Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen

Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen were two of the great Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth century, Doctors of the Church, and lifelong friends who together defended the faith of Nicaea against the Arian heresy in an age of fierce controversy. They had studied together as young men at Athens and shared a love of learning, of Scripture, and of the monastic ideal, and the Church fittingly honors them on a single day.

Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, was a giant of pastoral charity and organization, a father of Eastern monasticism whose Rule still guides monks today, and the builder of a vast complex for the poor and the sick that bore his name; his eloquence and firmness earned him the title "the Great." His friend Gregory of Nazianzus, a man of gentler and more contemplative temper, was so profound and luminous a preacher on the mystery of the Trinity that he is honored simply as "the Theologian"; called to Constantinople, he did much to secure the triumph of orthodox faith at the Council of 381. United in life and in doctrine, they are celebrated together on 2 January.