Letters to Basil the Great

Contents 1. To Basil the Great (5) 2. To him (6) 3. To him (7) 4. To him (8) 5. To him (9) 11. To Basil the Great (11) 15. To Basil the Great (19) 33. To Basil the Great (21) 38. To Basil the Great (24) 39. To him same (10) 40. To him (4) 41. To him (26) 42. To him (27) 43. To him (25) 49. To Basil the Great (32) 50. To him (31) 51. To him (33) 1. To Basil the Great (5 1) In failure to fulfill his promise to live with St. Vasily excuses himself by the need to serve his parents and offers a way to reconcile the demands of promise and duty (358) I confess that I betrayed my promise to live and philosophize with you, as I gave my word back in Athens, during the friendship there and the merger of hearts there (for I cannot find a more decent expression). But he changed not voluntarily, but because one law prevailed over another, the law commanding to serve parents, over the law of partnership and mutual habit. However, I won’t change this at all, if you agree to the same thing. Sometimes I will be with you, and sometimes you deign to visit me yourself, so that we have everything in common and the rights of friendship remain equal. This way I won’t have to insult my parents and be with you. Since St. Vasily wrote jokingly about the cold and bad weather in Tiverin, the seat of St. Gregory, then speaks with a similar joke about St. himself. Basil and his place of residence - Caesarea. It is unbearable to me that you, a great lover of dirt, accustomed to walking on your toes and trampling the smooth pavements, a soaring, pompous man, carried away with the arrow of Avaris, reproach me with Tiberin, the local cold and bad weather, and although you yourself are a Cappadocian, you nevertheless avoid what is in Cappadocia. Do we offend you by the fact that you turn pale, have difficulty catching your breath, and use the sun in moderation, while we grow fat, become satiated and do not enclose ourselves within narrow limits? But the last one belongs to you. You live in luxury, you get rich, you have bazaars. I don't praise it. Therefore, either stop reproaching me for the dirt, for it was not you who built the city, and it was not I who caused the bad weather, or instead of the dirt I will point out to you the innkeepers and everything that is bad in cities. Having visited St. Basil in his Pontic desert, jokingly describes it (after 360). Laugh, denigrate everything that is ours, either as a joke or in truth; That’s not the point, just be cheerful, revel in your learning and enjoy my friendship. But for me, if anything comes from you, whatever it is, and whatever it is, everything is pleasant. And if I only understand you, it seems to me that you are laughing at things here not to ridicule me, but in order to attract me to you, just as rivers are blocked in order to force them to flow differently. You always do this to me. I will marvel at your Pontus and the Pontic gloom, this dwelling worthy of fugitives, this ridge of mountains hanging overhead, and the wild beasts that test your faith, this desert lying below, or wormhole with honorable names: monastery, monastery, school, these forests of wild plants, this crown of steep mountains, with which you are not crowned, but locked. I will be amazed that you have plenty of air, and a rare sun, which you, Pontic Cimmerians, see, as if through smoke, sunless people, not only condemned to a six-month night, as they say about others, but even never in their lives without a shadow, people whose whole life is one long night, and in the full sense (I will say in the words of Scripture) “the shadow of death” (Lk. 1.79 ). I also praise this narrow and cramped path, which, I don’t know where it leads, to the kingdom or to hell, but for you let it lead to the kingdom. And what is in the middle, shouldn’t I call it, if you want (but, of course, not in truth), Eden and a source divided into four principles, which quenches the thirst of the universe? Or call it a dry and waterless desert, which some Moses will fertilize, drawing water from a stone with a rod? For what is not covered with stones is dug with ravines, and where there are no ravines, everything is overgrown with thorns, and above the thorns there is a cliff, and on the cliff there is a steep and unreliable path, which accustoms the traveler’s mind to composure and exercises caution. The river roars below; and this is you, the pompously speaking creator of new names, this is the Amphipolis and quiet Strymon, abundant not in fish, but in stones, not pouring into the lake, but being carried into the abyss. The river is great and terrible, drowning out the psalmody of those living above; In comparison, waterfalls and rapids mean nothing, it stuns you so much day and night! It is swift, impassable, muddy and undrinkable; in only one thing is it lenient, which does not carry away your abode when mountain streams and bad weather infuriate it. And that’s all I know about these happy islands, or about you lucky ones. And don’t praise those moon-shaped curves that suppress rather than protect the approach to your foothills; do not praise this peak hanging above your heads, which makes your life like tantalum; do not praise to me these blowing breezes and this earthly coolness that refresh you, tired to the point of darkness; Do not praise the songbirds, which, although they sing, but hunger, although they flutter, are in the desert. No one comes to you, unless, you say, to chase the beast; add to this, and look at you dead men. All this is longer than a letter, perhaps, but shorter