January 1. The Commemoration of St. Basil the Great
The future hierarch was born around the year 330 in Caesarea of Cappadocia (Asia Minor, now Turkey). His grandfather and grandmother had suffered persecution for being Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. His uncle was a bishop, as were two of his brothers—Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335–394) and Peter of Sebaste (ca. 340–391), both of…