Saint Basil the
Great
Doctor of the Church
Feast Day:
June 14
Saint Basil
the Great
Bishop of Caesarea, and
one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church. Born probably 329; died 1
January, 379. He ranks after Athanasius as a defender of the Oriental Church
against the heresies of the fourth century. With his friend Gregory of Nazianzus
and his brother Gregory of Nyssa, he makes up the trio known as "The Three
Cappadocians", far outclassing the other two in practical genius and actual
achievement.
LIFE
St. Basil the Elder,
father of St. Basil the Great, was the son of a Christian of good birth and his
wife, Macrina (Acta SS., January, II), both of whom suffered for the faith
during the persecution of Maximinus Galerius (305-314), spending several years
of hardship in the wild mountains of Pontus. St. Basil the Elder was noted for
his virtue (Acta SS, May, VII) and also won considerable reputation as a teacher
in Caesarea. He was not a priest (Cf. Cave, Hist. Lit., I, 239). He married
Emmelia, the daughter of a martyr and became the father of ten children. Three
of these, Macrina, Basil, and Gregory are honoured as saints; and of the sons,
Peter, Gregory, and Basil attained the dignity of the episcopate.
Under the care of his
father and his grandmother, the elder Macrina, who preserved the traditions of
their countryman, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213-275) Basil was formed in
habits of piety and study. He was still young when his father died and the
family moved to the estate of the elder Macrina at Annesi in Pontus, on the
banks of the Iris. As a boy, he was sent to school at Caesarea, then "a
metropolis of letters", and conceived a fervent admiration for the local bishop,
Dianius. Later, he went to Constantinople, at that time "distinguished for its
teachers of philosophy and rhetoric", and thence to Athens. Here he became the
inseparable companion of Gregory of Nazianzus, who, in his famous panegyric on
Basil (Or. xliii), gives a most interesting description of their academic
experiences. According to him, Basil was already distinguished for brilliancy of
mind and seriousness of character and associated only with the most earnest
students. He was able, grave, industrious, and well advanced in rhetoric,
grammar, philosophy, astronomy, geometry, and medicine. (As to his not knowing
Latin, see Fialon, Etude historique et littéraire sur St. Basile, Paris,
1869). We know the names of two of Basil's teachers at Athens - Prohaeresius,
possibly a Christian, and Himerius, a pagan. It has been affirmed, though
probably incorrectly, that Basil spent some time under Libanius. He tells us
himself that he endeavoured without success to attach himself as a pupil to
Eustathius (Ep., I). At the end of his sojourn at Athens, Basil being laden,
says St. Gregory of Nazianzus "with all the learning attainable by the nature of
man", was well equipped to be a teacher. Caesarea took possession of him gladly
"as a founder and second patron" (Or. xliii), and as he tells us (ccx), he
refused the splendid offers of the citizens of Neo-Caesarea, who wished him to
undertake the education of the youth of their city.
To the successful
student and distinguished professor, "there now remained", says Gregory (Or.
xliii), "no other need than that of spiritual perfection". Gregory of Nyssa, in
his life of Macrina, gives us to understand that Basil's brilliant success both
as a university student and a professor had left traces of worldliness and
self-sufficiency on the soul of the young man. Fortunately, Basil came again in
contact with Dianius, Bishop of Caesarea, the object of his boyish affection,
and Dianius seems to have baptized him, and ordained him Reader soon after his
return to Caesarea. It was at the same time also that he fell under the
influence of that very remarkable woman, his sister Macrina, who had meanwhile
founded a religious community on the family estate at Annesi. Basil himself
tells us how, like a man roused from deep sleep, he turned his eyes to the
marvellous truth of the Gospel, wept many tears over his miserable life, and
prayed for guidance from God: "Then I read the Gospel, and saw there that a
great means of reaching perfection was the selling of one's goods, the sharing
of them with the poor, the giving up of all care for this life, and the refusal
to allow the soul to be turned by any sympathy towards things of earth" (Ep.
ccxxiii). To learn the ways of perfection, Basil now visited the monasteries of
Egypt, Palestine, Coele-Syria, and Mesopotamia. He returned, filled with
admiration for the austerity and piety of the monks, and founded a monastery in
his native Pontus, on the banks of the Iris, nearly opposite Annesi. (Cf.
