Basil the Blessed (known also as Basil, fool for Christ; Basil, Wonderworker of Moscow; or Blessed Basil of Moscow, fool for Christ russian: Василий Блаженный, Vasily Blazhenny) is a

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

of the type known as ''

yurodivy Foolishness for Christ ( el, διά Χριστόν σαλότητα, cu, оуродъ, юродъ) refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining an ascetic order or religious life, or deliberately flouting socie ...

'' or "holy fool".

Life

He was born to

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

s in December 1468 at the portico of the Epiphany Cathedral at Yelokhovo (now in Moscow)."Blessed Basil of Moscow the Fool-For-Christ", Orthodox Church in America
/ref> His father was named Jacob and his mother Anna. Originally an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

, he went to Moscow when he was sixteen. There he helped those who were ashamed to ask for alms, but were in need of help. He adopted an eccentric lifestyle of

shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

and giving to the poor to shame the

miser A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions. Although the word is sometimes used loosely to characterise anyone who ...

ly and help those in need. He went naked and weighed himself down with chains. He rebuked

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

for not paying attention in church. Basil was said to have the gift of prophecy. When he died on August 2, 1552 or 1557, St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, served his funeral with many clergy. He is buried in

St. Basil's Cathedral The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed ( rus, Собо́р Васи́лия Блаже́нного, Sobór Vasíliya Blazhénnogo), commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most po ...

in Moscow, which was commissioned by Ivan for commemoration of his conquest of Kazan' and was named for the saint later. Basil was formally

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

in 1588. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is celebrated on August 2 (August 15, N.S.).

Citations

General sources

* Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. .

External links

St Basil of Moscow
Orthodox Icon and Synaxarion

from the ''Prologue from Ohrid'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Basil Fool For Christ 1460s births 1550s deaths 15th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians 15th-century Russian people 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians 16th-century Russian people Russian saints Yurodivy

Life

See also

Citations

General sources

External links