Celebrate St. Basil's generosity with gifts

"You better watch out, You better not cry. You better not shout, I'm telling you why." St. Basil is coming to town.
Sounds strange, doesn't it? Well, if you lived in Greece, this would be common. Every year it is not St. Nicholas who comes to deliver gifts to children, but St. Basil.
Jan. 1, which is the feast day of St. Basil, is the day that gifts are exchanged in Greece. This is nice because Dec. 25, the feast day of Christmas and the birth of our Lord, is strictly a religious holiday.
In fact, in Greece, every church celebrates the Christmas Liturgy at 5 a.m., the traditional time that Christ was born. It is interesting to see that at 4 a.m. buses and other public transportation were available to take people to church. People would gather at churches to pray, to receive Holy Communion and celebrate this wonderful birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So what is the importance of Jan. 1?
All about Basil
St. Basil was born in the capital of Cappadocia, Caesarea, in the year A.D. 329. He had three brothers and one sister, all who became saints in the church. His paternal grandmother, with great Christian faith and great love for Christ, reared him.
St. Basil's life was a prime example of frugality, continence and wisdom. He excelled in all the studies, especially in rhetoric. He studied the writings of all the ancient Greek philosophers and used philosophy in his everyday life. The balance of this instruction included logic, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Even with all his other studies, St. Basil never satisfied his desire for theological learning, something that was instilled in him from his childhood.
After finishing his study, he returned to Caesarea and involved himself with law and politics. This, however, was not enough for him because he desired to live a life in complete dedication to Christ.
He soon entered the monastic life. He excelled in spirituality. St. Basil's popularity grew, and people sought his spiritual guidance. His instructions were both wise and edifying. In 370 A.D., St. Basil was elevated as the Bishop of Cappadocia. He was an exemplary bishop; he worked with his people and taught them how to lead true Christian lives.
At this time, there were many heresies that arose in the Roman/Byzantine Empire. One of the largest and widespread was the Arian heresy, which claimed that Christ was not truly God. St. Basil spent most of his life teaching the true theology of the church and fighting this terrible heresy, which divided the church and confused many people.
God gave St. Basil many gifts, which he used to help the church remain pure. He was instrumental in defeating this Arian heresy. He is now considered one of the three great hierarchs and theologians of the church.
Because of his love for God and the people place under his care, St. Basil helped so many people. He talked with exactness and love. God also gave him the gift of healing, and he knew exactly what to say and what to do at the right time.
He also was philanthropic. He built orphanages. He developed cities to help the disadvantaged and even developed the beginnings of today's hospitals. He always loved children and reached out to them with great care and concern. He especially never wanted to see a child in need. Whenever he could, he always gave gifts to families and especially to children.
Bread tradition
A tradition celebrated today among Greek families and churches throughout the world takes place Jan. 1 and is the cutting of the vasilopita, St. Basil's bread or pita. This is a special sweet bread or cake that is made for the new year. In the bread usually is baked a gold coin. The bread is then cut up and a piece of the bread is given to each family member. The person with the coin is supposed to have good luck for the rest of the year.
This tradition goes back to the time of St. Basil. Once a band of barbarians was approaching the city in which St. Basil lived. Their aim was to plunder the city, dishonor the women, and take all the money they could. The people were frightened and approached St. Basil asking him what to do. He ordered the people to bring all their gold to present as a gift to the barbarians.
When the savages arrived, St. Basil greeted them at the gates of the city. He hailed the leader and presented him with the gift of gold welcoming them into the city. The barbarian leader was so overcome with the love of St. Basil and the people of the city, that they left the city untouched and without the gift of gold.
Now that St. Basil had all the gold of everyone in the city, how was he to give it back to him or her? He decided to bake loaves of bread, and place a piece of gold in each loaf of bread, and then give the bread to the people. Miraculously, each person received exactly the same gold that they initially gave to St. Basil.
St. Basil the Great is a popular saint in the Orthodox Church. His great love for the church, his deep understanding and wisdom still reaches us today. We still celebrate the Divine Liturgy that he tediously wrote more than 1,600 years ago. He performed many miracles, which serve as pillars of our faith and inspiration to Orthodox Christians all over the world. His teaching and care are great examples for us.
As we enter this new year of 2006, may the prayers of St. Basil help us to live deeper Christian lives. Happy New Year!
XThe Rev. Thomas Constantine is pastor of St. John the Forerunner Greek Orthodox Church, Boardman.