Ramsay, Hist. Geog. of Asia Minor, London, 1890, p. 326). Eustathius of
Sebaste had already introduced the eremitical life into Asia Minor; Basil added
the cenobitic or community form, and the new feature was imitated by many
companies of men and women. (Cf. Sozomen, Hist. Eccl., VI, xxvii; Epiphanius,
Haer., lxxv, 1; Basil, Ep. ccxxiii; Tillemont, Mém., IX, Art. XXI, and note
XXVI.) Basil became known as the father of Oriental monasticism, the forerunner
of St. Benedict. How well he deserved the title, how seriously and in what
spirit he undertook the systematizing of the religious life, may be seen by the
study of his Rule. He seems to have read Origen's writings very systematically
about this time, for in union with Gregory of Nazianzus, he published a
selection of them called the "Philocalia".
Basil was drawn from
his retreat into the area of theological controversy in 360 when he accompanied
two delegates from Seleucia to the emperor at Constantinople, and supported his
namesake of Ancyra. There is some dispute as to his courage and his perfect
orthodoxy on this occasion (cf. Philostorgius, Hist. Eccl., IV, xii; answered by
Gregory of Nyssa, In Eunom., I, and Maran, Proleg., vii; Tillemont, Mém., note
XVIII). A little later, however, both qualities seem to have been sufficiently
in evidence, as Basil forsook Dianius for having signed the heretical creed of
Rimini. To this time (c. 361) may be referred the "Moralia"; and a little later
came two books against Eunomius (363) and some correspondence with Athanasius.
It is possible, also, that Basil wrote his monastic rules in the briefer forms
while in Pontus, and enlarged them later at Caesarea. There is an account of an
invitation from Julian for Basil to present himself a court and of Basil's
refusal, coupled with an admonition that angered the emperor and endangered
Basil's safety. Both incident and correspondence however are questioned by some
critics.
Basil still retained
considerable influence in Caesarea, and it is regarded as fairly probable that
he had a hand in the election of the successor of Dianius who died in 362, after
having been reconciled to Basil. In any case the new bishop, Eusebius, was
practically placed in his office by the elder Gregory of Nazianzus. Eusebius
having persuaded the reluctant Basil to be ordained priest, gave him a prominent
place in the administration of the diocese (363). In ability for the management
of affairs Basil so far eclipsed the bishop that ill-feeling rose between the
two. "All the more eminent and wiser portion of the church was roused against
the bishop" (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii; Ep. x), and to avoid trouble Basil again
withdrew into the solitude of Pontus. A little later (365) when the attempt of
Valens to impose Arianism on the clergy and the people necessitated the presence
of a strong personality, Basil was restored to his former position, being
reconciled to the bishop by St. Gregory of Nazianzus. There seems to have been
no further disagreement between Eusebius and Basil and the latter soon became
the real head of the diocese. "The one", says Gregory of Nazianzus (Or. xliii),
"led the people the other led their leader". During the five years spent in this
most important office, Basil gave evidence of being a man of very unusual
powers. He laid down the law to the leading citizens and the imperial governors,
settled disputes with wisdom and finality, assisted the spiritually needy,
looked after "the support of the poor, the entertainment of strangers, the care
of maidens, legislation written and unwritten for the monastic life,
arrangements of prayers, (liturgy?), adornment of the sanctuary" (op. cit.). In
time of famine, he was the saviour of the poor.
In 370 Basil
succeeded to the See of Caesarea, being consecrated according to tradition on 14
June. Caesarea was then a powerful and wealthy city (Soz., Hist. Eccl., V, v).