than satire. And you, if you accept my joke calmly, will act justly. And if not, I’ll add more to this. Continuation of the same joke. Since you accept my joke calmly, I’ll add the rest. And my beginning is from Homer. “So, go on, and sing the beauty within,” this roof without a roof and doors, this hearth without fire and smoke, these walls dried in the fire, so that splashes of dirt do not shower us, which resemble Tantalus and the condemned, thirsty in water, and this poor and innutritious treat, to which, not as to the meager food of lot eaters, but as to the meal of Alcinous, they invited me from Cappadocia, recently shipwrecked and in poverty, because I remember, and will continue to remember, these breads and these, as they were called, jams, I remember how my teeth slid over the pieces, and then they got stuck in them and were pulled out with difficulty, as if from a swamp. You yourself will depict all this more magnificently, having drawn verbosity from your own sufferings, from which, if the great true beggar-lover (I mean your mother) had not soon delivered us, who appeared to us in good time, like a pier to those overwhelmed at sea, we would have long been no longer alive; and we, for our Pontic loyalty, would excite others not so much to praise as to regret. How can I keep silent about these gardens, which do not resemble a garden or vegetable gardens? And about the Augean manure, cleared from the house, with which we filled these gardens, when I, Votrion, and you, Lamir 2, drove a cart the size of a mountain on these very shoulders and with these very hands, on which traces of those labors remain to this day; and all this (oh earth and sun, oh man and virtue! I will say in the words of a tragedian) not in order to connect the banks of the Hellespont, but in order to level the ravine. If stories about this are not offensive to you, then, of course, they are not offensive to me. And if you are sad to hear, then what is the matter? And I will keep silent about many other things out of respect for many other things that I enjoyed. Having abandoned the joke, he recalls with pleasure the time spent at St. Basil in his Pontic desert. What I wrote before about the Pontic way of spending time was a joke, not the truth. And what I’m writing now is already very true. “Who will arrange me according to the months of former days” (Job 29:2), in which I amused myself with suffering, because sorrowful, but voluntary, is preferable to pleasant, but involuntary? Who will give me these psalmody, vigils and prayerful migrations to God? Who will give life as if immaterial and incorporeal? Who will give consent and unanimity to the brothers whom you are leading to heights and deification? Who will give competition and encouragement to virtue, which we have protected by written statutes and rules? Who will give diligence in reading God's words, and with the guidance of the Spirit the light found in them? Who will give (I will say about the smallest and most insignificant) daily and manual labor: carrying firewood, cutting stones, planting, watering? Who will give this golden sycamore, which is more expensive than Xerxes’s, under which sat not a satiated king, but an exhausted monk, which I planted, Apollos, or your honor, watered, and God raised to my honor, so that it will be preserved by you as a monument of my hard work, as we read and believe that Aaron’s sprouted rod was kept in the icon case? It is easier to wish for all this, but not so easy to receive it. Come to my aid, join your efforts with me, assist me in virtue, and if we have previously collected something useful, then protect it with your prayers, so that I do not dissipate little by little, as a shadow dissipates with the passing of the day. And I breathe you more than air, and I live only because, whether I am with you or apart, I am always inseparable in my mind. 11. To Basil the Great (11) St. Basil, who against his own desire was ordained to the rank of presbyter, by his example encourages patience and exhorts to zealously fulfill the duties of the new rank (364). I praise the beginning of your letter. And what of yours does not deserve praise? And you are captured, like me, included in the list, because both of us were forcibly elevated to the degree of presbyterate, although this was not what we sought. For we can testify about each other more reliably than anyone else that we like a slow-moving philosophy that stays at the bottom. But although, perhaps, it would have been better if this had not happened to us, or I don’t know what to say until I understand the dispensation of the Spirit, however, since it has already happened, it seems to me at least that we must endure, especially taking into account the time that has loosened the tongues of many heretics, we must endure and not disgrace both the hope of those who have placed their trust in us and our own lives. 15. To Basil the Great (19) Notifying about the change in the bishop's disposition towards him. Eusebius, convinces him to write to him and then go to Caesarea; and he himself volunteers to be his companion. Here is an opportunity to show prudence and patience, so that no one turns out to be more courageous than us, and so that so much work and effort is not destroyed in a short time! Why and for what conviction am I writing this? Our most God-loving Bishop Eusebius (for this is how we need to think and write about him) is very inclined towards reconciliation and friendship with us and is softened by time, like iron by fire. I think that a letter of petition and invitation will come to you, which he also informed me about, and many of those who know reliably about his location assure me. We will warn him either by our arrival or by a letter, or better yet, first by a letter and then by our arrival, so that later we will not remain in shame, as if we were defeated, when we ourselves could have won beautifully and philosophically, conceding victory over ourselves, as many are asking us to do. So, listen to me and come, both for the above reason and for the sake of the present time, because a crowd of heretics is attacking the Church; some have already appeared and are causing disturbances, while others, as is heard, will appear, and there is a danger that the teaching of the truth may be perverted if the spirit of Beseliel, the wise architect of such teachings and dogmas, does not quickly move. If you deem it necessary for me to come and be your assistant and companion, then I will not shy away from this either. 33. To Basil the Great (21) Pronouncing St. Vasily, who, under the pretext of his illness, called St. Gregory to Caesarea, when there. a new bishop was elected to replace the deceased Eusebius, explains the reasons why he returned from the road (370). Don’t be surprised if it seems like I’m saying something terrible, something no one has ever said before. In my opinion, although you have acquired the reputation of a constant, infallible and firm-minded person, you nevertheless undertake and do many things more simply than without sin. For he who is free from vice does not suddenly suspect vice. It happened now too. You called me to the metropolis when it was necessary to confer on the election of a bishop. And what a plausible and convincing pretext! You pretended that you were sick, that you were on your last legs, that you wanted to see me and convey to me your last will. I didn’t know where this was going and how I would help the cause with my arrival; but he set off on his journey, greatly distressed by the news. For what is greater to me than your life, or what is more regrettable than your departure? I shed springs of tears, sobbed, and for the first time I learned about myself that I had not yet established myself in philosophy. For what is not filled with funeral sobs? When you learned that bishops were going to the city, you stopped on the way and marveled, firstly, at how you did not take care of decency and were not careful about the language of people who are most likely to slander the simple-minded; secondly, do you think that the same thing is not appropriate for both you and me, whom God made such friends in the beginning that life, teaching, and everything we have in common; and thirdly (let this also be said), how did you think that they would present here as reverent people, and not those who were strong in the city and loved by the people? For these reasons, I turned the stern and am going back. And you yourself, if you like, I wish to avoid real rebellions and evil suspicions; and then I will see your reverence when things settle down and time allows me; I’ll see you and then I’ll scold you more and harder. 38. To Basil the Great (24) He expresses his joy at his accession to the throne of Caesarea, and explains the reasons why he hesitates to go to him. As soon as I learned that you were elevated to a high throne, the Spirit prevailed, the lamp, which had not previously shone darkly, was placed on a candlestick and in full view of everyone, I confess, I was glad about it. And how could one not be happy, seeing that the common cause of the Church was in a bad situation and needed such leadership? However, I did not suddenly rush to you, and I am not in a hurry, and you yourself do not demand this; firstly, to protect your honor for me, and so that they do not think that you are gathering adherents, out of ignorance of decency and out of ardor, as envious people may say; and secondly, so that I myself could acquire constancy and impeccability. Therefore, perhaps you will say: “When will you come? And until when will you put it off?” Before God commands, and the shadows of those who are now malicious and envious disappear. For I know well that the lepers who are blocking David’s entry into Jerusalem will not resist for long. To the reproaches of St. Vasily responds for his coldness towards him by praising Vasily. How? Is anything of yours to me the same as a pickled berry on a grapevine? What word escaped you from the fence of your teeth, O divine and sacred head? Or how did you dare to say this? Is it just so that I can dare a little? How did the idea come about, the ink written, the paper accepted? Sciences, Athens, virtues, works raised for the sciences! You see, what you wrote almost makes me a tragic! Do you not know me, or yourself? How can something of yours, the eye of the universe, the sonorous voice and trumpet, the chamber of learning, be unimportant for Gregory? Why else would anyone on earth marvel if Gregory does not marvel at you? One spring a year, one sun between the stars, one sky embraces everything, one voice above all, and this (if I can only judge such matters, and love does not deceive me, which I do not think), is your voice. And if you blame me for not praising you as I should, then blame all people for this, because no one else has praised, and does not praise, as they should, as you would praise, as your sonorous speech would praise, if you could praise yourself, and the law of praiseworthy words allowed this. And if you accuse me of contempt, then why don’t you first accuse me of madness? But if you are indignant at the fact that I philosophize, then let me say that this is one thing and above your words. An obstacle to meeting St. Vasily indicates his mother’s illness and asks for the Vasilievs’ prayers for her recovery. The execution of your order partly depends on me, and partly, and also, I think, to a greater extent, on your reverence. From me - desire and zeal, because at other times I never shied away from meeting with you, but, on the contrary, I always sought it; Now I wish it even more. It depends on your reverence to put my affairs in order. For I constantly sit at the bedside of the Empress Mother, who has been suffering from illness for a long time. And if I can leave her out of danger, rest assured, I will not deprive myself of your contemplation. Only with your prayers help her to recover and for me to complete my journey. He recounts how one of the monks in some meeting where St. Gregory, reproached St. Basil and himself, one allegedly in an unhealthy teaching about the Holy Spirit, and the other in timidity, and like the saint himself. Gregory tried, however unsuccessfully, to justify St. Basil (371). I have long revered you as the leader of life, the teacher of dogmas, and to everything that is beautiful, no matter what anyone says, and now I honor you; and if there is another praiser of your excellences, then, without a doubt, he will stand either next to me or behind me. I am so committed to your reverence, and so completely yours! And this is not surprising. For with whom you deal longer, you see more experience; and where there is more experience, there is more perfect evidence. If there is anything useful for me in life, it is your friendship and the way I treat you. This is how I think about it, and I would like to always think this way. And what I am writing now, I am not writing of my own free will, but I will write it anyway. And don't be angry with me; or I myself will be extremely upset if you do not believe me that I am saying and writing this out of goodwill towards you. Many blame us, calling us weak in the faith, namely all those who think that I have everything in common with you, which they do very well. And some of them clearly accuse us of wickedness, while others accuse us of timidity; of wickedness they are confident that we are speaking unsensibly, and of timidity they attribute evasiveness to us. But what is the need to repeat the speeches of others? So I’ll tell you what happened recently. There was a feast, and at the feast there were many noble people who were well disposed towards us, and among them was someone bearing the name and image of piety. The feasting had not yet begun; the word has spread about us, who, as usually happens at feasts, are brought forward instead of any other interaction. Everyone is amazed at your perfections, they add me to you, as someone who practices the same philosophy as you, they talk about our friendship, about Athens, about our unanimity and like-mindedness in everything; but this philosopher finds this offensive and, crying out with great determination, says: “What is it, my lords, that you lie and flatter so much? Let them be praised for other things, if you like, I don’t argue about that, but I disagree on the most important thing: they praise Vasily for Orthodoxy in vain, and Gregory in vain, one betrays the faith by what he says, and the other by tolerating it.” “Where did you get this, empty man, new Dathan and Aviron in arrogance? - I said. – Where did you come to us with such teaching rights? And how dare you make yourself a judge in such matters?” “I am now,” he said, “from the Council that was held by the martyr Eupsychius; and he is a witness that this is indeed so. There I heard how the great Basil theologized about the Father and the Son excellently and very perfectly, and in a way that would not be easy for anyone else to say; but in the doctrine of the Spirit he deviated from the straight path.” And to this he added one comparison, comparing you to rivers that go around stones and dig up sand. “And you, wonderful one,” he said, looking at me, “are already very clearly blaspheming about the Spirit (and at the same time he recalled one of my expressions, when, while preaching theology in a crowded meeting, I then concluded my speech about the Spirit with these often repeated words: “How long should we hide the lamp under a bushel?”), but he does not clearly express the thought, as if casting a shadow on the teaching, does not dare to speak out the truth, throwing into our ears expressions that are decent more to a resourceful person than to a pious one, and covering up double-mindedness with the power of words.” “This is because,” I said, “I am not in plain sight, I am hated by many; others almost don’t even know what I say, or even whether I speak, and that’s why I speak wisdom safely. There are many speeches about him, as about a person who is known both in himself and in the Church. Everything he says becomes publicly known. There is a fierce battle around him; heretics are trying to catch every bare utterance from the lips of Basil himself, so that after everything around has already been captured, this man, the only almost remaining spark of truth and vitality for us, could be expelled from the Church, and evil took root in the city, and from this Church, as if from some kind of ambush, spread throughout the entire universe. Therefore, it is better for us to be thrifty in the truth, yielding somewhat to time, which has darkened us like a cloud, rather than by clear