ABSTRACT
The great bishop of Caesarea, St Basil, fitted the missionary challenge as no-one else could. After his journeys to the Middle East, St Basil retired to his small property in Annesi, to lead a life of silent asceticism, through prayer and contemplation, he could study the Holy Scripture and the work of the great parents of the Church. St Basil supported Eustathius of Sebaste, for he had seen in his approach the only way by which he could regain his place among the Orthodox bishops of Nicaea. God surely helped Basil to carry out his all multiple tasks well and truly. St Basil was not concerned only with the strictly religious matters of his time, the disturbances caused by heresies and schisms, but also with the life of society as a whole. St Basil had always been involved in public life, even before taking up any official position in the Church.
