104 (279). To the Prefect Modestus
SAINT BASIL
104. To the Prefect M odestus1 The very act of writing to so great a man, even if no other pretext were added, is to be esteemed a special honor in the eyes of the discerning, because association with men who preeminently surpass all others confers the highest distinction on those deemed worthy of it. But, as for me, who am in distress for my entire country, the petition to your Lordship is a necessity, and I beseech you to bear it kindly and as you are wont to do, and to stretch out your hand to our country which has already fallen to its knees. And this is the matter for which we are making our petition.
Our ministers, consecrated to God, both presbyters and deacons, were left free of taxation by the former census. But our present registrars, on the ground that they have received no order from your exalted Highness,2 have enrolled them, except, perchance, some who were otherwise exempt on account of age. Therefore, we ask that this record of your kindness be left us to preserve for all future time a goodly memory of you, and that the clergy be exempt from taxation according to the former law. Moreover, we ask that the exemption should not be made to the persons of those now receiving it (for thus the favor will pass on to their successors, who do not always happen to be worthy of being priests). But some
I Modestus was Prefect of the Praetorium and under Valens a persecutor of the Catholics. By command of Valens he had given St. Basil the choice between deposition and communion with the Arians .. Shortly after this he became ill, which he attributed to the divine vengeance because of his treatment of St. Basil. He summoned St. Basil, asked his pardon, and begged for prayers. On his recovery, which he attrihuted to the prayers of St. Basil, he regarded him with the greatest respect, and used his influence in his favor. Six of St. Basil's letters to Modestus are extant: Letters 104, 1l0, Ill, 279, 280, and 281. The present letter was written in 372_ 2 Exousias-a title of address used by St. Basil for laymen only.