A Feast For Friendship

At Christmas we celebrate a number of feasts that relate to the Incarnation of the Lord, though at first glance that may not be obvious. The feast of St Sylvester falls in there - the first pope who reigned in peace after persecution and began building the Church as an influential part of society - the birthday of peace, as some have called it. Today's feast is equally relevant for the season as it is for our Christian lives, the joint celebration of the great Doctors of the East, St Basil the Great and St Gregory Nazianzen.

In the old calendar of the Latin Rite, today was the feast of Basil alone - he died on the 1st or 2nd January 379, Gregory's feast was celebrated on the 9th May. Under the liturgical reforms following Vatican II, their feasts were joined into one celebration on the anniversary of Basil's death. There was a reason for this: the Church, while celebrating their holiness, their teaching and their struggle against heresy, wanted to emphasise the very close friendship that existed between them; a friendship, deeply rooted in their faith, which sustained both of them in their lives and ministries. To underline this, the second reading for the Office of Readings was not taken from either of men's extraordinary theological treatises, but from Gregory's Oration at the time of Basil's funeral. In that marvellous piece of writing Gregory revealed (for the first time, one wonders?) the intimate nature of their relationship - a close friendship in which it seemed as if 'one soul animated two bodies'.

Both men came from deeply Christian families - parents and siblings and other close relatives in both of their families achieved sainthood. Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa, for example, is also regarded as one of the Fathers of the Church, though he is not counted among the Doctors. As Gregory Nazianzen tell us, he met Basil in Athens where they were studying. They shared accommodation and this allowed a close friendship to develop. Their mutual faith and love of learning solidified whatever human affection was there, and later, on Basil's suggestion, the two resolved to live the monastic life. Living in a monastery following a rule composed by Basil, the little community of the friends and their companions lived a life of contemplation and study. 

This was not to last. Gregory returned home to help his father, then Bishop of Nazianzen, to combat Arianism, and Basil was soon appointed Bishop of Caesarea, in 370. In this office, he came face to face with the problems of Arianism himself, and as he tried to gather allies, he created the suffragan diocese of Sasima and asked Gregory to accept it. Gregory was reluctant to become a bishop, but he agreed to please his friend and at his father's urging; he was consecrated by Basil in 372. That would prove to be a via dolorosa for Gregory and he often complained about it. Before the year was out, Gregory had left - his father was ill, so he went to assist him, but he had no intention of returning to Sasima. This would lead to a serious breach between the friends. Gregory harboured a great deal of anger against his friend, he felt he was been used as a pawn. Basil, who saw his friend as an important ally in the fight against Arianism, saw Gregory's retreat as desertion, letting him down as he was engaged in defending the Faith.

When Gregory's father died in 374, he remained to administer the diocese of Nazianzen, but refuse to accept the office of Ordinary. In 375 he withdrew to the monastic life and began to write in earnest; he would remain there for three years. Meanwhile, Basil was up to his neck in ecclesiastical politics and theological argumentation; unlike his sensitive friend, he was a fighter. Despite his resilience and strong spirit, his body began to fail: his penitential practices left their mark and he fell ill to liver disease. By the end of 378 he was gravely ill, as was Gregory in his monastery. Basil died on the 2nd January 379 (some historians dispute this date, some say it was 1st January). Gregory was heartbroken and too ill to get to his friend's funeral. In testament he wrote his Oration and poems in honour of Basil.

Gregory would live for another ten years. Once again he was forced out of monastic life and elected Patriarch of Constantinople, though that was surrounded by controversy and confusion - order and peace seem to have eluded Gregory in his life of serving the Church. Things got worse for him as he struggled to govern the diocese and combat heresy. In the end, he saw the most prudent thing to do was resign, and he did so in 381, returning to Nazianzen to take up the office of bishop there. However, his health was seriously impaired and he resigned in 384. Retreating to the family estate he lived the last six years of his life in peace, prayer and writing. His health finally collapsed and he died on the 25th January 380.

Basil and Gregory had reconciled after their dispute, the origins of that dispute lay in their different personalities. Though very close with a lot in common, they differed in sensitivity and ability. Basil was a fighter; he could see what needed to be done and formed alliances and organised situations and people as necessary. Gregory was part of that, and while Basil trusted his friend completely, he did not take note of his friend's sensitivity; Sasima was a bad move - Gregory was not suited to what was a backwater. Gregory, however, misread his friend - in the heat of battle, Basil was not using his friend as a pawn, he needed him as an ally in the episcopate to fight Arianism: Sasima may have been a backwater, but his friend was standing beside him as a bishop in the battle for orthodoxy. Friendship, no matter how close, cannot avoid misunderstandings and pain.

Despite the hiccup, the friendship between these two men is offered to us in the Church as a model for us. It echoes the friendship of David and Jonathan, and St Aelred of Rievaulx would expound on it later in his writings. In terms of the Incarnation which we celebrate in this Christmas season, we see the friendship of Jesus who became man, to offer himself as the sacrifice to redeem us, but also to draw us to himself and form a bond with us - in Christ God calls us back into friendship with him. John the Beloved Disciple, as I noted a few days ago, is the great example of this. But, as Jesus calls us into friendship with himself, he urges us to form bonds of friendship with our brothers and sisters in the faith. As Jesus prays that we will all be one, he means us to be united not just in the Faith we profess, but in bonds of affection where the love that exists between the Persons of the Holy Trinity is manifest in the disciples of Christ. Basil and Gregory are exemplars in this.

In a age where the powers of this world and the enemy of the faithful seek to divide us, we Christians must be intent on forming and preserving bonds of friendship between us. In this we need to understand friendship as an evangelical reality, where the Faith, common interests, prayer and mission unites us. I often say that, as in terms of family relationship blood is said to be thicker than water, the waters of baptism are even thicker - the baptised have a more intimate connection than that of blood relations, and we should aim to be close to each other. Real life experiences reveal that that is not easy, personality differences and other issues can create tensions, but we must aim to overcome these to forge ever stronger bonds. The dispute between Basil and Gregory shows us that difficulties can arise, but they can also be overcome thanks to Confession and a determined effort to live the Commandments, the Beatitudes and lives of virtue. God's grace in the Sacraments can help shave off the sharp edges in each of us in order to consolidate the bonds of true and deep friendships between Christians.

One way of forming and cementing such friendships is groups - meeting for prayer, for reading and study, and then socialising together. Prayer groups are vital for supporting the Faith, as St Pio of Pietrelcina understood when he founded his universal network of prayer. I always encourage Catholics to join prayer groups and ask solid priests to guide them. These cenacles of prayer can be a lifesaver for many Catholics who may feel isolated in the living of their Catholicism, but they should also be places where people are formed in the orthodox faith and prepared for mission. Pilgrimages are also a wonderful means of making and maintaining friendships - sharp edges become all too apparent on such trips, but these trips can also be the means of shaving them down, as I know from personal experience.

Today is a feast for friendship. As we thank God for our friends, let us also aim to build, maintain and nurture bonds of friendship with other Catholics. We need allies in these days, we have a battle to fight, and a mission to proclaim the Gospel in a difficult time - we can only do that with our brothers and sisters standing with us, side by side in the love and service of Christ. I am sure Basil and Gregory will be standing with us, as will Christ.