After the death of the first twelve apostles, the Church entered the patristic stage, a time of guidance by the early fathers. Basil and Gregory come from that period. Basil lived from 329AD to 389AD. Gregory died ten years before Basil. During their lifetime both had to fight against a common heresy that denied the humanity of Christ.
“Saints Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen were among the most devoted defenders of the faith in the fourth century. Both were bishops and both are now saints and doctors of the Church. These two men met while studying in Caesarea Cappadocia and strengthened their tight friendship in Athens. After Basil’s death, Gregory wrote of their bond, “We seemed to have one soul, inhabiting two bodies” (Orationes of Saint Gregory 43:20).
“Both saints came from families of saints. Basil’s maternal grandmother was a martyr; his paternal grandmother, his parents, and three of his siblings are also saints. Gregory’s father was converted to Catholicism by his wife. After his conversion, he was ordained a priest and then consecrated as Bishop of Nazianzen. He served as bishop for about forty-five years, living into his nineties. These saintly parents had three children, all of whom became saints.” 1
Both received a solid foundation of faith from their families to live out their lives in service to the Church as adults in a difficult time of heresy. The experience of growing up in saintly families or having a faith-filled wife gave them a solid orientation of how to deal with the challenges and problems of their adult lives and the Church’s difficulties at the time.
In today’s second reading Paul calls all of us to center our lives on the faith that we have received. Having a life centered on the Christ child born in our midst, in our own lives, allows us to maintain a joyful spirit not just during the Christmas season, but throughout the whole year. It also turns us into credible witnesses like Basil and Gregory.
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.
If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,
then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.
Much time had I spent in vanity, and had wasted nearly all my youth in the vain labor which I underwent in acquiring the wisdom made foolish by God. Then once upon a time, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the Gospel, and I perceived the uselessness of the “wisdom of the princes of this world, that come to naught” (1 Cor. 2:6) I wept many tears over my miserable life and I prayed that guidance might be vouchsafed me to admit me to the doctrines of true religion. ~Letter of Saint Basil #223