BASILIO and EMMELIA, saints. — Parents of s. Basilio and s. Gregorio Nisseno; B., the son of a wealthy Christian family from Pontus, was a lawyer and lived in Caesarea of Cappadocia, where he apparently also held a chair of rhetoric. S. Gregorio di Nazianzo speaks of him as a fervent Christian, a passionate cultivator of letters, and calls him “the teacher of virtue in Pontus” (Oratio XLIII, 9,11). E., his wife, was a woman of great virtue and beauty. Both were generous in their assistance to the poor. They had 11 children, among whom, besides the two already mentioned, the following deserve particular mention: Pietro, bishop of Sebaste, and Macrina, who later embraced the religious state together with her mother. The year of their death is unknown. Their names were introduced into the Roman Martyrology by Baronio on 30 May. It seems that E.’s name should be read in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 23 May.
The Italo-Greek monks celebrate the feast of all the relatives of s. Basilio on 30 May.