January 2nd: Feast Day of St Basil the Great

Today is the feast Day of St Basil the Great. 10 facts about this saint.

1. Well, it is his feast day for some. January 2 is his feast day in the Roman Calendar, and for the Church of England, but other churches observe it on different dates. Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates it on January 1, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada celebrate it on June 14. The Macedonian Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Basil's feast on January 14.
2. So who was this guy, then? He was the Greek bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), and an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church.
3. He was widely known for providing for the poor - he came from a rich family but gave all his possessions to the poor. He also personally organised a soup kitchen, and actively worked to reform thieves and prostitutes.
4. He had a whole town built, near Caesarea, which included homes, a poorhouse, a hospital, a church and a hostel for travellers. It had a staff of medical professionals and artisans, and was large enough to be given a name - Basiliad.
5. He was given the title of Doctor of the Church and is known for the writings he left behind which include guidelines for monastic life which focus on community life, liturgical prayer, and manual labour, letters and sermons. Other titles include Great Hierarch, revealer of heavenly mysteries and he is one of the Cappadocian Fathers along with Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa.
6. Gregory of Nazianzus was a close friend of his, who he met at school. They studied together after school, in Athens, where they met a fellow student who would become the emperor Julian the Apostate.
7. Basil came from a family of saints. His maternal grandfather was a Christian martyr and his siblings, Macrina the Younger, Naucratius, Peter of Sebaste and Gregory of Nyssa are also saints.
8. St. Basil is depicted in icons as thin and ascetic with a long, tapering black Beard, often with a dove or heavenly hand giving him a pen.
9. He is patron of Russia, Cappadocia, Hospital administrators, Reformers, Monks, Education, Exorcism and Liturgists.
10. He's the Greek Father Christmas, bringing gifts to children on his feast day (which is January 1 in Greece). It is traditional on St Basil's Day to serve rich Bread baked with a coin inside, and to visit the homes of friends and relatives, sing New Year's carols, and to set an extra place at the table for Saint Basil.