Fool-for-Christ
Basil of Moscow the Fool-For-Christ
Blessed Basil of Moscow, the Fool-for-Christ († 1557)
New Calendar August 2 Old Calendar August 15
Why they are a saint
At the age of sixteen, he took up the podvig of folly for Christ, in which he continued for seventy-two years, living to the age of eighty-eight. The Orthodox Church commemorates Basil of Moscow the Fool-For-Christ on August 2.
Life
Saint Basil the Blessed was born in December 1468 at the porch of the Elokhov church outside Moscow, and was apprenticed to a cobbler. At sixteen he began the hard struggle of foolishness for Christ, walking barefoot through Moscow in summer heat and winter frost and enduring beatings with joy.
He had the gift of foreseeing the future: he foretold the great fire of Moscow of 1547, and once rebuked Tsar Ivan the Terrible for thinking about building a palace during the divine services. He died on August 2, 1557, and Metropolitan Macarius served his funeral. He was glorified in 1588, and the famous Cathedral on Red Square came to be called by his name.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Basil of Moscow the Fool-For-Christ as a patron when they bear the name Basil at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on August 2. Russian Orthodox faithful also honor his as one of their own.
Prayer
O holy Basil of Moscow the Fool-For-Christ, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.