| Latin:Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | OSBM |
|---|---|
| Formation | 20 August 1631 (394 years ago) (1631-08-20) |
| Founder | SaintJosaphat Kuntsevych |
| Type | Monastic order ofpontifical right (for men) |
| Membership | 484 (338 priests) (2025) |
| Robert Lysseiko, OSBM | |
Parent organization | Greek Catholic Church |
TheOrder of Saint Basil the Great (Ukrainian:Чин Святого Василія Великого,romanized: Chyn Sviatoho Vasyliia Velykoho;Latin:Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni, abbreviatedOSBM),[1] also known as theBasilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is aGreek Catholic monastic order of pontifical right that works actively amongUkrainian Catholics and otherGreek Catholic churches in central and Eastern Europe. The order received approbation on 20 August 1631 and is based at theMonastery of the Holy Trinity, Vilnius.
The Basilian Order originates from the tradition of Orthodox monasticism in theRuthenian lands of theKingdom of Poland and theGrand Duchy of Lithuania. Its precursors wereSt. Anthony and his discipleSt. Theodosius, founders of the monasteries in thePechersk Lavra in the 10th century, which followed the rules ofSt. Basil the Great andSt. Theodore the Studite.[2] Thelavra model was adopted by other monastic communities in Ruthenian lands, combiningeremitic andcenobitic forms of life. Unlike monks of theLatin Rite, they did not form congregations but operated independently, subject only to local bishops.[3]
They also generally did not engage in educational, charitable, or pastoral activities, and few among them were priests. The monasteries, however, had immense cultural significance and served as the intellectual and spiritual backbone of the Orthodox Church. Because of their black habits, the monks were calledchernets ("black monks") of the Rule of St. Basil, or simply "Basilians" since half[which?] of 14th century.[4]
In the second half of the 16th century, the Orthodox Church in thePolish-Lithuanian lands experienced a crisis, most evident in the decline of monastic life and the weakening of discipline. Many Orthodox clergy saw the solution to these problems in renewing union with the Latin Church. Representatives of three monasteries fromBratslav, Lavryshiv andMinsk took part in theSynod of Brest in 1596, which led to the union. However, delegates from ten other important monasteries participated in the anti-synod. The division within the Christian of Greek tradition had a profound impact on the state of the monasteries, which repeatedly changed their confessional affiliation.[5]
At the Synod of Novogrudok in 1617, the Congregation of the Holy Trinity was established, bringing together all Uniate monasteries. At that time, there were five monasteries in Vilnius,Novogrudok, Minsk,Zhyrovichy and Byten, with 60 monks in total. The order was approved in 1631 byPope Urban VIII. As the Union expanded, the number of monasteries within the congregation also increased.[6] Not all monasteries that accepted the Union, however, joined the congregation; this mainly concerned those located in the Crown, which differed from the Lithuanian ones in their greater poverty, simpler clothing, longer beards and generally lower intellectual level of the monks. In 1739, a new Congregation of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded for monasteries in the Kingdom of Poland. It was labelled the "Ruthenian", "Crown", or "Polish" congregation, to distinguish it from the older Lithuanian one.[7]
Claims to precedence by the Lithuanian province led to the unification of both congregations into the Ruthenian Order of Saint Basil the Great (Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni Ruthenorum) byPope Benedict XIV in 1744, with the former congregations becoming provinces. Thearchimandry ofSupraśl, together with its residences inWarsaw and Kuźnica, remained outside the order. At the time of the union, the order comprised 195 monasteries and 1,145 monks.[8]
The Order of Saint Basil the Great spread and flourished across modern-dayBelarus and Ukraine, playing a key role in the education both of laity and clergy while helping preserve the distinctiveness of Ruthenian culture in the predominantly Polish and Roman CatholicPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, until thepartitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century. In 1772, the Order had over 200 monasteries and over 1,000 monks, sixseminaries, 20 schools and colleges, and four printing houses.
In the last years of the 18th century, most of theRuthenian lands came under theRussian Empire, where the Order along with the whole Ruthenian Church was persecuted. Eventually the monasteries were subjected to theRussian Orthodox Church. A small part of modern Ukraine came underAustrian rule where the Ruthenian Church fared much better. However, the Order suffered under the policies ofEmperor Joseph II directed against all religious orders. In the second half of the 19th century, efforts were undertaken to renew the Order. By 1882, it was reduced to just 60 monks in 14 monasteries. With permission from PopeLeo XIII, the Basilian Constitution was updated with help from theSociety of Jesus starting with theDobromyl Monastery, by which it became less sedentary and more missionary, among other things allowing the monks to work with theUkrainian diaspora overseas. The Basilians reachedBrazil (1897),Canada (1902), theUnited States (1907), andArgentina (1934). New provinces were established coveringTranscarpathia,Hungary, andYugoslavia andRomania. By 1939, the number of monks rose to over 650 and in 1944, the Order purchased theJohn E. Aldred Estate atLattingtown, New York, now known as St. Josaphat's Monastery.[9]
Following theSecond World War, theSoviet Union entered further into Europe and forced theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church underground. In all Soviet-controlled territories, only a single Basilian monastery was left open, in the Polish capital ofWarsaw. Nonetheless, the Order survived among the Ukrainian diaspora in the free world, incommunist Yugoslavia where the regime was relatively benign, and inUkraine itself where the monks secretly prayed and catechized.
After thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the Order was reestablished in independent Ukraine and other Central and Eastern European countries such as Hungary,Romania,Slovakia andPortugal. Some old monasteries have since been restored and new ones established. In 2001,there were over 600 monks, 300 of whom were in Ukraine.
Saints
Blesseds
Venerables
Servants of God
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Protoarchimandrites of theOrder of Saint Basil the Great | |
|---|---|
| Holy Trinity Congregation(1617—1743) |
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| Intercession of the Theotokos Congregation(1739—1741) | |
| United order(1743—1804) | |
| Basilian order of St. Josaphat(since 1931) | |