Its bishop was Metropolitan of Cappadocia and Exarch of Pontus which embraced
more than half of Asia Minor and comprised eleven provinces. The see of Caesarea
ranked with Ephesus immediately after the patriarchal sees in the councils, and
the bishop was the superior of fifty chorepiscopi (Baert). Basil's actual
influence, says Jackson (Prolegomena, XXXII) covered the whole stretch of
country "from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and from the Aegean to the
Euphrates". The need of a man like Basil in such a see as Caesarea was most
pressing, and he must have known this well. Some think that he set about
procuring his own election; others (e.g. Maran, Baronius, Ceillier) say that he
made no attempt on his own behalf. In any event, he became Bishop of Caesarea
largely by the influence of the elder Gregory of Nazianzus. His election, says
the younger Gregory (loc. cit.), was followed by disaffection on the part of
several suffragan bishops "on whose side were found the greatest scoundrels in
the city". During his previous administration of the diocese Basil had so
clearly defined his ideas of discipline and orthodoxy, that no one could doubt
the direction and the vigour of his policy. St. Athanasius was greatly pleased
at Basil's election (Ad Pallad., 953; Ad Joann. et Ant., 951); but the
Arianizing Emperor Valens, displayed considerably annoyance and the defeated
minority of bishops became consistently hostile to the new metropolitan. By
years of tactful conduct, however, "blending his correction with consideration
and his gentleness with firmness" (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii), he finally overcame
most of his opponents.
Basil's letters tell
the story of his tremendous and varied activity; how he worked for the exclusion
of unfit candidates from the sacred ministry and the deliverance of the bishops
from the temptation of simony; how he required exact discipline and the faithful
observance of the canons from both laymen and clerics; how he rebuked the
sinful, followed up the offending, and held out hope of pardon to the penitent.
(Cf. Epp. xliv, xlv, and xlvi, the beautiful letter to a fallen virgin, as well
as Epp. liii, liv, lv, clxxxviii, cxcix, ccxvii, and Ep. clxix, on the strange
incident of Glycerius, whose story is well filled out by Ramsay, The Church
in the Roman Empire, New York, 1893, p. 443 sqq.) If on the one hand he
strenuously defended clerical rights and immunities (Ep. civ), on the other he
trained his clergy so strictly that they grew famous as the type of all that a
priest should be (Epp. cii, ciii). Basil did not confine his activity to
diocesan affairs, but threw himself vigorously into the troublesome theological
disputes then rending the unity of Christendom. He drew up a summary of the
orthodox faith; he attacked by word of mouth the heretics near at hand and wrote
tellingly against those afar. His correspondence shows that he paid visits, sent
messages, gave interviews, instructed, reproved, rebuked, threatened,
reproached, undertook the protection of nations, cities, individuals great and
small. There was very little chance of opposing him successfully, for he was a
cool, persistent, fearless fighter in defence both of doctrine and of
principles. His bold stand against Valens parallels the meeting of Ambrose with
Theodosius. The emperor was dumbfounded at the archbishop's calm indifference to
his presence and his wishes. The incident, as narrated by Gregory of Nazianzus,
not only tells much concerning Basil's character but throws a clear light on the
type of Christian bishop with which the emperors had to deal and goes far to
explain why Arianism, with little court behind it, could make so little
impression on the ultimate history of Catholicism.
While assisting
Eusebius in the care of his diocese, Basil had shown a marked interest in the
poor and afflicted; that interest now displayed itself in the erection of a
magnificent institution, the Ptochoptopheion, or Basileiad, a house for the care
of friendless strangers, the medical treatment of the sick poor, and the
industrial training of the unskilled. Built in the suburbs, it attained such
importance as to become practically the centre of a new city with the name of
he kaine polis or "Newtown". It was the motherhouse of like institutions
erected in other dioceses and stood as a constant reminder to the rich of their
privilege of spending wealth in a truly Christian way. It may be mentioned here
that the social obligations of the wealthy were so plainly and forcibly preached
by St. Basil that modern sociologists have ventured to claim him as one of their
own, though with no more foundation than would exist in the case of any other
consistent teacher of the principles of Catholic ethics. The truth is that St.
