Basil the Great

Basil was born in Caesarea in Cappadocia, in what is now central Turkey, into a wealthy Christian family famous for its saints, including his grandmother Macrina the Elder, his sister Macrina and his brother Gregory of Nyssa. He studied in Constantinople and Athens, where he became close friends with Gregory of Nazianzus. Returning home, he was influenced by his sister to give up a promising career, was baptized, and visited monks in Egypt and Syria. He then founded a monastic community, and his rules for monks, which stress community life, prayer, work and service, still guide Eastern Orthodox monasteries. In 370 he became bishop of Caesarea. During a famine he sold family property to feed the hungry, and outside the city he built a large complex, called the Basileias, with a hospital, a poorhouse and lodgings for travelers. With the two Gregories, called the Cappadocian Fathers, he defended the Nicene faith and helped clarify the teaching on the Trinity and the Holy Spirit, preparing the way for the Council of Constantinople in 381. He died in 379.

Faith: Early Church Father who defended orthodox Christian faith against Arianism; venerated as a saint. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica