Letter Cxxxviii
LETTER CXXXVIII
character has caused to be a second mother to us.
So, since some trouble has been stirred up concerning her house, we ask your Magnanimity to postpone your inquiry a little while, and to await our presence, not that justice may be foiled (for I should prefer to die ten thousand times than to ask such a favour of a judge who is a lover of the laws and of justice), but that you may learn from me by word of mouth those things which it does not become me to write.
For thus you yourself will neither fail of the truth nor shall we suffer anything we would fain avoid.
I therefore ask you, since the person in question is in safe custody and is held by the soldiers, to grant us this favour as one that can give no offence or cause any odium.
LETTER CXXXVIII
To Eusesius, Bishop or Samosata!
Into what state of mind, think you, did I come when I received the letter of your Holiness??
For if I looked at the spirit of your letter, I was straightway eager to fly straight to Syria, but if at the weakness of my body, because of which I lay fettered, I realized that I was incapable not only of flying but even of turning over on my bed.
For that day on which Elpidius,? our beloved and most excellent brother and deacon, arrived was the fiftieth
1 Written in 373.
On Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, cf.
Letters XX VII, XXX, XXXI, XXXIV, XLVI, etc.
2 Byzantine title, commonly given to bishops.
3 Hlpidius, a deacon at whose hands Basil received the present letter from Eusebius of Samosata, and by whom
Basil sent a letter of consolation to the Egyptian bishops in exile for the faith in Palestine (Letter COLXV). oe
COLLECTED LETTERS OF SAINT BASIL
δαπανηθείς, ὃς ἀπορίᾳ τῆς Tpepovans αὐτὸν ὕλης, τῇ ξηρᾷ ταύτῃ σαρκὶ οἷον θρυαλλίδι κεκαυμένῃ περιειλούμενος, μαρασμὸν } καὶ χρονίαν ἐπήγαγεν ἀρρωστίαν' τὰ δὲ ἐφεξῆς, ἡ ἀρχαία πληγή μου, τὸ ἧπαρ τοῦτο διαδεξάμενον, ἀπέκλεισε μέν be? TOV σιτίων, ἀπεδίωξε δὲ τῶν ὀμμάτων τὸν ὕπνον, ἐν μεθορίοις δὲ κατέσχε ξωῆς καὶ θανάτου, τοσοῦτον ζῆν ἐπίτρεπον,3 ὅσον τῶν an αὐτοῦ δυσχερῶν ἐπαισθάνεσθαι. ὥστε καὶ ὕδασιν ἐχρησάμην αὐτοφυῶς θερμοῖς καί τινας map i ἰατρῶν ἐπιμελείας κατεδεξάμην. ἅπαντα δὲ ἤλεγξε τὸ νεανικὸν τοῦτο κακόν" ὅ, τοῦ μὲν ἔθους παρόντος, κἂν ἄλλος ἐνέγκοι, ἀμελετήτως δὲ προσπεσόντος οὐδεὶς οὕτως ἀδαμάντινος ὥστε ἀντισχεῖν.
'TP' οὗ πολὺν ὀχληθεὶς χρόνον, οὐδέποτε οὕτως ἠνιάθην ὅσον νῦν, ἐμποδισθεὶς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν συντυχίαν τῆς ids ἀγάπης σου. οἵας γὰρ ἀπεστερήθημεν * θυμηδίας οἶδα καὶ αὐτός, εἰ καὶ "ἄκρῳ δακτύλῳ τοῦ γλυκυτάτου μέλιτος τῆς παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐκκλησίας ἀπεγευσάμην πέρυσιν.
"Eya@ δὲ καὶ ἄλλων ἀναγκαϊὼν ἕνεκεν πραγμάτων ἐδεόμην εἰς ταὐτὸν 5 γενέσθαι τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ σου καὶ περὶ πολλῶν μὲν ἀνακοινώσασθαι, πολλὰ δὲ μαθεῖν. καὶ γὰρ οὐδέ ἐστιν ἐνταῦθα οὐδὲ ἀγάπης ἀληθινῆς ἐπιτυχεῖν. ὅταν δὲ καὶ πάνυ τις ἀγαπῶντα εὕροι, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ δυνάμενος παραπλησίως τῇ τελείᾳ σου φρονήσει καὶ τῇ ἐμπειρίᾳ, ἣν ἐκ
1 μαρασμώδη Ἐ, Harl., Med., editi antiqi.
