In this issue we will look at one of the most unusual families in all Christian history, a family who contributed person after person, generation after generation, both men and women, to significant Christian ministry. We will look at this family through its most famous son whose name was Basil. Born about AD 330 and educated for high position and prestige, Basil had everything needed to establish himself successfully in this world, but he chose the service of Christ above earthly power.

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His family was a wealthy Christian family from Cappadocia, in east-central Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. History does not record exactly when the Gospel came to Cappadocia, but possibly it was through Jews who heard Peter's powerful sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:9). By the end of his life, Peter was writing to Christians in their area (I Peter 1:1). But the church in Cappadocia became firmly established in the region through the evangelism done by Bishop Gregory, often called Thaumaturgus or the Wonder-worker. Note that after the apostle Paul, Gregory "The Wonder-worker" was one of the few "big name" Christian ministers for the next 250 years.

This was a period of persecution and there were no public mass evangelism meetings allowed. Basil's grandmother Macrina came to Christ through Gregory the Wonder-worker's ministry in the third century. When persecution of the Christians broke out under Emperor Diocletian, Macrina and her husband fled their home and lived in the hill forests of Pontus for seven years. When they did return to their homes, persecution again broke out, and much of their property was confiscated. Macrina's son Basil later married Emmelia, who was the daughter of a martyr. Basil and Emmelia had ten children and raised them all in the Christian faith for which their parents had suffered so greatly. The oldest child, a girl, was named Macrina after Basil's mother. The second oldest, a boy, was named Basil after his father; he is the main subject of our story.

Basil, Sr., was a lawyer and rhetorician in Cappadocia, and he provided Basil, Jr., with a classic education to follow in his steps. After schooling in Caesarea and Constantinople, Basil went to Athens where he studied for six years. There he became friends with Prince Julian, later Roman Emperor, and fellow-Cappadocian Gregory of Nazianzus. Basil excelled at rhetoric and became very proud of his abilities. When he came home, he began teaching at the university of Caesarea. Basil's father had died when he was away, and on his return he found his sister Macrina had taken over the care of their mother and was looking after the education of the younger children. Macrina was an extraordinary woman. Gregory of Nazianzus once wrote regarding her, "it was a woman who was the subject of our discourse, if indeed you can say 'a woman' for I do not know if it is appropriate to call her by a name taken from nature when she surpasses nature."

Macrina's Marriage Plans
Disappointed Macrina was engaged to be married when she was twelve, but her fiancé died. She resolved to remain unmarried and devote her life to the Lord and the service of others. Since a young girl Macrina had especially studied the Song of Solomon and the Psalms. As her brother Gregory later wrote: She went through each part of the Psalm at its special time, when getting up, when engaging in work, when resting, when she took her meals, when she arose from the table, when she went to bed or arose for prayers; always she had the Psalms with her like a good traveling companion. Not forsaking them for a moment.