, vowed on November 21 to dedicate their lives to the education of youth and preaching the Word of God. They created a “Basilian spirit” which focused on fostering priestly vocations. 

From the outset, Basilians were familiar with tension, trial and chaos during the dark days of the French Revolution. It was ambitious, courageous, and downright dangerous to promote Christian education in the teeth of the Reign of Terror, but that is exactly what Archbishop D'Aviau of

. Nevertheless, a little band of teachers and junior masters formed around Lapierre and his associate, Joseph Marie Actorie, to give a direction to the future apostolate, that of evangelization, especially through education.  By 1799, when they came out of hiding, such names as Jean Antoine Vallon, Auguste Payan, Pierre Tourvieille, began to appear in the school register, together with Vincent Duret, André Fayolle, Henri Martinesche, Jean François Pagès, Julien Tracol. This group of ten secular priests constitute our original founding fathers. Even the benign mayor of Saint Symphorien, Jean Baptiste Polly, was to join them and study for the priesthood. The early years, to 1822, brought one crisis after another for the little group of priest teachers and their associates in the extremely anti-clerical atmosphere. In one police commissioner’s report, written in 1799, we read: “The priests are the only enemies of the government and once extirpated from society there will no longer be terrorism, nor royalism, nor crimes in

Who Was St. Basil?

The principal patron and model for the Basilian Congregation is St. Basil the Great.

St. Basil was born about the year 329 A.D. in Ceasarea. The second of ten children, Basil was nourished by an outstanding Christian home life. His grandmother - St. Macrina the elder, his parents - Basil and Emmelia, two brothers - Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste - and a sister - Macrina the younger, have all been acclaimed saints. The family brought Basil and his siblings up with a remarkable example of concern for the poor, hospitality to strangers, and purity of soul. Although wealthy in the world’s goods, they voluntarily led an austere life. Basil the Great was the name given him by his friend Gregory of Nazianzus. He is also known as Basil of Ceasarea, and Basil, Bishop of Ceasarea. Basil, along with his brother, Gregory, and his friend, Gregory, are known as the Cappadocian Fathers. 

According to the custom of the time, Basil was enrolled as a catechumen as a youth. His decision to be Baptized in 356 marked a definite commitment to a life dedicated to Christ. Basil was ordained a priest by Bishop Eusebius in the year 364 A.D. About 368, there was a famine in Cappadocia, and the city was filled with hopeless, hungry refugees. Basil organized relief supplies of all sorts including the food which kept many alive. 

Basil was appointed Bishop of Ceasarea in 370. He immediately began to build hospitals, clinics, hospices, trade schools, and arranged for doctors, nurses, guides, and beasts of burden to meet the needs of the poor, the sick, the needy, and travelers. Basil worked diligently for peace in the provinces. In one letter he wrote:
“There is nothing more characteristic of a Christian than to be a peacemaker.”  Basil is known for working against and bringing defeat to the Arian heresy, and he is responsible for the victory of the Nicene Creed.

A man of great personal holiness, St. Basil's written works demonstrate his scholarly ability and deep spirituality. 
Basil died peacefully on January 1, 379, and was buried in Caesarea. His feast day is January 2. He is a Doctor of the Church in the West and a Holy Hierarch in the East.

The other patrons of the Basilian congregation are: the Blessed Virgin, especially under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. John Bosco. In her position as patroness of the missions, St. Therese of Lisieux is venerated by the Basilian Fathers Missions.

Father Patrick Moloney joined the Congregation on August 25, 1842. By 1850, Father Moloney had accompanied Most Reverend Armand de Charbonnel, Bishop of Toronto, to the New World. Bishop de Charbonnel requested the Basilians to establish a school in Toronto, which they did in 1852 and named it St. Michael’s College.  

 After the first native Canadian, Michael Ferguson, was ordained in 1863, the growth of the Basilian community in the New World continued slowly but steadily over the rest of that century. In 1903 there were 60 Basilians in America, 51 priests and 9 scholastics; by 1922 they numbered 91 members, of whom 59 were priests and 32 scholastics. The expansion of their fields of endeavor was also significant. St. Michael's College and St. Basil's parish in Toronto dated from 1852 and 1856 respectively, St. Mary's parish, Owen Sound, from 1863, Assumption College and Assumption parish in Sandwich from 1870; Basilians also took on the direction of St. John the Baptist parish, Amherstburg in 1878, St. Anne's, Detroit, 1886, Holy Rosary, Toronto, 1892, St. Basil's College, Waco, 1899, St. Thomas High School, Houston, 1900, St. Mary's Seminary, La Porte, 1901, St. Thomas College, Chatham, N.B., 1910.

 Today, the Basilian Fathers serve in four Provinces and twenty-two cities in Canada, seven states and thirty cities in the United States, Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico, and Bogotá, Cali, and Medellin, Colombia in Latin America.

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