31 December 2024
Belgium Archdiocese Includes Female ‘Episcopal Delegate’ in Eucharistic Prayer at Mass
Comment by Peter Kwasnieski (to whom a H/T for finding this):[H]aving female ‘acolytes,’ ‘lectors,’ ‘pastoral administrators,’ and now ‘episcopal delegates’ is impossible on a sane Christology and a sound ecclesiology.
From LifeSiteNews
From LifeSiteNews
By Michael Haynes
The Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels in Belgium has directed its parishes to include Rebecca Charlier-Alsberge, episcopal delegate to the Vicariate of Walloon Brabant, in the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass, directly after the Pope and local bishop.
In a notable development, a Belgian archdiocese has issued a memo stating that a laywoman, who serves as an episcopal delegate in place of a bishop, should be named in the Canon of the Mass along with the Pope and local bishop.
Late last year, the Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels appointed Rebecca Charlier-Alsberge as episcopal delegate to the Vicariate of Walloon Brabant, which is one of the three vicariates making up the archdiocese. The move was notable, and was outlined as being in line with Pope Francis’ vision for a more “synodal” Church.
Now in recent weeks, an official memo from the archdiocese has been issued to the Vicariate stating that Alsberge’s name be mentioned in the Canon of the Mass, just as the Pope and then the local bishop is named.
Background
In a December 2023 announcement from the archdiocese, Alsberge was revealed as the incoming episcopal delegate of the Vicariate of Walloon Brabant, following the resignation of Bishop Jean-Luc Hudsyn, one of the archdiocesan auxiliaries.
Archbishop Luc Terlinden – who has led the archdiocese since 2023 and is Primate of Belgium – made the appointment himself. Alsberge’s five-year term began on January 1 of this year, and she is assisted with a deputy, Father Alain de Maere, who has responsibility especially for the ordained ministers.
The mother of four has held leadership positions within the archdiocese for some time, but being named as the archbishop’s representative was a signal change. “Apart from the liturgical side that I do not carry, the tasks will be the same as those pursued by Bishop Hudsyn,” she noted.
Such an appointment forms part of a new style for the Church in Belgium, with Terlinden stating the nomination was to be understood “vision of a synodal and missionary Church developed by our Pope Francis.”
Alsberge highlighted that while she has the assistance of a priest as her deputy, she holds the decision-making authority: “I’m the one who’ll have to decide.”
Despite stating that she would not assume a liturgical role, Alsberge’s activity has appeared to increasingly resemble that of a cleric to the parishes that she visits in her official capacity.
Indeed, in a November 12 event, Alsberge joined the liturgical procession just in front of Terlinden for the ceremony of blessing and laying the foundation stone of a new pastoral center and church.
On more than one occasion she has delivered addresses during the Mass, reflecting on the Gospel and the liturgy, which closely resemble homilies. Additionally, the official news outlet of the Belgian Catholic bishops describes her a having delivered a homily during a May 2024 visit to one parish in her Vicariate.
New role in the liturgy
As highlighted by Luke Coppen, as of early November Alsberge has now been inserted into the Canon of the Mass, or the Eucharistic Prayer, in a move which further cements her position whilst continuing the peculiarity of the situation.
The memorandum was not made public until it was leaked onto social media by an anonymous user, and then reported on by the archdiocese.
Approved by Archbishop Terlinden, the guidelines outline how Alsberge is to be mentioned during the Mass.
“As far as the Eucharistic prayer is concerned, the indications take into account the repeated request from priests and Christians to be able to pray together for their new Vicariate leader,” the memo reads. “We will therefore add either her title or her title and first name to the Eucharistic prayer.”
Examples of the various Eucharistic Prayers used in the Novus Ordo liturgy are given, showing that Alsberge’s name is to be mentioned directly after the Pope and the local bishop. Eucharistic Prayer I reads:
We present them in union with your servant, our Pope N., our Bishop N., our Episcopal delegate N. and all those who faithfully keep the Catholic faith received from the Apostles.
The memo also appears to treat Alsberge as increasingly resembling a prelate during the liturgy, offering guidance on how to conduct liturgical celebrations “in the presence of the delegate,” thus mirroring how set guidelines are laid out in the Missal for Mass offered in the presence of a prelate.
For such Masses, the memo states that:
For celebrations in the presence of the delegate, we’d like to give you a few guidelines on how she should speak and her physical place in the assembly. These guidelines should be supplemented by a discussion with her prior to her visit to your parish or pastoral unit.
According to the new guidelines, Alsberge enters the church alongside the priest who will say Mass, before sitting in the front row of the congregation. She then “addresses the congregation” after this initial greeting, after the Gospel, and just before the final blessing.
Alsberge also joins the priest in offering official greetings to the congregation as they leave church.
Continued development of female roles
While Alsberge is so far the only woman holding the role of episcopal delegate in the archdiocese, another woman was appointed around the same time to similarly prominent role.
Marie-Francoise Boveroulle was appointed to be the assistant to Canon Tony Frisson in the vicariate of Brussels. Essentially, Boveroulle takes the role of the episcopal delegate’s assistant, which in Alsberge’s vicariate is performed by Fr. de Maere.
The archdiocese celebrated the development as a positive step forward in increasing the prominence of women leading the Church: “Recent appointments also mark a change in the configuration of the Archidiocese. Until recently, the responsibility of the three territorial vicariates – Brussels, Walloon Brabant, Mechelen and Flemish Brabant – were entrusted to three vicars general, who were also auxiliary bishops. Now we are moving towards a new division of responsibilities.”
But the move generally, and particularly Alsberge’s role as episcopal delegate, has drawn criticism and concern from many Catholics online.
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, author and theologian, commented that the trend represented a continued divergence from both Scripture and Tradition.
“For many years now,” he told LifeSiteNews, “the leaders of the Catholic Church on earth have pursued a path decisively at odds with Scripture and Tradition, which unanimously and without exception limited positions of diocesan and curial governance, liturgical ministry, and official magisterium to men, because of the God-willed apostolic structure of the Church and the archetype of Christ as priest, prophet, and king (the embodiment and source of the sanctifying, teaching, and ruling offices).”
“While to some extent these can be provisionally separated,” Kwasniewski added, “they cannot be simply separated, and they can never be absolutely separated from participation in the high-priestly kingship of Christ. This is why having female ‘acolytes,’ ‘lectors,’ ‘pastoral administrators,’ and now ‘episcopal delegates’ is impossible on a sane Christology and a sound ecclesiology.”
Pictured: Rebecca Charlier-Alsberge and two unidentified Priests
Southport: A Public and Private Affair
An analysis of the Southport murders and the religious response to them both public and private. Publicly, Christianity was downplayed. Privately, it played a large part in the response.
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From The European Conservative
By Carline Kaye
The unrest that represents Southport is a betrayal of the locals whose unfaltering kindness and care has been shuffled out of view.
Southport never seems to be out of the news these days—and for all the wrong reasons. Until recently, Southport was a lesser-known northern English seaside town. Sadly, since last July when three little girls were murdered and others were injured at a holiday club, the name now elicits wary expressions of knowing recognition. The heightened exposure is further compounded after a spate of rioting that occurred in the wake of that event.
