Popular name for the priests of the Community of Saint Basil, founded in Cappadocia in the 4th century by Saint Basil, under his Rule. This Rule spread gradually to all the monasteries of the East and at an early date acquired supremacy in the religious communities of the Greek world. In Italy and Sicily the monasteries of Basilians were always in communion with the Holy See. The monastery of Rossano founded by Saint Nilus the Younger, and those of San Salvatore of Otranto, San Salvatore of Messina, and Grottaferrata deserve mention. Recently the monasteries established by Greek monks in these countries have been united into congregations:

the Melchite Congregation of Saint Saviour, dating from 1715, has 10 monasteries, 170 priests, 15 brothers, and 30 sisters;

the Ruthenian Congregation of Saint Saviour, united to the Church in 1595 and reorganized by Saint Josaphat, has 21 monasteries, 360 religious of whom 113 are priests, and 117 lay brothers;

the Congregation of Aleppo, separated in 1829 from the Congregation of Chueir, has 7 monasteries, 47 priests, 18 brothers, and 26 sisters;

the Baladite Congregation has 4 monasteries and 3 hospices. In Lithuania reformed Basilians work in the Apostolate in connection with the Uniat clergy. A reform of Italian Basilians, dating from 1573, showed an inclination towards the use of the Latin Liturgy, which some monasteries adopted altogether. The Spanish Basilian monasteries, dating from the 16th century, also followed the Latin Liturgy; they were suppressed together with other orders in 1833. There is a teaching order of Basilians, founded by Monsignor d'Aviau, Archbishop of Vienne, France, during the French Revolution; established at Annonay, 1802; approved, 1863; banished from France, 1905; and now established in England and America, with four colleges and parishes in Canada (at Montreal, Toronto, London, Winnipeg, and Edmonton) and in the United States (particularly in Detroit, Houston, Omaha, Rochester, and Aurora).