Глава II

Return to the homeland of St. Vasily. Experiences of his eloquence as a lawyer and teacher of eloquence. What impression did they make on the soul of St. Vasily heard praise for his high talents? His journey through the deserts of Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia, and various monasteries. The impression he gained from this journey, and the reasons that forced him to refuse further cohabitation with the great ascetics. The monastery he founded on the site of his homeland. The reasons that prompted him to choose this, and not another place, for monastic life. Why St. Gregory the Theologian did not want to live with St. Basil, despite his promise given in Athens, to labor asceticism with him in the same place. Description of the area where St. Vasily monastery. The device of St. Basil and other male and female monasteries. The care of St. Vasily about the spiritual enlightenment of not only monastics, but also surrounding residents. His four words are “about asceticism.” The content of each word. Visit to St. Gregory St. Basil in his monastery, and studying with him St. Scripture, patristic writings, and drawing up rules for monastics. Contents of long and short rules. Ascetic statutes and some extracts from them. After spending about five years in Athens, St. Vasily, a twenty-seven-year-old youth, in 356, with extensive knowledge of external sciences, with a strong disposition towards goodness, returned to his homeland. He did not find his father alive; mother Emellia with his sister, St. Macrina, they spent their lives in godly pursuits in the monastery they founded, on the banks of the Isis River, on land that formerly belonged to Vasilieva’s grandmother, St. Makrine. His brother Naucratius also spent his life in monastic endeavors in desert solitude. Thus, the entire atmosphere of the family life of St. Vasily was such that she presented him with strong urges to immediately, upon arrival in his homeland, begin that solitary and ascetic life that he was thinking about together with St. Gregory, which he aspired to while still living in Athens. But his high learning, which attracted to him the attention and respect of all who knew him and heard about him, temporarily put an obstacle to his desire. The most distinguished inhabitants of Caesarea, the place of his initial education, Neokesarea, the place of residence of his parents and himself, sent an embassy of honorary citizens to him, inviting him to take the position of lawyer in Neokesarea, promising both fame and wealth, that is, such benefits that flatter the passions of vanity and greed 38 . And these classes could really bring St. Vasily and wealth and fame, since eloquence at that time was valued above all talents, and nowhere could it be demonstrated with such brilliance as in the position of lawyer and in the department of teacher of eloquence. But all earthly goods receive their price not from their inner dignity, but from our desires: the more we desire to master them, the more we value them; and whoever does not want to have them, for him they have no value. Saint Basil the Great says about himself: “to be in complete obscurity is more desirable for me than for ambitious people to be in the public eye” 39 . Therefore, the benefits offered by the inhabitants of Caesarea and Neocaesarea could not deviate him from the desire to enter into solitude in order to achieve imperishable glory in heaven through internal self-improvement. However, St. Basil, as St. says. Gregory the Theologian, “in order to satisfy the desire of many, because he himself did not have the disposition to live for spectacle and display,” and perhaps in order to restore in himself the glory of his father, which he enjoyed for his eloquence, for a short time accepted the offer of both the Caesarea and Neo-Caesareans, and showed several experiences of his eloquence, both in the rank of lawyer and in the position of teacher of eloquence. General delight of surprise and animated praise of his extensive learning and brilliant eloquence accompanied him everywhere. Looking at St. Basil, from the point of view of a person who had not yet freed himself from the spirit of vanity and had not risen above the vanity of earthly pleasures, it was natural to assume that St. Vasily did not remain completely indifferent to the praise that was showered on him everywhere. His sister, St. Macrina, thoughtfully thinking about protecting the purity of his heart, made him notice that he was standing on the edge of an abyss, and he was in great danger if he did not hasten to retire from the field, which presented so many opportunities for the development of pride in his learning. But St. Vasily hastened to reassure her, showing in words and deeds that he was too far from attaching any importance to the praise that was scattered everywhere before him. And in general, how little importance he attached to external learning, he expressed this in one of his letters. “I spent many years,” he writes, “in vanity and lost almost all of my youth in vain labors, attending schools to acquire knowledge in that wisdom, which God recognized as violence. But when, finally, as if rising from a deep sleep, I looked at the wonderful light of the Gospel, and saw the uselessness of the wisdom of the princes of this age, then I shed many tears over my pitiful life and wished to find a leader who would introduce me to the knowledge of the dogmas of piety. My first concern was to somehow correct my character, damaged by many years of treatment with the wicked. Therefore, when, having opened the Gospel, I saw in it that the best path to perfection is to sell the property and distribute it to the poor brethren, to renounce all the worries of this life and not to be carried away by attachment to anything earthly, then I wanted to find a man from the brethren who would himself choose such a way of life, so that together with him I could swim across the abyss of this short-term life” 40 . After the suggestions of St. Macrina, St. Vasily, as much because of his own heart’s desire for solitude, as much as to calm his pious mother and sister, entered into solitude. And the more he delved into himself, the more he listened to the divine inspirations of the Lord Jesus Christ when reading the Gospel, the more he found in himself shortcomings and inconsistencies with the high demands of the Gospel teaching; awareness of shortcomings in oneself is the main basis for human improvement. As long as a person, darkened by the spirit of pride, is in self-delusion regarding his merits, until then he cannot move forward regarding his moral improvement. But speaking about the shortcomings that St. found in himself. Vasily, one should not allow the thought that he has any bad inclinations inherent in his age. Having traced his life from childhood to the years close to manhood, we have already seen that all his external actions and internal dispositions of his soul were such that he could be a model of moral life for gray-haired elders. Like a brilliant artist, he always remains dissatisfied with his works, comparing them not with the works of ordinary, although the best, artists, but with that ideal of perfection that floats before the inner eye of his ardent imagination; so does St. Vasily found many shortcomings in himself that aroused in him a feeling of contrition, comparing his actions not with the actions of his peers or the best of citizens, but with the highest requirements of the Gospel teaching, which strives to elevate a person, even during his life on earth, to the degree of angelic purity. Perfection in everything is the goal of his whole life! He studied wherever he could learn something good and useful, and learned everything that he found worthy of the attention of an enlightened person. But external sciences did not give him what his pure soul was striving for, and he left them, rightly regretting the time spent studying them, as time lost fruitlessly for the soul. He wanted to have a clear, as far as possible for the limited mind of man, concept of the Supreme Being, he wanted to know the path to rapprochement with this Supreme Being: but about all this, only the Gospel alone, and not any of the external sciences, could give definite concepts. Therefore, he abandoned all sciences and devoted himself exclusively to the study of the Gospel alone. But to see an object clearly, it is not enough to have healthy vision; you also need sunlight; in order to lift any weight, it is not enough to have diligence alone; you also need to have the strength to do it. To understand the highest objects of revealed teaching, divine light is needed; to fulfill all the requirements of the Gospel teaching, natural forces alone are not enough; divine help is needed. The divine light, illuminating our mind and making it capable of understanding supernatural objects, and divine help, giving us the strength to fulfill such demands of the Gospel teaching that seem to exceed the natural strength of man, are given to us through the Sacraments. Therefore St. Basil the Great hastened to wash himself in the waters of Baptism, strengthen his spiritual strength through the sacraments of Confirmation, and enter into closest communion with the Lord Jesus Christ through the sacrament of Communion. He received all these sacraments from the hand of the Archbishop of Caesarea, Diania 41. Triple Divine grace received by St. Basil through the Sacraments, had such a strong influence on his soul, already prepared for the highest service, that from the very first beginning of his entry into St. Church of Christ, decided to fulfill the commandment of Christ, leading to the highest perfection: if you want to be perfect; Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me (Matthew 19:21). But monastic life, full of all kinds of hardships and various kinds of temptations from the flesh and the devil, could not help but seem difficult to him due to his inexperience in this kind of life: and therefore he wanted to find a person who would decide to go along with him along this difficult path of life and be, if not a mentor and leader, then at least a reasonable and benevolent interlocutor. Naturally, with such a desire, the first thought of St. Vasily turned to St. Gregory the Theologian, as having already expressed a desire, together with him, to devote themselves to serving God in the rank of monk, with complete renunciation of all earthly things. Guided by this thought, St. Basil wrote to his Athenian friend, inviting him to come to him to fulfill the desire expressed in Athens. But I received an answer from St. Gregory’s letter, from which it was clearly clear that the Athenian assumptions about the corporate life and wisdom will forever remain unfulfilled. St. Gregory wrote: “I confess that I changed 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. But I change not voluntarily, but because one law prevailed over another; the law commanding to serve parents above the law of partnership and friendship. However, I will not change this at all if you agree to the same thing. Sometimes I will be with you, and sometimes you yourself deign to visit me, so that we have everything in common and the rights of friendship remain equal. This way I won’t be able to offend my parents and can be with you” 42. After such an answer from his friend, St. Vasily decided to form his own monastery. But in order to collect into his monastery all the best that had been developed by the long-term experiences of the holy ascetics, he decided to visit the great ascetics who lived in Alexandria and other places in Egypt, also in Palestine, Kelesyria and Mesopotamia. And having seen them, says St. Basil, “marveled at their abstinence in food, marveled at their patience in their labors, was amazed at their relentlessness in prayers... living as if in someone else’s flesh, they actually showed what it means to be aliens here (Heb. 11:13), and what it means to have a life in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Marveling at this and pleasing the lives of these men, who in practice show that they carry the deadness of Jesus in their bodies, I myself wished, as much as I could, to become an imitator of these men” 43 . And the holy men whom St. happened to see. Vasily, were truly such that they were an object of surprise and imitation not only for his contemporaries, but also for subsequent centuries. Then there was the most flourishing state of monasticism in Egypt. Although Anthony the Great had already departed to the Lord, the deserts of Egypt were filled with thousands of his disciples and imitators. Among them were then Poplius the Great, two Macarii - Egyptian and Alexandrian, Paphnutius, Pior, Isidore the presbyter of Scete and others. All of them, combining high wisdom in advice with amazing asceticism, also possessed various special spiritual gifts, which testified to the presence of the Spirit of God in their souls. Kelesyria had its own ascetics, who were also remarkable in that, in addition to internal warfare, they waged another continuous struggle with the remnants of former paganism. In Mesopotamia, especially in the Nisibian mountains, hundreds of monks presented a strange sight to the world, which, not having the strength to rise to the understanding of their high life, detached from all earthly goods, called them nothing more than grazing 44. The very life of the ascetics gave rise to this name; since they, in order to support the idea that they were only strangers on earth, and their fatherland was in heaven, did not have a permanent stay in one place, but constantly changed the places of their stay in the desert, feeding on the past. Journey of St. Vasily's journey through deserts and monasteries lasted about a year. But having enjoyed the exemplary exploits of St. husbands, taking advantage of their wise instructions, he did not dare to stay in any of the monasteries or deserts he visited; no matter how delightful the life of St. was for his soul. husbands, but he could not look calmly at the discord and disagreement that then outraged the church due to the strengthening of the Arians; and therefore he hurried to return to his native country, which alone then preserved peace among the eastern regions along with strict Orthodoxy. Returning to his homeland, St. Vasily, probably guided by the same feeling of love for his family that was guided by St. Gregory, in his actions and in determining the way of his life, decided to stay in Pontus, and for the establishment of his monastery he chose a secluded place on the banks of the Iris River, on the opposite side of which lived his mother Emmelia and sister Macrina. The place he chose was rich in both forest and water, grew all kinds of fruits with little effort on the part of man, and most importantly, it was completely calm and no traveler disturbed the silence of this place. This convenience was so pleasant for Vasily that he intended to end his days here 45. Here, renouncing all worldly worries, not being carried away by attachment to anything earthly, he spent his life imitating the exploits of those great men whom he saw in Egypt and Syria. He had nothing but one undergarment and another outer garment; his meal consisted of bread and salt, his thirst was quenched by water alone; His sleep was very short and on bare ground 46. Devoting himself to solitude to achieve the highest moral perfection, St. At the same time, Vasily was diligently engaged in improving his theological education. Studying St. Scripture, with the help of ancient interpreters 47, and he studied the writings of his fathers with incomparably greater zeal than external sciences. Perfection in everything was the goal of his life, to achieve which he used all his zeal, not sparing his strength and health. Having been enriched with the assistance of Divine grace, with a deep understanding of the word of God and various spiritual gifts, St. Vasily, out of love for the Lord Jesus Christ and zeal for the spread of His glory on earth, and out of love for his neighbor and concern for the salvation of his soul, could not help but feel the need to use his talents for the glory of God and the salvation of his neighbors. And his first attention was drawn to the hermits who lived not far from him, who continued their service to God in solitude, without communication with each other. But St. Vasily, wanting to gather them into his monastery, explained to them both the disadvantages for themselves in a hermit’s life, and the very great benefits that the hostel could bring, both to themselves and to others who have communication with them. First of all, he explained to them that the hermit