Basil Fool for Christ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint Basil or Vasily (known also as Vasily Blazhenny, Basil Fool for Christ or Basil the Blessed; Russian: Василий Блаженный) is a Russian Orthodox saint born to serfs in 1469 in Yelokhov, near Moscow. He is thought to have died in 1552 or 1557 and was canonised around 1580.
Basil is considered a yurodivy or holy fool. Originally an apprentice shoemaker in Moscow, he adopted an eccentric lifestyle of shoplifting and giving to the poor. He went naked and weighed himself down with chains. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church.
He is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, which was commissioned by Ivan and is named after the saint.
