In Bassum martyrem

On the memory of the holy Bassus. It was spoken concerning the fears, and concerning the saying, "Learn from me, that I am gentle and humble in heart." 1. It would have been fitting for us, accustomed as we are to a fountain of words pouring forth to you, now, because of the abundant spiritual table set before you by our preceding priests and teachers, to restrain the meager drops of our own words, especially as we are held back by the long-standing infirmity of the body, the weakness of the voice, and indeed also by successive cares, O lovers of Christ. But since you urge us to speak, held by an insatiable desire for divine hearing, let us, by the grace of the Savior, briefly set before your kindness what is suitable and fitting for the occasion. For this, I think, is appropriate both for us who speak and for you who hear, as we provide for ourselves by reasoning what is better and more beneficial. For the holy and much-hymned martyr and bishop Bassus, who today assembles this festival for us, has obtained the rewards from his own contests, in no way needing our contribution of encomia, but himself making the customary intercessions for us to the Lord, having acquired such boldness toward him through the wrestling school of martyrdom, and having received from him the crown of incorruption, which Christ has prepared in advance for the faithful.

Abundant, according to the divine Apostle, are the gifts of the Master, and from of old he has been dispensing the rewards of the martyrs to those who call upon him genuinely, and especially now, when the annual remembrance of the fears awaits us shortly, and the benevolent anger of that terrible threat summons us to doxology. For we truly beheld anger flashing with benevolence, when we were girded with the fear of the earthquakes, when we knew the creation shaken, when the ground was violently convulsed, but the Saviour did not withdraw from his own compassions, when we expected the bitter end, when we suddenly thought the houses were tombs, when, seized by the tremor, we found no place or means of refuge, when, having reached midday, we did not hope to see evening, when the sword hung from above, and from below good works were performed with prayer, when the peoples cried out in unison, "Have mercy," and the Master was bent by the compassions; for, moving with his glance, he steadied the trembling creation with his hand. Why do I not speak concisely? When, if the Lord Sabaoth had not helped us, our soul would have dwelt in Hades by a hair's breadth. For whom does the magnitude of the Saviour's benevolence not astonish? Whom does it not move to thoughts of gratitude for what happened then, and not only then, but also for what happened afterward, and what befell us shortly before? He shook the foundations of the earth, he loosened the foundations of the houses, the roofs were tossed about like ships on the waves of the sea; he showed only a judicial eye, and as if standing in water, we were all shaken.

Great is the fear, and greater still than the fear are the works of his love for humanity. For, though he shook creation, he did not destroy it; though he convulsed the whole, he did not raze it; he did not strip the earth of the beauty of its creatures. He shook only the roofs for our reminder, and brought us not even a taste of destruction. So vast is the sea of his compassion toward us. And even the shaking of the earth's foundations was as a guardian, as a loving one. For he saw us rejecting and embittering, he saw us loving plunder, he saw us joining house to house and field to field, so that we might take something from our neighbor; he saw us not pitying orphans, and not attending to the judgment of widows; he saw teachers acting contrary to what they say; he saw students insulting ecclesiastical order with theatrical disorders; he saw us living in wickedness and envy, he saw us joining deceit to envy, he saw whirlwinds of hypocrisy sinking the simpler ones like ships; he saw us committing murder by design, he saw us doing as much injustice as we can; he saw love shipwrecked, but deceit sailing well on the sea of life; he saw us leaping away from truth and running to falsehood; and, to sum up, he saw us serving mammon rather than the Lord. And he shook the earth for us as a tutor for children, and showed the bowels of an affectionate mother, who, wishing to wean her nursing child from the habit of crying disorderly, often shakes that little bed violently, not to strike, but to frighten the infant.

Thus also the Master of all, who holds the inhabited world in his hand, shakes it not to destroy it, but to turn the disorderly toward salvation. 2. And let no one blame us for comparing the Lord to a loving mother, since the Lord himself compared himself to a bird in the Gospels, saying: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how many times did I wish to gather your children, as a bird gathers her chicks, and you did not wish it?" So the Lover of mankind shook the inanimate earth in order to halt the animate disorder of motion; he threatened death to the flesh so that we might guard against the destruction of the soul. Do you see, lover of Christ, how great is the compassion of the Creator toward us? Do you see a threat flashing with philanthropy? Do you see pity anticipating indignation? Do you see a verdict overcome by goodness? And this is nothing strange: he is still now our gentle and philanthropic Master, who customarily cares for our salvation, who in the Gospels cries out explicitly, as was just read to us: "Come, learn from me that I am gentle and humble in heart.

Oh, what condescension of the Creator, and the created one feels no shame! Come, learn from me, when the Master came to console his erring slaves. Such is our Christ: he displays compassion when he ought to punish the sinner, when he ought to blot out the race of those who have angered him; he utters gentle words to those who are guilty: "Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart." God is lowly, and man is lofty; the judge is gentle, and the condemned is proud; the craftsman makes a humble utterance, and the clay speaks like a king. "Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart." What has gone before did not persuade, what came after and what happened shortly before did not move him, so that both then and now, having set creation in motion, he again established it in mercy: "Come, then, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart." He has no whip that strikes, but a nature that heals. Come, see the ineffable love for humanity. Who does not love a master who does not strike? Who does not admire a judge who deems the condemned worthy? The humility of the words astonishes you: "I am the Creator, and I love my work; I am the molder, and I spare what I have molded. If I were to use my own dignities, I would not rescue fallen humanity, and it would be incurably sick; if I do not apply soothing remedies, it is not strengthened; if I do not lead it by the soul, it dies; if I merely threaten, it perishes. For this reason, I will go around it as it lies, with plasters of goodness; I stoop low, suffering with it, in order to raise it up when it has fallen. The one who stands cannot lift the one who has fallen from the fall unless he lowers his hand.

Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart. I do not produce a display of words; I have given you experience of deeds. That I am meek and lowly in heart, observe from what I have become. Behold my form, and consider my dignity, and worship my condescension for your sake. Consider from where I have come, where I converse with you: having heaven as my throne, I stand speaking to you on earth; I am glorified above, and, being long-suffering, I do not become angry. That I am meek and lowly in heart. If I were not meek, the Son of the King, I would not have chosen a slave woman as my mother; if I were not meek, the creator of the invisible and visible substance, I would not have sojourned among you; if I were not meek, I, the father of the ages, would not have endured swaddling clothes; if I were not lowly, I, who possess the wealth of the whole creation, would not have accepted the poverty of a manger; if I were not meek, I, who am not even beheld by the Cherubim, would not have associated with irrational beings; if I were not meek, I, who breathe forth light, would not have been spat upon by the lawless lips of the blind; if I were not meek, I, who free slaves, would not have endured a slave’s slap; if I were not meek, I would not have offered my back for scourges on behalf of captives. And what is greater, I do not say: if I were not meek, when others owed the suffering, I, who owe nothing, would not have paid the debt of death on their behalf. And I paid it so that I might dissolve the penalty of condemnation even for those held down below in Hades; for I am not only king of the living, but also Lord of the dead. For this reason I have traveled both ways of the economy.

I appeared as a man, and I became dead for a little while, so that I might distribute the gift of my incorruptibility to all, even to those beneath the earth. Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart. The lowliness is of disposition, not of nature; I have an inaccessible substance, but a mind that goes out to all. Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart, not in rank; moderate in disposition, not in strength. By my strength I am fearsome to angels, by my disposition I am humble to men. Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart. I speak not from what I am, but I converse from what I bestow. I love kindness more than authority. I am a king who says these things to you; I have greatness of power, but I do not overwhelm your weakness with the might that is present with me. I do not say, Come, learn from me that I am the Master, the Lord of creation, who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, who measured the heaven with a span and holds the earth in a fist; but rather, Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart. So meek am I, that you sinned, and I was scourged; so willingly am I humble, that I, the Master, came to free those who serve, and those who serve both slapped me and crucified me, the liberator, and in addition to this, interceding with my Father on their behalf, I said: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Come, then, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart; come, I beseech you, entreating, I am not ashamed to entreat, I choose to appeal to my own slaves, so that I may not be compelled to punish.

Come, learn from me the meek before you behold my terrible; come now, I heal, shortly I reckon; now I spare, in a little while I pronounce; now I am philanthropic, after a little I will appear as a just judge. Come, learn that I am meek and lowly in heart. Either honor the meek, or fear the powerful. Come, hasten to my face in confession; for the time for such moderation on my part has been appointed. 3. The present is the only life that is a display of my forbearance; a time will come when the door of this my kindness will be closed; a time will come when the tear of sinners, even as it falls, will be of no avail; a time will come when trumpets sounding from all sides announce my second coming, when angels traversing the whole earth present the myriads of the dead for judgment, when a tribunal is set for me and I mount upon the powers above, when principalities and powers attend me as I come, when the luminaries of my kingdom illuminate the entire world, when the books of each one's deeds are opened, when there is exactness of laws and a precise accounting of demons, when the one being judged stands, having only his works present with him, when thoughts accuse and conscience convicts, when evil spirits attend to the words of the judge, when the furnace of the judge awaits the verdict, when the word "Have mercy" is thereafter useless to the one crying out. Come, then, before I close my doors of compassion, before the festival of life is dissolved, before the theater of life passes by; for the deadline of the end is at the doors. Come before I begin to judge.

If I should first sit to judge, I no longer grant favor. For this reason I made clear the example of the foolish virgins, whose lamps of life, lacking the oil of righteousness, were extinguished, and how the doors of the bridal chamber were closed to them, and how, when they knocked, a voice from within answered, "I do not know you," hinting at the voice spoken to sinners at the judgment. Therefore, brothers, if we have been taught from the words of the Savior the Lord's goodness, let us not despise a judge who speaks kindly before the judgment, let us not lose the time for repentance; let us clothe our own souls with good deeds and alms; let each of us now procure what is suitable for eternal life, let us withdraw ourselves from grievous deeds. For if we keep the faith unshaken in good works, creation also will be unshaken with us. Let us adorn our souls with temperance, and let us firmly acquire the priceless pearl of pure faith; before the time of our life is extinguished, before the form of the world, and the bloom of glory, and all the pleasant things of matter are corrupted, let us propitiate the incorruptible judge. For it is he who says: "I live," says the Lord, "I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather that he turn and live." If he desired to punish the sinner, he would be silent; he wishes to show mercy, therefore he exhorts; he spares, therefore he urges; he frightens you by foretelling, so that he may forestall the experience of danger. For God, by threatening, wishes to save; by being silent, he chooses to punish. We have the learning from the facts.

He threatened the Ninevites, and then spared them; he was silent toward the Sodomites, and then punished them. He has prepared crowns, if we do not bring torments upon ourselves. He wishes to render Gehenna idle, he wishes to close the prison of darkness, he wishes to reserve all his wrath for the devil alone, he wishes to sit as judge, not to punish anyone, but to crown all. Having such a Master, then, let us seize a voice full of goodness, let us obey him who says, "Come, learn from me, that I am meek and lowly in heart," so that we may be deemed worthy to hear that blessed and desirable voice which says, "Come, the blessed ones of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." May we all come to enjoy it, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory is to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.