benito-cereno:

January 1: St Basil’s Day

In addition to being the first day of the new year, the first of January is a day of gift-giving in several parts of the world. One of these places is Greece, where children are visited by Saint Basil the Great on the first of the year.

From my forthcoming book:

Saint Basil of Caesarea, also known as Basil the Great, was a Greek bishop in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), who lived in the fourth century AD (he was born shortly before Saint Nicholas died). He was one of the most influential theologians of all time due to his fierce opposition to heresies and his many writings on Christian philosophy, which led to him receiving the title of “Ouranophantor,” or “revealer of the mysteries of heaven.”

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Although he was known for a short temper which he displayed against heretics, and even against the Roman emperor himself (the emperor Valens asked Basil to compromise with a faction of heretics and Basil staunchly refused. When the emperor said no one had spoken to him like that before, Basil replied, “Perhaps you have never yet had to deal with a bishop.”), Basil was even more famous for his generosity and compassion. He personally selected priests who would not be persuaded into corruption by wealth, and criticized government officials who did not adhere to their duty of providing justice for the people.

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But probably the most famous story of Saint Basil comes from his conflict with an earlier emperor, one who was known as Julian the Apostate because he had tried to turn Rome away from Christianity and back to the ancient pagan religion they had left behind. Basil and Julian had met each other as young men studying in Athens. Julian had never liked Basil, and so when he grew up to become the emperor of Rome, he put great pressure on Caesarea, where Basil was the bishop.

Julian threatened to crush the people of Caesarea with a huge army due to an argument he had had with Basil. The poor people of Caesarea knew they were in great danger, and so they amassed all of their gold, jewels, and other precious possessions in order to present them to the greedy Roman emperor. However, when Basil presented these treasures to the emperor’s messenger, the saint’s harsh words and the willingness of the destitute people of Caesarea to sacrifice everything they had greatly embarrassed the messenger, and he left without collecting payment. (The emperor himself died in battle soon after.)

With the payment uncollected, Basil found himself surrounded by piles of gold and jewels and with no idea what belonged to whom that he might return them to their owners. His solution was this: he had each piece of treasure baked into a pie, which he then distributed to the people of Caesarea. Miraculously, when each person cut into the pie, they found inside exactly the treasure that had belonged to them.

This great miracle is re-enacted in Greece and elsewhere each Saint Basil’s Day (January 1), when a vasilopita (Basil’s pie) is baked with a coin inside, and slices are cut for everyone present, plus slices for Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saint Basil, the Church, the house, the traveler, the visitor, the poor, and the Kallikantzaroi. Whoever gets the piece with the coin receives a special blessing or gift.

Each January 1, Saint Basil travels the Hellenic world, touching dead branches with his staff and causing them to grow again, and distributing presents to children all over Greece, including the greatest present of all: wisdom. As Saint Basil said: “A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”

Benito always has the hotttt saint goods!