December: Day 31: Teaching 5: On the Eve of the Feast in Honor of Saint Basil the Great

December: Day 31: Teaching 5:
On the Eve of the Feast in Honor of Saint Basil the Great
 
(For the All-Night Vigil - Lessons From His Life:
a. Modesty in Clothing,
b. Unanimity With the Holy Church, and
c. Preparation for Departure From This Life)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The entire Christian Church has from ancient times adopted the title of "Great" for Saint Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, who is glorified in today's ecclesiastical hymns and readings. How did he acquire this title? What is the greatness of Saint Basil? His life will show us this.

Saint Basil was born in Caesarea in Cappadocia in the year 329, at the end of the pious reign of Saint Constantine, Equal to the Apostles. His parents were named: Basil, distinguished not only by his virtues, but also by his education, and Emmelia, whom Saint Gregory the Theologian calls "the nurse of the poor." Saint Basil received his initial understanding of the sciences from his father, and his first instructions in faith and good morals from his pious mother. Even in his youth, Saint Basil was distinguished by his extraordinary success in the sciences and his sedate disposition; he was eloquent, not yet learning the rules of rhetoric, and was a sage or philosopher, when he had not yet attended philosophy lessons. However, the young sage was not deceived by his successes, but desired to achieve greater perfection. With this purpose he went first to Constantinople, and then to Athens, where famous rhetoricians and philosophers lived at that time. Here he found his second self, the most sincere, faithful, unchanging and worthy friend in the person of Saint Gregory, later Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Theologian. Basil and Gregory were a model of true sacred friendship. Equally gifted by God with spiritual talents, they both equally strove to perfect themselves in virtue, strengthening and encouraging each other in this holy striving. Throughout their lives they preserved the most ardent love and the deepest respect for each other. Living in Athens, a city still half inhabited by pagans, Basil and Gregory kept themselves pure from pagan superstitions and vices, avoided the vain pleasures and noisy amusements to which their fellow students indulged. The holy friends knew only two roads in Athens: one to the church, the other to the teachers. Their success in the sciences was amazing. After a few years, Saint Basil had to leave Athens and with deep sorrow part with his friend Gregory, whom the Athenians begged to remain in their city to teach the rules of eloquence.

Having left Athens, Saint Basil went to the East to seek the highest and best wisdom, not speculative, but active, not fruitless, but leading to eternal life – Christian wisdom. He visited many monasteries and secluded cells of hermits in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia, everywhere he entered into conversations with God-wise hermits and great ascetics, studied their way of life, marveled at their humility, patience, tireless vigilance in labors and prayer. The holy life of monks and hermits so attracted his heart that he firmly decided to devote himself to monastic life.

Upon returning to his homeland of Caesarea, Saint Basil, at the persistent requests of his countrymen, accepted the priesthood. But the desire for solitude, the desire to avoid vain glory and the envy of man that followed it, prompted him to leave Caesarea and retire to a deserted place in the region of Pontus, where his parents had their own plot of land. This place was at the foot of a mountain shaded by trees, on the bank of a river flowing into the Black Sea. Here he built himself a dwelling and founded a monastery. At the invitation of Saint Basil, his friend Saint Gregory also came to him. Both friends led a quiet, blessed, holy, almost angelic life. Prayer, spiritual conversation, reading sacred books, singing psalms - this was what was their main occupation. Physical exercises were not forgotten either. The holy friends cut down trees, carried stones, planted flowers and trees.

But the circumstances in which the Church of Christ then found itself required that this lamp be placed on more elevated candlesticks. Numerous heretics, especially the Arians, were disturbing the community of believers with their false teachings. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, sent a letter asking Saint Basil to come to Caesarea to share with him the burden of governing the Church and to defend Orthodoxy. Preferring the common good to his own peace, Saint Basil left his beloved solitude and came to Caesarea. At the same time, Saint Gregory was summoned by his aged father to Nazianzus.

Even before becoming a bishop, Saint Basil took the most active part in the administration of the church, was a friend and support of Eusebius, struck heresies with his powerful, inspired word and affirmed the Orthodox teaching of the Holy Catholic Church. After the death of Eusebius, Saint Basil was unanimously elected in his place and consecrated to the rank of archbishop by the laying on of hands of neighboring bishops, among whom was the aged Gregory, the parent of Saint Gregory the Theologian.

In the high rank of archbishop, Saint Basil did not change his former way of life - simple, strict, even severe: he added labor to labor and care to care. He was so concerned about the salvation of the souls entrusted to him that almost every day, and sometimes twice a day, he delivered sermons; his mercy to the poor knew no bounds: he built such vast hospices and hospitals that they resembled a whole city.

