BASILIANS—SISTERS OF THE ORDER OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT (OSBM)

The Order of the Sisters of St. Basil the Great (Ordo S. Basilii Magni ), a community of women dedicated to the spiritual and educational pursuits of the people of God, was founded in the fourth century by St. Basil the Great and his sister, St. Macrina. The order with foundations in Europe, North and South America, and Australia serves primarily people of the Eastern Catholic church. St. Basil and St. Macrina urged their followers to be coworkers with God in the task of developing the potential of each human being through education and development of the whole person. The Basilian tradition spread throughout Asia Minor and Europe, and by the 11th century, it had become centered in Ukraine.

The community's first foundation in the United States was established in 1911 when the Most Reverend Soter Ortynsky, the first Ukrainian Bishop in North America, invited the Sisters of St. Basil to come to Philadelphia and open an orphanage and school. Upon their arrival in Philadelphia, Mother Helena Langevich, at the time 32 years of age, and two companions, Sister Paphnutia and Sister Euphemia, met the needs of Ukrainian immigrants by teaching religion, language and culture. Evening classes gave way to the establishment of a parochial school. Under the direction of Mother Josaphat Theodorouych, the first American superior, the order purchased the property in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania, and continued to grow. In time the sisters established a printing house, an orphanage, a high school for girls (St. Basil Academy), Manor College, the only accredited college sponsored by the Eastern Catholic Church in the United States, and a Basilian Spirituality Center.

The Generalate of the Order is located in Rome. The Order has two provinces in the United States. The one with headquarters in Fox Chase Manor follows the Ukrainian Byzantine Rite and is represented in the Archeparchy of Philadelphia and the eparchies of Chicago, Parma, Ohio, and Stamford, Connecticut. The other with its motherhouse in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, follows the Ruthenian Byzantine Rite and is represented in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and the eparchies of Parma, Passaic, New Jersey and Van Nuys, California.

[m. m. wojnar/eds.]