? we om. K, 2 ἐπιτρέπων editi antiqi.
LETTER CXXXVIII
I had spent in this illness; I was greatly wasted by the fever which, through lack of fuel to nourish it, enfolded this withered flesh of mine as though it were a burnt wick and brought on languor and prolonged weakness; and then next this liver of mine
(my ancient scourge), following the fever, barred me from foods, drove sleep from my eyes, and kept me on the verge of life and death, allowing me only so much of life as to keep me sensible of its discomforts.
Therefore I resorted to the use of naturally hot waters and received some attention from physicians.
But all these things were put to shame by this lusty malady, which, if one were accustomed to it, anybody might endure, but when it attacks without warning, no one is so hardy as to withstand.
Though I have been troubled by this disease for a long time, never have I been so distressed as now, since I have been prevented by it from meeting with your true Charity.1_ Of what gladness of heart we have been deprived I myself also know, even though it was with but my finger-tip that I tasted last year of the very sweet honey of your church.
Because of other pressing matters as well I wanted to meet with your Holiness and both to consult with you about many things and to learn many things from you.
For here it is not possible to meet with even genuine charity.
But though one may at times find a person who shows even very great charity, there exists no one who is able, in a manner comparable with your perfect wisdom and the experience
1 Byzantine title. ὁ εὕρῃ editi antiqi.
COLLECTED LETTERS OF SAINT BASIL
πολλῶν τῶν περὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας συνελέξω Kapdτων, δοῦναι γνώμην ἡμῖν περὶ τῶν προκειμένων.
Ta μὲν οὖν ἄλλα οὐκ ἐνῆν γράφειν: ἃ δ᾽ οὖν καὶ ἐξενεγκεῖν ἀσφαλὲς ταῦτά ἐστιν. ὁ πρεσβύτερος Εὐάγριος, ὁ υἱὸς Πομπηϊανοῦ τοῦ ᾿Αντιοχέως, ὁ συναπώρας ποτὲ ἐπὶ τὴν δύσιν τῷ μακαρίῳ Ἐϊσεβίῳ ἐπανῆκε νῦν ἐκ τῆς "Ρώμης, ἀπαιτῶν ἡμᾶς ἐπιστολὴν αὐτὰ τὰ Tap ἐκείνων γεγραμμένα ἔχουσαν αὐτολεξεὶ (ἀνεκόμισε δὲ ἡμῖν εἰς τοὐπίσω τὰ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, ὡς οὐκ ἀρέσαντα τοῖς ἀκριβεστέροις τῶν ἐκεῖ), καὶ πρεσβείαν τινὰ δ ἀνδρῶν ἀξιολόγων ἤδη κατεπείγεσθαι, ὑπὲρ τοῦ εὐπρόσωπον ἔχειν ἀφορμὴν τοὺς ἄνδρας τῆς ἐπισκέψεως ἡμῶν.
Οἱ κατὰ Σεβάστειαν τὰ ἡμέτερα φρονοῦντες, Ἑὐσταθίου τὸ ὕπουλον τῆς κακοδοξίας ἕλκος ἀπογυμνώσαντες, ἀπαιτοῦσί τινα Tap ἡμῶν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν | ἐπιμέλειαν.
1 αὐτῶν add. EK.
1 Evagrius, known as of Antioch, the dates of whose birth and death are uncertain.
He was consecrated bishop over one of the parties at Antioch in 388-389.
He went to Italy with Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, and at the death of that prelate returned to Antioch in company with St. Jerome.
He was probably the ascetic who trained St.
John Chrysostom in monastic discipline.
He belonged to the Eustathian division of the orthodox church at Antioch.
He also. aided Pope Damasus in getting the better of his rival Ursinus.
After nine or ten years he returned to the East, stopping en route at Caesarea to visit Basil (373).
Later, from Antioch, Evagrius wrote Basil a harsh letter, accusing him of love of strife and controversy.
Basil's reply is a model of courteous sarcasm.
Later Evagrius became the instrument for prolonging the schism.
Cf. Theodoret, Ece. Hist.
5, 23; and St, Basil, Letter CLVI.