life, although it had its famous representatives, but, as an exception, cannot be a general rule for all who embark on the path of serving God, since such a life must go contrary to the general structure of human life and the very definition of God, expressed in the very structure of the human body. Just as different members in the human body cannot live one without the other, and in order to maintain common life in the body it is necessary that they each do their own thing and help each other; So in a lonely life, a person, on the one hand, is deprived of the opportunity to acquire what he does not have, on the other hand, to do good to another with the good that, by the grace of God, he himself possesses. “That’s why,” says St. Basil, “The Creator God determined that we need each other, and through this we enter into unity with each other (Sir. 13:20).” “But even without this,” he continues, “the concept of the love of Christ does not allow everyone to have their own in mind; for it is said: love does not seek its own (1 Cor. 13:5).” “And life, separated from everyone, has one goal - serving everyone’s own needs. This is clearly contrary to the law of love, which the Apostle fulfilled: not seeking your own benefit, but many, that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:33).” “And then, at a distance from everyone, it is not easy for everyone to recognize his own shortcomings, without having someone who would expose him and correct him with meekness and compassion. For reproof from the enemy often arouses in the well-conscious the desire for healing. It is difficult to find a person living alone if someone has not previously become close to him in life; therefore, what was said comes true with him: woe to one, for if he falls, there is no one to raise him up (Eccl. 4:10).” “A separate life does not have many virtues leading to salvation, for during a separate life, not knowing the state of the other, one cannot “neither rejoice with the glorified, nor suffer with the suffering.” “Moreover, since one is not able to contain all the spiritual gifts, but to each, according to the measure of faith, there is a gift of the Spirit, then in the community each person’s own gift becomes common to those living together: for to each is given the glory of wisdom; to another is the glory of reason; another's faith; prophecy to another; giving healing to others, etc. (1 Cor. 12:8-10). The recipient has each of these gifts no more for himself than for others; why in a community life the action of the Holy Spirit in one must be transferred to everyone together. Therefore, someone who lives separately, even if he has any talent, due to inactivity, contains it within himself, and it makes it useless; and how dangerous this is, all of you who have read the Gospel know. In the cohabitation of many, each one enjoys his own talent, increasing it through giving to others, and uses the gifts of others as if they were his own.” “The total life has many other benefits that are not easy to list. For it contributes to a more solitary life, to the observance of the blessings given to us by God, and to protection from the external machinations of the enemy. It is safer for people who are awake to awaken, even if one happens to take a nap in that deadly sleep, for deliverance from which David taught us to pray, saying: Enlighten my eyes, so that one day I may sleep into death (Ps. 12:4). And it is more convenient for a sinner to part with sin when the unanimous condemnation of many brings him to shame... And a lonely life, in addition to the dangers shown, is accompanied by others. The first and most important of them is the danger of self-indulgence. For, not having a person who could evaluate his work, he imagines that he has reached the perfection of the commandment. And moreover, having locked up his spiritual powers forever and not giving them exercise, he does not know his shortcomings, and does not know success in business, because all opportunities for achieving what is required in the commandments have been taken away. How will humility show itself if it does not have a person to whom it could prove that it is more humble than it? In what way will love of kindness be shown, being separated from communication with many? How will he train himself in long-suffering when there is no one who opposes his opinions? If anyone says that in improving morals he is content with studying the Divine Scriptures, then he will act like someone who learns to build and never builds; he has learned the art of forging, but does not want to apply the lessons to business. The Apostle will say to him: for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the creators of the law; these will be justified (Rom. 2:13). So the Lord, out of an abundance of love for mankind, was not content with only verbal teaching, but in order to show us with all accuracy and clarity an example of humility in the perfection of love, He Himself, having girded Himself, washed the feet of the disciples. Who will you wash, who will you serve, who will you be the last to see when you live alone? And this good and good life of the brethren together, which the Holy Spirit likens to the ointment fragrant on the head of the bishop, how will it take place when they live alone (Ps. 132:2)? Therefore, corporate life, brothers, is a field of asceticism, a reliable path to success, constant exercise and teaching in the commandments of the Lord. And its goal is the glory of God, according to the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16), thus retaining the features of the Saints mentioned in the book of Acts, about whom it is written: “But everyone believed together, and everything was in common with the name (Acts 2:44)” 48. So reasonable, so demonstrative and convincing the word of St. Vasily concentrated in the newly established monastery all the hermits who lived in nearby places in the Pontic and Cappadocia regions. The management of the monastery and the leadership of the assembled brethren was assumed by St. Vasily. And this monastery and the brethren gathered in it were the subject of the most tender care on the part of St. Basil the Great even when he was already in the rank of Archbishop. Glory to the high asceticism of St. Basil, as well as his wisdom in advice, soon spread throughout Pontus and Cappadocia, as a result of which people began to flock to him for spiritual conversation, and some, being inspired by his speech that penetrated to the depths of the heart, remained forever in his monastery with complete detachment from all the benefits and pleasures offered by the world. At first, these visits for a pious purpose tired the saint. Vasily and forced him to mourn the broken solitude of his desert life. But then, inspired by the pious mood of the souls of those who came and their sincere thirst for edification, he himself drew consolation in the knowledge that through his word, with the assistance of Divine grace, the kingdom of Christ was spreading and strengthening in the souls of believers. With this involuntary detachment from deep solitude, Divine Providence imperceptibly prepared St. Basil to the further public service of St. Churches. The fruitful effect of his words on the souls of those who came to him so inflamed zeal in his heart for the salvation of souls redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that he often left his beloved solitude for a long time, going around cities and villages with words of edification and admonition. He spoke to everyone according to everyone’s needs. He tried to awaken some from sinful sleep, convincing them to pay attention to their souls and stop the harmful gratification of the insatiable flesh; He instructed others in the truths of the Orthodox faith, or persuaded them to deviate from the false faith planted in their souls by heretics. He inspired others to prayer, to care for the poor; He disposed those who were more mature to monastic life. As a result of such a fruitful conversation, St. Basil, many monasteries, both male and female, were founded in different places in the Pontic region, which also always enjoyed his leadership and care 49 . When at St. Vasily did not have many brethren yet, so he guided them by his example and private instructions. But when the brethren began to multiply, he also spoke to them general teachings, in which he embraced monastic life from all sides, and clarified the moral significance of all possible accidents. Of the teachings of this kind, four have come down to us, and all of them are called the word about asceticism. By allowing monastics to read these words with due attention, we will direct our attention in them only to those places and thoughts that can be generally edifying and instructive for all Christians, both lay and monastic. Word 1. “He who intends to obey Christ and hastens to a poverty-loving and unentertained life is truly worthy of surprise and pleasure,” says St. Vasily. But he advises those who wish to embark on the difficult path of monastic life to first test themselves and first accustom themselves to endure physical and spiritual sorrows, so that, not having the strength to withstand the trials encountered, they will not return with shame and ridicule to that from which they fled, to the condemnation of the soul, returning to the world and becoming a temptation for many, giving everyone a reason to conclude that it is impossible to live in Christ.” “Such one will be condemned not only as a traitor to Christ, as a warrior who left his ranks, but also as guilty of the death of those corrupted by him through the temptation of his act.” But such fugitives, to calm their consciences, say that even while living in the world they can please God with good deeds. Saint Basil finds the imaginary pleasing to God through good deeds impossible for such a fugitive: “Whoever in life,” he says, “sinless in its lack of entertainment, did not have the strength to withstand the struggle with the enemy, will he be able to succeed in any virtue in a sinful life and controlled by himself - without any guidance from a wise and experienced mentor?” “The man-loving God, who cares about our salvation, foreseeing the incapacity of the ascetic life for everyone, gave human life a double direction, i.e., marriage and virginity, so that those who are not able to endure the feats of virginity would enter into cohabitation with their wife, knowing that he would be required to account for chastity, holiness and likeness to those who lived in marriage and while raising children holy,” of which many examples can be found in both the Old Testament and New Testament Churches. But some, carried away by sinful or worldly customs leading to sin, and wanting to give themselves as much freedom as possible to satisfy passions and vicious habits, to console themselves, or more correctly, to seduce themselves with harmful dreams, say: we are not monks, we cannot help but follow the customs of the world, and God will forgive us. But that’s not how St. talked about it. Basil the Great. “Do you agree,” he asks, “that the Gospel is given to those who are married? It has been made clear to you that obedience to the Gospel will require an account from all people, whether they are monks or live in marriage. For a person who has entered into marriage, it is enough that he is excused for intemperance, the desire of his wife and cohabitation with her; other commandments, as indicated to everyone equally, are not safe for violators. Jesus Christ, preaching the commandments of the Father, addressed his speech to those living in the world (and not to the monastics, who did not exist then). And if it happened that the questioned one answered his disciples in private, he testified, saying: “What I say to you, I say to all” (Mark 13:37). Therefore, you, who have chosen to live together with your wife, do not give up, as if you have the right to surrender to the world. To obtain salvation, you need more work and caution: because you have chosen your home among snares and under the power of apostate forces, you have incentives to sin, and all your feelings are strained day and night to lust for them. Therefore, know that you will not avoid the fight against the apostate and you will not win victory over him without much labor to guard the Gospel dogmas. For how can you refuse to fight the enemy, leading your life in the very battle field? And this field is the entire earth under heaven, around which the enemy circles and bypasses like a mad dog, looking for someone to devour, as we learn from the story of Job (Job 2:2). And therefore, if you renounce a fight with an opponent, then go to another world in which he does not exist; there you will be allowed to renounce the fight against him and safely neglect the dogmas of the Gospel. And if this is impossible, hurry up and learn how to fight him, studying the art of war in Scripture, so that you, defeated by him out of ignorance, are not consigned to eternal fire. And this is said, as it were, in passing to those who in married life, without fear, neglect the preservation of Christ’s commandments.” Turning again to monastics, he advises, upon entering into monastic life, to sever all ties with relatives according to the flesh, friends and loved ones, in order to unite more easily and more closely with Christ. However, this requirement prohibits only partial love for anyone, which interferes with the free service of Christ, and not love for the Lord, which we are obliged to have for all our neighbors. He also advises you to first dispose of your external well-being, using it for good deeds, so as not to leave anything behind; since hope for wealth, whatever it may be and whatever it consists of, prevents the establishment in the soul of complete trust in Divine Providence. “When,” further says St. Vasily, - with God’s assistance, you will defeat your enemy in this first war... with great care and attentiveness, try to find a husband who would infallibly precede you in the way of life, was well able to lead those marching to God, was adorned with virtues in his own affairs and had evidence of his love for God, was knowledgeable in the Divine Scriptures, not absent-minded, not a lover of money, not preoccupied with many things, silent, loving God, loving the poor, not angry, unforgettable, strong in edifying those close to him, not vain, not arrogant, not flattering, unchangeable, did not prefer anything to God. And if you find such a person, surrender yourself to him, imputing him to nothing, and throwing away all your will. Some, attaching too much importance to their mind and accustomed to self-will, looking at the monastic vow of unquestioning obedience, say that this vow cannot be approved, because, as it seems to them, it destroys free will in man - one of the greatest gifts of God. But is it fair that this vow destroys freedom in a person? Something similar to this can be seen in ordinary human life. Possessed by some serious physical illness, not finding the strength in himself to heal his illness, he freely entrusts himself to some doctor, already known for his experience and knowledge, and unquestioningly, without any reflection, carries out his advice and instructions, and yet no one thinks that through this free submission to the doctor, the freedom of action in the patient will be completely destroyed. Doesn’t the same thing happen when a morally sick person, seeing the constant weakening of all spiritual forces in himself and not finding in himself any possibility of weakening his already strengthened bad habits and sinful inclinations, freely subjugates his mind and will to the suggestions and guidance of another person, already known for his piety and wisdom of instructions, confirmed by many who were morally healed through him and received the disposition and strength for the best and most useful activities? Where is the destruction of freedom here, when a morally sick person subjugated himself to another out of a free conviction of the superiority of the spiritual wisdom of his leader? No doctor will allow his patient to act inconsistently with his instructions and instructions; otherwise, the patient takes responsibility for the failure of treatment or greater health problems. Thus, a spiritual doctor cannot allow freedom in the actions of the mind and will of a morally sick person if he wants to be completely healed; otherwise, the failure of spiritual healing remains the responsibility of the patient. Convincing those who dedicate themselves to monastic life to renounce their will as the only true path to salvation, St. Vasily further says: “if by the goodness of God you find (and