Basil was a practical lover of Christian poverty, and even in his exalted
position preserved that simplicity in food and clothing and that austerity of
life for which he had been remarked at his first renunciation of the world.
In the midst of his
labours, Basil underwent suffering of many kinds. Athanasius died in 373 and the
elder Gregory in 374, both of them leaving gaps never to be filled. In 373 began
the painful estrangement from Gregory of Nazianzus. Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana,
became an open enemy, Apollinaris "a cause of sorrow to the churches" (Ep.
cclxiii), Eustathius of Sebaste a traitor to the Faith and a personal foe as
well. Eusebius of Samosata was banished, Gregory of Nyssa condemned and deposed.
When Emperor Valentinian died and the Arians recovered their influence, all
Basil's efforts must have seemed in vain. His health was breaking, the Goths
were at the door of the empire, Antioch was in schism, Rome doubted his
sincerity, the bishops refused to be brought together as he wished. "The notes
of the church were obscured in his part of Christendom, and he had to fare on as
best he might,--admiring, courting, yet coldly treated by the Latin world,
desiring the friendship of Rome, yet wounded by her reserve,--suspected of
heresy by Damasus, and accused by Jerome of pride" (Newman, The Church of the
Fathers). Had he lived a little longer and attended the Council of
Constantinople (381), he would have seen the death of its first president, his
friend Meletius, and the forced resignation of its second, Gregory of Nazianzus.
Basil died 1 January, 379. His death was regarded as a public bereavement; Jews,
pagans, and foreigners vied with his own flock in doing him honour. The earlier
Latin martyrologies (Hieronymian and Bede) make no mention of a feast of St.
Basil. The first mention is by Usuard and Ado who place it on 14 June, the
supposed date of Basil's consecration to the episcopate. In the Greek "Menaea"
he is commemorated on 1 January, the day of his death. In 1081, John, Patriarch
of Constantinople, in consequence of a vision, established a feast in common
honour of St. Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom, to be celebrated
on 30 January. The Bollandists give an account of the origin of this feast; they
also record as worthy of note that no relics of St. Basil are mentioned before
the twelfth century, at which time parts of his body, together with some other
very extraordinary relics were reputed to have been brought to Bruges by a
returning Crusader. Baronius (c. 1599) gave to the Naples Oratory a relic of St.
Basil sent from Constantinople to the pope. The Bollandists and Baronius print
descriptions of Basil's personal appearance and the former reproduce two icons,
the older copied from a codex presented to Basil, Emperor of the East (877-886).
By common consent,
Basil ranks among the greatest figures in church history and the rather
extravagant panegyric by Gregory of Nazianzus has been all but equalled by a
host of other eulogists. Physically delicate and occupying his exalted position
but a few years, Basil did magnificent and enduring work in an age of more
violent world convulsions than Christianity has since experienced. (Cf. Newman,
The Church of the Fathers). By personal virtue he attained distinction in
an age of saints; and his purity, his monastic fervour, his stern simplicity,
his friendship for the poor became traditional in the history of Christian
asceticism. In fact, the impress of his genius was stamped indelibly on the
Oriental conception of religious life. In his hands the great metropolitan see
of Caesarea took shape as the sort of model of the Christian diocese; there was
hardly any detail of episcopal activity in which he failed to mark out guiding
lines and to give splendid example. Not the least of his glories is the fact
that toward the officials of the State he maintained that fearless dignity and
independence which later history has shown to be an indispensable condition of
healthy life in the Catholic episcopate.
