VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6], 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 15:07:50 10/21/03 Tue
Author: ketch - 2 Aug 2003
Subject: St Basil the Blessed

August 2nd - Feast of St Basil the Blessed (Russian Orthodox Church).

St Basil the Blessed was born in 1469 in Yelokhov, a village near Moscow. His parents were Serfs and gave him over to be a cobblers apprentice at an early age. One day a man came and ordered some shoes, asking that they be made to last for several years. Basil burst out laughing, and when asked why replied that the man would be dead tomorrow. The prophesy came true.

At the age of 16 Basil left his employer and started his life as a "Fool-For-Christ's-Sake." He became a wandering ascetic, wearing no clothes and weighing his body down with heavy chains. Those chains are kept on his tomb to this day.

The naked Basil apparently suffered no harm from the Russian winters or from the notorious Ivan The Terrible who would do him no wrong. Once at a feast Basil presented Ivan with a slab of meat saying "Why abstain from meat when you murder men?" No one else would have dared speak to the Tsar that way.

On another occasion some robbers noticed that the usually naked Basil was wearing a fur coat given to him, and decided to steal it. One of the robbers pretended to be dead while the others asked Basil for the coat as a donation for his funeral. Basil willingly gave the coat, but the man died as soon as the coat was placed on him.

When he died the Muscovites thought so highly of him that they buried him in the grounds of the city Cathedral, which although actually dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary is commonly known as the Cathedral of St Basil The Blessed.
The Cathedral of the Protection of the Mother of God
Widely known as The Cathedral of St Basil the Blessed


[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.