having searched, you will certainly find) a teacher of good deeds, watch yourself so as not to do anything contrary to the will of the teacher. For everything that is done without it is a kind of theft and sacrilege, leading to death and not to benefit, even if your deed seems good to you.” He also advises not to allow yourself to do such things contrary to the accepted customs in the monastery of monastics and to behave humbly towards the brethren, as befits the least of the slaves. “Put in your heart that you are more dishonest and more sinful than all people, that you are a stranger and a stranger, and out of pity were accepted by those who renounced the world before you, hasten to be the last of all and the slave of all. Have ears open to listen, and hands ready to carry out what you hear, have silent lips and a prudent heart. Be lazy in idle talk, but be prudent and knowledgeable in the saving hearing of the Divine Scriptures. May it be a bitter taste for you to hear worldly stories, and may the conversation of venerable men be like a honeycomb.” Advising to imitate the deeds of those established in goodness, he forbids condemning those who fall. “Don’t be a judge,” says St. Vasily, - other people's falls. They have a righteous Judge, who will reward everyone according to his deeds (Rom. 2:6). You keep yourself from falling and, as much as you can, lighten your burden. He who burdens his burden will bear it. There is salvation in repentance, and unreasonable condemnation of others is the death of repentance.” He especially advises not to leave your cell without extreme need, so that through vain conversations with worldly people you do not relax your zeal for achievement and vigilance over your thoughts and heartfelt dispositions, and through communication in their delicious meal, do not weaken your feat in fasting and lay the foundation for voluptuousness, this mother of many passions. As much as possible, says St. Vasily, - as much as it depends on you, avoid any entry into society,... although you will return to your cell (having avoided vile vices), you will no longer be the same as you left, but weakened and sickly, not disposed to any good deed, and only after a long time will you become capable of your characteristic skill. Therefore, if for some reason you happen to leave your cell, then, having put on the armor of the fear of God, armed yourself with the love of Christ and self-control in everything, protecting against the invasion of voluptuousness, immediately, after correcting your needs, go back, without slowing down at all and convincing your inner thoughts that saving peace is not available to you in any other place.” Knowing how much sin enters the soul through hearing, and how much the soul is emptied through talking a lot, he says as a warning to ascetics: “Do not lend your ears to everyone who rants, and do not answer every talker in conversations that are not consistent with the goal of asceticism. Be a listener to good teachings, and guard your heart while meditating on them. Protect your ears from worldly stories, so as not to stain your souls with splashes of dirt. Do not try to listen to what others say, and do not put your head in the midst of those talking, so that you yourself do not be ridiculed, and you do not make them slanderers. Don’t be curious and don’t want to know everything, lest you retain the festering passions in your heart. Look with benefit, listen with benefit, speak with benefit, answer with benefit.” 2 Word. In this word, in brief but definite expressions, it is explained: what a monk should be like in his cell and outside it, the conversation concerns mostly the inner state of his soul. 3 Word. In this word of St. Vasily shows first that man was created in the image of God and in the likeness, and sin, having carried the soul into passionate desires, changed the beauty of the image. But God is true life, therefore, whoever has lost the likeness of God in himself has also lost communication with life; and whoever is outside of God, it is impossible for him to be in a blessed life. And since we have lost blissful communion with God through enslavement to passions, therefore, a return to a blissful life in God is possible only upon achieving perfect dispassion. “If through dispassion we again restore the image of God in ourselves,” he says, “and becoming like God gives us unceasing life, then, neglecting everything else, let us use our care to ensure that our soul is never possessed by any passion; but on the contrary, so that our thoughts, when attacked by temptations, remain unshakable and so that through this we become partakers of God’s bliss.” Explaining further that virginity most of all contributes to such dispassion, he shows, however, that virgin life does not consist only in abstaining from childbearing, but the entire way of life, and life itself and morals must be virginal. “It is possible,” he says, “to commit fornication with words, to commit adultery with one’s eye, to defile one’s ears, to receive uncleanness in one’s heart, and to transgress the laws of chastity by immoderation in food and drink. Therefore, if we want the appearance of our soul to be adorned in God’s likeness with dispassion, and through this we acquire eternal life: then let us take heed to ourselves, so that, by acting in anything unworthy of a vow, we do not fall into the same judgment as Ananias,” who, not promising God his property, could keep it to himself without sinning, but having promised and not fulfilling his vow, he was subjected to the righteous wrath of God. Continuing our talk about virginity, St. Vasily says that by the name of purity of virginity he means not only abstinence from carnal passion, but also from any passionate disposition towards any kind of sin. “I say this,” he continues, “meaning not just one kind of passion (as some think, placing the merit of virginity in the sole protection of the body), but passionate dispositions of all kinds, so that those who intend to keep themselves for God do not defile themselves with any worldly passion. Anger, envy, memory malice, lies, pride, floating thoughts, talking at the wrong time, laziness in prayer, desire to have what is not yet there, negligence about the commandments, elegant clothes, decorating faces, meetings and conversations that are contrary to decency and unnecessary - all this must be so much guarded against by one who has dedicated himself to God by the vow of virginity, that it is almost as dangerous for him to remain in the sin he has renounced as to indulge in it. anything from what was said.” Further instilling complete obedience to the will of the abbot, when he orders something inclining towards the goodness and severity of life, he advises the brotherhood to make sure that it is not by chance, but by God’s command, that the abbot has been given such power so that progress according to God can be accomplished without hindrance, when one offers everything useful and suitable to the soul, and others humbly accept good advice. Speaking about abstinence in food, he advises “not to undead the flesh and not to treat it cruelly, but to observe moderation in both, so that the flesh, having become fat, does not rebel, and, exhausted to the point of illness, does not lose the strength to fulfill the commandments. For there is equal harm to the soul in both cases - when the flesh is disobedient from excess health, indulging in violent impulses, and when it is exhausted, weakened and motionless from painful illnesses; because the soul, in such a state of the body, does not have time to look up at grief, but, out of necessity, is occupied with the sensation of pain, and weakens, suppressed by the suffering of the body.” Love for our neighbor must be based on love for the Lord, so that we love our neighbor not out of attention to any of his personal merits that are pleasant to us, but because he is a creation of God, sanctified through the Sacraments by divine grace and destined for eternal bliss in heaven. And therefore St. Vasily forbids partial love for any brother monk, but instills in everyone that everyone should look at each other with equal disposition, and that the whole society should be governed by one measure of love. 4th Word. In this word, having first shown the goal of asceticism, the salvation of the soul, he advises to succeed in renouncing property, “because care and concern for material things produces great entertainment in the soul.” As a result of this, monastic property should be distributed according to the needs of each brother, and not his desire. But since people’s morals are different, and not everyone thinks in the same way about what is useful, so that no disorder occurs as a result of this, St. Vasily advises choosing one mentor for everyone, who should become the general leader of everyone’s actions and thoughts. “And the true and perfect obedience of those subordinate to the mentor is shown in not only refraining from the inappropriate on the advice of the abbot, but not doing even the most praiseworthy without his will... If someone, following his own aspirations, does what pleases himself and does not obey the advice of the abbot, then his sin will be more important than his merit; because if you resist authority, you resist God’s command, and the reward for obedience is more important than the reward for success in abstinence.” And in this word, advising us to have the same love for all members of the brotherhood, just as we have the same love for all members of our body, it nevertheless inspires to have preferential respect for those who bring greater benefit to each and everyone, since in our own body we do not have the same care for both the eye and the toe, although the pain of both is equally sensitive to us. Having instilled love for the brethren, he especially warns against feelings of hatred. “Just as he who has love,” he says, “has God in him, so he who has hatred has the devil in him.” No matter how much St. Vasily received consolation from a fairly large brotherhood gathered in the monastery he had newly founded, obedient to his good suggestions, bound together by love and zealous for success in deeds of piety; but for the completeness of the bliss that he enjoyed in his newly established monastery, he lacked the community of his friend, St. Gregory, and therefore he invited him to his place. St. Gregory the Theologian, drawn as much by his friendly invitations as by his love for him, promised many times to come to him, but was always held back by circumstances, and thus the promises always remained unfulfilled. – But strong love, like a flame that does not go out when the wind blows, but develops even more, does not weaken from obstacles, and is only more excited to achieve its goal. So is St. Vasily, despite repeated and futile invitations to St. Gregory, however, did not abandon his intention to attract him to himself. And this time I wanted to influence his imagination with a description of the picturesque area among which his monastery was located. But St. Gregory, accustomed in the silence of deep solitude to contemplate with his mind the highest beauty - the Creator of nature, was not carried away by the beauties of those mountains and valleys with a flowing river, about which Vasily wrote to him. And that’s why St. wrote. Vasily responded that the position of the place does not mean much and cannot create in his soul any desire to live with him in the circle of ascetics gathered by him in the monastery, until he learns about the very way of their life, and about the activities in which they spend their time 50. “Really,” St. wrote to him in response. Vasily, this reasoning is worthy of your soul, which puts everything here as nothing in comparison with the bliss that is prepared for us according to the promises.”51 Further, in the same letter, he shows that the only goal of the entire life of the assembled brotherhood is to take care to steadily follow in the footsteps of the Leader of our salvation, and at the same time reveals their inner state and their exploits, with which they try to please the Lord. After this letter to St. Gregory has already decided to part with his parents for a while and visit his friend Vasily. Gregory, living in the desert with Basil, studied with him the ancient church writers, guided by them when reading the Holy Scriptures, and together with him extracted from the writings of a teacher who was great in his works, but not always pure and firm in his teaching, Origen, an explanation of some passages of the Holy Scriptures, which is known under the name Philocalia or Philokalia 52. However, using the works of Origen when explaining St. Scriptures 53, St. Vasily avoided his excessive inclination towards allegorical explanation. Together with St. Basil St. Gregory was engaged in drawing up lengthy rules for monks, 54 which were later completed by St. Vasily with some more brief rules. But both the lengthy rules (55 in number) and the short ones (313 in number) are presented in the form of answers to the proposed questions. Let us first consider the lengthy rules and pay primary attention to those rules and thoughts that can be generally edifying and obligatory for all Christians, both lay and monastic. Having shown in the first rule that the first and basis for all other commandments should be the commandment of love for God, in the second rule it reveals that this love cannot be taught, and should not even be taught, because it is embedded in our nature by God himself. “Vice,” he says, “can be given the following definition: this is the evil, contrary to the Lord’s commandment, the use of what is given to us by God for a good purpose; just as the definition of virtue required by God will be the following: this is the use of God’s gifts with a good conscience, according to the commandment of the Lord.” The same thing needs to be said about love. Love is the natural desire of the soul for the one who serves as a source of life, light and bliss for us. “Having received the commandment to love God, we also acquired the power to love that was invested in us during our very original constitution.”... “Love of God is not something acquired through teaching. It was not from anyone else that we learned to admire the light, to be attached to life, nor from anyone else who taught us to love our parents or educators.” “In those who are born there is a natural love for those who give birth, and this proves the attachment of the dumb, and in people from the first age an open disposition towards their mothers.”