In person, he was tall and thin, holding himself very erect. His complexion was dark, his face pale and emaciated with close study and austerities; his forehead projecting, with retiring temples. A quick eye, flashing from under finely arched eyebrows, gave light and animation to his countenance. His speech was slow and deliberate.
His manner manifested [...]
Archive for the ‘Basil the Great’ Category
A Description of Basil the Great (ca. 329-379)
Posted in Basil the Great on April 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
To the Wife of Nectarius, in Consolation
Posted in Basil the Great on April 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Basil, to the wife of Nectarius, ca. 358:
It was my purpose to maintain silence towards you, gentle lady, considering that, just as to the eye, when inflamed, even the most delicate of soothing applications causes irritation, so to the soul, when afflicted by a crushing weight of sorrow, words offered in the very moment of [...]
To Nectarius, in Consolation
Posted in Basil the Great on April 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Basil to Nectarius, ca. 358:
It was not yet the third or fourth day after I had been shocked by the news of your intolerable misfortune, and I was still in perplexity because the bearer of the distressing message was unable to tell clearly all that had happened, and so earnestly was I praying that it [...]
Each in Its Proper Season
Posted in Basil the Great on April 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Just as all things that come with the seasons have each its own proper season for recurring – the flowers in the spring, the ears of corn in summer, the apple in autumn – so winter’s fruit is conversation.
From: “Letter XIII,” in Saint Basil: The Letters, 4 volumes; translated from the Greek by Roy J. Deferrari; Loeb [...]
On Prayer
Posted in Basil the Great, Prayer on March 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Prayer, again, following such reading, finds the soul, stirred by yearning towards God, fresher and more vigorous. Prayer is to be commended, for it engenders in the soul a distinct conception of God. And the indwelling of God is this – to hold God ever in memory, His shrine established within us. We, thus, become [...]
Psalmody
Posted in Basil the Great, Psalmody on January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Psalmody is the calm of the soul, the repose of the spirit, the arbiter of peace. It silences the waves, and conciliates the whirlwind of our passions, soothing the impetuous, tempering the unchaste. It is an engenderer of friendship, a healer of dissension, a reconciler of enemies. For who can longer count him his enemy, [...]
