Saint Basil believed that no one is saved alone: the path to God is traveled together with others, sharing gifts. Basil emphasizes the importance of unity as harmony in diversity. He also teaches that the community must be a visible sign of the Gospel, showing the world that it is possible to live in communion. In it, one prays, discerns, and serves.
“The ascetic community, like the Universal Church, is a Mystical Body whose head is not a human authority, nor Scripture alone, nor the Rule of the community as such, but the Incarnate and Living Word, that is, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who promised to be Emmanuel (Hebrew for “God with us”) with his disciples, both men and women, at all times, continually animating them with the charisms of the Holy Spirit, the Soul of his Mystical Body: both the universal Church and the ascetic brotherhood. The imperative of the Great Commission applies to both: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, … and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Mt 28:19-20).”
Page XIX, quote taken from: Letters of the illustrious Saint Basil of Caesarea – Epistolary – Edition, Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, 2021