... “Is it necessary to say about dogs and other similar animals what kind of affection they have for those who feed them”! Therefore, by lack of love for the One who created us and by alienation from Him, let us not show ourselves to be more foolish than infants and more ferocious than beasts. Even if we did not know what kind of goodness He is, then because we have received existence from Him, we must love Him immeasurably with all tenderness and unceasingly cleave to the remembrance of Him, just as children cleave to their mothers.” Continuing to prove the naturalness of love for the Lord, St. Vasily says: “by nature we have a desire for the beautiful, although for the most part this seems beautiful to one and another to another. What is more admirable than God's beauty? What sight is more pleasing than God's splendor? What kind of spiritual desire is as alive and strong as the desire generated by God in the soul, which is cleansed from all vice and with true disposition says: I am wounded by love (Song. 2:5)? Truly indescribable and indescribable are the lightning-fast brilliances of God’s beauty; neither a word can express, nor a hearing can contain.... If this beauty, invisible with bodily eyes, and comprehended only by the soul and thought, illuminated any of the saints: then, outraged by the life here, they said: alas for me, for my coming will continue (Ps. 119, 5)! when I come and appear to the face of God (Ps. 14:3), and: to be resolved to be with Christ, it is much better (Phil. 1:23). Weighed down by this life, like a prison, those whose souls were touched by the Divine desire were so unstoppable in their striving. Because of an insatiable desire to contemplate Divine goodness, they prayed that the vision of God’s beauty would extend throughout eternal life (Ps. 21:4).” Having proved the naturalness of our love for the Lord from the natural need of our nature to love our parents and everything beautiful, we further prove the same subject by the need of our nature to be grateful to benefactors. “If by nature,” says St. Vasily, - we have love and affection for benefactors, and we decide to do any work in order to repay the benefits shown to us, then what word can depict God’s gifts? They are so numerous that they exceed any number, so great and important that even one is enough to oblige us to all gratitude to the Giver.” For this he points to the innumerable gifts of God given to us by the goodness of God: in the structure of material nature, where everything is aimed at making our earthly existence prosperous, in communicating to our soul such natural and grace-filled powers with which we can become like God himself and become partakers of His bliss, in His loving care for our salvation after our falling away from Him. Pointing to all these gifts of God’s goodness, completed and sealed by the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, he says: “When I bring all this to my mind, I come into a kind of horror and terrible frenzy from fear, lest through inattention of mind or because of preoccupation with vain things, falling away from the love of God, I might one day become a reproach to Christ. For the one who now deceives us, and with worldly lures tries in every possible way to make us forget about the Benefactor to the destruction of our souls, scolds and laughs at us, then we will turn our neglect into reproach to the Lord, and will boast of our disobedience and our apostasy; because he did not create us and did not die for us, yet he had us as his followers in disobedience and negligence of the commandments of God.” In the third rule, speaking about love for neighbors, he develops the previously expressed idea that there is no commandment for the fulfillment of which the Lord would not grant strength. “The law,” he says, “is the cultivator and educator of the forces that are contained within us in the form of a seed.” – Each force in our soul, left without exercise, weakens little by little, and can be brought through inactivity to a complete inability to manifest itself in the action corresponding to it. The example of egoists, who look at everyone and everything as a means to achieving their personal goals, shows that in them natural love for one’s neighbor through inactivity has been brought almost to the point of death. But the more a person exercises this power, invested in us by God, through active participation in the well-being of his neighbor, the more it strengthens in him. And through constant activity, this power can be brought to such an extent that a person will begin to measure his own happiness by the degree of happiness of his neighbor, just as a tenderly loving mother cannot consider herself happy if she sees her son or daughter languishing from severe suffering. The Lord demands from us the fruits of this love because he has already placed its seeds in our hearts. The Lord says: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another (John 13:34). And wanting to arouse our soul to fulfill this commandment, as proof of who His disciples are, he demanded not extraordinary signs and wonders, but what does he say? About seven everyone understands, as my disciples are, if you have love among each other (John 13:35). And goodness to his neighbor is imputed to Himself. For he says: become hungry and give me food; then he adds: Because you have made these lesser brothers of mine alone, you have made me (Matt. 25:35; Matt. 25:40). Some, loving among their neighbors only those whom they like, and with their inner qualities give them consolation, therefore, loving only themselves in them, say: I love the Lord, but I cannot love my neighbor, who does evil to me and pushes me away from himself with his internal or external ugliness. “But you, who say so, are lying; you don't love the Lord. If anyone speaks, says St. The Apostle John, because I love God, but hate my brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20). You say that you love God, prove it in practice. We do not love in word, nor in tongue, says the same apostle, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:20). And the Lord himself sets the observance of His commandments as a sign of true love for Him: you who love Me, says the Lord, will keep My commandments (John 14:23). His commandment tells you: love your neighbor as yourself and: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who harm you. If you truly love the Lord, you will keep all this; if you do not observe, then you do not love the Lord. “Consequently,” says St. Vasily, - through fulfilling the first commandment you can succeed in the second, and through fulfilling the second you will again return to the first; and whoever loves the Lord also loves his neighbor.... And again, whoever loves his neighbor continues his love for God; because God accepts His mercy towards others as mercy towards Himself.” In the fifth rule of St. Vasily speaks of a method with the assistance of which the exact and perfect fulfillment of the commandments of love for God and neighbors can only be achievable. “We must know,” he says, “that we cannot succeed either in keeping any other commandment, or in the very love of God and love of neighbor, by wandering our thoughts here and there.” Just as it is impossible to achieve perfection in any other business or art if the person engaged in it, forgetting the goal he assumed in the matter, moves from one thing to another, leaving the main subject of his studies without attention. “Therefore, the exercise of pleasing God according to the Gospel of Christ is successful when removing oneself from worldly cares and completely removing oneself from entertainment... Anyone who intends to truly follow God must renounce the bonds of worldly addiction, and this is achieved by completely removing oneself from previous morals and customs and forgetting them... Without this, it is impossible for us to achieve the goal of pleasing God... And having done this, it is necessary to preserve everything guard your heart (Prov. 4:23), so as not to lose the thought of God, and not to defile the remembrance of His miracles with vain ideas, but to carry the holy thought of God, imprinted in our souls with constant and pure remembrance, everywhere with us, like an indelible seal. For in this way we acquire love for God, which arouses us to fulfill the commandments of the Lord, and at the same time is again observed by them, becoming long-lasting and unshakable.” Constant remembrance of God, supporting in us love for Him, together serves as the best aid to the exact fulfillment of God’s commandment, according to the will of Him who gave it, and to protecting ourselves from sin. Therefore, “every deed must be done as if it were done in the eyes of the Lord, and every thought must be formulated as if the Lord were overseeing it. For in this case there will be constant fear, which, according to what is written, does not tolerate untruth, annoyance and pride and the ways of the evil one (Prov. 8:13), and love will be perfected, fulfilling what the Lord said: I do not seek my will, but the will of the Father who sent me (Jn. 5, 3); because the soul will always retain the confidence that just as good deeds are pleasing to the Judge and Hero of our life, so the opposite deeds will soon be condemned.” Some, accustomed to spending most of their lives without thinking about God and the moral dignity of their actions, in excuse for their absent-mindedness, say how is it possible to constantly think about God when, according to the very law of thinking, we cannot think about two objects at the same time?! – St. Basil the Great finds this possible. “Just as a blacksmith,” he says, “when cutting, for example, an axe, remembering the one who gave him the work, and having it in his mind, imagines the type and the size that are assigned, he considers the work with the will of the one who ordered it (and if he forgets, he will do something else or differently than what is said): so a Christian, every action, unimportant and important, considering the will of God, and will order his action with with all correctness, and at the same time preserve the thought of the One who commanded to do this, in this way to fulfill what was said: I will stand before the Lord before me, as if he is on my right hand, and remain motionless (Ps. 15:8), let us also satisfy this commandment: whether you eat, or drink, or do anything else, do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).” Having said in the fifth rule about the need for composure in thoughts to affirm oneself in love for God and neighbors, the sixth rule shows that solitude greatly contributes to achieving this composure. “It is harmful,” he says, “to lead a life in society with people who fearlessly and contemptuously look at the obligation to strictly fulfill the commandments... Therefore, so that neither with our eyes nor ears do we accept anything that irritates us to sin, and insensibly do not get used to it, so that in the soul, to its harm and destruction, no images or imprints of what is visible and audible remain, and so that we are able to remain in prayer, for this First of all, let's retire to our place of residence. In this way, we can overcome the previous custom, according to which we lived contrary to the commandments of Christ, and we will also be able to erase sinful stains from ourselves through wise prayer and constant study of God’s will. But in prayer and in this study it is impossible to keep up with the many people who entertain the soul and occupy it with the affairs of life... In addition to many other inconveniences, the soul, looking at the multitude of people living lawlessly, firstly, spends time not feeling guilty about its own sins and lamenting repentance for sins, on the contrary, through comparing itself with the worst, it acquires some kind of dreamy concept of its merits; and then, by rebellions and idleness, which worldly life usually produces, being distracted from the precious remembrance of God, one not only loses the opportunity to rejoice and be merry about God, in order to come to the state of saying: I remembered God and rejoiced (Ps. 76:4), but also completely gets used to neglecting and forgetting the judgments of God. And it is impossible to tolerate more and more destructive evil than this.” In the 16th rule, proving the necessity of abstinence for those who intend to live piously, he says: “the mortification and enslavement of the flesh is not accomplished by anything as successfully as by abstinence, because the ebullience of youth and the indomitability of aspirations, as if by some kind of bridle, are restrained by abstinence.” However, he further says, abstinence should not be limited to simply restraining oneself from excessive consumption of foods that delight the taste or fatten the flesh; but it should extend to all passions generated by voluptuousness, or serving as an instrument for its satisfaction; such as: pride, exaltation, anger, irritability, envy, ill will, lust for power, ambition, vanity, excessive acquisitiveness, etc. “The strict law of abstinence assigns measure to the tongue, limits to the eyes, unquestioning hearing to the ears. He who does not remain within these boundaries is intemperate and self-willed.” In the 17th canon of St. Vasily shows that abstinence should extend to laughter itself. “For to indulge in uncontrollable and immoderate laughter is a sign of intemperance, unbridled movements, and arrogance in the soul that cannot be reduced by strict reason. It is not disgraceful to express spiritual joy even with a bright smile, according to what has been said: the heart is glad, the face blooms (Proverbs 15:13). But laughing loudly, the whole body going into involuntary shaking, is characteristic of an unbridled, inexperienced person who does not know how to control himself. And Ecclesiastes, preventing this kind of laughter, which most of all reduces mental strength, says: laughter says: sin (Eccl. 2:2), like the voice of thorns under a cauldron, like the laughter of fools (Eccl. 7:6). And the Lord, although He bore on Himself the necessary infirmities of the flesh, and everything that serves as evidence of virtue, for example, fatigue and pity for those who mourn, nevertheless, as can be seen from the Gospel story, did not laugh, but on the contrary, announced grief to those who indulged in laughter (Luke 6:25).” In the 22nd rule, answering the question, what kind of clothing is appropriate for a Christian? - says: “our word has already shown that humility, simplicity, and an effort in everything to be of little value and small costs are necessary, so that bodily needs provide us with less reasons for entertainment. We must strive for the same goals in the consideration of clothing... Just as fame-loving people catch glory for themselves by the clothes that clothe them, wanting to be looked at and called upon for their expensive clothes: so, obviously, for the one who, out of humility, has placed his life at the last level, and in this he must take the last place among all.” Pointing further to the original purpose of the clothing of the first people - to cover shame and protection from weather changes destructive to health, he advises now when arranging clothing to be guided only by this goal. He advises to avoid panache in clothing, introduced by the “refinement of arts that devote themselves to vanity,” since panache in clothing not only does not cover the shame of the body, but, on the contrary, reveals the very shame of the soul, exposing in a person either the spirit of vanity, or the corruption of the soul by sensuality. In the 50th rule, resolving the question: is it consistent with the purpose of piety to use medical benefits? - draws attention first of all to the fact that the first people, being in a state of innocence, did not need any arts to cover their nakedness and for their food, and having a painless body, they also did not need medical aid. But the sin allowed into the soul gave rise to the need, both in labor to acquire food and clothing, and in the effort to obtain funds to alleviate the illnesses that occur. God, through the action of his justice, having removed fallen man from the tree of life, condemned him to earn bread for himself by the sweat of his brow, and after a certain time of wandering through the earth, to return to the earth from which he was taken. But moved by his mercy towards fallen but repentant man, “to alleviate the sorrowful consequences of the curse, He gave him intelligence and the ability to alleviate his needs through the science of agriculture and other arts; and since we are associated with painful flesh, which for sin was condemned to decay, and through this was subjected to various infirmities, then we were given the help of medical art, although to some extent it is provided to those suffering from illnesses. For the herbs, which are related to each of the infirmities, did not languish by themselves, but, obviously, by the will of the Creator they were produced for the purpose of serving for our benefit.” Therefore, in case of need, it is necessary to use the art of medicine, but in such a way that “not in it alone is the cause of health, but in accepting the benefits offered by it for the glory of God and as an example of caring for the soul”... “It would be bestial nonsense to hope for health solely from the hands of a doctor, which, as we see, other pathetic people are subjected to, who are not ashamed to call doctors their saviors”... On the contrary, how Hezekiah tied up the fig tree ( 2 Kings 20:7) did not consider the primary reason for his health, and did not attribute the healing of his body to this, but added thanksgiving for the creation of figs to the glorification of God. So we, too, having received blows (through illness) from God, who arranges our lives with goodness and wisdom,... let us accept the grace of healing given to us with gratitude and will not make any difference whether God’s care came to us in an invisible way, or through something bodily, although the latter often brings us more strongly to the consciousness of the Lord’s mercy.” But just as in the beginning the first cause of illness and death was sin, so now the cause of illness is always sin. The Lord, in His mercy, through illnesses, either protects us from sin, into which we could fall, enjoying good health, or heals us from sin that has already been committed, calling us through sorrow to repentance. So, just as for complete healing from an illness it is necessary to eliminate the very cause of the illness, “therefore, at the onset of the illness itself, St. Vasily says: let us ask God first for knowledge of the reasons why He strikes us, and then for deliverance from sorrows”... “Often illnesses are punishments