In addition to the savagery of the event and its continuing aftermath, the name Southport has now become synonymous with the so-called ‘two-tier-Keir’ phenomenon of sentencing harshly otherwise law-abiding citizens for online tweets or likes and the release of violent offenders from prison to make room for them. Normal protocols have been upended so that people were branded as criminals before any due process was observed. Additionally, there is now a ubiquitous labelling of moderately conservative and liberal people as ‘far-right’ for daring to ask questions or to speculate about the perpetrator of the attacks. Southport is now firmly in the world’s purview. Even Elon Musk has expressed opinions relating to Southport.
The two-tier configuration is interesting if only to expose the truism that in a mediated existence, there is a world that we see, inhabit, or experience and another one, carefully curated for appearances’ sake.
Away from the headlines, Southport is a place of some eccentric contradictions and paradoxes. Southport, notwithstanding its name, is neither in the south nor is it a port. It got its name from a hotel called the South Port built in 1797. The town’s founder was a William Sutton who regarded the town as his indulgent “folly” and the present-day Duke’s Folly Hotel is a stone’s throw away from the original situated on the town’s main Lord Street.
Southport occupies that liminal space between town and country, being surrounded by farmland and sandy beaches. Thus, if you are from Southport, you are known as a Sandgrounder. The town is equidistant from both Liverpool and Preston and is regarded by both as a rather quaint and old fashioned relative, somewhere to go for a ‘day out.’ Southport is the more modest and sedate version of Blackpool, and a place where Hasidic Jews arriving by train from Manchester can occasionally be seen visiting.
Paradoxes abound, Southport is a seaside town and yet the tide rarely comes in. Notwithstanding, there is a lifeboat station, provided not by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution rather from local fundraising. Incongruously, it is frequently used, not least to rescue those who fall prey to quick sands or get caught by the incoming tide when wandering too far across the sands towards the illusory nearness of Blackpool.
Sandgrounders tend to bristle at the Liverpudlian association of “Merseyside,” and much prefer to be identified as belonging to the historical county of Lancashire, which of course, traditionally (and paradoxically) includes Liverpool. The town is the product of Victorian endeavours, yet its northernmost village of Churchtown is referred to, somewhat obliquely, in the Domesday book, the historical record of England and Wales dating from the year 1086. There, adjacent to the village green, is a set of punishment stocks carefully preserved outside St Cuthbert’s, one of England’s oldest churches. In more contemporary times, the town’s eccentric tourist offerings include such things as a Lawnmower Museum, a model railway village, an annual flower show, as well as an air show. Small town or not, Southport has its own airport at RAF Woodvale. Additionally, the town is also renowned as the golfing capital of England hosting the Royal Birkdale Open tournament. Furthermore, Southport forms the northernmost aspect of the Sefton Coast with wildlife reserves, pinewoods—home to red squirrels—and Crosby beach’s renowned art installation, Another Place by Anthony Gormley.
The weather is invariably mild, and it is no coincidence that Southport is a place where people come to retire. And this aspect has also shaped its townspeople who are mild mannered and gently conservative (small ‘c’) and liberal. Voting patterns since 1885 show the town as broadly alternating between Conservative and Liberal. This was until the last election, where the town elected its first ever Labour member of parliament. However, the town is now showing signs of decline. Competition from Liverpool and Manchester, coupled with online e-commerce, have not helped this once rather elegant shopping centre. Many retail units along the renowned Lord Street are empty and the once immaculate verandas are unkempt and neglected.
The town is administered by Sefton Council, which is Labour-led and based in the nearby district of Bootle. Locals grumble that Southport is treated as a cash cow that can be milked ad infinitum. Yet these days, it is difficult to sense much in the way of prosperity with dilapidated buildings and a burgeoning plethora of tattoo parlours, Turkish barbers, nail bars, and take-aways. It would seem that the further politically leftward the town has travelled the poorer the town has become, and the poorer it becomes, the further leftwards it travels.
As will doubtless now be familiar, within weeks of the general election, the town was plunged into a sequence of horror, despair and infamy, and was shoved rapidly into the world’s spotlight. Come those terrible events of July, two tiers of reality (so to speak) could be discerned. There was the stage-managed portrayal with the now familiar routine of carefully curated public vigil and another more cloistered version proceeding in concert.
The outward-facing vigil attempted to combine sympathy for the families of the victims alongside some anti-racist sentiments written on placards. In hindsight, it is difficult to discern from which direction this supposed racism had emanated. From the earliest moments of the debacle when this small town was trying to process the greatness of the shock, speculation was rapid, emotional, angry, and fearful. Notwithstanding its population of around 90,000, Southport is nevertheless a small town, and everyone knows someone who knows someone connected to everyone. I am not sure if anyone perceived or articulated the violent attack as itself an act of racism. It could be that some merely allowed their inner thoughts to ponder upon the many incidents British people have encountered involving violent Islamism. A wary officialdom seemed keen to present a narrative that pointed away from the victims and their agony and towards what we might call the new world order’s cult of anti-racism and a Left-leaning, avowedly secular dogma.
On the evening following the murders, there was an initial public vigil that preceded a more colourful gathering that took place a week later amongst poignant and fulsome floral displays with toys and balloons, along with public bubbles blowing to commemorate the three lives lost. There were some genuinely moving moments as the bubbles filled the boulevard of Lord Street, rising high and travelling further than expected. I happened to be driving towards the gathering from Birkdale when a lone bubble came into view, inducing a spasm of recognition.
It was telling that the various memorial displays and events were situated outside the local arts centre, a decidedly secular venue. At the initial vigil taking place on the day after the murders, the lacuna opened up by the lack of any substantial Christian focus was unsettling. This hastily convened vigil confidently presented itself as the progressive and liberal way of doing things these days. I recall a time when the Reverend Rod Garner of Southport’s Holy Trinity Church, Southport’s erstwhile ‘go-to’ vicar, would have been on hand to guide the town with the wisdom borne of a religious framework. Alas, long since retired, in his place a local hospital chaplain offered some kind words and platitudes.
As I reflect more deeply upon the events of the summer and their still-unfolding aftermath, it occurs to me that we seem to be grieving for more than the loss of three young innocent lives. Enmeshed within the grotesqueness is the slow withering of a public-facing Christian world we are losing to a secular imitator with its performative gestures made for the sake of ‘appearances’ in various media outlets. It is as if we have forgotten how things ought to be done. In times of shock such as these it was to God via faith and religion to whom we would turn for comfort, strength and meaning. Without the guidance and poetry of scripture, there is no protocol, no structure, no words of substance that strengthen our spirit and nourish our souls.
As if to illustrate this, in the haste to avoid offending non-Christians, and this now (of course) includes secularists, the chaplain at the initial vigil eschewed all authentic Christian language for the sake of tepid phrases about not being alone, sticking together, and showing solidarity. He introduced an accompanying Catholic priest whose words were similarly constrained and limited to comment about the turnout—to which some forced applause ensued. At this, it felt as though some were effectively applauding their own presence at the vigil. Was it the case that the priest simply had no words upon which to draw at this time? Or was there a sense that his repertoire would now be misunderstood, misconstrued or simply deemed offensive? Under these circumstances, the secular utterances of Christian ministers diminished the symbolism of the dog collar to that of a mere fancy dress costume in a melancholy game of dressing up.
