from Gregory in today’s Office indicates, they had a friendly rivalry—each promoting the excellence of the other.

St. Basil the Great

(Kiev Cathedral)

Basil apparently was marked for greatness from the start.  Gregory was more retiring and had to be pushed toward ecclesiastical office, including by his friend.  Both became bishops, and both were staunch defenders of the divinity of Jesus Christ in the face of Arianism—which was politically correct at the time and caused a lot of grief particularly to Gregory, who had the misfortune, shall we say, of being made patriarch of Constantinople and thus thrust into the teeth of the imperial court and its Arian friends.  His theological writing was so sound and so clear that he became known as “the Theologian,” a title he retains in the Eastern Churches.  Nevertheless, the opposition in Constantinople induced his resignation after just a couple of years, and he retired to a life of recollection and hymn-writing in the friendlier neighborhood of his home region.

St. Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen)

(Kariye Camii, Istanbul)

Basil, on the other hand, didn’t encounter political difficulties.  He mixed a life of prayer with a very active one of pastoral care and practical charity—supporting schools, founding hospitals, promoting monasticism (St. Benedict learned from him a century and a half later), and fostering liturgical life (composing texts for the Eucharist and teaching people to pray the Psalms).  He urged care for the poor upon the political authorities and defended true doctrine in writing.

From Basil and Gregory we may learn, as the Collect suggests, to pursue the truth with humility and to practice charity—to be humble and loving prophets of fraternity toward each other, 1st of all; then toward those whom our charism calls us to serve, including our staff; and then toward others—servants of the young and of all.  Pursuing the truth, I suggest, includes taking a keen interest in contemporary events—not just elections—but all else that touches Christ’s Church, human dignity, natural law, and the common good, so that, like doctors Basil and Gregory we may enlighten others with the Gospel.  In all things, we seek divine sustenance by prayer—mystics in the Spirit.