for sins, sent to us in order to encourage conversion. It is said: because the Lord loves him, he punishes him. (Proverbs 3:12); and for this reason there are many in you who are weak and sickly, and fall asleep contentedly (many die). Even if we reasoned with ourselves, we would not be condemned: if we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, lest we be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:30-32). Such people must in silence, leaving medical care, endure the illness sent to them until they recognize their sins, following the example of him who said: I will endure the wrath of the Lord because those who have sinned against Him (Mic. 7:9). They must show their improvement by bearing fruits worthy of repentance, and remember the Lord, who said: Behold, you are healthy, let no one sin, lest it be worse (John 5:14).” “It sometimes happens, at the insistence of the evil one, that the humane-loving Lord gives over another great ascetic to him to fight, and overthrows his high position with the high patience of his servants, which, as you know, happened with Job. Or, as an example of the impatient, God torments people who are able to endure sorrows even to death; such was Lazarus, who was covered with many scabs, and of whom it is not written that he asked anything from a rich man, or was dissatisfied with his position; for which he was honored with repose in Abraham’s bosom, as he who had received evil in his belly (Luke 16:25). We find that saints have another reason for their illnesses, like the Apostle: so that they would not think that he was transgressing the limits of human nature and so that no one would conclude that he had something special in the natural order (as the inhabitants of Lycaonia did, bringing crowns and bringing oxen, Acts 14:13), - in commemoration of human nature he had a long-term illness. What would be the benefit of such people from the art of medicine? For those who have ruined their health through a bad lifestyle, he advises them to use bodily healing, while having the main concern for the soul, and from the methods of treating the body, extracting guidance for healing the soul. “Those,” he says, “who have themselves acquired illness through a bad lifestyle, should, according to what was said before, use bodily healing as some kind of model and example for caring for the soul. For according to the medical law, it is also useful for us to abstain from what is harmful, to choose those who serve for the benefit, and to comply with prescriptions. And let the very transition of the flesh from a painful state to a healthy one serve as a consolation for us, so that we do not despair in the reasoning of the soul, as if it could not return from a sinful state through repentance to its characteristic perfection.” But in any case, the patient must place his trust in God, and not in man, and, calling on the doctor, must first call on God for help, asking Him, firstly, to enlighten the doctor, so that he understands the disease and prescribes a medicine suitable for the disease, and secondly, to give the healing power to his medicines; so that both the illness, which was not allowed without the will of God, and the healing, which was accomplished not without the help of God, would more closely connect us with God with a feeling of love and gratitude to Him. “As it should not be,” says St. Vasily, - to completely avoid the art of medicine, it is so incongruous to place all your hope in it. But just as we use the art of agriculture, and ask the Lord for fruits, or entrust the helm to the helmsman, and pray to God to save us from drowning: so, bringing in a doctor when reason allows, we will not give up our trust in God.” The medical art of St. Vasily also finds it useful in a moral sense, since it teaches abstinence in food, which is also approved by Christian moral teaching, as an aid to the achievement of the highest Christian virtues. “It seems to me,” he says, “the art of medicine contributes a lot to abstinence. For I see that it cuts off voluptuousness, does not approve of satiety, rejects, as something unhealthy, variety in foods and excessive ingenuity in seasonings, and in general calls insufficiency the mother of health. Why, in this regard, his advice is not useless for us.” St. Basil the Great does not leave without admonition those who, in a painful condition, for some reason are deprived of the opportunity to benefit from medical benefits. Since in healing from illnesses God always acts, sometimes through medical aids, and sometimes directly through his omnipotent grace: therefore, one should not become discouraged in a painful state in the absence of medical aids, but, placing all one’s trust in God, with faith and constancy one should ask Him for help. The Lord always acts according to His mercy, and in the most illnesses always has in mind either the cleansing of our sins or the exaltation of our virtue, paying benevolent attention to our living faith and unremitting prayer: either He will not leave us to be tempted more than we can suffer (1 Cor. 10:13), and with the intensification of the illness He will strengthen our spiritual strength to uncomplainingly and patiently endure temporary sorrow, or He will heal, as he once did the leper, in a word I want you to be cleansed (Matthew 8:3). The miraculous power of God can and does manifest itself with equal power at all times when faith and real need provide it with an opportunity to manifest itself. And nowadays one can come across many experiences where medical science, recognizing its powerlessness, pronounces a death sentence on a patient, and the power of grace, after performing the sacrament of Anointing or Communion on a patient, powerfully manifests itself by restoring the strength and health of the sick person. The rules are summarized in the questions and answers. In the introduction to the briefly stated rules of St. Basil says: “We, who have been entrusted with the ministry of the word, must at all times be zealous for the correction of souls and publicly testify about other things before the whole Church, and about other things, whether it concerns right faith or true living according to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, since both of them are reliably perfected as a man of God, to allow each of those who come to ask us privately at will.” As a result of this rule, obligatory for all who are entrusted with the ministry of the word and the care of souls, to St. Both monastics and lay people came to Vasily with their perplexities regarding the objects of faith and morality, and in response to all those perplexities of St. Basil gave answers, guided either by the clear instructions of the word of God or by the opinions of former holy Fathers and teachers of the Church. This was the beginning of the rules briefly outlined. Since at the present time the objects of faith are clearly and definitely set forth by the God-wise Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils and anyone who wants to learn to believe rightly and savingly without being carried away by the spirit of verbal debate can easily learn from one Orthodox Catechism or Dogmatic Theology everything how and what a Christian should believe, therefore we will pay attention in brief rules only to those questions that will relate to the rules of Christian morality as applied to the particular circumstances of life public and family. Some, having already been carried away far into the paths of sin, and not wanting to obey all the demands of the Lord’s commandments, try to calm their restless conscience with various self-willed reasoning and false interpretations of the word of God. But for such false thinkers, to the destruction of their souls, St. Basil in the 1st rule says: “who will reach such madness as to dare even to think of taking anything for himself, when in order to direct himself in mind, word and deed on the path of truth, he needs the guidance of the Holy and Good Spirit, and he himself is blind and lives in darkness without the sun of truth - our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who enlightens with his commandments like rays; for it is said: the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes (18:9)? since, of our ordinary deeds and words, some are defined by God’s commandment in Holy Scripture, while others are silent: then, in considering what is said in Scripture, no one has the slightest permission to do anything forbidden, or leave anything commanded unfulfilled; because the Lord once forever commanded and said: Every word I command you this day, give it to you to do: do not add it to it, nor take it away from it (Deut. 12:32).” In those cases that are not determined by the clear commandment of God, he advises to be guided not by your own understanding, but by the advice of people more experienced in spiritual reasoning. Many, having become accustomed to carelessness in words and actions, try to reassure themselves with a false assessment of their moral actions, considering some sins important, while others are unimportant and seem incapable of harming the soul. But St. Basil in the 4th rule says: “since the Lord confirmed that one iota will not pass from the law, until they all will be (Matthew 5:18), and he decisively said: for every idle word that men speak will be given a word about it on the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36): then nothing should be despised as unimportant. Moreover, what sin would anyone dare to call unimportant when the Apostle affirmatively said that by transgressing the law of God you are dishonored (Rom. 2:23). The sting of death is sin, says the same Apostle, and not one or the other, but every sin without distinction.” Therefore, to ignore any type of sin also means to ignore someone wounded by a poisonous snake, only because the poison is not released into the body of the wounded person in large quantities, and can kill a person not instantly, but after a certain period of time. There are people who commit sin with pleasure and increase, but to cleanse it they consider one cold story about it before their confessor sufficient, without even any determination to leave it in the future. But is such a confession capable of cleansing the soul from sin? - No. “To cleanse the soul from sin, the repentant,” says St. Basil in the 5th rule, “must come to the same frame of mind as he was in when he said: I have hated and detested injustice (Ps. 119:163) ... Finally, like Zacchaeus, I must, to a greater extent, do a good deed that is opposite to sin.” In the 16th canon of St. Vasily explains the reasons why the soul sometimes grieves over sin and without making any effort about it, and grief comes into it almost as if by itself, and sometimes it becomes so insensitive that even forced by the consciousness of sin and its disastrous consequences, it cannot come to contrition? Contrition,” he says, “which comes by itself, “is a gift of God, given either to excite desire, so that the soul, having tasted the sweetness of such sorrow, tries to love this sorrow, or as proof that the soul, with careful care, can be in constant contrition, and that those who reject it through negligence are not at all excusable. And if someone who is forced cannot come to contrition, this serves as a denunciation of his negligence in the time preceding that (because without much and continuous exercise it is impossible to begin anything suddenly), and at the same time it shows that the soul has other passions that do not allow it to freely act in what it wants, according to the beginning set forth by the Apostle, who said: I am carnal, sold under sin. It is not what I want that I do, but what I hate is what I do (Rom. 7:14-15). And one more thing: now it is not for this that I am doing this, but sin is living in me (Rom. 7:17); because God, for our good, allows this to happen if the soul, by what it endures involuntarily, is brought to the consciousness of who possesses it, and, having learned about itself, in which it involuntarily serves sin, is freed from the devil’s snares, finding God’s mercy ready to receive the truly repentant.” It even happens to people who are apparently reverent that, during their prayer, at home or in church, their mind becomes distracted and their soul is filled with thoughts that they would not even want to have. Since absent-mindedness and thoughts that distract prayer come as if against their will, therefore, although they grieve over this state of soul, they do not, however, consider themselves guilty of this. Saint Basil, delving deeper into the causes of various states of spirit, in the 21st rule indicates the reasons for absent-mindedness in prayer in the person praying. “Abstraction,” he says, “comes from idleness of the mind, which is not occupied with what is necessary (that is, the very subject of prayer). But the mind remains idle and careless from unbelief in the presence of God, who tests hearts and wombs. For if anyone believes this, then without a doubt he will do what has been said: I will foresee the Lord before me, as he is at my right hand, so that I will not move (Ps. 15:8). And whoever has achieved this and similar things will never dare and will not have the leisure to think about anything that does not tend to build faith, even if it seems good, and not just something forbidden and displeasing to God.” There are people who, due to the rudeness of their character and their ignorance, and due to a lack of understanding of the moral dignity of their actions, cause trouble to others with their rude and insulting words. When the real meaning of his words is explained to such a person, he says in his own defense: I have nothing bad in my heart. But St. Vasily in the 28th rule exposes the falsity of such words. “Not all mental ailments,” he says, “just like physical ones, are obvious not only to everyone, but even to the sufferer himself. Therefore, just as in the judgment of the body, knowledgeable doctors notice some signs of hidden ailments, invisible to the sufferers themselves, so in the judgment of the soul, although the sinner does not feel his own illness, one must believe the Lord, who affirmatively said to him, and to everyone like him, that an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil (Lk. 6, 45); because, although an evil person often pretends to say or do something good, it is impossible for a good person to pretend and show himself to be bad,” realizing his duty to say and do everything for the benefit and consolation of his neighbor. If someone says or does something offensive or unpleasant to his neighbor, then this is a sign that he either does not have love for his neighbor in his heart, or is too ignorant in his concepts of what is truly good and beautiful. Others, having not learned to restrain their feelings, agitated by every word or deed that is offensive to their pride, are carried away by feelings of anger without restraint. Having then realized the indecency and sinfulness of their act, to calm their conscience, they say: it is impossible for a person not to be angry. But St. Vasily in the 127th rule exposes such untruths. “If it were possible for a warrior,” he says, “to express anger at someone in front of the king, then even in that case what was said would have no basis. And if the gaze of a person by nature of equal honor with us, predominantly only his rank, restrains him from passion, then how much more so will he restrain himself who is undoubtedly sure that he has God as a spectator of his own movements; because God, who tests hearts and wombs, sees mental movements much more than man sees changes in the face”? Others, without realizing it themselves, blame themselves even more with an imaginary justification. They say: I have already said a word - (offensive, of course), but in my heart there remains no feeling of anger towards the person. If we accept such an excuse in a feeling of irritability, then in this case it will be necessary to justify every passion, since every passion, after being satisfied with it, subsides for a while. But you, who express your anger with an offensive word, do not want to understand that by such an act you are committing two sins at the same time - a sin against yourself, by satisfying passion, establishing a bad habit in yourself, and a sin against your neighbor, causing him an insult. A third sin is also added to this. By punishing the sin of your brother with a sinful act on your part, you take away from God the right of judgment that belongs to Him alone. There are many people who, rooted in evil and not expressing the slightest desire for moral improvement of themselves, but not being