St. Basil and St. Gregory Naziazen share a Memorial today. They share a feast because in life they were best friends. Gregory's account of this holy friendship appears in today's Office of Readings. Here is an excerpt:
The same hope inspired us: the pursuit of learning. This is an ambition especially subject to envy. Yet between us there was no envy. On the contrary, we made capital out of our rivalry. Our rivalry consisted, not in seeking the first place for oneself but in yielding it to the other, for we each looked on the other’s success as his own.
We seemed to be two bodies with a single spirit. Though we cannot believe those who claim that everything is contained in everything, yet you must believe that in our case each of us was in the other and with the other.