Some difficulty has
arisen out of the correspondence of St. Basil with the Roman See. That he was in
communion with the Western bishops and that he wrote repeatedly to Rome asking
that steps be taken to assist the Eastern Church in her struggle with
schismatics and heretics is undoubted; but the disappointing result of his
appeals drew from him certain words which require explanation. Evidently he was
deeply chagrined that Pope Damasus on the one hand hesitated to condemn
Marcellus and the Eustathians, and on the other preferred Paulinus to Meletius
in whose right to the See of Antioch St. Basil most firmly believed. At the best
it must be admitted that St. Basil criticized the pope freely in a private
letter to Eusebius of Samosata (Ep. ccxxxix) and that he was indignant as well
as hurt at the failure of his attempt to obtain help from the West. Later on,
however, he must have recognized that in some respects he had been hasty; in any
event, his strong emphasis of the influence which the Roman See could exercise
over the Eastern bishops, and his abstaining from a charge of anything like
usurpation are great facts that stand out obviously in the story of the
disagreement. With regard to the question of his association with the
Semi-Arians, Philostorgius speaks of him as championing the Semi-Arian cause,
and Newman says he seems unavoidably to have Arianized the first thirty years of
his life. The explanation of this, as well as of the disagreement with the Holy
See, must be sought in a careful study of the times, with due reference to the
unsettled and changeable condition of theological distinctions, the lack of
anything like a final pronouncement by the Church's defining power, the
"lingering imperfections of the Saints" (Newman), the substantial orthodoxy of
many of the so-called Semi-Arians, and above all the great plan which Basil was
steadily pursuing of effecting unity in a disturbed and divided Christendom.
WRITINGS
Dogmatic
Of the five books
against Eunomius (c. 364) the last two are classed as spurious by some critics.
The work assails the equivalent Arianism of Eunomius and defends the Divinity of
the Three Persons of the Trinity; it is well summarized by Jackson (Nicene and
Post Nicene Fathers, Series II, VIII). The work "De Spiritu Sancto", or treatise
on the Holy Spirit (c. 375) was evoked in part by the Macedonian denial of the
Divinity of the Third Person and in part by charges that Basil himself had
"slurred over the Spirit" (Gregory Naz., Ep. lviii), that he had advocated
communion with all such a should admit simply that the Holy Ghost was not a
creature (Basil, Ep. cxiii), and that he had sanctioned the use of a novel
doxology, namely, "Glory be to the Father with the Son together with the Holy
Ghost" (De Sp. S., I, i) The treatise teaches the doctrine of the Divinity of
the Holy Ghost, while avoiding the phrase "God, the Holy Ghost" for prudential
reasons (Greg. Naz., Or. xliii). Wuilcknis and Swete affirm the necessity of
some such reticence on Basil's part. (Cf. Jackson, op. cit., p. XXIII, note.)
With regard to Basil's teaching on the Third Person, as expressed in his work
against Eunomius (III, i), a controversy arose at the Council of Florence
between the Latins and the Greeks; but strong arguments both external and
internal, availed to place Basil on the side of the "Filioque". The dogmatic
writings were edited separately by Goldhorn, in his "S. Basilii Opera Dogmatica
Selecta" (Leipzig, 1854). The "De Spiritu Sancto", was translated into English
by Johnston (Oxford, 1892); by Lewis in the Christian Classic Series (1888); and
by Jackson (op. cit.).
Exegetical
These include nine
homilies "On the Hexaemeron" and thirteen (Maran) genuine homilies on particular
Psalms. A lengthy commentary on the first sixteen chapters of Isaias is of
doubtful authenticity (Jackson), though by a contemporary hand. A commentary on
Job has disappeared. "The Hexaemeron" was highly admired by Gregory of Nazianzus
(Or. xliii, no. 67). It is translated entire by Jackson (op. cit.). The homilies
on the Psalms are moral and hortatory rather than strictly exegetical. In
interpreting the Scripture, Basil uses both the literal and the allegorical
methods, but favours the literal system of Antioch. His second homily contains a
denunciation of usury which has become famous.
Homiletical
Twenty-four sermons,
doctrinal, moral, and panegyrical in character, are looked upon as generally
genuine, certain critical difficulties, however, remaining still unsolved. Eight
of these sermons were translated into Latin by Rufinus. The discourses place
Basil among the very greatest of Christian preachers and evince his special gift
for preaching upon the responsibilities of wealth. The most noteworthy in the
collection are the homilies on the rich (vi and vii) copied by St. Ambrose (De
Nabuthe Jez., v, 21-24), and the homily (xxii) on the study of pagan literature.