able to completely drown out the voice of their conscience, try to blame their depravity, either on their parents, who in their youth did not keep them from evil inclinations, or on the circumstances that deprived them of the opportunity to become familiar with their Christian duties. Sometimes the insolence of such people reaches the point that they would rather blame God than themselves; They say that not only they themselves, but also many nations remain alien to the true service of God, because the concept of this service has not yet been communicated to them: how they will believe unless they hear (Rom. 10:14). But such false thinkers, to the destruction of their souls, should remember the example of our forefathers - Adam and Eve, in order to understand what disastrous consequences their self-justification can lead to. If someone dies morally, then he always dies through his own will and guilt. If a person sometimes reaches such a disastrous state and perversion of moral taste that the world calls darkness and darkness light, then he reaches it as a result of long-term and free submission of himself to the attraction of his passions. But from the beginning, even if the exact concepts of true service to God were not communicated to man on the basis of revealed teaching, he has a natural law that gives him the opportunity to distinguish good from evil. If he, following the inspiration of this law, does not allow himself to do what he considers to be sin, and forces himself to do what he considers good, then the desire for the highest perfection will naturally develop in him, and the Lord will not be slow to send him heralds of his will, just like Cornelius the centurion mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. “If,” says St. Basil in the 224th rule, - it happens that others, following the example of Cornelius, do not do anything bad, but if they desire perfection, they sincerely show in themselves the virtues that are possible for them, and which have come to their attention, then the Lord will grant them the same as Cornelius, not imputing to them the guilt of the previous time of inactivity, as if it were not their fault, but being content with their desire, which was revealed in the subsequent diligence and deeds carried out carefully to the end.” Let us pay attention to Jews, Mohammedans and other people of other faiths living among Christian peoples; What is the reason for their ignorance and alienation from the light of the Gospel teaching? Are there no harbingers of this light? Of course, anyone who has reason to understand anything and a sense of justice cannot help but admit that the cause of their disastrous state is not the lack of heralds of the light of the Gospel teaching, but their own inability and alienation from this light. They can be likened to a person with half-rotten lungs, who is surrounded everywhere by life-giving air, but does not use it due to his inability to draw it into himself. It is impossible not to pay attention to the striking difference that sometimes exists between a good, albeit uneducated, peasant and a person enriched with various scientific information, familiar with the systems of theological sciences, but corrupted in will and heart. Anyone who is able to see anything cannot help but see that the cause of the disastrous state of the latter is not a lack of knowledge. In addition to the above rules, St. Vasily wrote regulations for those who labor in the community and as a hermit. These statutes concern more the internal life of ascetics than the external life. But since much contained in them can be usefully applied to the life of those living in the world with care for the salvation of their souls, we will point out some places for the edification of those reading. There are quite a few people who, having freely enslaved themselves to carnal passions, and not finding within themselves either the strength or the desire to free themselves from this slavery, nevertheless realizing the incongruity of their actions with the will of the Most Holy God, instead of repenting of their sins, they try to make their body and God himself, who gave the body, the culprit of sin. Thus, to the sin of carelessness about correcting their lives, the wicked add blasphemy against God. St. Basil and other saints, who had the servile nature of the body with us, showed and proved by their example that the body cannot be the cause of sin for one in whom the soul is constantly awake. St. Basil, in the 2nd chapter of the ascetic rules, as much for the admonition of those who strive, as well as for the reproof of the wicked, explains when and under what circumstances the soul remains the mistress of the body, making it a service instrument of its good aspirations, and when it itself becomes a slave of the sinful desires of the flesh. “When the soul,” he says, “setting in motion its thinking power, which is naturally invested in it by the Holy Trinity that created it, desires what is due and proper, then it avoids the attacks of the body, providing for and curbing its disordered movements, maintains within itself the silence appropriate to it, and, in the midst of silent leisure, engages in its characteristic contemplations; and he does this, if possible, raising his attentive gaze to the venerable Trinity, and concluding about the inaccessibility of God’s glory due to the abundance of its radiance, about the luminosity of bliss, about boundless wisdom, etc.... And how soon will he stop thinking and stop delving into proper contemplation, the risen bodily passions, like disorderly and arrogant dogs over which there is no the overseer, begin to bark strongly at the soul, and each passion intensifies to torment it in every possible way, separating for itself a part of its vital force... Just as the sun, having risen, is impossible not to illuminate what it has extended its rays to, so it is impossible for the soul not to revive the body in which it resides. And the contemplative force is set in motion at will. Therefore, if the soul makes its contemplative and rational power always awake, it lulls the bodily passions in two ways: by being occupied with the contemplation of the best and dearest, and by overseeing the serenity of the body, it disciplines and calms its passions. If, having loved laziness, he leaves the contemplative force inactive, then the bodily passions, having found the vital force idle, and dividing it among themselves, since no one rules them and no one stops them, carry the soul towards their aspirations and actions. Therefore, the bodily passions in us are strong when the mind is inactive, but they are submissive when the mind commands and controls.” Continuing to further clarify the relationship of the soul to the body, St. Vasily compares her to a driver (coachman), and her body to a horse. “A beautiful thing is a horse,” he says, and the faster and hotter it is by nature, the better; but it is necessary to keep him in check and rule him, because he is not endowed with reason. If the driver is on it, then he will try to take advantage of the horse’s natural properties. Therefore, if the driver properly manages the aspirations of the animal under his belt, uses it for his own benefit and achieves the intended goal, then he himself will remain intact and the animal will turn out to be very good for use. If the driver drives a young horse badly, then the horse will either lead him away from the proper path, or, together with the rider, will fall down the rapids, and thus the driver’s negligence will endanger both - the horse and himself. So talk about the soul and the body. The body received natural aspirations, which are not completely unsuitable, but without a doubt are good and useful for something, but it did not receive its share of reason, so that the soul would be honored with the advantage of reason. If the soul controls the body’s aspirations as it should, then the body is saved and the soul is out of danger. If, however, it neglects management, and, engulfed in the sleep of carelessness, ceases to keep the body in check, then the body itself, as having no reason, is seduced from the straight path and plunges the soul into falls equal to its own, not due to its own damage, but due to the negligence of the soul. For if the bodily passions were such that the soul could not steal them, then in justice the body would be guilty. But if they became submissive to many who tried to overcome them, then the body cannot be accused by those who try to denigrate it, calling it the first culprit of vice; “The soul that has weakened its power over the body, but also not by its nature has evil in itself, but has placed itself in evil, through the impoverishment of good in it, is worthy of reproach for negligence, because vice is nothing more than the impoverishment of virtue.” In the 6th chapter of St. Vasily advises those who have entered the field of ascetic life to observe great caution in their relations with worldly people, many of whom, partly due to unreason and unfamiliarity with the difficulties of the ascetic life, and partly due to the depravity of their morals, without any shame slander the monastics, trying to present the most innocent actions in a gloomy and terrifying form and always attributing the almost accidental weakness of one to the entire class. “It shouldn’t,” says St. Vasily - to trust everyone without caution, and to reveal and open oneself to everyone. For whoever lives according to God has many slanderers, and often those closest to him spy on his life. Therefore, it is necessary to have meetings with strangers, not without preliminary testing. For if the Savior, as the Gospel says, did not entrust himself to everyone, it is said: Jesus himself did not commit them to his faith (John 2:24); If He acted this way - pure, immaculate, blameless, righteous, He, who is all virtue, then we are sinners, seekers, not always successfully achieving our goals - either due to our natural weakness, or through the cunning of the enemy who cunningly and unremittingly fights us - we, I say, by indulging in people who are curious, will we not incur evil slander upon ourselves, and will we ourselves create temptations? For vicious people often try to slander excellent deeds, but they will not tolerate unimportant mistakes to be left unridiculed. Therefore, you need to be careful when entering into conversations with strangers.” It happens, notes St. Vasily, - that those who were previously warmly praised, and who were surprised at for their slight and at times subordination to the statutes of the Church and evasion of gross vices, are cruelly accused and blasphemed, as soon as they decide to withdraw from the world. In this hatred of those who renounce the world, one cannot help but see one of the machinations of the enemy of our souls - the devil, who also looks with hatred at everyone who declares war on him in all manifestations of sin. – When they release a brave warrior to war, it happens that, grieving over the difficulties that lie ahead of him, they try to console him with the hope of rewards and glory for victory over the enemy, and if, while bravely defeating the enemy, he himself happens to receive wounds, then they do not blame him for this, but with kindred sympathy they try to heal them, in order to make him more capable of acting either in the same field, or in another, which can also provide a way to benefit himself and to the fatherland. This is what true sons of their fatherland do, jealous of the good of their homeland in general, and of each member of it in particular. “The sons of the heavenly fatherland, those who are called to inherit the blessed kingdom in heaven, should do the same.” They should rejoice when anyone expresses a desire to renounce all the sinful customs of the world, reject every suggestion of the enemy of our souls, and devote themselves to the special and complete service of God. They should, seeing the temporary and accidental defeat of the warrior of Christ from the enemy of our souls, hasten to his aid, ward off the spirit of despondency that weakens his strength by presenting the naturalness and almost inevitability of a temporary defeat from a strong and experienced enemy in evil, both due to the sinfulness of our nature and the lack of experience in the ongoing struggle, they should strengthen his weakened strength, as by pointing to the examples of other holy ascetics who, being wounded more than once by the enemy, they finally achieved complete triumph over him, and by strengthening their trust in the all-powerful ascetic Christ, who had already defeated the world and the devil, and thereby facilitated the victory of the ascetics who followed Him. This is what should be done, but unfortunately, experience often points to the opposite. Many of those who call themselves Orthodox Christians, who were previously too lenient towards their brother while he moved among them and did not express a complete renunciation of their customs and worldly pleasures, bitterly condemn the slightest deviation from the perfection that the holy ascetics of former times showed, and attribute a brother’s accidental stumbling in Christ to the entire class of monastics, trying to imagine a temporary the stumbling of the new monk is an expression of the general corruption of the entire class. This course of action of strict judges involuntarily leads to bewilderment and makes them ask: are they sons of the heavenly fatherland? or rather, are they not deserters who have fled to the side of the enemy of our souls, and in every accidental stumbling block of the monk, seeing the triumph of the devil, they accuse the entire class of monastics of powerlessness, and therefore condemn them to destruction as incapable of continuing the spiritual struggle? - Having left our strict judges to triumph over the imaginary victory of the devil over the monks, let us see for ourselves how the saint talks about this subject. Basil the Great. “They (i.e., the strict judges of monastics), he says, happen to fall into another vice, when they talk about those who have withdrawn from the world, without knowing their life at all. They think that in those who change their way of life, not only the disposition is changed, but human nature itself is rebuilt; They do not reason that ascetics are subject to the same passions, but overcome them only with spiritual strength and by avoiding pleasures, but they believe that passions have become completely distant from their physical nature. And therefore, if a spiritual person, although he deviates somewhat from perfection, immediately everyone, even before with all the fervor of praising him and marveling at him, becomes cruel accusers, and denounces themselves for having previously heaped unjust praise. Just as in the field, if a wrestler slips, the enemy immediately attacks him, strikes him and brings him to a complete fall, so they, as soon as they see that the one living in the feat of virtue has deviated somewhat from perfection, attack him as if with arrows, striking him with reproaches and slander, and do not judge within themselves that they themselves are daily wounded by passions with thousands of arrows.” And those who transfer an accidental misdeed of a new monk, and sometimes not even a monk, but a novice still on probation, to the entire class of monastics, as illogical and obviously unscrupulous people, do not deserve a refutation. But since the slander and slander of these unscrupulous people sometimes shakes the trust in monastics and in well-intentioned people, then, keeping in mind these well-intentioned people, we will try, if possible, to establish the correct point of view on the monastics and, if possible, to refute the slander of unscrupulous people. Often, to many strict lay judges, for the most part very inattentive to their own moral structure, the ordinary life of monastics, alien to any wrongdoing, but not in many ways exceeding the life of truly pious lay Christians, seems to be a great crime only because they compare their life with the life of the greatest ascetics, and at that time in their lives when they have already reached the highest degree of spiritual perfection. But such ascetics as Anthony the Great, Pachomius the Great, St. Sergius of Radonezh the Wonderworker, and many others are such luminaries on the horizon of spiritual ascetic life, which were rare for their time, and will remain guiding luminaries for subsequent centuries. And there is no reason to think that the blessed state in heaven can only be enjoyed by those who achieve the same degree of holiness and glory on which the above-mentioned ascetics stood. Those