Editing Basil of Caesarea (section)

===Annesi===
[[File:Basil of Caesarea icon.jpg|thumb|Russian icon of Basil of Caesarea]]

After his baptism, Basil travelled in 357 to Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia to study ascetics and monasticism.<ref name="Quasten 1986, p. 205">Quasten (1986), p. 205.</ref><ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica p. 938">''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (15th ed.) vol. 1, p. 938.</ref> [[Eustathius of Sebaste]], a prominent [[anchorite]] near Pontus, mentored Basil.<ref name=McSorley>{{cite CE1913|last= McSorley|first= Joseph|wstitle=St. Basil the Great|volume= 2}}</ref> Basil distributed his fortunes among the poor and went briefly into solitude near Neocaesarea of Pontus (modern [[Niksar]]), on the [[Yeşilırmak (river)|Iris River]].<ref name="Quasten 1986, p. 205"/> He eventually realized that, while he respected the ascetics' piety and prayerfulness, the solitary life did not call him.<ref>Merredith (1995), p. 21.</ref> He and Eustathius also eventually differed over [[dogma]].<ref name=McSorley>{{cite CE1913|last= McSorley|first= Joseph|wstitle=St. Basil the Great|volume= 2}}</ref>

Basil instead felt drawn toward communal religious life, and by 358 he was gathering around him a group of like-minded [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]], including his brother Peter. Together they founded a monastic settlement on his family's estate near Annesi<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica p. 938"/> (modern Sonusa or Uluköy, near the confluence of the [[Yeşilırmak River|Iris]] and [[Kelkit River|Lycos]] rivers<ref>mod. Yeşilırmak and Kelkit Çayi rivers, see Rousseau (1994), p. 62.</ref>). His widowed mother Emmelia, sister Macrina, and several other women, joined Basil and devoted themselves to pious lives of prayer and charitable works (some claim Macrina founded this community).<ref name=westminster>''The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History: The Early, Medieval, and Reformation Eras'', vol.1, Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0-664-22416-4}}, p. 75.</ref>

Here Basil wrote about monastic communal life. His writings became pivotal in developing monastic traditions of the [[Eastern Church]].<ref name="Attwater">Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. {{ISBN|0-14-051312-4}}.</ref> In 358, Basil invited his friend Gregory of Nazianzus to join him in Annesi.<ref>Rousseau (1994), p. 66.</ref> When Gregory eventually arrived, they collaborated on ''[[Origen's Philocalia]]'', a collection of [[Origen]]'s works.<ref>Merredith (1995), pp. 21–22.</ref> Gregory decided to return to his family in Nazianzus.

Basil attended the [[Council of Constantinople (360)]]. He at first sided with Eustathius and the [[Homoiousian]]s, a semi-Arian faction who taught that the Son was of ''like'' substance with the Father, neither the same (''one'' substance) nor different from him.<ref name="Meredith 1995, p. 22">Meredith (1995), p. 22.</ref> The Homoiousians opposed the Arianism of Eunomius but refused to join with the supporters of the [[Nicene Creed]], who professed that the members of the Trinity were of one substance ("[[homoousios]]"). However, Basil's bishop, [[Dianius]] of Caesarea, had subscribed only to the earlier [[Nicene]] form of agreement. Basil eventually abandoned the Homoiousians, and emerged instead as a strong supporter of the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref name="Meredith 1995, p. 22"/> His ability to balance his theological convictions with his political connections made Basil a powerful advocate for the Nicene position.