The latter was edited by Fremion (Paris, 1819, with French translation), Sommer
(Paris, 1894), Bach (Münster, 1900), and Maloney (New York, 1901). With regard
to Basil's style and his success as a preacher much has been written. (Cf.
Villemain, "Tableau d'éloq. Chrét. au IVe siècle", Paris, 1891; Fialon, "Etude
Litt. sur St. B.", Paris, 1861); Roux, "Etude sur la prédication de B. le
Grand", Strasburg, 1867; Croiset, "Hist. de la litt. Grecque", Paris, 1899.)
Moral and Ascetical
This group contains
much of spurious or doubtful origin. Probably authentic are the latter two of
the three prefatory treatises, and the five treatises: "Morals", "On the
Judgment of God", "On Faith", "The Longer Monastic Rules", "The Shorter Monastic
Rules". The twenty-four sermons on morals are a a cento of extracts from the
writings of Basil made by Simeon Metaphrastes. Concerning the authenticity of
the Rules there has been a good deal of discussion. As is plain from these
treatises and from the homilies that touch upon ascetical or moral subjects, St.
Basil was particularly felicitous in the field of spiritual instruction.
Correspondence
The extant letters of
Basil are 366 in number, two-thirds of them belonging to the period of his
episcopate. The so-called "Canonical Epistles" have been assailed as spurious,
but are almost surely genuine. The correspondence with Julian and with Libanius
is probably apocryphal; the correspondence with Apollinarus is uncertain. All of
the 366 letters are translated in the "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers". Some of
the letters are really dogmatic treatises, and others are apologetic replies to
personal attacks. In general they are very useful for their revelation of the
saint's character and for the pictures of his age which they offer.
Liturgical
A so-called "Liturgy
of St. Basil" exists in Greek and in Coptic. It goes back at least to the sixth
century, but its connexion with Basil has been a matter of critical discussion (Brightman,
"Liturgies, Eastern and Western", Oxford, 1896, I; Probst, "Die Liturgie des
vierten Jahrhunderts und deren Reform", Münster, 1893, 377-412).
EDITIONS OF ST. BASIL
The editio
princeps of the original text of the extant works of Basil appeared at
Basle, 1551, and the first complete Latin translation at Rome, 1515 (autograph
manuscript in the British Museum). The best edition is that of the Maurist
Benedictines, Garnier and Maran (Paris, 1721-30), republished with appendixes by
Migne (P. G., XXIX-XXXII). For fragments attributed to Basil with more or less
certainty, and edited by Matthaei, Mai, Pitra, and others, see Bardenhewer, "Patrologie"
(Freiburg, 1901), 247. Portions of letters recently discovered in Egyptian
papyri were published by H. Landwehr, "Grieschische Handschriften aus Fayûm", in
"Philologus", XLIII (1884).
GREG. NAZ., Prationes,
especially xliii; IDEM, Epistolae; Carm. de vit=E1 su=E2; GREG. NYSS.,
Vita Macrinae; IDEM, Or. in laudem fratris Basilii; IDEM, In Eunom.,
I; SOCRATES, Hist. Eccl., IV, xxvi; VI, iii; SOZOMON, Hist. Eccl.,
VI, xxvi; VI, xv, xvi, xvii, xxii; RUFINUS, Hist. Eccl., II, ix;
THEODORET, Hist. Eccl., IV, xix; PHILOSTORGIUS, Hist. Eccl., VIII,
xi-xiii; EPHILEM SYRUS, Encomium in Bas., ap. COTELIER, Mon. Eccl. Gr.,
II; JEROME, De Vir. Illust., cxvi. The Vita Basilii by
AMPHILOCHIUS is a forgery of about the ninth century. NEWMAN, Church of the
Fathers, I-III
The
Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II
Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Text
courtesy of TraditionalCatholic.net
Prayers of
St. Basil the Great
Troparion of Saint Basil the Great
Thy fame has gone
forth into all the earth, which has received thy word. Thereby thou hast taught
the Faith; thou hast revealed the nature of created things; thou hast made a
royal priesthood of the ordered life of men./ Righteous Father Basil intercede
with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.