LETTER CXXXVIII
which you have gathered from your many labours for the churches, to offer advice on the matters which lie before us.
Now there are some things which I cannot put in writing ; the things which I can set forth with safety are these: The presbyter Evagrius,! son of Pompeianus? of Antioch, who formerly went to the West in company with Eusebius ὃ of blessed memory, has now returned from Rome, demanding from us a letter containing the very things written by them word for word (and our own letter he has brought back to us again on the ground that it was not pleasing to the more strict of the people there), and he also asks that a sort of embassy of influential men be sent in haste, that the men may have a reasonable occasion for visiting us.
Those at Sebaste who feel as we do, having laid bare the festering ulcer of Eustathius' 4 evil doctrine, demand from us some ecclesiastical attention.
2 Pompeianus of Antioch, the father of Evagrius, was, according to St Jerome, a descendant of the officer of that name who accompanied Aurelian against Zenobia of Palmyra
273).
3 St. Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, 283-371.
According to St. Ambrose, he was the first bishop of the West to unite the monastic with the clerical life; cf. Ambrose, Letter LXIII, Ad Vercellenses.
Entirely orthodox, at the synod of Milan (355), he refused to sign the document condemning St. Athanasius.
In 363, on his return to Vercelli from exile, he became one of the chief opponents of the Arian bishop Amentius of Milan.
The Church honours him as a martyr on December 16.
4 Bustathius of Sebaste (ci7c. 300-377), one of the chief founders of monasticism in Asia Minor and for a time the intimate friend of St. Basil.
He hesitated all his life between the various forms of Arianism, and spells became the leader of the Pneumatomachians condemned by the First Council of Constantinople.
COLLECTED LETTERS OF SAINT BASIL
Ἰκόνιον πόλις ἐστὶ τῆς Πισιδίας, τὸ μὲν παλαιὸν μετὰ τὴν μεγίστην ἡ "πρώτη, νῦν δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ προκάθηται! μέρους, ὅ, ἐκ διαφόρων τμημάτων συναχθέν, ἐπαρχίας ἰδίας οἰκονομίαν ἐδέξατο. αὕτη καλεῖ καὶ ἡμᾶς εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν," @ ὥστε αὐτῇ δοῦναι ἐπίσκοπον. τετελευτήκει γὰρ ὁ Φαυστῖνος.
Εἰ οὖν δεῖ μὴ κατοκνεῖν τὰς ὑπερορίους χειροτονίας, καὶ ποίαν τινὰ χρὴ δοῦναι τοῖς Σεβαστηνοῖς ἀπόκρισιν, καὶ πῶς πρὸς τὰς τοῦ Εὐαγρίου διατεθῆναι γνώμας, ἐδεόμην διδαχθῆναι αὐτὸς δι᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ συντυχὼν τῇ τιμιότητί σου, ὧν 3 πάντων ἀπεorepnOny διὰ τὴν παροῦσαν ἀσθένειαν. ἐὰν μὲν οὖν ἢ τινὸς ἐπιτυχεῖν ταχέως πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀφικνουμένου, καταξίωσον περὶ πάντων ἀποστεῖλαί μοι τὰς ἀποκρίσεις" εἰ δὲ μή, εὖξαι ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ νοῦν μοι, ὅπερ εὐάρεστον ἢ τῷ Κυρίῳ. ἐν δὲ τῇ συνόδῳ μνήμην ἡμῶν κέλευσον γενέσθαι, καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ πρόσευξαι ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, καὶ τὸν λαὸν συμπαράλαβε, ἵνα τὰς λειπομένας ἡμέρας ἢ ὥρας τῆς παροικίας ἡμῶν καταξιωθῶμεν δουλεῦσαι, ὡς ἔστιν εὐάρεστον τῷ Κυρίῳ.
CXXXIX Τοῖς ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσιν Ἡμᾶς μὲν ἡ ἀκοὴ τῶν γεγενημένων κατά τε τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδ L τὴν λοιπὴν Αἴ ὃ δ εξάνδρειαν καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν Αἴγυπτον διωγμῶν 1 προκάθηται] πρώτη κάθηται tres MSS.
4 ὡς Harl., Med.
1 2.6. Antioch.
* For Faustinus cf. Letter CLXI.
He was succeeded by John I, who in turn was succeeded by Amphilochius.