At that time, Orthodox Christians suffered much oppression from the Eastern Emperor Valens, who was infected with the Arian heresy. Knowing how great the respect of the Orthodox for Saint Basil was, Valens especially tried to persuade him to his error, but in vain. Finally, Valens sent his nobleman Modestus to him so that he could force Saint Basil to join the Arians with promises and threats. Having failed to persuade the Saint with kindness, Modestus began to threaten him with deprivation of property, exile, torture, and death. But Saint Basil firmly and calmly answered him: “Threaten me with something else, and not this; do you want to deprive me of property? But I have nothing except these old clothes and a few books, which, of course, will not arouse your greed. Are you threatening exile? But I have no place of my own, and wherever they send me will be mine, for the whole earth is God's. I do not fear torment and death, for they will only sooner lead me to God, for Whom I live and labor, for Whom I have already died for the most part, and to Whom I have long been hastening." Modestus was amazed at the archshepherd's firmness and wrote to Valens: "We have been defeated by the rector of the church - he is above threats." Valens ordered that the Saint of God not be disturbed any more, and then he himself came to Caesarea to see him. He saw Saint Basil in the church, reverently and solemnly celebrating the Divine Liturgy; this sight brought Valens into amazement and trembling. But soon the Arians close to the emperor persuaded him to sign the sentence of imprisonment of Saint Basil in exile. Three times the pen broke in Valens' hands, the sentence was destroyed, but then confirmed and signed again. At this time, the emperor's son fell seriously ill. Valens saw God's wrath in this, called the Saint and asked him to heal the boy with his prayers. The Saint agreed, but on the condition that Valens accept Orthodoxy. Valens promised to fulfill the Saint's will, and the boy recovered. But later Valens changed his word and the boy died in the arms of the Arians who were preparing to baptize him, and Valens himself soon died a terrible death: he was burned in the hut into which he had hidden, defeated in battle by the enemy.

It is difficult to depict all the virtues, teaching, exploits and miracles of Saint Basil. Saint Gregory says of him: "In Basil, virtue was beauty, theology was greatness, his course was the incessant striving and ascent to God, and his power was the sowing and dissemination of the word. His life was his lightning, and his teaching was thunder."

The great Saint lived a short time on earth, but he labored much, accomplished much for the Church of God. His numerous works will always remain a precious treasury, from which believers can extract for themselves edification, consolation, and confirmation in faith. Here are the names of some of them: "Discourses on the Six Days of Creation," "On the Holy Spirit," teachings, moral rules, numerous letters, and, finally, "The Divine Liturgy," which he set forth according to a special revelation from God.

From constant and strict fasting, hard labors and cares, the body of Saint Basil, weak by nature, was early ripe for a blessed end. He met it with a calm face, saying: "Lord, into Your hands I commit my spirit," and he passed into eternal and blessed life on the first day of January in the year 379. And how could this great luminary of the Church not have a blessed end, when he prepared for death all his life and always remembered it. In a conversation with his former teacher Eubulus, to his question: "What is the highest wisdom?" - "In the remembrance of death," answered Saint Basil. His entire flock accompanied his coffin with blessings and weeping. The Holy Church to this day has not ceased and will never cease to glorify and call upon this great Saint in prayer with special solemnity.

II. Saint Basil became great precisely because he humbled himself before God, because throughout his life he dedicated all his great talents to the glory of God. This path to true greatness is open to all of us. Let us try, beloved brethren, each in his own place to become like Saint Basil, at least in some of his virtues,

a) Let us emulate Saint Basil the Great in his modesty and simplicity in clothing, which often reached the point of poverty, and let us not become too attached in our hearts to concerns about beautiful and expensive clothing.

In his cares and labors, a person must always rely on God's care, and not become attached, not cling to them to the point of forgetting God. “And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how do they grow? They do not toil, they do not spin. Yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28-29). If the Lord so wonderfully clothes the grass of the field, then why do we, Christians, worry so much about our clothing? Meanwhile, we have a very widespread passion for finery, a desire to dress better, more beautifully, especially among women. Is it proper, is it characteristic of Christians to be excessively concerned about decorating themselves with clothing? We all know that there were no clothes in paradise, and an immaculate person did not need them. Our first parents in paradise, instead of clothing, were adorned with purity and chastity; but they transgressed the commandment of God, sinned, and then they needed clothing. Thus, clothing came from sin; it is a sign of our fall, a sign of our sin. After this, to care about showiness in clothing, to make it beautiful, means to admire the sign of sin, to be proud of the fall. Furthermore, a passion for finery often leads people to grave sins. When you have a passion for finery and see yourself better dressed, then your heart is inflamed with envy. When you put on beautiful clothes, then your heart is infected with pride: in beautiful clothes you consider yourself better than others, you look with disdain at those who are dressed worse than you, you express your arrogance with a proud gait, contemptuous glances, cold treatment of neighbors; proud standing in the temple of God and other God-opposing actions. Thus, two grave, mortal sins take possession of your soul: pride and envy. And sometimes deception is added to these two sins, because you often secretly save money from your husband, father, mother, in order to spend it on clothes. And how many disagreements, quarrels and conflicts there are in houses where a woman is carried away by a passion for dandyism, where a woman demands only one thing from her husband - that he, wherever he wants, get her money for clothes. For such people, even on great feasts, the houses turn into houses of weeping and irreconcilable hostility, for such people a feast is not a feast, a celebration is not a celebration. It also happens that such a wife squanders her husband's property, acquired with great labor and care, even brings him to ruin, plunges him into debt and forces him to commit various injustices, such as: deception in trade, bribery and oppression of poor people, seizing even the property of widows and orphans. On whom will the Lord God exact such sins, if not on wives carried away by a passion for finery!

b) Following the example of Saint Basil the Great, let us, brethren, maintain unanimity in faith with the Holy Orthodox Church, even if we had to suffer for it. Then our inner spiritual life will represent a wonderful harmony of pure concepts and feats of goodness, since it is known that our religious beliefs have an irresistible influence on all our activities in their most diverse manifestations, on all our relationships with family, society, and the state.

How can we, you ask, protect ourselves from disagreement with the Holy Orthodox Church when we may encounter very unfavorable influences and circumstances?

1) First of all, by obedience, unconditional submission to the leadership of the Holy Orthodox Church, in which alone Orthodoxy preserves the God-revealed teaching, and in which alone lies our salvation.

2) Then by true, Christian love for one another, which you so often hear reminded of at the Divine Liturgy. "Let us love one another," the celebrant calls to us, "that with one mind we may confess the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Where there is love, there is no dissension and discord. The power of love in its actions is immeasurable. "Love," says the Apostle, “is longsuffering, is merciful; love does not envy, does not exalt itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things; love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

3) Finally, unanimity in faith is achieved through prayer. Prayer attracts heavenly help, prayer brings peace to the soul, tames passions - the main cause of disagreements and enmity.

c) Finally, the third lesson that we learn from the life of Saint Basil the Great is that we, following the example of this great Saint, must certainly prepare for the departure from this temporary life and the transition to the afterlife. The word of God encourages us to do this: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).

The Holy Fathers teach in a similar way. Thus Saint John Chrysostom says: "For this reason God left the day of our death unknown to us, so that, because of the uncertainty of the end of our life, we would always maintain ourselves in virtue" (Homily 4 on the Epistle to the Hebrews). "For this reason God gave us a difficult and hard life, so that we would be aroused by present sorrow to desire future blessings" (Homily 6 to the people of Antioch). "Death is not evil, but a bad death is evil" (Homily 35 on Matthew). "Since our dwelling is in heaven, we must always prepare ourselves for our departure from here, and send all our blessings there, so as not to lose them" (Homily 12 on Matthew).

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk writes: “Preparation for death is nothing other than true repentance... Many people in this age, either until illness, or until old age, or until death, put off repentance. This postponement is a grave sin and a devilish delusion. A grave sin: for this is a sign of extreme negligence about salvation, and sinful sleep. A devilish delusion: for he darkens our spiritual eyes so that we do not see the subsequent spiritual destruction.”

This same Saint indicates the following “aids for preparing for death”:

1) Remember that one must die, but when and where is unknown.

2) Bring to mind the prisoners condemned to death, who from hour to hour await the time when they will be led to their death, for we too are all condemned to death by God’s judgment and must await the execution of this sentence every day.

3) Remember those dying and drowning at sea: those who saw this know what fear, confusion and distress they were in then.

4) Hold firmly that what happened to others may happen to you too. Many have drowned accidentally in water, and the same may happen to you. The earth has swallowed up many living, and the same may happen to you. Many have been struck by thunder and lightning, and the same may happen to you. Many have not risen from sleep while sleeping, and you should expect the same. Many have ended their lives while sitting, walking, or dining; and you are subject to the same fate... And that nothing similar has happened to you up to now, attribute it to the goodness of God, leading you to repentance, and for this greatly thank God that He, by His mercy, has not allowed you to fall into such cases, but in the future be afraid and act prudently... Learn to act more carefully from other disasters and be attentive to yourself. For there are almost as many deaths as there are people. We are all born in the same way, but we die in different ways. "You will not be so afraid of death in the parish itself, when you will expect it every day and hour; just as you will not be afraid of an enemy whose attacks you always expected. Remember that you are subject to countless mortal cases; but when, and how, and where to die, God's judgment has hidden this."

Christian brethren! Perhaps this day – the last of this year – will be for some the last in their earthly life. Therefore, let us constantly remember death.

III. Through the prayers of Saint Basil the Great, may the Lord grant us grace-filled help to imprint in our hearts the saving lessons of his holy life! 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.