Kontakion of Saint Basil the Great
Thou wast an
unshaken foundation of the Church and didst give to all mortals an inviolate
lordship which thou didst seal with thy doctrine, O righteous Basil, revealer of
the mysteries of heaven.
Basil:
Liturgy of Saint Basil, 373AD
By the command of
your only-begotten Son we communicate with the memory of your saints...by whose
prayers and supplications have mercy upon us all, and deliver us for the sake of
your holy name.
Prayer for a Deeper Sense of Fellowship with All Living Things
O God, grant us a deeper sense of fellowship with all living this, our little brothers and sisters to whom in common with us you have given this earth as home. We recall with regret that in the past we have acted high-handedly and cruelly in exercising our domain over them. Thus, the voice of the earth which should have risen to you in song has turned into a groan of travail. May we realize that all these creatures also live for themselves and for you - not for us alone. They too love the goodness of life, as we do, and serve you better in their way than we do in ours. Amen.
Saint Basil of Caesarea, Bishop, Doctor
Prayer of Saint Basil the Great
O God and Lord of
the Powers, and Maker of all creation, Who, because of Thy clemency and
incomparable mercy, didst send Thine Only-Begotten Son and our Lord Jesus Christ
for the salvation of mankind, and with His venerable Cross didst tear asunder
the record of our sins, and thereby didst conquer the rulers and powers of
darkness; receive from us sinful people, O merciful Master, these prayers of
gratitude and supplication, and deliver us from every destructive and gloomy
transgression, and from all visible and invisible enemies who seek to injure us.
Nail down our flesh with fear of Thee, and let not our hearts be inclined to
words or thoughts of evil, but pierce our souls with Thy love, that ever
contemplating Thee, being enlightened by Thee, and discerning Thee, the
unapproachable and everlasting Light, we may unceasingly render confession and
gratitude to Thee: The eternal Father, with Thine Only-Begotten Son, and with
Thine All-Holy, Gracious, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of
ages. Amen.
Quotes
of St. Basil the Great
- O sinner, be not discouraged,
but have recourse to Mary in all you necessities. Call her to your assistance,
for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity.
Saint Basil the Great
The bread which you use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.
Saint Basil
Let us raise ourselves from our fall and not give up hope as long as we are free from sin. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. 'Come, let us adore and prostrate ourselves and weep before him' (Psalm 95:6). The Word calls us to repentance, crying out: 'Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will refresh you' (Matthew 11:28). There is, then, a way to salvation if we are willing to follow it"
from a letter of Saint Basil the Great
Envy is a gnawing pain which springs from the success and prosperity of another; and this is the reason why the envious are never exempt from trouble and vexation. If an abundant harvest fills the granaries of a neighbor, if success crowns his efforts, the envious man is chagrined and sad. If one man can boast of prudence, talent, and eloquence; if another is rich, and is very liberal to the poor, if good works are praised by all around, the envious man is shocked and grieved.
The envious, however, dare not speak; although envy makes them counterfeit gladness, their hearts are sore within. If you ask him what vexes him, he dare not tell the reason. It is not really the happiness of his friend that annoys him, neither is it his gaiety that makes him sad, nor is he sorry to see his friend prosper; but it is that he is persuaded that the prosperity of others is the cause of his misery.
This is what the envious would be forced to acknowledge, if they spoke the truth sincerely; but because they dare not confess so shameful a sin, they, in secret, feed a sore which tortures them and eats away their rest.
As the shadow ever accompanies the pedestrian when walking in the sun, so envy throws its shadow on those who are successful in the world.
Saint Basil, from "De Individia"