The gathering was encouraged to observe a minute’s respectful silence, to reflect and remember amid the cawing of the seagulls. But there was no prayer, no poetry of psalms, just faint traces of Christian rituals such as candle lighting, meditation and prayer. In what could have been an afterthought, the chaplain’s closing remarks “for those who pray” invited the assumed minority of the religious to offer prayers to “their God.” This surely represents the public-facing afterglow of a Christian culture.
Paradoxically, the new insurgent secular pseudo-religion can only take its emblems and signifiers from what went before and from that which has sustained us for centuries: that is to say, the Christian tradition. Yet as if to confound this new ideological progressivism, the responses to events in Southport bear witness to an actual Christian ethos that has left its indelible trace upon people here.
In the alternate version of events that Southport saw and lived through, rather than what the mediated ‘news’ chose to convey, there was the quiet, spontaneous blossoming of displays of pink bows and ribbons cascading all around the town from lampposts and gate posts. Many of these displays consisted of three simple bows, one for each of the murdered girls. This formed a peaceful yet powerfully feminine gesture of solidarity for their families. There appeared to be a dignified, steady determination on the part of many to participate in this simple gesture. And as the days went by, more and more of these ribbons were seen on gateways, doorposts and street furniture of all kinds until the town rippled in fluttering pink.
Additionally, below the media radar, the wider public most likely did not see the clean-up operation and rebuilding of the mosque wall, begun by locals first thing the next morning after being damaged in the ensuing riot. They were also unaware of the mosque’s Imam giving out flowers to random passers-by on the days of the girls’ funerals. Nor were they aware of the customary good relations between the mosque and the community.
Nor was there much in the way of publicity for the emphatically heartfelt and positive notice by the shopkeepers whose shop had been looted and damaged. The public notice displayed in their window thanked the many Southport people who had donated funds and helped to restore them to normality. Additionally, there were also prompt offers of help from various tradesmen on the online “Next Door” Neighbours app and some Facebook groups. And it can go without saying that the wider world knows little of the overall shock on the part of the locals, horrified at events so untypical and never before witnessed by Southport.
There has been intuitive speculation on the part of the Sandgrounders that the now infamous frenzy of damage was inflicted from without, not within the town. Strangely, the much-publicised rioting, shown live on social media, seemed to invite the very responses that have since landed some people in prison. And the two-tier focus continues to be deflected away from the violence of the murders only to land firmly upon the conjured spectre of the ‘far Right.’
As the weeks and months have gone on, there have been further revelations concerning the status of the perpetrator and his two-tier identity, comprising, on one hand, a Doctor Who child actor and Welsh choirboy and, on the other, an alleged radicalised Muslim whose face we must not see. Moreover, there is continued speculation about the part Prime Minister Keir Starmer has played in the unfolding of events. His expressions of sanctimony over the riots betrayed a deep lack of concern for the fears of people deeply affected by the murderous attack upon innocents. Furthermore, there is no shared vision for dealing with vast numbers of incomers from places in the world with radically different outlooks and values than those of the mild-mannered inhabitants of this northern seaside town. There is still such a lot to assimilate and work through, and the only remedy on offer is crass name-calling and ridicule. One thing strikes me as pertinent. This town is as far from any notion of the ‘far Right’ as it is possible to be.
In Western Culture: Today and Tomorrow (2007), the late Pope Benedict XVI as Joseph Ratzinger wrote that it is the obvious thing for politicians of all parties to do is to offer change, “and change for the better.” In his election campaign, Starmer had repeatedly stood upon such a platform. Yet as Ratzinger alludes, there is a deep sense of dissatisfaction that predominates notwithstanding this continual drive to revolutionise in all but name. The Marxian revolutionary project is arguably one that is set upon changing human nature and the overthrow of religion. Yet in the modern world, we seem to know that there is something missing, something that is incrementally being removed for the sake of good appearances and, as Ratzsinger puts it, “the liberal dogma of progress.”
Making the case for the spiritual foundations of Europe and the West in its widest sense, Ratzinger reminds us of our heritage as fostered from the three pillars of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. This is especially pertinent given that there will be some who will want to blame religion as a blanket cause for the violent Southport murders in addition to a cynically crafted construction of the ‘far Right.’ In case anyone needed reminding, religious Christians, no matter their actual politics, are now construed as ‘far-right’ in the secular progressive worldview.
The unrest that has now come to represent Southport to the world forms a painful betrayal of the many decent local people whose unfaltering kindness and care has been shuffled out of view. There is a sour taste that lingers due to the harsh sentencing of some, whose crimes consisted largely of being in the vicinity of the mosque in St Luke’s Road or commenting online in an immediate emotional response. This adds additional heartache and sadness to this sorry affair. It is difficult to see when closure can come. There are rumours of efforts to put back the perpetrator’s trial for political reasons, meaning the lingering of painful associations for some time to come.
The onward trudge of secular progressivism continues with its efforts to supplant the Christian underpinnings of our society. Southport’s local council recently issued a request for both public and private displays of pink ribbons to be removed suggesting that it is time to “move on.” Despite the request, many remain in place. We are not all quite so anxious to “move on.” Certainly not just yet. It is perhaps worth giving some thought to the ongoing effects that the July attacks provoked. Many children are fearful and anxious, and as one head-teacher has reported, the children’s emotions are reignited at each fresh news item associated with that fateful day.
The deeply embedded legacy of Christianity shone forth in one particularly splendid example of the Holy Spirit at work. In the immediate aftermath of the murders, Richard Vernon, pastor of Southport’s Lakeside Church, had what he described as a “what if?” moment. He dared to ask the question: what if we could bless every child in Southport and let them know we (as churches) are here for them and that God loves them? What resulted was audacious: a “blessing in a backpack” project.
The idea was to create a backpack, filled with goodies, gifts and toys, to be given as a blessing for every primary school age child in Southport. Seeking donations from the congregation and other churches, pastor Richard received offers of help and support from Scripture Union, a local businessman, the Liverpool One church, the Elim churches nationwide and many others.
With local volunteers joining in from around Southport, the church managed to organise 6,400 backpacks for the children, a considerable feat of logistics in itself. The children were thrilled at receiving their surprises and one can only hope the impact that this gift has had upon them has gone some way to assuage some of that residual anxiety.
For younger children, the love of God has to be translated into something tangible. In the case of this particular gift and blessing, the intended message was the gift of a backpack for life’s journey. In yet a further paradoxical turn, it took a pastor (“shepherd”) who does not even own a dog collar to exemplify the meaning of the “Lord is my shepherd who leads me in right paths for his name’s sake” for that life’s journey.
Southport, now my adopted home for three decades, will remain a place of paradoxes. It is a duke’s folly, a seaside with no sea, and a place of mild weather and even milder-mannered, decent folk. The two-tier religious response, one public yet hesitant and the other private yet dynamic, teaches us all that what the secular media conveys is rarely the whole story. In this two-tier framework, the Southport that is mediated, with its selective versions of events and a cynical funnelling of a narrative, leads only to falsehood. Only the Southport that exists, the one that is, can lead to truth.
The frequent spontaneous and authentic Christian responses to the episodes of hatred were not those diluted words performed in costume for the camera. Along with those who rolled up their sleeves or donated money, the blessing in a backpack project, borne of a “what if” moment, shines forth as emanating from the One that is. Here is the hidden power of the Holy Spirit, however paradoxical, that shows us clearly that the answer to hatred has to be love.
Bishop Challoner's Meditations ~ January 1st
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ON NEW YEAR'S DAY
Consider first, that on this day we keep the Octave of the birth of Christ, together with the festivity of his circumcision. when being yet but eight days old, he began to shed his sacred blood in obedience to his Father's will; subjecting himself to that most painful and most humbling ceremony, and bearing therein the resemblance of a criminal, as if he, like the rest had stood in need of the circumcising knife for the expiation of sin. Christians, learn here, from your infant Saviour, the lessons he desires to teach you in his circumcision; his unparalleled humility, his perfect obedience and conformity to his Father's will; his patience in suffering, and his ardent love and charity for us. He came to discharge the immense debt we owed by our sins to his Father's justice, by shedding the last drop of his blood in expiation of them; and behold he has here given us an earnest of this payment, by submitting himself this day to the knife of circumcision.
Consider 2ndly, and set before your eyes this divine infant, this innocent lamb of God, this beloved of your souls, beautiful beyond the children of men, all embrued in his own most sacred blood; and suffering in that tender age the cruel smart of a most sensible wound. O how sensible indeed to him! O how sensible to the loving heart of his blessed Virgin Mother! See with what affection she embraces him: se with what anguish of heart she bewails his sufferings: see with what tender compassion she strives to afford him all the comfort she is able. Learn of her the like affections of love and compassion for your suffering Lord.
O my soul, embrace, with her, thy infant Saviour, bleeding for thee. 'A bloody spouse thou are to me,' said Sephora to Moses, Exod. iv. 25: when to deliver him from the hand of the angel that threatened him with death, she touched his feet with the blood of her child whom she had just then circumcised. O how truly is our dear Redeemer a sponsus sanguinum, a bloody spouse to our souls, for whom he gives now this first fruit, and for whom he will one day give all his blood, to rescue us from the hand of the destroying angel! O blessed be his divine charity for ever!
Consider 3rdly, that it is the duty of all Christians to imitate our Lord's circumcision, by a spiritual circumcision of the heart, which God so often calls for in the Scriptures, and always preferred before the carnal circumcision. This spiritual circumcision requires of us a cutting off, or retrenching, all disorderly affections to the world and its pomps; to the mammon of iniquity, and to the flesh, and its lusts; and a serious application of our souls to a daily mortification of our passions and corrupt inclinations. My soul, let us heartily embrace, and daily put in practice, this circumcision of the heart.
Conclude to make a return of thy heart to thy infant Saviour, who began on this day to shed his blood for thee; but see it be a heart purified, by a spiritual circumcision, from all such affections as are disagreeable to him.
1 January, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
The New Year
1. This is a new gift which God in His infinite goodness gives to us. But every gift of God demands on our part a generous expression of gratitude, which should result in positive acts of virtue. Gratitude is an empty and short-lived sentiment unless it is accompanied by a sincere intention of performing good works.
Time is the price of eternity, because with time we can purchase an eternity of happiness or misery.
Consider this great truth. Every year is like a ladder in our lives. Now, it is necessary that this ladder should lead us, not perilously downwards towards evil, but upwards towards Heaven, even if with faltering footsteps.
The New Year opens today as a blank page in the diary of our lives. What do we intend to write there? The usual inanities and sins, perhaps? Let us reflect before God and in the light of the eternity which awaits us. This is the time for great decisions. It is necessary that we should offer our resolutions to God along with a humble and fervent prayer that He will strengthen us to comply faithfully with His grace.
2. During these days it is customary to exchange, verbally or in writing, good wishes for the New Year. But these poor greetings are often nothing more than conventional phrases. Men lack the power to transmute such good wishes into reality. God alone is the source of every material and spiritual good; therefore He alone can ensure that these benevolent expressions are translated into deeds of Christian renovation. Since today is the beginning of the New Year, it is especially important for us to ask God more fervently and insistently to bless the resolutions which we are making for ourselves and the good wishes which we are showering on our friends.
These wishes have no meaning, and these resolutions have no force, if they are not accompanied by fervent and persevering prayer.
3. It is suggested in “The Imitation of Christ” that if we were to get rid of at least one habit of sin every year, we should soon be holy. If we have not tried to do this in the past, let us propose to do it in the future. This year let us select the principal defect which we possess, the sin into which we are most accustomed to fall. Let us seek to eradicate it with all the strength of our soul, assisted by the grace of God which will certainly not be denied us. Let us request for this purpose the most powerful patronage of Mary Most Holy. Let us pass this day in close union with God and under the maternal mantle of our Heavenly Mother. Finally, let us promise earnestly that all the days of the New Year will follow the same pattern.
Eastern Rite ~ Feasts of 1 January AM 7533
Today is the Feasts of the Circumcision of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ and of Our Father Among the Saints Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
On the eighth day after His Nativity, our Lord Jesus Christ was circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament Law. All male infants underwent circumcision as a sign of God’s Covenant with the holy Forefather Abraham and his descendants [Genesis 17:10-14, Leviticus 12:3].
After this ritual, the Divine Infant was given the name Jesus, as the Archangel Gabriel declared on the day of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos [Luke 1:31-33, 2:21]. The Fathers of the Church explain that the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that He had truly assumed human flesh, and that His Incarnation was not merely an illusion, as certain heretics had taught.
In the New Testament, the ritual of circumcision gave way to the Mystery of Baptism, which it prefigured [Colossians 2:11-12]. Accounts of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord continue in the Eastern Church right up through the fourth century. The Canon of the Feast was written by Saint Stephen of the Saint Savva Monastery.
In addition to circumcision, which the Lord accepted as a sign of God’s Covenant with mankind, He also received the Name Jesus [Saviour] on the eighth day after His Nativity as an indication of His service, the work of the salvation of the world [Matthew 1:21; Mark 9:38-39, 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 3:6, 16; Philippians 2:9-10]. These two events -- the Lord’s Circumcision and Naming -- remind Christians that they have entered into a New Covenant with God and “are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” [Colossians 2:11]. The very name “Christian” is a sign of mankind’s entrance into a New Covenant with God.
Troparion — Tone 1
Enthroned on high with the Eternal Father and Your divine Spirit, / O Jesus, You willed to be born on earth of the unwedded handmaid, your Mother. / Therefore You were circumcised as an eight-day old Child. / Glory to Your most gracious counsel; / glory to Your dispensation; / glory to Your condescension, O only Lover of mankind.
Kontakion — Tone 3
The Lord of all accepts to be circumcised, / thus, as He is good, excises the sins of mortal men. / Today He grants the world salvation, / while light-bearing Basil, high priest of our Creator, / rejoices in heaven as a divine initiate of Christ.
Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, “belongs not to the Church of Caesarea alone, nor merely to his own time, nor was he of benefit only to his own kinsmen, but rather to all lands and cities worldwide, and to all people he brought and still brings benefit, and for Christians, he always was and will be a most salvific teacher.” Thus spoke Saint Basil’s contemporary, Saint Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.
Saint Basil was born in the year 330 at Caesarea, the administrative centre of Cappadocia. He was of illustrious lineage, famed for its eminence and wealth, and zealous for the Christian Faith. The saint’s grandfather and grandmother on his father’s side had to hide in the forests of Pontus for seven years during the persecution under Diocletian.
Saint Basil’s mother Saint Emilia was the daughter of a martyr. On the Greek calendar, she is commemorated on May 30. Saint Basil’s father was also named Basil. He was a lawyer and renowned rhetorician and lived in Caesarea.
Ten children were born to the elder Basil and Emilia: five sons and five daughters. Five of them were later numbered among the saints: Basil the Great; Macrina (July 19) was an exemplar of ascetic life, and exerted a strong influence on the life and character of Saint Basil the Great; Gregory, afterwards Bishop of Nyssa (January 10); Peter, Bishop of Sebaste (January 9); and Theosebia, a deaconess (January 10).
Saint Basil spent the first years of his life on an estate belonging to his parents at the River Iris, where he was raised under the supervision of his mother Emilia and grandmother Macrina. They were women of great refinement, who remembered an earlier bishop of Cappadocia, Saint Gregory the Wonderworker (November 17). Basil received his initial education under the supervision of his father, and then he studied under the finest teachers in Caesarea of Cappadocia, and it was here that he made the acquaintance of Saint Gregory the Theologian (January 25 and January 30). Later, Basil transferred to a school at Constantinople, where he listened to eminent orators and philosophers. To complete his education Saint Basil went to Athens, the centre of classical enlightenment.
After a four or five year stay in Athens, Basil had mastered all the available disciplines. “He studied everything thoroughly, more than others are wont to study a single subject. He studied each science in its very totality, as though he would study nothing else.” Philosopher, philologist, orator, jurist, naturalist, possessing profound knowledge in astronomy, mathematics and medicine, “he was a ship fully laden with learning, to the extent permitted by human nature.”
At Athens, a close friendship developed between Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzus), which continued throughout their life. In fact, they regarded themselves as one soul in two bodies. Later on, in his eulogy for Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian speaks with delight about this period: “Various hopes guided us, and indeed inevitably, in learning... Two paths opened up before us: the one to our sacred temples and the teachers therein; the other towards preceptors of disciplines beyond.”
About the year 357, Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where for a while he devoted himself to rhetoric. But soon, refusing offers from Caesarea’s citizens who wanted to entrust him with the education of their offspring, Saint Basil entered upon the path of ascetic life.
After the death of her husband, Basil’s mother, her eldest daughter Macrina, and several female servants withdrew to the family estate at Iris and there began to lead an ascetic life. Basil was baptized by Dianios, the Bishop of Caesarea, and was tonsured a Reader (On the Holy Spirit, 29). He first read the Holy Scriptures to the people, then explained them.
Later on, “wishing to acquire a guide to the knowledge of the truth”, the saint undertook a journey into Egypt, Syria and Palestine, to meet the great Christian ascetics dwelling there. On returning to Cappadocia, he decided to do as they did. He distributed his wealth to the needy, then settled on the opposite side of the river not far from his mother Emilia and sister Macrina, gathering around him monks living a cenobitic life.
By his letters, Basil drew his good friend Gregory the Theologian to the monastery. Saints Basil and Gregory laboured in strict abstinence in their dwelling place, which had no roof or fireplace, and the food was very humble. They themselves cleared away the stones, planted and watered the trees, and carried heavy loads. Their hands were constantly calloused from the hard work. For clothing Basil had only a tunic and monastic mantle. He wore a hairshirt, but only at night, so that it would not be obvious.
In their solitude, Saints Basil and Gregory occupied themselves in an intense study of Holy Scripture. They were guided by the writings of the Fathers and commentators of the past, especially the good writings of Origen. From all these works they compiled an anthology called Philokalia. Also at this time, at the request of the monks, Saint Basil wrote down a collection of rules for the virtuous life. By his preaching and by his example Saint Basil assisted in the spiritual perfection of Christians in Cappadocia and Pontus, and many indeed turned to him. Monasteries were organized for men and for women, in which places Basil sought to combine the cenobitic (koine bios, or common) lifestyle with that of the solitary hermit.
During the reign of Constantius (337-361) the heretical teachings of Arius were spreading, and the Church summoned both its saints into service. Saint Basil returned to Caesarea. In the year 362, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Meletius of Antioch. In 364 he was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea. “But seeing,” as Gregory the Theologian relates, “that everyone exceedingly praised and honoured Basil for his wisdom and reverence, Eusebius, through human weakness, succumbed to jealousy of him, and began to show dislike for him.” The monks rose up in defence of Saint Basil. To avoid causing Church discord, Basil withdrew to his own monastery and concerned himself with the organization of monasteries.
With the coming to power of the emperor Valens (364-378), who was a resolute adherent of Arianism, a time of troubles began for Catholicism, the onset of a great struggle. Saint Basil hastily returned to Caesarea at the request of Bishop Eusebius. In the words of Gregory the Theologian, he was for Bishop Eusebius “a good advisor, a righteous representative, an expounder of the Word of God, a staff for the aged, a faithful support in internal matters, and an activist in external matters.”
From this time church governance passed over to Basil, though he was subordinate to the hierarch. He preached daily, and often twice, in the morning and in the evening. During this time Saint Basil composed his Liturgy. He wrote a work “On the Six Days of Creation” (Hexaemeron) and another on the Prophet Isaiah in sixteen chapters, yet another on the Psalms, and also a second compilation of monastic rules. Saint Basil wrote also three books “Against Eunomius,” an Arian teacher who, with the help of Aristotelian concepts, had presented the Arian dogma in philosophic form, converting Christian teaching into a logical scheme of rational concepts.
Saint Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the activity of Basil the Great during this period, points to “the caring for the destitute and the taking in of strangers, the supervision of virgins, written and unwritten monastic rules for monks, the arrangement of prayers [Liturgy], the felicitous arrangement of altars and other things.” Upon the death of Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil was chosen to succeed him in the year 370. As Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil the Great was the newest of fifty bishops in eleven provinces. Saint Athanasius the Great (May 2), with joy and with thanks to God welcomed the appointment to Cappadocia of such a bishop as Basil, famed for his reverence, deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, great learning, and his efforts for the welfare of Church peace and unity.
Under Valens, the external government belonged to the Arians, who held various opinions regarding the divinity of the Son of God and were divided into several factions. These dogmatic disputes were concerned with questions about the Holy Spirit. In his books Against Eunomios, Saint Basil the Great taught the divinity of the Holy Spirit and His equality with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, in order to provide a full explanation of Catholic teaching on this question, Saint Basil wrote his book On the Holy Spirit at the request of Saint Amphilochius, the Bishop of Iconium.
