In the families of both there were numerous saints. Saint Basil, born in Caesarea in the year 329, received from his father the foundations of the Christian doctrine. His sister Macrina and his brothers Peter, bishop of Sebaste, and Gregory of Nyssa, were also elevated to the altars. Gregory Nazianzen also had a sister, Gorgonia, and a brother, Caesarius, saints.
Basil traveled through Pontus, then Egypt, Palestine and Syria, attracted by the life of monks and hermits: he aspired to a life of silence, solitude and prayer. On his return to Pontus, he met a former fellow student known in Athens, Gregory of Nacianzo, with whom he founded a small monastic community. But then he left his retreat to settle in Caesarea, where he was ordained priest and then bishop.
Its fight against the Arianism developed in doctrine and charity. Faced with the Arians who defended their possessions, Basil argued that if everyone was content with what was necessary and gave what was superfluous to his neighbor, there would be no more poor people. As for Gregory, Emperor Theodosius sent him to Constantinople (formerly Byzantium, now Istanbul), to combat the Arian heresy. With his exemplary doctrine and life, the city returned to orthodoxy. They are known as Cappadocian Fathers.
