2 (1). To Gregory
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2. Basil to Gregoryl I recognized your letter just as men recognize the children of friends from their unmistakable resemblance to their parents. For, you say that the environment is not important in implanting in your soul a desire to live with us until you learn something of our customs and our manner of life. This disposition of mind was characteristically yours and worthy of your soul, which regards all things here below as nothing in comparison with the promised happiness reserved for us hereafter. But, I hestitate to write what I myself do in this solitude, night and day, seeing that, although I have left the distractions of the city, which are to me the occasion of innumerable evils, I have not yet succeeded in forsaking myself. I am like the inexperienced seafarers, distressed and ill because of their lack of skill in sailing. They ascribe their discomfort to the size of the boat and its consequent tossing upon the sea; even upon changing to a dinghy or a light boat, they still complain of their distress, not recognizing that they take the nausea and the bile along with them.
Such is our situation. Since we carry around with us our innate passions, we are everywhere subject to the same disturbances. Therefore, we have not profited much from this solitude. This is what we should do and it would have enabled us to follow more closely in the footsteps of Him who showed the way to salvation (for He says, 'If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me'). 2
We should try to keep the mind in tranquillity. For, as the eye which is continually gazing about, at one time darting to 1 St. Basil is attempting to induce St. Gregory of Nazianzus to join him by explaining the practices of the monastic life. The letter was writ. ten about 358, shortly after St. Basil·s retirement to the Pontus.
2 Matt. 16.24.
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one side and again to the other, frequently casting glances hither and yon, is not able" to see clearly what is lying before it, but must fix its gaze firmly on that object, if a clear image of it is to be obtained-so, too, the mind of man is incapable of perceiving the truth clearly, if it is distracted by innumerable worldly cares. Wild desires, unruly impulses, and passionate yearnings greatly disturb him who is not yet united in the bonds of wedlock; and a tumultuous throng of different cares awaits him who already has taken a wife: the longing for children, if he is childless; the solicitude for their training, if he has children; the watchfulness over his wife, the care of his home, the protection of his servants, the losses on contracts, the contentions with his neighbors, the lawsuits, the business risks, the farm work. Each day, as it comes, brings its own shadow for the soul, and the nights, taking over the troubles of the day, beguile the mind with the same phantasies.
There is but one escape from these distractions, a complete separation from the world. Withdrawing from the world, however, does not mean mere bodily absence, but implies a disengagement of spirit from sympathy with the body, a renunciation of city, home, personal possessions, love of friends, property, means of livelihood, business, social relations, and learning acquired by human teachings; also, a readiness to receive in one's heart the impressions produced there by divine instruction. And this disposition follows the unlearning of worldly teachings which previously held possession of the heart. Just as it is not possible to write in wax without first smoothing down the letters already engraved upon it, so it is impossible to impart the divine teachings to the soul without first removing from it the conceptions arising from worldly experiences.
Now, solitude provides us with the greatest help toward this
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achievement, quieting our passions, and giving leisure to our reason to uproot them completely from the soul. Just as animals, if they are stroked, are more easily subdued, so desires, wraths, fears, and griefs, the venomous evils of the soul, if they have been lulled to sleep by silence and have not been kept aflame by constant provocation, are more easily overcome by reason. Therefore, choose a place such as ours, removed from association with men, so that nothing from the outside will interrupt the constant practices of the ascetic life.
A life of piety nourishes the soul with divine thoughts.
What, then, is more blessed than to imitate on earth the choirs of angels; hastening at break of day to pray, to glorifv the Creator with hymns and songs, and, when the sun is brightly shining and we turn to our tasks, to accompany them everywhere with prayer, seasoning the daily work with hymns, as food with salt? For, the inspirations of the sacred songs give rise to a joyousness that is without grief. Silence, then, is the beginning of purification in the soul, since the tongue is not busied with the affairs of men, nor the eyes looking around at fair complexions and graceful forms, nor the ears lessening the harmony of the soul by listening to melodies made for fleeting pleasure or to the sayings of wits and jesters, a course of action which tends especially to weaken the spiritual timbre of the soul. When the mind is not engaged by external affairs, nor diffused through the senses over the whole world, it retires within itself. Then, it ascends spontaneously to the consideration of God. Illumined by that splendor, it becomes forgetful of its own nature. Since, then, it does not drag the soul down either to the thought of sustenance or to a solicitude for bodily apparel, but enjoys freedom from earthly cares, it turns all its zeal to the acquisition of eternal goods-pondering how to attain temperance and fortitude, justice and prudence,
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and all other consequent virtues, all of which prompt the earnest man to fulfill properly each separate duty.
Meditation on the divinely inspired Scriptures is also a most important means for the discovery of duty. The Scriptures not only propose to us counsels for the conduct of life, but also open before us the lives of the blessed handed down in writing as living images for our imitation of life spent in quest of God.