Saint Basil’s difficulties were made worse by various circumstances: Cappadocia was divided in two under the rearrangement of provincial districts. Then at Antioch, a schism occurred, occasioned by the consecration of a second bishop. There was the negative and haughty attitude of Western bishops to the attempts to draw them into the struggle with the Arians. And there was also the departure of Eustathius of Sebaste over to the Arian side. Basil had been connected to him by ties of close friendship. Amidst the constant perils, Saint Basil gave encouragement to the Catholics, confirmed them in the Faith, summoning them to bravery and endurance. The holy bishop wrote numerous letters to the churches, to bishops, to clergy and to individuals. Overcoming the heretics “by the weapon of his mouth, and by the arrows of his letters,” as an untiring champion of Catholicism, Saint Basil challenged the hostility and intrigues of the Arian heretics all his life. He has been compared to a bee, stinging the Church’s enemies, yet nourishing his flock with the sweet honey of his teaching.
The emperor Valens, mercilessly sending into exile any bishop who displeased him, and having implanted Arianism into other Asia Minor provinces, suddenly appeared in Cappadocia for this same purpose. He sent the Prefect Modestus to Saint Basil. He began to threaten the saint with the confiscation of his property, banishment, beatings, and even death.
Saint Basil said, “If you take away my possessions, you will not enrich yourself, nor will you make me a pauper. You have no need of my old worn-out clothing, nor of my few books, of which the entirety of my wealth is comprised. Exile means nothing to me since I am bound to no particular place. This place in which I now dwell is not mine, and any place you send me shall be mine. Better to say: every place is God’s. Where would I be neither a stranger and sojourner (Ps. 38/39:13)? Who can torture me? I am so weak, that the very first blow would render me insensible. Death would be a kindness to me, for it will bring me all the sooner to God, for Whom I live and labour, and to Whom I hasten.”
The official was stunned by his answer. “No one has ever spoken so audaciously to me,” he said.
“Perhaps,” the saint remarked, “ that is because you’ve never spoken to a bishop before. In all else, we are meek, the most humble of all. But when it concerns God, and people rise up against Him, then we, counting everything else as nought, look to Him alone. Then fire, sword, wild beasts and iron rods that rend the body, serve to fill us with joy, rather than fear.”
Reporting to Valens that Saint Basil was not to be intimidated, Modestus said, “Emperor, we stand defeated by a leader of the Church.” Basil the Great again showed firmness before the emperor and his retinue and made such a strong impression on Valens that the emperor dared not give in to the Arians demanding Basil’s exile. “On the day of Theophany, amidst an innumerable multitude of the people, Valens entered the church and mixed in with the throng, in order to give the appearance of being in unity with the Church. When the singing of Psalms began in the church, it was like thunder to his hearing. The emperor beheld a sea of people, and in the altar and all around was splendour; in front of all was Basil, who acknowledged neither by gesture nor by glance, that anything else was going on in the church.” Everything was focused only on God and the altar-table, and the clergy serving there in awe and reverence.
Saint Basil celebrated the church services almost every day. He was particularly concerned about the strict fulfilling of the Canons of the Church and took care that only worthy individuals should enter into the clergy. He incessantly made the rounds of his own church, lest anywhere there be an infraction of Church discipline, and setting aright any unseemliness. At Caesarea, Saint Basil built two monasteries, a men’s and a women’s, with a church in honour of the Forty Martyrs (March 9) whose relics were buried there. Following the example of monks, the saint’s clergy, even deacons and priests, lived in remarkable poverty, to toil and lead chaste and virtuous lives. For his clergy, Saint Basil obtained an exemption from taxation. He used all his personal wealth and the income from his church for the benefit of the destitute; in every center of his diocese he built a poor-house; and at Caesarea, a home for wanderers and the homeless.
Sickly since youth, the toil of teaching, his life of abstinence, and the concerns and sorrows of pastoral service took their toll on him. Saint Basil died on January 1, 379 at age 49. Shortly before his death, the saint blessed Saint Gregory the Theologian to accept the See of Constantinople.
In some countries, it is customary to sing special carols today in honour of Saint Basil. He is believed to visit the homes of the faithful, and a place is set for him at the table. People visit the homes of friends and relatives, and the mistress of the house gives a small gift to the children. A special bread (Vasilopita) is blessed and distributed after the Liturgy. A silver coin is baked into the bread, and whoever receives the slice with the coin is said to receive the blessing of Saint Basil for the coming year.
Troparion — Tone 1
Your proclamation has gone out into all the earth / which was divinely taught by hearing your voice / expounding the nature of creatures, / ennobling the manners of men. / O holy father of a royal priesthood, / entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion — Tone 4
You were revealed as the sure foundation of the Church, / granting all mankind a lordship which cannot be taken away, / sealing it with your precepts, / O venerable and heavenly Father Basil.
✠✠✠✠✠
On the eighth day after His Nativity, our Lord Jesus Christ was circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament Law. All male infants underwent circumcision as a sign of God’s Covenant with the holy Forefather Abraham and his descendants [Genesis 17:10-14, Leviticus 12:3].
After this ritual, the Divine Infant was given the name Jesus, as the Archangel Gabriel declared on the day of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos [Luke 1:31-33, 2:21]. The Fathers of the Church explain that the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that He had truly assumed human flesh, and that His Incarnation was not merely an illusion, as certain heretics had taught.
In the New Testament, the ritual of circumcision gave way to the Mystery of Baptism, which it prefigured [Colossians 2:11-12]. Accounts of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord continue in the Eastern Church right up through the fourth century. The Canon of the Feast was written by Saint Stephen of the Saint Savva Monastery.
In addition to circumcision, which the Lord accepted as a sign of God’s Covenant with mankind, He also received the Name Jesus [Saviour] on the eighth day after His Nativity as an indication of His service, the work of the salvation of the world [Matthew 1:21; Mark 9:38-39, 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 3:6, 16; Philippians 2:9-10]. These two events -- the Lord’s Circumcision and Naming -- remind Christians that they have entered into a New Covenant with God and “are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” [Colossians 2:11]. The very name “Christian” is a sign of mankind’s entrance into a New Covenant with God.
Troparion — Tone 1
Enthroned on high with the Eternal Father and Your divine Spirit, / O Jesus, You willed to be born on earth of the unwedded handmaid, your Mother. / Therefore You were circumcised as an eight-day old Child. / Glory to Your most gracious counsel; / glory to Your dispensation; / glory to Your condescension, O only Lover of mankind.
Kontakion — Tone 3
The Lord of all accepts to be circumcised, / thus, as He is good, excises the sins of mortal men. / Today He grants the world salvation, / while light-bearing Basil, high priest of our Creator, / rejoices in heaven as a divine initiate of Christ.
✠✠✠✠✠
Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, “belongs not to the Church of Caesarea alone, nor merely to his own time, nor was he of benefit only to his own kinsmen, but rather to all lands and cities worldwide, and to all people he brought and still brings benefit, and for Christians, he always was and will be a most salvific teacher.” Thus spoke Saint Basil’s contemporary, Saint Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.
Saint Basil was born in the year 330 at Caesarea, the administrative centre of Cappadocia. He was of illustrious lineage, famed for its eminence and wealth, and zealous for the Christian Faith. The saint’s grandfather and grandmother on his father’s side had to hide in the forests of Pontus for seven years during the persecution under Diocletian.
Saint Basil’s mother Saint Emilia was the daughter of a martyr. On the Greek calendar, she is commemorated on May 30. Saint Basil’s father was also named Basil. He was a lawyer and renowned rhetorician and lived in Caesarea.
Ten children were born to the elder Basil and Emilia: five sons and five daughters. Five of them were later numbered among the saints: Basil the Great; Macrina (July 19) was an exemplar of ascetic life, and exerted a strong influence on the life and character of Saint Basil the Great; Gregory, afterwards Bishop of Nyssa (January 10); Peter, Bishop of Sebaste (January 9); and Theosebia, a deaconess (January 10).
Saint Basil spent the first years of his life on an estate belonging to his parents at the River Iris, where he was raised under the supervision of his mother Emilia and grandmother Macrina. They were women of great refinement, who remembered an earlier bishop of Cappadocia, Saint Gregory the Wonderworker (November 17). Basil received his initial education under the supervision of his father, and then he studied under the finest teachers in Caesarea of Cappadocia, and it was here that he made the acquaintance of Saint Gregory the Theologian (January 25 and January 30). Later, Basil transferred to a school at Constantinople, where he listened to eminent orators and philosophers. To complete his education Saint Basil went to Athens, the centre of classical enlightenment.
After a four or five year stay in Athens, Basil had mastered all the available disciplines. “He studied everything thoroughly, more than others are wont to study a single subject. He studied each science in its very totality, as though he would study nothing else.” Philosopher, philologist, orator, jurist, naturalist, possessing profound knowledge in astronomy, mathematics and medicine, “he was a ship fully laden with learning, to the extent permitted by human nature.”
At Athens, a close friendship developed between Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzus), which continued throughout their life. In fact, they regarded themselves as one soul in two bodies. Later on, in his eulogy for Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian speaks with delight about this period: “Various hopes guided us, and indeed inevitably, in learning... Two paths opened up before us: the one to our sacred temples and the teachers therein; the other towards preceptors of disciplines beyond.”
About the year 357, Saint Basil returned to Caesarea, where for a while he devoted himself to rhetoric. But soon, refusing offers from Caesarea’s citizens who wanted to entrust him with the education of their offspring, Saint Basil entered upon the path of ascetic life.
After the death of her husband, Basil’s mother, her eldest daughter Macrina, and several female servants withdrew to the family estate at Iris and there began to lead an ascetic life. Basil was baptized by Dianios, the Bishop of Caesarea, and was tonsured a Reader (On the Holy Spirit, 29). He first read the Holy Scriptures to the people, then explained them.
Later on, “wishing to acquire a guide to the knowledge of the truth”, the saint undertook a journey into Egypt, Syria and Palestine, to meet the great Christian ascetics dwelling there. On returning to Cappadocia, he decided to do as they did. He distributed his wealth to the needy, then settled on the opposite side of the river not far from his mother Emilia and sister Macrina, gathering around him monks living a cenobitic life.
By his letters, Basil drew his good friend Gregory the Theologian to the monastery. Saints Basil and Gregory laboured in strict abstinence in their dwelling place, which had no roof or fireplace, and the food was very humble. They themselves cleared away the stones, planted and watered the trees, and carried heavy loads. Their hands were constantly calloused from the hard work. For clothing Basil had only a tunic and monastic mantle. He wore a hairshirt, but only at night, so that it would not be obvious.
In their solitude, Saints Basil and Gregory occupied themselves in an intense study of Holy Scripture. They were guided by the writings of the Fathers and commentators of the past, especially the good writings of Origen. From all these works they compiled an anthology called Philokalia. Also at this time, at the request of the monks, Saint Basil wrote down a collection of rules for the virtuous life. By his preaching and by his example Saint Basil assisted in the spiritual perfection of Christians in Cappadocia and Pontus, and many indeed turned to him. Monasteries were organized for men and for women, in which places Basil sought to combine the cenobitic (koine bios, or common) lifestyle with that of the solitary hermit.
During the reign of Constantius (337-361) the heretical teachings of Arius were spreading, and the Church summoned both its saints into service. Saint Basil returned to Caesarea. In the year 362, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Meletius of Antioch. In 364 he was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea. “But seeing,” as Gregory the Theologian relates, “that everyone exceedingly praised and honoured Basil for his wisdom and reverence, Eusebius, through human weakness, succumbed to jealousy of him, and began to show dislike for him.” The monks rose up in defence of Saint Basil. To avoid causing Church discord, Basil withdrew to his own monastery and concerned himself with the organization of monasteries.
With the coming to power of the emperor Valens (364-378), who was a resolute adherent of Arianism, a time of troubles began for Catholicism, the onset of a great struggle. Saint Basil hastily returned to Caesarea at the request of Bishop Eusebius. In the words of Gregory the Theologian, he was for Bishop Eusebius “a good advisor, a righteous representative, an expounder of the Word of God, a staff for the aged, a faithful support in internal matters, and an activist in external matters.”
From this time church governance passed over to Basil, though he was subordinate to the hierarch. He preached daily, and often twice, in the morning and in the evening. During this time Saint Basil composed his Liturgy. He wrote a work “On the Six Days of Creation” (Hexaemeron) and another on the Prophet Isaiah in sixteen chapters, yet another on the Psalms, and also a second compilation of monastic rules. Saint Basil wrote also three books “Against Eunomius,” an Arian teacher who, with the help of Aristotelian concepts, had presented the Arian dogma in philosophic form, converting Christian teaching into a logical scheme of rational concepts.
Saint Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the activity of Basil the Great during this period, points to “the caring for the destitute and the taking in of strangers, the supervision of virgins, written and unwritten monastic rules for monks, the arrangement of prayers [Liturgy], the felicitous arrangement of altars and other things.” Upon the death of Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil was chosen to succeed him in the year 370. As Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil the Great was the newest of fifty bishops in eleven provinces. Saint Athanasius the Great (May 2), with joy and with thanks to God welcomed the appointment to Cappadocia of such a bishop as Basil, famed for his reverence, deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, great learning, and his efforts for the welfare of Church peace and unity.
Under Valens, the external government belonged to the Arians, who held various opinions regarding the divinity of the Son of God and were divided into several factions. These dogmatic disputes were concerned with questions about the Holy Spirit. In his books Against Eunomios, Saint Basil the Great taught the divinity of the Holy Spirit and His equality with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, in order to provide a full explanation of Catholic teaching on this question, Saint Basil wrote his book On the Holy Spirit at the request of Saint Amphilochius, the Bishop of Iconium.
Saint Basil’s difficulties were made worse by various circumstances: Cappadocia was divided in two under the rearrangement of provincial districts. Then at Antioch, a schism occurred, occasioned by the consecration of a second bishop. There was the negative and haughty attitude of Western bishops to the attempts to draw them into the struggle with the Arians. And there was also the departure of Eustathius of Sebaste over to the Arian side. Basil had been connected to him by ties of close friendship. Amidst the constant perils, Saint Basil gave encouragement to the Catholics, confirmed them in the Faith, summoning them to bravery and endurance. The holy bishop wrote numerous letters to the churches, to bishops, to clergy and to individuals. Overcoming the heretics “by the weapon of his mouth, and by the arrows of his letters,” as an untiring champion of Catholicism, Saint Basil challenged the hostility and intrigues of the Arian heretics all his life. He has been compared to a bee, stinging the Church’s enemies, yet nourishing his flock with the sweet honey of his teaching.
The emperor Valens, mercilessly sending into exile any bishop who displeased him, and having implanted Arianism into other Asia Minor provinces, suddenly appeared in Cappadocia for this same purpose. He sent the Prefect Modestus to Saint Basil. He began to threaten the saint with the confiscation of his property, banishment, beatings, and even death.
Saint Basil said, “If you take away my possessions, you will not enrich yourself, nor will you make me a pauper. You have no need of my old worn-out clothing, nor of my few books, of which the entirety of my wealth is comprised. Exile means nothing to me since I am bound to no particular place. This place in which I now dwell is not mine, and any place you send me shall be mine. Better to say: every place is God’s. Where would I be neither a stranger and sojourner (Ps. 38/39:13)? Who can torture me? I am so weak, that the very first blow would render me insensible. Death would be a kindness to me, for it will bring me all the sooner to God, for Whom I live and labour, and to Whom I hasten.”
The official was stunned by his answer. “No one has ever spoken so audaciously to me,” he said.
“Perhaps,” the saint remarked, “ that is because you’ve never spoken to a bishop before. In all else, we are meek, the most humble of all. But when it concerns God, and people rise up against Him, then we, counting everything else as nought, look to Him alone. Then fire, sword, wild beasts and iron rods that rend the body, serve to fill us with joy, rather than fear.”
Reporting to Valens that Saint Basil was not to be intimidated, Modestus said, “Emperor, we stand defeated by a leader of the Church.” Basil the Great again showed firmness before the emperor and his retinue and made such a strong impression on Valens that the emperor dared not give in to the Arians demanding Basil’s exile. “On the day of Theophany, amidst an innumerable multitude of the people, Valens entered the church and mixed in with the throng, in order to give the appearance of being in unity with the Church. When the singing of Psalms began in the church, it was like thunder to his hearing. The emperor beheld a sea of people, and in the altar and all around was splendour; in front of all was Basil, who acknowledged neither by gesture nor by glance, that anything else was going on in the church.” Everything was focused only on God and the altar-table, and the clergy serving there in awe and reverence.
Saint Basil celebrated the church services almost every day. He was particularly concerned about the strict fulfilling of the Canons of the Church and took care that only worthy individuals should enter into the clergy. He incessantly made the rounds of his own church, lest anywhere there be an infraction of Church discipline, and setting aright any unseemliness. At Caesarea, Saint Basil built two monasteries, a men’s and a women’s, with a church in honour of the Forty Martyrs (March 9) whose relics were buried there. Following the example of monks, the saint’s clergy, even deacons and priests, lived in remarkable poverty, to toil and lead chaste and virtuous lives. For his clergy, Saint Basil obtained an exemption from taxation. He used all his personal wealth and the income from his church for the benefit of the destitute; in every center of his diocese he built a poor-house; and at Caesarea, a home for wanderers and the homeless.
Sickly since youth, the toil of teaching, his life of abstinence, and the concerns and sorrows of pastoral service took their toll on him. Saint Basil died on January 1, 379 at age 49. Shortly before his death, the saint blessed Saint Gregory the Theologian to accept the See of Constantinople.
In some countries, it is customary to sing special carols today in honour of Saint Basil. He is believed to visit the homes of the faithful, and a place is set for him at the table. People visit the homes of friends and relatives, and the mistress of the house gives a small gift to the children. A special bread (Vasilopita) is blessed and distributed after the Liturgy. A silver coin is baked into the bread, and whoever receives the slice with the coin is said to receive the blessing of Saint Basil for the coming year.
Troparion — Tone 1
Your proclamation has gone out into all the earth / which was divinely taught by hearing your voice / expounding the nature of creatures, / ennobling the manners of men. / O holy father of a royal priesthood, / entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion — Tone 4
You were revealed as the sure foundation of the Church, / granting all mankind a lordship which cannot be taken away, / sealing it with your precepts, / O venerable and heavenly Father Basil.
IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 JANUARY – THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD
IN LUMINE FIDEI: JANUARY – THE MONTH OF THE HOLY NAME
1 January, The Chesterton Calendar
January
Mere light sophistry is the thing that I happen to despise most of all things, and it is perhaps a wholesome fact that this is the thing of which I am generally accused.
'Orthodoxy.'
NEW YEAR'S DAY
The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
'Daily News.'
1 January, The Holy Rule of St Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism
PROLOGUE OF OUR MOST HOLY FATHER SAINT BENEDICT TO HIS RULE
1 Jan. 2 May. 1 Sept
Hearken, O my son, to the precepts of thy Master, and incline the ear of thine heart; willingly receive and faithfully fulfil the admonition of thy loving Father, that thou mayest return by the labour of obedience to Him from Whom thou hadst departed through the sloth of disobedience. To thee, therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever thou art that, renouncing thine own will, dost take up the strong and bright weapons of obedience, in order to fight for the Lord Christ, our true king. In the first place, whatever good work thou beginnest to do, beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect; that He Who hath now vouchsafed to count us in the number of His children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve Him with the good things He hath given us, that not only may He never, as an angry father, disinherit his children, but may never, as a dreadful Lord, incensed by our sins, deliver us to everlasting punishment, as most wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.
2 January, The Roman Martyrology
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Quarto Nonas Ianuárii Luna secúnda Anno Dómini 2025
The morrow is the Octave of holy Stephen the Proto-Martyr. At Rome are commemorated upon the same day many holy martyrs who defied the edict of the Emperor Diocletian whereby it was commanded to give up the holy books, they being willing rather to give over their own bodies to the executioners than to give unto dogs that which was holy.
January 2nd 2025, the 2nd day of the Moon, were born into the better life:
At Antioch, blessed Isidore, Bishop (in the year 420).
At Tomi, in Pontus, under Emperor Licinius, the three holy brethren, Argeus, Narcissus, and Marcellinus.
Argeus and Narcissus were slain with the sword. Marcellinus was a boy, he was taken among the recruits, and for as much as he would not be a soldier he was grievously flogged, and after suffering long in prison was drowned in the sea (in the year 320.)
At Milan (after the year 431), holy Martinian (17th) bishop of that see.
At Nitria, in Egypt, the blessed confessor Isidore (Bishop of Hermopolis in the fourth century).
Upon the same day the holy Bishop Siridion.
In the Thebaid the holy Abbot Macarius of Alexandria (about the year 395.)
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.
January 2nd 2025, the 2nd day of the Moon, were born into the better life:
At Antioch, blessed Isidore, Bishop (in the year 420).
At Tomi, in Pontus, under Emperor Licinius, the three holy brethren, Argeus, Narcissus, and Marcellinus.
Argeus and Narcissus were slain with the sword. Marcellinus was a boy, he was taken among the recruits, and for as much as he would not be a soldier he was grievously flogged, and after suffering long in prison was drowned in the sea (in the year 320.)
At Milan (after the year 431), holy Martinian (17th) bishop of that see.
At Nitria, in Egypt, the blessed confessor Isidore (Bishop of Hermopolis in the fourth century).
Upon the same day the holy Bishop Siridion.
In the Thebaid the holy Abbot Macarius of Alexandria (about the year 395.)
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.
First Vespers of the Circumcision of Our Lord
From the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem. You may follow the Office at Divinum Officium.
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