preaching cause the truth to decline. For it does no harm for us to know that the Spirit is God from other sayings that lead to the same conclusion, because the truth lies not so much in sound as in thought. But great damage will be done to the Church if the truth is driven out with one person.” Those present did not approve of such frugality, calling it untimely and even a mockery of them; They cried out to us that we protect our timidity more than the teaching of the Church. For it is much better, standing for the truth, to protect one’s own, than by such frugality to render one’s own powerless and not to accept someone else’s. But to retell now in all details what I said and what I heard, and how, beyond measure and my own custom, I expressed my indignation at those who contradicted, would be long, and perhaps not necessary. The end of the letter is that at the same time I parted with them. But you, divine and sacred Head, teach me to what extent we should extend ourselves in theology about the Spirit, what words to use, and to what extent we should go in our frugality, so that we can have all this ready for our opponents. For if I, who know you and your thoughts better than anyone, and have repeatedly certified and been certified of this, now demanded an explanation of this for myself, I would be the most ignorant and pathetic person. Justifies himself before St. Vasily, who was offended by the previous letter. Someone smarter than me might suspect this; and I am an extremely simple and empty person, I was not afraid of this when I wrote to you. My letter offended you, but I insist that it was not insulting, not fair, but, on the contrary, quite in vain. It is true that you did not express your grief; but (what he did smartly) hid it, as if with some kind of mask, covering the face of sadness with shame. But if I did this with cunning and malicious intent, I will suffer harm not so much from your sorrow as from the truth; if I acted simply, out of ordinary goodwill, then I will blame my sins, and not your disposition, except that I will only say that it would be better to correct this than to be angry with the advisers. Therefore, you will see for yourself what you should do, being able to give advice on this to others. And I, for my part, am ready, God willing, to be with you, and to strive with you, and to help you to the best of my ability. For under your leadership and with you, who will be unable, and who will not dare to speak and work for the truth? Encourages St. Basil to resist the machinations of the enemies of the Church and not be embarrassed by the fact that Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana, becoming independent from the throne of Caesarea, appropriated to himself many dioceses in the Caesarea Metropolis (372). I hear that you are embarrassed by the recent innovation and are in difficulty due to some sophistry and the usual inquisitiveness prevailing here. This is not surprising, because I know envy, and I also know that many of those around you manage their affairs through you and fan the spark of cowardice. Therefore, I am not afraid that in sorrowful circumstances you will suffer something uncharacteristic of philosophy, unworthy of yourself and me. On the contrary, I think that now my Vasily will especially make himself known, now that wisdom that you have constantly been collecting will appear; now, as if with a high wave, you will defeat intentions, and, when others are confused, you will remain unshakable. And if you wish, I will appear myself, and perhaps give some thought, if only the sea needs water, and you need an adviser. In any case, I will gain benefit for myself and learn philosophy, enduring insults with you. 49. To Basil the Great (32) He defends himself that it was not out of laziness or negligence that he renounced the bishopric in Sasima, where St. ordained him. Vasily against his will. You reproach me for laziness and negligence, because I did not take your Sasimov, I was not carried away by the episcopal spirit, I do not arm myself with you to fight, as dogs fight among themselves for the piece thrown to them. And for me the most important thing is inaction. And in order to know to you something of my perfections, I boast so much of my carelessness that I consider the greatness of the spirit in this to be a law for everyone; and I think that if everyone imitated me, then there would be no worries for the Churches, and faith, which everyone now turns into a weapon of their love of controversy, would not tolerate desecration. He expresses his grief that through his ordination as Bishop of Sasima he was introduced into a relationship that was completely contrary to his spirit. Will you really not stop blaspheming me as an uneducated, rude person, unworthy of friendship, and even life itself, because you dared to realize that I have suffered? For I have not done you another insult, you can confirm this yourself; Yes, I don’t realize, and I don’t want to admit to myself, that I acted badly in front of you in anything unimportant or important, except for this one thing: that I recognized myself as deceived, and although it was too late, I nevertheless recognized it, and I blame the throne for this, which suddenly raised you above me. I am tired of listening to reproaches to you and defending you in front of people who are well aware of our previous and current relationship with you. The funniest thing, or, better said, the most regrettable thing is to experience for yourself that one and the same person is offended and