who, although they cannot equal the indicated saints in deeds of asceticism, can become participants in the bliss of the righteous, are no less humble, and with the spirit of repentance for their sins combine the feasible striving of the will for all good. It is impossible to demand that those who entered a monastery, although with a sincere desire to serve God, but perhaps sometimes after a dishonestly spent life before entering it, immediately showed the perfections of great saints, or went through the rest of their lives without any hesitation on the path of moral improvement of themselves, just as it is impossible to demand that in an educational institution all students were of the same abilities and diligence, or that those who entered a hospital to cure their illnesses, at the same time appearance in it, they suddenly shook off the illness that had been weighing them down for a long time. There have always been morally weak people in all monasteries of all centuries, just as there have always been bad students in all educational institutions. But this did not in the least prevent people from being highly moral ascetics in those same monasteries, just as it did not and does not prevent them from being excellently good in those very schools where there are bad students. And just as it would be too unreasonable, because of a few bad students, to demand the closure of an educational institution and thereby deprive the best students of the opportunity to develop their abilities and achieve higher education, so it would be too unreasonable and wicked, because of several temptations of monks who sometimes stumble over the stones, to demand the closure of the monasteries themselves and thereby put an obstacle to the higher development of their spiritual powers for those who are capable of this. Higher educational institutions on their anniversary holidays, to show that they have not existed in vain for a century or half a century, sometimes declare that such and such, or statesmen, or famous for their special learning, came out of these educational institutions, although very few such men are always found. If the monasteries decided to celebrate their sesquicentennial anniversary, how many could they exhibit the greatest saints and most famous scientists who have brought and are still bringing the greatest benefit to the Church and the Fatherland!... But the strict judges of monasteries and monastics forget about all this, and like the critic in Krylov’s fables, always going to the backyard, they see only the weak, and shout: why aren’t the morally sick and those who do not obey all the requirements of the monastic charter expelled from the monastery, as happens in hospitals, where physically ill people who do not comply with the doctor’s orders are removed from the hospital? – To this it must be said that a person’s self-will in the movements of the will and directions of the mind, until it is revealed in external actions, is not as convenient to follow as the external actions of the physically ill. When they learn from external actions about the disorder of the soul of someone living, they are not left in the monastery without proper admonition; although, guided by the example of long-suffering of the former holy fathers, they are not immediately expelled from the monastery, but patiently await repentance and correction. They are removed from the monastery only when they have lost hope of correction, so that the example of the incurably ill person does not become contagious to others. If the abbots of the monasteries were to expel their brother from the monastery for the first offense (which might be in accordance with the beliefs of some proud and inattentive lay judges to their infirmities), then this would only express on their part cruelty and lack of Christian compassion for the morally sick, and would deserve complete condemnation, which, of course, physical doctors could not avoid if they expelled a patient from the hospital for the first spoon medicine taken by him at an unappointed hour, and thus would expose him to the obvious danger of death. Saint Basil the Great also draws attention to the fact that it does not mean the same thing whether to fall without encountering any resistance due to one’s own negligence and inattention, or to fall while in a fight with a strong opponent. If a warrior falls in the fight against a strong enemy, then it does him honor that he tried to repel the enemy, although he had to temporarily cede the battlefield to him, involuntarily submitting to the superior strength of the enemy. When reinforcements come to him at the behest of the commander, the brave warrior will again enter the fight and repel and defeat the enemy. Whoever surrenders to the enemy without a fight is considered lost forever, and must bear the yoke of slavery to the enemy in shame. “Ascetics of piety,” says St. Vasily, - even if any passions fight against them, then we must remember that they have a very strong opponent. Since the ascetics volunteered to fight the enemy, it is very important for the evil one to gain victory over them, but on the contrary, to remain defeated means to receive a mortal wound, as if he had suffered a complete defeat in all parts of virtue. But the enemy despises fighting with those who have given themselves over to the world, partly because very many of them arbitrarily strive to give in to the upper hand, being caught in sin by various pleasures and lusts, and giving the enemy an easy victory over themselves, partly because although they apparently resist sin somewhat, they are easily evaded by various entertainments, turn their spines, and, being relentlessly defeated, carry on themselves shameful signs of the victory won over them... Discussing further about the ill-intention of worldly people and their injustice in judgments about ascetics, St. Vasily says: “note another vice into which those attached to real life usually fall when they judge their exploits. As soon as the ascetic, after a long period of not eating, recognized the need to reinforce the body with food, they want him, as incorporeal and immaterial, either not to take food at all, or to take as little as possible. And if they see an ascetic who is not at all unsparing of his body, but although in some way satisfies his real need, everyone is slandered, everyone is slandered, everyone is called some kind of polyvorous and gluttonous. The weak behavior and intemperance in wine of one is extended to everyone, and they do not reason that they themselves eat the coarsest and fattiest foods twice a day, and some of them three times a day, load themselves with an immense pile of meat, and pour themselves with an immense amount of wine, and with the same greed they throw themselves at the table, like dogs let loose from a leash after a long period of hunger.” And, oh, if slanderers and slanderers could understand what harm they inflict on their souls and the souls of those who listen to them with confidence! and what a pathetic and tear-worthy role they play! “They are clearly becoming obedient servants of the devil.” The enemy of our souls, with all his hellish desire, can never lead everyone to the path of sin; there are always servants of God who resist him firmly, and despite the many sorrows experienced from him, remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. Their example involuntarily influences many who are lost, beneficially showing them that they have turned away from the true path and are wandering along the disastrous paths of sin. Having realized the disastrous nature of their condition, such people often turn to God with a repentant heart, and with His gracious assistance, they again return to the saving path of goodness. The devil, unable to seduce the true servants of God from the path of truth and goodness, however, wanting to block at least the path to repentance for paralyzed souls, through his slanderers - slanderers and slanderous people, wants to lull the conscience of weakened people with the idea that slavery to passions is an inevitable matter for everyone, as slanderous people assure, and therefore is not a sin; that virtue is impossible even for the most ascetic, as slanderers try to prove: therefore, the desire for it is nothing more than a useless waste of energy and an idle deprivation of oneself of possible pleasures offered to us by sensuality. Slanderers and slanderous people! understand whom you serve, and having understood, realize what a terrible fate you are preparing for yourself in the afterlife! And you, people who have weakened in the pursuit of good, block your ears so as not to hear the deadly words of a slanderer and slanderer who can block your path to saving repentance! Unbelief in the judgment of God will not destroy it, a contemptuous attitude towards the Divine law will not make you irresponsible to it. Remember that God cannot be mocked. Do not abuse His long-suffering. But they also say: what is the difference between monastic life and worldly life, when in the world there are people enslaved to passions, and in the monastery there are those who are carried away by them? We think the same difference as there is between a neatly dressed person who, through carelessness, falls into a dirty puddle, and a pig wallowing in it. A monk, like a neatly dressed man, accidentally falling into a puddle, looks with horror at his situation, rushes to get up and clean the dirty clothes of his soul, and a layman (we mean here completely and carelessly indulging in the attraction of his passions), like a pig wallowing in a puddle, finds for himself the highest pleasure in frequently immersing himself in the mud of sinful passions, and only getting out of this mud satiating yourself with this dirty pleasure until satiety, and then not for long. The heat of passion, awakened again, prompts him to plunge again into the same mud. Some, who have put aside all concern for the salvation of their souls, under the guise of pious zeal for the good of monastics, advise limiting the satisfaction of the needs of monastics to daily bread and clothing alone, necessary to cover nakedness and protection from heat and bad weather. To this, we find it necessary to say to uncalled trustees that all the evil in the world occurs for the most part from the fact that everyone strives to teach others, and no one thinks about fulfilling their own duties. Therefore, we advise you to take better care of fulfilling your duties, and leave the care of the monastics to the abbots of the monasteries, who know better who should be offered milk and who should be given solid food. Poverty and abundance in the means of subsistence are in themselves neither good nor evil, but can become one or the other depending on the mood of the soul of a person in one or another circumstance. If you, careless guardians of the monastics, really want to be useful to them, then join the monastery yourself and learn by your example how to live. And in your current state, your reasoning cannot be considered timely; since the Holy Fathers say that it is indecent for a harlot to talk about chastity, and for a satiated person to teach others about fasting. Others, following the example of the apostate Julian, extend their zeal for the good of the monastics further. The apostate Julian, the Roman Emperor, having proposed to rob Christian churches and monasteries and take away private property from pious Christians, nevertheless wanted to cover up his sacrilegious predation with a plausible pretext. By plundering everything that his power could extend to, he said that by doing this he was providing an opportunity for the Galileans (i.e., Christians) to implement in their lives the teaching of their Teacher about blessed poverty. And now the same exclamations are heard from individuals similar to him. They say: all wealth must be taken away from the monasteries, as not corresponding to their vows of poverty, and returned to the society that gave them. To this we find it necessary to say that various donations made by pious people to monasteries and saved by the monastic economy to this day cannot be called offerings from society, and therefore should not be returned to society. Only those offerings that are made by the entire community in the form of certain taxes or some kind of temporary tax can be called public offerings. But what is brought to monasteries is the private property of every charitable person, which he has every right to dispose of at his own discretion. And a charitable person, either out of a feeling of gratitude to God for some benefit shown to him by God, perhaps through the prayers of some pious monk, or out of zeal for the glory of God, donates part of his property to monasteries to support that society of reverent people who devote themselves to serving God. Who has the right to take away this private property and give it a purpose against the will of the pious donor? And who demands the confiscation of capital and property from the monasteries? Of course, only those people who do not donate a single penny to monasteries. Those who sacrifice anything will never want to take back their sacrifice made in the name of God, and will never want to give their sacrifice any other purpose. If they wanted to do this, then no one, of course, could prevent them from doing this before they made their sacrifice. Please pay attention to the following circumstance, as you claim the right to dispose of monastery property. In the state there are several tens of thousands of depraved women under different names, who bring into public life only the corruption of morals and the relaxation of physical strength. To support the existence of these women, hundreds of thousands of rubles are donated annually by all classes of people. silver If society does not consider itself right to take away from these women the wealth they have acquired through dissolute life and give it a better purpose; if society does not consider itself to have the right to limit the freedom of corrupt men who are living out their fortunes in the likeness of the Gospel prodigal son: then who will consider themselves to have the right to limit the freedom of action of pious people who donate their wealth to godly deeds, such as: for the beautification of the churches of God, for the improvement of monasteries and for supporting the lives of persons who dedicate themselves to the constant service of God? In the report of G. Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod for 1870, it is said: “the deep religious mood of the Orthodox flock was clearly reflected in the pious zeal with which the Russian people bring abundant donations from their wealth to St. monasteries and churches." If the donation is in favor of St. monasteries and churches are considered a sign of the deep religious mood of the Orthodox flock, then what is a sign of the desire of some individuals to take away these donations from St. monasteries and churches? As an opposite action, without any doubt, it also serves as a sign of the opposite mood of the souls of these individuals, namely, it serves as a sign of their deep religious and moral corruption. But more lenient judges of monasteries and monastics say: of course, charitable persons can donate to monasteries as much as they like; we have no right to speculate about their actions. But why does the Government give benefits to monasteries that do not bring any benefit to society, when this money could be used with greater benefit on other charitable institutions? Whether monasteries bring any benefit to society, we will discuss this later. Now let's just talk about the benefit itself. Firstly, if the judges wanted to pay attention, they would see that the allowance for the maintenance of the monastics is given in such a way that even the worst worker would not agree to be satisfied with it. And secondly, we ask the judges to pay merciful attention to when and how regular monasteries were formed, and to the sources from which benefits for the monasteries are taken. Established monasteries were formed when the property and capital donated by charitable persons for eternal commemoration were taken away from the monasteries. The regular maintenance for a few, however, monasteries is assigned in the form of payment of interest on selected capital and property, and thus this poor maintenance issued by the Government is not derived from general state revenues, but also from the donations of charitable persons, and therefore, as the private property of charitable persons, donated for a specific purpose, cannot be alienated from the monasteries until society renounces all private property in favor of the state. Moreover, it is necessary to tell you, unreasonably reasoning judges, that the Government was and is aware of how great and beneficial the influence of monasteries is on the morality of the people. And recognizing folk morality as the main basis of the well-being of the state, he not only does not consider it necessary to deprive the monasteries of the usual support for their existence, but, on the contrary, contributes to their prosperity in other ways. It also cannot help but see that the final goal of your concern for saving capital is not the good of the state, but the destruction of all the foundations of state life through a shock to the morality of the people. No matter how much you try to slander monasteries and monastics, none of the well-intentioned people can fail to see that no life provides as many ways to establish a religious and moral life as monastic life. Some, however, not independent thinkers, but more subject to the influence of ill-intentioned opinions of other people, having learned from their own experience the beneficialness of conversation with more spiritually enlightened persons among the monastics, say: let’s assume that monastic life brings benefit to those living in the monastery: but you, monastics, always having the goal of your spiritual development and improvement, do not bring any benefit to society. For us, this word seems incomprehensible: it’s as if the monastics were dug out of the ground, or taken from heaven, and did not come from the midst of the same society! This reproach is similar to if teachers of any educational institution were told: you teach only your students, and do not bring any benefit to society. Monasteries, by their very structure, provide every member of society who joins a monastery with the means to protect themselves from vices and to develop the highest spiritual needs, and no other secular institution can give a reverent Christian, attentive to his inner structure, as many ways to achieve evangelical perfection as monastic life. This is confirmed by the example of all the saints of God, who, having felt a calling to the highest Christian wisdom, never remained in the midst of worldly society, as incapable of not only developing this desire of a pious soul, but also supporting it. Monasteries, thus, serve as a kind of higher spiritual and moral school, in which only a reverent Christian can find satisfaction of his highest spiritual needs and develop them to the possible degree of perfection. Even a pious Christian, moving in the midst of worldly society, like a student of a lower educational institution, comparing himself only with the people around him, has many occasions to be proud of his apparent decency, and thereby destroy the good that is in him. But when entering a monastery, like a student entering a higher educational institution, looking only at the program of those perfections that are required by the word of God and the teaching of St. Fathers of every Christian who seeks perfection comes into awe and involuntarily admits that he has not yet begun a truly Christian life. Only here does he learn that the goodness that he apparently possessed while living among worldly society was always overshadowed by an admixture of some kind of passion. Such a beneficent institution can only be abandoned by a Christian society that has completely refused to realize, although in individuals chosen from among itself, those perfections that are required by the Gospel teaching. Not seeing among itself examples of the highest Christian piety, it must necessarily decline morally, and must limit itself to only the so-called civic virtues. And civic virtues alone, putting him on a level with civilized pagan societies, will not only not lead him to that bliss in heaven to which every Christian is called, but will finally lead him to that moral relaxation, which was the cause of the fall of all the most powerful and most civilized pagan states. Everyone says that we need to benefit society; by serving our neighbors, we serve God. We agree with this, looking at the matter from a Christian point of view. But is every service to one's neighbor a service to God? This is a question that those who are zealous about serving their neighbor should pay attention to. For example: a dealer in fashionable clothes that can only nourish the passions of those who adorn them and awaken them in those who look at them, pursuing one goal - to collect capital as quickly as possible - does he serve God by serving his neighbor? The owner of any luxuriously decorated cafe-restaurant, offering his visitors foreign wines that delight the taste and smell, and dishes that satisfy the refined taste of a gastronome, pursuing the same selfish goal, is he serving God by serving his neighbor? A satisfactory answer to these questions will, of course, be given by anyone who has not reached the extreme degree of shamelessness and has not completely lost human meaning. But they will say, perhaps, that these examples constitute an exception to the general rule; There are many things that are immaculately useful to one’s neighbor, with which one can consequently serve God. Let's look for such examples. A brave officer, who, fortunately for the state, never had to smell gunpowder, who spends his free time from service either playing cards in the circle of cheerful comrades, or at a brilliant ball with good friends, and visiting the churches of God only by order of the regimental commander on highly solemn days, does he serve God by serving in the ranks of an army useful to the state? A famous lawyer who uses all the power of his eloquence to free a criminal from deserved punishment, and thereby gives him the opportunity to harm his fellow citizens for a long time, is he serving God by serving his neighbor? You found that these examples were not what you wanted to say. Let's go further with the search. A noble and rich nobleman, or even a mere mortal, but a well-known capitalist, giving a rich feast to cheerful guests with all the accessories of luxury and elegant taste, does he serve God, serving his neighbor, and without him, satiated with all earthly goods? A scientific naturalist who studies nature in all its manifestations and looks at everything as an inevitable consequence of physical forces and chemical affinities, but nowhere sees the all-creating creative thought of the Creator, which created the very forces of nature as His service tools, does he serve God by serving the progress of science, which modern humanity values ​​so much? A cunning politician, who with his insidious suggestions generates wars of extermination between other states in order only, at least temporarily, to delay the disintegration of the weakened forces of his people, does he serve God, the God of peace and love, apparently serving his neighbor in the person of his people? It will not be difficult for one who understands that without faith and active love for God to please Him, it will not be difficult to give a satisfactory answer to all these questions. Let's take a look at other deeds that, apparently, cannot bring anything to one's neighbor except good. A rich man who, for example, sets up a nursing home for the elderly and crippled people, providing them with maintenance, although meager, but satisfactory for maintaining their existence, and with the sole intention of receiving some sign of external distinction, does he serve God, bringing real benefit to his neighbor, and does he have the right to expect a reward from God? No, says the heavenly Truth, because he receives his reward (Matthew 6:5), which he wanted to receive for his good deed. A person who is in public service and, through his prudent orders, actually elevates the external well-being of the society he serves, does he serve God if he never connects thoughts of God with his service to society, and in all other cases he carelessly violates the commandments of the Lord? No. A worker who does not place the love of God as the basis of his work, and does not set the goal for his work - the glorification of the name of God - is a vain worker of the earth and for the earth. If, despite such deeds, he still neglects all other commandments of the Lord, then he will not escape righteous condemnation from God. – A gifted teacher of any science, carrying out his work with the benefit of youth, but in thought and heart denying the existence of God and his dependence on Him, does he serve God if in his work he only has in mind the provision of his material existence? No. He is an ox working for daily food; he is a humble servant of the natural forces of soul and body, but there is no divine life in him, and therefore he will not be a partaker of the bliss of the Most Holy God. And all of you who place your trust in your own deeds, heed the word of heavenly Truth: unless your righteousness comes out more than the scribe and the Pharisee, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20). You know, those who trust in their own deeds, that in the pagan world there were powerful kings, and great generals, and wise rulers, and learned men, there were also praiseworthy representatives of the arts, arts, industry and trade: but all their praiseworthy qualities turned out to be insufficient to justify them before God. Some also reproach monastics and all those who care about progress in Christian piety for idleness, considering prayer itself and frequent stay in the church of God to be an idle pastime, and they find such a life useless for society. – To refute such accusations, it would be enough to point to the many Saints who, having removed themselves from external worries, spending the entire time of their lives in prayer and caring for their spiritual improvement, thereby pleased God and received glorification from Him. If the Lord approved of their life and spiritual activity, which some call useless idleness, then human judgments should then fall silent. When the Lord Jesus Christ visited the house of two sisters - Martha and Mary, Martha took a lot of trouble about treating the dear Visitor and, apparently, had useful activities for her neighbor, and therefore deserved greater praise, in the opinion of modern judges of human actions, than Mary, who only sat at the feet of the Savior and listened to His word, and therefore seemed to spend her time idly; but from the Lord, the righteous Judge, it was not the fussy care of Martha that deserved praise, but the pious inactivity of Mary. And what does it mean to have useful and beneficial activity? If you look at the purpose of life as the word of God teaches, look at earthly life as a time of preparation for a blissful eternity, then to have useful activity means to fully and constantly take care of the fulfillment of the Divine will, perhaps in greater completeness and the constant elevation of the spirit above everything earthly and sinful. And this state cannot be achieved given our weakness and inclination to sin without constant prayer to God. Prayer is the most powerful help in the fight against difficult trials and is at the same time the highest reward for victory over sinful temptations. Of course, those who are accustomed to spending time in constant distraction and in constant concern for external well-being for passionate reasons will not understand this state: for them prayer is always a difficult feat, and it is difficult for them to explain and prove the high pleasure that prayer brings to the souls of those who love the Lord. But this state can be explained in part by our relationships with certain individuals. You have a loved one whom you love as a sincere friend and honor as our greatest benefactor. You are never bored by his presence, his intimate and intelligent conversation is always delightful for you, you do not notice how time flies while talking with him. Here is a weak example of a Christian’s sweet prayer to God! He always talks with Him in prayer, as with a tender father and sincere friend and strong patron. But perhaps some will say to this: it is impossible to pray constantly; official duties in relation to society, caring for the needs of the family, worries about the house and many others can serve as a sufficient excuse for avoiding unceasing prayer. You cannot pray constantly: do not condemn at least those who, having shied away from the above concerns, have devoted their lives to the complete service of God, and spend all their time in prayer, contemplation of God and reading the Divine Scriptures, devoting only the smallest part of the day to external concerns in order to acquire the necessary means to ensure their bodily existence. You cannot devote most of your time to prayer and reading Scripture and other books of religious and moral content, but what prevents you from doing at least all your deeds in the consciousness of the omnipresence and omniscience of God, with remembrance of the future life and the judgment of God, which could give you both the strength to conscientiously fulfill your duties and the means to protect yourself from sinful hobbies? Of course, nothing but carelessness and negligence about the salvation of your soul. In the 19th chapter of St. Vasily explains to the ascetics that abstaining from food alone, without abstaining from bad thoughts and desires, does not bring benefit. “Abstinence,” he says, “we think to define in such a way that it is not only abstinence from food (for many of the Hellenic philosophers succeeded in this), but mainly abstinence from wandering the eyes. For what is the benefit if, while abstaining from food, you devour the lust of fornication with your eyes, or willingly listen with your ears to vain and devilish speech? There is no benefit in abstaining from food, but not in abstaining from arrogance, arrogance, vain glory and all passion. Or, what is the benefit of observing abstinence in food, and not abstaining from evil and vain thoughts? Therefore, the Apostle said: I fear lest your minds be corrupted (2 Cor. 11:3). Therefore, let us abstain from all this, so that the reproach of the Lord does not justly fall on us, as on those who watch out for mosquitoes and devour velvets (Matthew 23:24). All of the above rules and regulations of St. Basil the Great were so important and useful that they were used not only by monasteries located in the Pontic region, but also in other remote areas. A contemporary of Basil the Great, presbyter Rufinus of Aquileia, made an extract from the rules of the Vasilievs and translated them into Latin for Abbot Ursisius 55. In the 5th century, St. Basil referred to these rules in his instructions to the monks. Cassian the Roman. St. Theodosius, the head of the hostel in Palestine, often read them, as can be seen from his biography. But St. Vasily, edifying with his wise words the monks and worldly people who resorted to him for instructions in a pious Christian life, did not leave the surrounding residents without care and bodily needs. While he lived in his monastery, arbitrarily depriving himself of all the pleasures of the earth and being content with only bread and water for his sustenance, although he had the opportunity to surround himself with all the blessings of the earth as the heir to the rich estates left to him from his father, famine developed in the neighboring city with the surrounding villages and the inhabitants languished in grief, having no way to satisfy their immediate needs. St. Basil, moved by a feeling of compassion for them, sold his real estate and, with the money received for it, supported not only the residents of this city, but also many others who, hearing about his generosity, came to him asking for help. He benefited not only Christians, but also non-Christians. His wise word, confirmed by a pious, strictly ascetic life and accompanied by deeds of generous charity, attracted to him the universal respect and love of the Caesarea Archbishop Diania, who, due to his attention to the high personal merits of St. Basil, elevated him to the degree of reader of the Caesarea Church, at the beginning of 369. Basil the Great, letter 202. Gregory the Theologian, lyrics. 43, p. 81. Basil the Great, letter 202. Basil the Great, letter 215. St. Basil the Great in the book about the Holy Spirit. Gregory the Theologian, letter 1. Sozomen, T. I. book. 6, ch. 33. Basil the Great, letter 14. Gregory the Theologian, letter 43, pp. 117–118. Rufin, T.I. book. 11, ch. 2. Basil the Great, expansive. right question 7. Sozomen, T. I. book. 6, ch. 17. Gregory. Nyssa. in honor sl. Vasily. Basil the Great, letter 2. Gregory the Theologian, letter 145. Socrates, Ts.I. 4, 26; Sozomen T.I. 6, 17. Gregory the Theologian, letter 5.