Basilian monks


Basilian monks

(bəzĭl`ēən), monks primarily of the Eastern Church. They follow the Rule of St. Basil the GreatBasil the Great, Saint
, c.330–379, Greek prelate, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church and one of the Four Fathers of the Greek Church. He was a brother of St. Gregory of Nyssa.
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, which has been universal among them since the 7th cent. They have no centralized government; the rule treats proper monastic living, not organization. Their monasteries are collections of small cells, the whole group being called a laura. The chief monastery is the Great Laura of Mt. Athos; another famous Orthodox monastery is St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai. There are Basilians in communion with the pope. The chief figure of Basilian history is the reformer St. Theodore of StudiumTheodore of Studium, Saint
, 759–826, Byzantine Greek monastic reformer, also called St. Theodore the Studite. As an abbot he was early exiled for opposing the marriage of Emperor Constantine VI to his mistress Theodota.
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. See also monasticismmonasticism
, form of religious life, usually conducted in a community under a common rule. Monastic life is bound by ascetical practices expressed typically in the vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience, called the evangelical counsels.
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.