Letter 110 (372)
THE FATHERS SPEAK
rather unapproachable, if we judge from the long preamble and the unusual number of oratorical precautions Basil takes before coming to the point of his request.
SAINT BASIL TO THE EPARCH MODESTOS,
LETTER 110 (372)
As much as you grant us of honor and freedom of speech thanks to your kind condescension toward us, so much and much more do we pray our good Master to increase your prestige! For a long time I have desired to write to yOll and benefit by your outstanding renown, but T restrained myself by respect for Your Excellency. heedful of not going beyond the permissible limits of free speech. But now, since your peerless magnanimity gave me license, I make bold to write, as the need of downtrodden people moves me. If there is some power in the prayers of small folk to men of elevated rank, grant us, 0 admirable man, that we may ask you the favor of a humane decision for wretched peasants, in order that the taxes on iron be more bearable for the inhabitants of the Taurus, that region which produces iron, so that they may not be crushed once and for all, but be preserved for common utility which, we are convinced, is the greatest concern of your admirable philanthropy.
By common usage, priests and clerical persons were exempt from the general charges to the imperial treasury.
The fiscal agents, however, having bought their charge. were naturally eager to recoup what they regarded as an advance to the State, and tended to ignore the privilege of clerics.
Hence a number of petitions addressed by the bishops in
Priests and Hierarchs: Shepherds of Sheep lOt favor of their priests to obtain from the authority a revision of their case and eventually a redress.
Basil, still a simple priest, had requested from an influential friend some assistance on behalf of a country priest with whom he had been brought up as a child. The tone of the note, almost negligently written, contrasts with the formal letters he sent to high-placed officials after his own elevation to the episcopacy.
SAINT BASIL, LETTER 36
(an epigraph of uncertain date) The priest of that locality is known to your generosity for a long time, for he had been brought up with me. Is there anything more I might do but urge you to review his case favorably and help him with his problems? If you love me, as indeed you do, it is clear that you wish to help with all your power those whom T hold as second selves of mine.
Now what am I asking for? That the former taxes of this priest be kept without augmentation; for he has not spared his good offices toward our subsistence, since-you know it yourself-we possess nothing and content ourselves with the resources of our friends and relatives. Regard the house of our brother as my house, or rather your house. God, for your kindness toward him, shall reward you, your house, and all your people. Know that I am quite determined that such an assimilation [his, your, and my houseJ will not prove insulting to our man.