reproached, as it happened to me now. Others reproach both for this and that, each for whatever they please, according to his own disposition or according to the extent of his anger at us; and the most philanthropic - in contempt, in disdain, in the fact that, after being used for business, I am thrown away like the most dishonest and worthless vessel, or like a support under the vaults, which, having folded the vault, is taken out and considered nothing. Therefore, let us give these people complete freedom, let them say what they can say; no one can restrain an unauthorized tongue. And you, as a reward, give me those blessed and empty hopes that you came up with against the detractors, because for my honor you offend me, a frivolous person and capable only of something like that. And I will express what’s on my heart; don't be angry with me; for I will say the same thing that I said during the tribulation itself; and then I was not so inflamed with anger or amazed by what happened that I lost my mind and did not know what I said. I will not look for weapons and learn military cunning, which I had not learned before, when, apparently, there was a special time for this, because everyone was arming themselves, everyone was going berserk (you know the ailments of the weak). I will not expose myself to the attacks of the battle-bearing Anthimus, although not a very dexterous warrior, being myself unarmed, not warlike, and open to wounds. But fight him yourself, if you wish, for need often makes the weak warriors; or look for men who will fight when Anthimus captures your mules, guarding the narrow passages and, like the Amalekites, repelling Israel. And in return give me silence. What need is there to enter into a fight for mammals and birds, and for strangers at that, as if we were dealing with souls and the rules of the Church? Why deprive the metropolis of the glorious Sasimov, or expose and reveal the secret of the heart that should be hidden? But take courage, overcome, and draw everything to your glory, as spring streams are swallowed up by rivers, preferring neither friendship nor habit to virtue and piety, not caring how you will be considered for such an act, but surrendering to the one Spirit; and I will gain one benefit from your friendship: I will not trust my friends and will not prefer anything to God. Describes how he and his parent received Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana, and why they corresponded with him. How ardently, and like a young horse, do you gallop in your letters! And this is not surprising: you, who have recently achieved fame, want to show me what glory you have acquired, in order to make yourself even more venerable through this, like painters who paint only beauties. And if I retell to you all the actions of the bishops and the contents of the letter that worries you, where I started it, where I brought it, and how I ended it, then it seems to me that this exceeds the limits of the letter, and not so much a matter of justification as of history. In short, the most courageous Anthimus came to us with some bishops, either to visit my father (for they thought about it anyway), or to do what he wanted. After much inquiry and about many things: about parishes, about the Sasima swamps, about my ordination; after he caressed, begged, threatened, laid out his rights, condemned, praised, drew circles for himself as proof that we should look at him alone and at the new metropolis, which is more important, after all this I said: “Why do you include our city in your circle, when we constitute the Church, this in the true sense and, moreover, from ancient times the mother of churches?” Finally, without succeeding in anything, and with great arrogance, reproaching us for our adherence to Vasily, as if to some Philip, he left. Do you really think that we have offended you by this? I don't think so. Consider the contents of the letter, is it really written to offend you? A cathedral invitation was drawn up in our name. I argued, said that this was an insult; but for the second time they demanded that you be invited through me for a meeting about this; and I agreed to this; but so that the former does not happen, I leave everything to your will; Will it please you to gather them, where and when? And this showed me as a respectful person, not an offender. When I did this without any offense, then tell me the rest. If you need to know something from me, I will read you the very letter that Anthimus, when he, despite our prohibitions and threats, seized the swamps into his power, sent a letter to us, both insulting and blaspheming us, and as if singing a victory song over us, who had suffered defeat from him. What is this reason? And we are exposed to his wrath because of you and you are not liked as pleasing to him? But it was necessary to know about this first, wonderful man, and then not to offend, if not for another reason, then at least as elders. And if you have a great desire to show yourself and ambition, and you extend your speech to us from on high as a citizen of the metropolis to the citizens of a small city or even those who do not have a city, then we also have pride that we can contrast with yours. This is not difficult for anyone, and perhaps even more decent. This number shows the order of writing in the edition of the Bill. The words Votrion and Lamir are left without translation. One can guess that these were the names of St. Basil and St. Gregory was given to each other as a joke, pulling a cart on himself. You might be interested in: