Basilius Magnus, Letters and Liturgy

The answer of Basil to the book of Gregory 1 And he said: I recognized your countenance from your written book, just as a man recognizes the countenance of his friend from his son. But as for what you said, that you are unable, that your heart might become desirous of being with us before the announcement from me of this way of life in which we are—the monastic life—this befits you, O honorable father, and the sweetness of your soul, which has separated and despised everything that is material in this world for the sake of the future delights. But as for me, because I am ashamed to write to you this countenance of mine in this desert [...] and because I left the city and my honor therein on account of an evil pretext, yet my soul from the habit of evil was unable to leave it. For I resemble men sitting in a ship on the sea, and those men who had no habit of traveling on the sea by ship; and a wave seized them and they began to complain of the ship, that it rocks and from it their vomiting was stirred up. And sometimes they go up and sometimes they go down, and as long as they travel, their sickness is stirred up in every way and their hearts are disturbed. So it has happened to me.

and my passions follow me everywhere, and I am troubled and sorrowful. And since I am in this state, what benefit could the desert alone bring me? For he who seeks the work of such glory resembles one who would follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the beginning of our life, as it is in the holy Gospel: "Whoever wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." The Lord said this so that a man might separate himself for seclusion and contemplate in his own solitude the virtues of Christ's will. 2 Just as a man's eyes sometimes look upward and sometimes at the earth, and cannot see what lies before them as it should be unless their eyes are fixed upon it, so too a man's mind, when it is engaged in the care of this world, is disturbed; but he who has not yet had a wife is in a struggle with the desires of his own power, and the love of his own wickedness disturbs him. But he who has a wife has other cares and troubles: if he has no child, he is sorrowful until he obtains a child.

And if the son of Esau is in distress, how shall he be raised? And he is again concerned about the keeping of his wife and his house, and he is in sorrow and affliction because of that which befalls him. And he is troubled in giving and receiving, and he provokes his neighbors and contends before the authorities; and he is in sorrow and affliction because of that which befalls him for the sake of acquisition; and he ponders in his heart concerning earthly labor, and in all the days of this world distress and turmoil are renewed for him. And his nights are likewise, similar to his turmoil, and his day also, and his own passions disturb him in dreams by sleep. And as his day is, so also are his dreams of the night. For there is one thing that cuts off all this: flight from the world.

Fleeing the world is not merely the departure of your body from this world, but rather: remove from yourself the affliction of your flesh, and become cityless, homeless, kinless, without love of neighbor, destitute, and unlearned in the affairs of men; and prepare your heart so that it may receive the journey on the path that is taught by the writing of the Holy Spirit; and prepare your heart, for whose sake I have called you, and forget that former evil habit which you learned from the deeds of this world, and erase it from yourself like a man who wishes to write a new book on an old parchment and cannot unless he first erases the old writing from it. And likewise, you cannot place within the soul the glorious deeds unless you erase from yourself that former evil habit. And along with this, the desert is of great benefit and a planner of good for us. And our passions are shut up and dissolved, and we take leisure so that we may remove from the soul, like wild beasts, those things. When they are at peace, their capture is easy. And likewise—desires, wrath, passions, and sorrows.

I speak of sorrows that do not separate from God, which is the poison of death, the slayer of the soul, and its wickedness. For seclusion disperses and dries them up. When one is not hasty for the turmoil of the world, their removal is easy by the power of Christ. And may there be such a place, wherein we are separated from the agitation of men, so that none from the world may come to us from without to disrupt our order, labor, and custom of that labor, which it demands of us, that you may occupy your mind with the glorious thoughts of God. What is sweeter in this world, and more glorious and greater? That a man be on earth and his order be like that of the angels. When dawn breaks, let him strengthen himself for prayer and psalmody and glorification of his Creator. And as the sun shines and light appears, let him begin the work pleasing to God. With prayer and psalmody let him perform whatever he does, and never cease prayer and psalmody from his mouth, for just as salt seasons every work, so prayer seasons it, and his soul rejoices from it. But seclusion is the beginning of the purification of the soul.

Neither does the tongue find anyone with whom to converse, nor do the eyes see unseemly and unprofitable deeds, nor do sounds and distractions that stir up the passions enter the ears—distractions that agitate the desires; there is no thought of diversion, nor the laughter of men, which more than anything else drives fervor and diligence from the heart, when one is separated from everything outside the desert. For when the mind is not scattered and diverted by sights, no disturbance from the body's senses enters into this worldly turmoil. The mind gathers itself within itself and beholds the divine thoughts of the heart, and then rejoices and is illumined by that supernal beauty, until a man even forgets his own nature, and his heart does not yearn for food, nor does he care for clothing. But he is freed from all care of this earth, for his struggle and concern is this: how to acquire those good and glorious works, and how to preserve purity, fortitude in patience, righteousness, prudence, and everything that is born from that glorious virtue; and from these four works are born all virtues.

And again, the reading of books is a glorious path, which seeks to attain the glorious deeds of the divine. For in the reading of books, you find the accounts of glorious deeds; and the life of the God-loving among those blessed fathers, like a spiritual icon, shows us the way to walk therein in the virtues of God through good deeds. So that each person may see the deed that is fitting for him, and if something is lacking, then he may read and fix it in his heart, in order to acquire it, like a man who takes medicine from a house of healing, which is the reading of books, and applies it to his own ailment. But he who seeks purity, let him read the life of Joseph, for from him he may learn the fasting of purity. And you will find that the righteous Joseph not only restrained himself from the things that are to be spoken of, but also acquired virtue along with it.