Accordingly, by a continual practice of that virtue in which he perceives hims~lf deficient, each one finds, just as he would in some public apothecary shop, a suitable remedy for his infirmity. One who aspires to a perfect chastity reads constantly the story of Joseph and from him learns the beauty of chaste habits, finding Joseph not only self -controlled in regard to ~ensual Fle2.sures, but also a habitual lover of all virtue. Fortitude he learns from Job, who, in spite of having suffered great revers~s in life, b~ing changed in an instant from a rich man into a poor one, and from the father of beautiful children into a childless man, remained the same, always pres~rving untarnished his nobility of soul. And not even when his friends, coming to console and taking advantage of his unfortunate condition, aggravated his sufferings was he provoked to anger. In turn, if one considers how he may be meek and at the same time high-spirited, so as to use wrath against sin but gentleness toward men, he will find David noble in the brave deeds of war but gentle and dispassionate in the punishment of enemies. Such, also, was
Moses, who rose up in great wrath against those offending God, but endured with a meek spirit the slanders against himself. And in general, just as artists, when they are using models, strive by looking at the original to transfer its distinctive features to their own canvas, so he who is stnvmg to reach perfection in all the virtues in turn, by looking
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steadfastly at the lives of the saints, as if at living models, must endeavor to make their good qualities his own through imitation.
Prayers, too, following reading, take hold upon a fresher and more vigorous soul already stirred to a longing for God.
And prayer which imprints in the soul a clear conception of God is an excellent thing. This abiding of God in our memorv is the indwelling of God. Thus we become in a special manner the temples of God when earthly thoughts cease to interrupt our continual remembrance of Him, and unforeseen passions to agitate the mind, and when the lover of God, fleeing all these, withdraws with Him and, driving out the passions which tempt him to incontinence, spends himself in the practices which lead to virtue.
And, indeed, as a point of primary importance, one should be careful not to be boorish in conversation, but to question simply and to answer without self-display, not interrupting the speaker when he makes an apt statement nor wishing tn interpose his own words ostentatiously, but speaking and listening moderately. One should receive instruction modestly and teach graciously. If he has learned anything from another, he should not conceal the fact after the manner of degraded wives who palm off as belonging to their husbands their baseborn children, but he should candidly declare the father of his idea.
A moderate tone of voice is to be preferred, not so soft as not to be heard nor of such volume as to sound vulgar. One should speak in public only after having considered what one is to say. He should be courteous in his social contacts, refreshing in his conversations, not seeking satisfaction in a display of wit, but maintaining the refinement of gracious speech. He must at all times avoid harshness, even when there is need of censure. For, if vou yourself have evinced true
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humility, your ministrations will be pleasing to him who requires them. We frequently find useful the method of rebuke employed by the Prophet3 who, when David sinned, did not of himself impose a definite sentence, but, setting forth the sin as being that of another, constituted David the judge of his own crime, so that, having already pronounced judgment against himself, David no longer blamed the accuser.
The humble and abject spirit often manifests itself by a gloomy countenance and a downcast eye, a careless appearance, unkempt hair, and soiled clothes,4 so that we by mere chance portray in ourselves these characteristics that mourners adopt designedly. The tunic should be drawn close to the body by a belt which is not to be placed above the flanks in an effeminate manner nor left loose, so that the tunic slips around slovenly under it. The gait must not be overleisurely, lest it indicate a laxity of the soul, nor, on the other hand, should it be hasty and swaggering, intimating instability of character. Clothing should be used for one purpose only-to cover the body fittingly for winter and summer.
Brilliancy of color should not be sought, nor delicacy and softness in material. In fact, the looking to splendor of color in clothing for self-adornment resembles the practice common among women who tint their cheeks and hair with dye~ from other lands. Then, too, the tunic ought to be so thick that no additional garment is needed to keep the wearer warm. Sandals should be inexpensive but sufficiently fulfill their purpose.
As, in general, one should consider utility in a garment, 3 Cf. 2 Sam. 11.12. The prophet Nathan, by presenting for judgment a feigned crime of adultery and munier, induced Da\'id, \\'ho had com· mitted adultery with Bethsabee and then had Urias, her husband, slain. to pronounce sentence against himself.
4 The mark of the old pagan philosophers. Cf. Aristophanes, Birds 1282; they were dirty, they were like Socrates:
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so nourishment in the matter of food. Bread will satisfy the a.ctual need; water will relieve the thirst of a healthy person; and the products of the land can preserve the strength of the body for necessary duties. One should not eat with an exhibition of avid gluttony, but should maintain everywhere calmness, mildness, and restraint in satisfying the palate.
Not even at meal time should the mind neglect the consideration of God, but should make the very nature of the food and the condition of the body receiving them an occasion of divine praise, marvelling how He who governs all things contrived the varied forms of food adapted to the particular need of the human body. Prayers which are due for the gifts of God, both those He is now giving and those stored up for the future, should be said before meals, as also after, including a thanksgiving for the gifts received and a petition for those promised. One regular hour is to be assigned for meals, so that of the twenty-four hours of the day and night just this one is devoted to the body, the remaining hours to be wholly occupied by the ascetic in the activities of the mind.
Sleep should be light and easily broken, a natural consequence of the meagreness of the diet, and it should be deliberately interrupted for meditations on lofty subjects. For, to be overcome by a deep torpor, with the limbs relaxed, and opportunity provided for absurd imaRinations, places those who so sleep daily in danger of death. What dawn is to others, this, midnight, is to the men who practice piety, especially since the quiet at dead of night gives leisure to the soul and neither eyes nor ears convey hurtful sounds or sights to the heart, but the mind alone with itself communes with God, amends itself by the recollection of its sins, makes its rules for the avoidance of evil, and seeks the co-operation of God for the accomplishment of its earnest endeavors.