ST.

BASIL THE GREAT

Born: 329 or 330 AD in Caesarea, Cappadocia

Reposed: 379 AD in Caesarea, Cappadocia
Feast Days: 1 January, 30 January

St. Basil the Great: When you sit down to eat . . .

When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so
generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a
relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you
look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at Gods feet and adore Him who in His wisdom
has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep
or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love
and praise their Creator.
St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great: Through the Holy Spirit comes our
restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of
heaven . . .

Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of
heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of
the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being
brought into a state of all fullness of blessing, both in this world and in the world to come, of all the
good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace
as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment.
+ St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit

St. Basil the Great: Troubles are usually the brooms and
shovels . . .

Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good mans
fortune; and many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to
drive away hunger.
+ St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great: The dying person, knowing only that
there is only one Saviour . . .

The dying person, knowing only that there is only one Saviour and Liberator cries
out: In Thee have I put my hope, save me from my weaknesses and rescue me from captivity. For I think
that the valiant athletes of God, after having kept up the good fight the whole course of their existence
against the invisible enemies and escaping every trap, when they arrive at lifes end, are examined by the
Prince of this world. If they are found, following the battle, to still have some wounds, stains or remnants
of sin, are detained by him. However, if they are to the contrary whole and untainted, these invincible
heroes remain free and are admitted by Christ to the place of rest.
St. Basil the Great, Homilies, On Psalm 7, 2 PG 29, 232B, D.

St. Basil the Great: Of the beliefs and practices whether

generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are
preserved in the Church . . . both of these in relation to
true religion have the same force. . . .

Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which
are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching others we have received

delivered to us in a mystery by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion
have the same force.
And these no one will gainsay;no one, at all events, who is even moderately versed in the institutions of
the Church. For were we to attempt to reject such customs as have no written authority, on the ground
that the importance they possess is small, we should unintentionally injure the Gospel in its very vitals; or,
rather, should make our public definition a mere phrase and nothing more.
For instance, to take the first and most general example, who is thence who has taught us in writing to
sign with the sign of the cross those who have trusted in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? What writing
has taught us to turn to the East at the prayer? Which of the saints has left us in writing the words of the
invocation at the displaying of the bread of the Eucharist and the cup of blessing? For we are not, as is
well known, content with what the apostle or the Gospel has recorded, but both in preface and conclusion
we add other words as being of great importance to the validity of the ministry, and these we derive from
unwritten teaching.
Moreover we bless the water of baptism and the oil of the chrism, and besides this the catechumen who is
being baptized. On what written authority do we do this? Is not our authority silent and mystical
tradition? Nay, by what written word is the anointing of oil itself taught? And whence comes the custom
of baptizing thrice? And as to the other customs of baptism from what Scripture do we derive the
renunciation of Satan and his angels? Does not this come from that unpublished and secret teaching
which our fathers guarded in a silence out of the reach of curious meddling and inquisitive investigation?
Well had they learnt the lesson that the awful dignity of the mysteries is best preserved by silence? What
the uninitiated are not even allowed to look at was hardly likely to be publicly paraded about in written
documents.
St. Basil the Great, the Book of Saint Basil on the Spirit, Chapter XXVII

St. Basil the Great: . . . a psalm is the work of angels, a

heavenly institution, and the spiritual incense.

A psalm implies serenity of soul; it is the author of peace, which calms bewildering
and seething thoughts. For, it softens the wrath of the soul, and what is unbridled it chastens. A psalm
forms friendships, unites those separated, conciliates those at enmity. Who, indeed, can still consider as an
enemy him with whom he has uttered the same prayer to God?
So that psalmody, bringing about choral singing, a bond, as it were, toward unity, and joining the people
into a harmonious union of one choir, produces also the greatest of blessings, charity. A psalm is a city of
refuge from the demons, a means of inducing help from the angels, a weapon in fears by night, a rest from
toils by day, a safeguard for infants, an adornment for those at the height of their vigor, a consolation for
the elders, a most fitting ornament for women.
It peoples the solitudes; it rids the market place of excesses; it is the elementary exposition of beginners,
the improvement of those advancing, the solid support of the perfect, the voice of the Church. It brightens
the feast days; it creates a sorrow which is in accordance with God.

For, a psalm is the work of angels, a heavenly institution, the spiritual incense.
St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great: Human life is but of brief duration . . .

Human life is but of brief duration. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is
as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand forever
(Isa. 40:6). Let us hold fast to the commandment that abides, and despise the unreality that passes away.
St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great: Keep striving until the fire of heresy is
put out . . .

Keep striving until the fire of heresy is put out, before it consumes the
Church.
St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great: . . . There are those truly who do not
admit the common sense of the Scriptures . . .

I know the laws of allegory, though less by myself than from the works of
others. There are those truly, who do not admit the common sense of the Scriptures, for

whom water is not water, but some other nature, who see in a plant, in a fish, what their
fancy wishes, who change the nature of reptiles and of wild beasts to suit their allegories,
like the interpreters of dreams who explain visions in sleep to make them serve their own
ends. For me grass is grass; plant, fish, wild beast, domestic animal, I take all in the literal
sense. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel [Romans 1:16].
And there was evening and there was morning: one day. And the evening and the morning
were one day. Why does Scripture say one day the first day? Before speaking to us of the
second, the third, and the fourth days, would it not have been more natural to call that one
the first which began the series? If it therefore says one day, it is from a wish to determine
the measure of day and night, and to combine the time that they contain. Now twenty-four
hours fill up the space of one day we mean of a day and of a night; and if, at the time of
the solstices, they have not both an equal length, the time marked by Scripture does not the
less circumscribe their duration. It is as though it said: twenty-four hours measure the space
of a day, or that, in reality a day is the time that the heavens starting from one point take to
return there. Thus, every time that, in the revolution of the sun, evening and morning
occupy the world, their periodical succession never exceeds the space of one day.
St. Basil the Great, Hexaemeron, Homily 2

St. Basil the Great: If you see your neighbor in sin . . .

If you see your neighbor in sin, dont look only at this, but also think about
what he has done or does that is good, and infrequently trying this in general, while not
partially judging, you will find that he is better than you.
St. Basil the Great, Conversations, 20

St. Basil the Great: Do not say, This happened by chance .

Do not say, This happened by chance, while this came to be of itself. In all
that exists there is nothing disorderly, nothing indefinite, nothing without purpose, nothing

by chance How many hairs are on your head? God will not forget one of them. Do you see
how nothing, even the smallest thing, escapes the gaze of God?
St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great: The woman who purposely destroys . . .

The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With
us there is no nice inquiry as to its being formed or unformed. In this case it is not only the
being about to be born who is vindicated, but the woman in her attack upon herself;
because in most cases women who make such attempts die. The destruction of the embryo
is an additional crime, a second murder, at all events if we regard it as done with intent. The
punishment, however, of these women should not be for life, but for the term of ten years.
And let their treatment depend not on mere lapse of time, but on the character of their
repentance.
St. Basil the Great, Letter 188:2 or First Canonical Letter, Canon 2

St. Basil the Great: Prayer is a request for what is good . . .

Prayer is a request for what is good, offered by the devout of God. But
we do not restrict this request simply to what is stated in words We should not express
our prayer merely in syllables, but the power of prayer should be expressed in the moral
attitude of our soul and in the virtuous actions that extend throughout our life This is how
you pray continually not by offering prayer in words, but by joining yourself to God
through your whole way of life, so that your life becomes one continuous and uninterrupted
prayer.
St. Basil the Great, Homily on the Martyr Julitta