And whoever wishes to acquire patience and be trained in fortitude, let them read the life of Job, for they will find him unshaken by the world; not only did he receive this worldly glory, but he also became impoverished after wealth, and childless after having many children, and he endured afflictions and poverty by the will of God, not by his own will. And his friends, who came to him with a parable to console him, instead of consolation brought him greater sorrow, yet he did not become faint-hearted, nor was he disturbed, nor did he tremble. And again, consider and find David also, meek and great in spirit, for in wrath he would become angry against sinners, but in meekness he would humble himself before men, and even more so before enemies, being valiant in deeds pleasing to God, meek, and not repaying enemies with evil for evil. And likewise was Moses: he would become angry for God's sake against sinners, and be meek toward all who troubled him and reviled him. And just as a painter, when he wishes to depict an image from images, looks repeatedly and compares his models to that image in order to receive its form in every respect for the sake of his art.

Likewise, whoever wishes to please God in perfection, let him give his mind to the life of the saints and let him imprint his own image from them, and let him strive and do battle with it, so that he may liken his image to their image. 4 And then prayer after the reading, for prayer renews the soul and refreshes within it the desire for God. And good prayer is this: faith, which brings forth within the soul the remembrance of God. And this is the word of God that is written, which says: "I will dwell among them." And when a man remembers God, God dwells within him. And thus we become a temple of God, when we are not cut off from the remembrance of God by concern for earthly affairs, nor is our mind constricted by passions, but the beloved of God flees toward God, separates from every deed that afflicts evil, and cleaves to every deed that leads to virtue.

and above all it is fitting for us to be diligent and eager for knowledge, and not to be ignorant, but to inquire and learn and give answers without pride and haughtiness, but with humility and meekness, and not to disdain the word which teaches, when there is a consideration for benefit and not to love the word for show with pride, but to raise one's voice for the word in measure, only so much as a man can hear. And beyond this, let him not raise his voice, and let him learn and not be ashamed to learn and to teach without envy. And when he learns a craft or a skill from another, let him not reject it nor conceal it, as if he learned that craft from that man. But let him declare concerning the man who taught him, that it was he who taught him. And let his voice be for sustenance and not for the obliterated measure of a man's hearing, and let it not sound like a trumpet. But let it be gentle and soft in words; and let him taste his own word and perceive its flavor with his own mind first, before uttering it. And let him be sweet-spoken in his own discourse.

I do not say to you: be a contemplative, nor be sweet with vain words, but be a comforter with the sweetness of your words in tranquility, and remove from him hastiness of heart and harshness and unseemliness in every deed, until even if someone is a sinner and demands the payment of punishment, let such teaching be with wisdom, reasonableness, mercy, caution, humility, and tranquility, and thus let that sinner who has sinned against you receive the teaching from you. And do to that sinner as the prophet Nathan did to King David, when he sinned and he did not reproach him to his face for that sin, but led him away by a parable, as if for some other person, until David pronounced judgment upon himself and did not blame Nathan.

And again it is necessary, with a heart humbled from lowliness, that his eyes be sorrowful and look downward toward the earth, and his garment also be simple. And his hair is very long and his garment is stained with dust, so that he may be such as one who always has such a countenance within himself. Not as one who mourns for the dead for a short time, but that he should mourn for him. And his garment is stained and his belts are of a measure, and his belt should not be fastened upon the breast like that of women, nor should it be loose, so that he does not drag his own garment on the ground. And not in a dissolute manner in his own gait, for a dissolute gait arises from a dissoluteness of soul; and again not walking in a disturbed manner, for such a one reveals the unquietness of the soul. His outer garment should not be many, but only as much as is sufficient for winter and summer; and he should not seek to dye garments in colors for the sake of beauty, nor seek silk and fineness, for he who seeks fine and dyed garments is like women who adorn themselves with foreign ornaments and apply color to their cheeks and hair. But your garment is simple, so that it may cover your flesh, so that you may not have two garments and your cloak be a cloak.

and it is necessary that it be humble and contemptible, such as would suffice for your needs. And again, food likewise, such as would suffice: bread and water, such as would suffice for the healthy body, and everything that is from vegetables or legumes, in measure only such as would suffice for the flesh. And when you eat, do not do so like dogs, but show humility and resistance of the mind and restraint of yourself and tranquility and cessation from desires. And do not at all let your mind be absent from the remembrance of God, and at that time consider concerning those foods, how this nature of the flesh receives them and that it becomes a cause for glorifying God. Consider and say, how the sweet and wise God arranged these various foods, how they are suited to the flesh, and that you should pray before nourishment, that God may deem you worthy of that nourishment which he gave for this world, that he may prepare you again for the resting place in that eternity. And again, rise to prayer after eating and thank God for that which was granted, for he gave you food, and that I might be deemed worthy by him of that bread in eternity.

and that one hour be sufficient for your nourishment out of the twenty-four hours. These twenty-four hours are those of day and night, while the other twenty-three hours are spent in the contemplation of God's pleasure. And let your sleep be little, in accordance with nature and need, and cut off from yourself excessive care, for whoever gives himself over to the depth of sleep and is seized by dreams is likened to a man who dies every day. But it is fitting to resist sleep during the hours of the night, for the stillness of the night and its leisure purify the mind and enlighten the soul. For neither the eyes nor the ears bring disturbance to the mind, but it is turned to the remembrance of God and the remembrance of sins, and it sets judgment upon itself, so that it may not return again to the same sin, and it seeks from God assistance for the pursuit of His will, and it establishes a rule of promise, so that it may no longer be inclined toward evils. And it seeks from God assistance, that He may accomplish that work which it has begun to do. Henceforth, keep yourself strictly with your good disposition and your words of righteousness and your divine deeds.

and that you be obedient at every hour under the arms of the knowledge of God.