Basil

Venerable Basil was the founder of the Monastery of the Savior called of the Deep Stream (Vathys Ryax) in Bithynia, and is commemorated on 1 July. He is locally honoured, with no known canonization.

He came from Cappadocia and lived in the time of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos (901 to 959), son of Leo the Philosopher and Zoe. He built the Monastery of the Deep Stream in the town of Trigleia in Bithynia, and was distinguished not only for piety but also for learning and zeal in serving the faith and the Church. In the monastery he founded he was a teacher of the pious young men who came to him, many of whom became teachers of the people and good heads of other monasteries.

The Monastery of Vathys Ryax, also called of the Transfiguration or of the Savior (Turkish Aya Sotiri), lies near modern Tirilye in Turkey. Its ruins are used by locals as animal shelters. Over the centuries three of its abbots entered the calendar: Basil (1 July), Luke (7 September) and Ignatios (27 September); to them is added Peter, whose commemoration is also on 7 September.