Глава VIII

Hostility towards St. Basil Eustathius, Bishop of Sebastia and the harmful consequences of the slander spread by him everywhere. Eustathius' deviation into the Arian heresy. Hostility towards St. Basil of the Maritime Bishops and reconciliation with them. Hostility towards St. Basil of Nazianza flock and its Archbishop, and the admonition of their St. Vasily. Bringing various relics of St. to Caesarea. martyrs, and the word of St. Basil in honor of St. martyr. The appointment of a new governor to Cappadocia, and the exile of St. Gregory of Nyssa, brother of St. Vasily. Imprisonment of Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, and Meletius, Bishop of Antioch, into exile. The care of St. Basil on the pacification of the Eastern Church with the assistance of Valentinian, Emperor of the Western Empire. Correspondence with Western Bishops and the beliefs of St. Basil regarding their chief Bishop, obtained from the consequences of this correspondence. Prediction of St. Basil about the imminent end of Arian rule. The fulfillment of this prediction. The death of Valens and the return of Orthodox Bishops from imprisonment to their former sees. Death of St. Vasily and the celebration of his burial. The story of the special spiritual gifts of St. Vasily, which appeared during his life on earth. Having pacified the Bishops who were dissatisfied with his occupation of the Archbishop's throne in Caesarea, having established peaceful relations with Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana, albeit with the donation of half of his possessions, having won and, to some extent, won over to his side the Emperor and his first nobleman, Modestus, who were hostile to him, having delivered a peaceful shelter to many poor sick and crippled, having arranged many men's and women's monasteries that gave shelter to zealots of piety, raising the moral state of their flock and establishing them in unshakable devotion to the Orthodox faith, which remained St. How can Vasily not rejoice at the powerful assistance of Divine grace to all his good undertakings? It would seem so. But this is not the judgment of God. It is said: there is much sorrow for the righteous (Ps. 33:20). And this judgment of God especially had to be carried out over St. Vasily, who, at his first entry into monastic life, deprived himself of all earthly joys to which he had the right and which he could enjoy, as one adorned with brilliant abilities and high education, and at the same time as the heir to rich estates that remained at his disposal after the death of his parents. Having distributed all his property to the poor, devoting all his mental and physical strength to serving God and His holy Church, St. Vasily thirsted only for glory in heaven and the good Lord, looking with a merciful eye at his holy desire, did not want to subtract even one ray from the splendor of glory that awaited him in heaven and therefore allowed him to drink the cup of sorrow to the bottom. The enemies were all pacified, but the devil, breathing irreconcilable malice against all the true servants of God, raised up an insidious and irreconcilable enemy for Saint Basil in one person, whom he had hitherto looked upon as his true friend. - Even in the first days of his life in the desert, St. Basil entered into close friendship with Eustathius, Bishop of Sebastia, who was then the chief of ascetics in the Pontic region. Attention St. Eustathius attracted Vasily to himself with his outward fasting appearance and imaginary vigilance over the purity of not only words, but also the thoughts of the heart. And since he seemed a sincere friend, therefore St. Vasily trusted him with everything. But Eustathius was in fact a hypocrite, pursuing only his own benefits, and besides, he was a heretic. - When St. Basil was elevated to the degree of Archbishop, then Eustathius, trying for his own benefit to support with St. Vasily had friendly relations and even where it was necessary to manage him, he sent to him, as a sincere friend to his friend, two of his ascetics so that they, living with him, would help him with advice and deeds. St. Basil, without any suspicion, accepted them as friends and thanked Eustathius for them. Many others, especially the Bishops, knew Eustathius for what he really was, and were dissatisfied with the saint’s friendship with him. Vasily did not expect anything good from the ascetics sent to him for services. But St. Vasily, trusting the too pious appearance of Eustathius, gave full trust to the ascetics sent from him. Ascetics, as worthy disciples of their teacher, talk about all the affairs of the saint. Vasily reported to Eustathius and then, secretly leaving St. Vasily, spread the most incredible and offensive slander among the people. – The pure and holy soul of St. Vasily, grieving over the deceit of the hypocritical ascetics and the temptation among the people caused by their escape, however, did not want to suspect their teacher, Eustathius, of their wickedness. And therefore he wrote to Eustathius as another friend, asking him to investigate their actions and not trust their slander, so that they could not cool their mutual love 215. But Theodotus, Bishop of Nikopol, Metropolitan of all Armenia, in whose region Eustathius of Sebaste was located, knew him well and therefore warned St. Vasily, so that he stop communicating with him as a heretic. St. Basil grieved for his imaginary friend, but did not yet want to trust the accusations brought against him. To resolve the question of whether to remain in communion with Eustathius, Theodotus of Nikopol invited St. Basil to Fergham on the Feast of the Martyrs. St. Basil, on his way to Armenia, decided to stop by Eustathius in order to be more reliably convinced of his way of thinking regarding the objects of faith and to inform Theodotus about everything so that a general decision could be made. From a conversation with Eustathius St. Vasily could be convinced that the accusations were not unfounded. But after spending two whole days with Eustathius in reasoning, St. It seemed to Vasily that he had managed to bring him into agreement with himself and therefore intended to propose to Theodotus to demand only from Eustathius the signature of the Orthodox symbol to certify the correctness of his thoughts. But Theodotus, having learned that St. Vasily was with Eustathius and, not knowing the purpose of his visit, was so upset by this that he no longer wanted to invite Vasily to the upcoming celebration, suspecting him of wrong-mindedness along with Eustathius. St. Basil, having learned about this, postponed his journey to Armenia, and returned halfway to Caesarea 216. Having received an order from the Emperor through the military leader Terentius to arrange the affairs of the Armenian Churches together with Metropolitan Theodotus of Nicopolis and give them bishops, St. Vasily went to Armenia again. When meeting with Theodotus, he tried to explain to him both the purpose of his meeting with Eustathius and the consequences of the conversation. But Theodotus, on the contrary, revealed to him that Eustathius, after conferring with him, boasted to his disciples that he had not conceded to him in anything and that regarding faith he did not agree with him in anything. St. Basil, even after this, did not dare to interrupt communication with Eustathius, as with a heretic, and therefore, in order to resolve the confusion, it was necessary to offer Eustathius a confession of faith for signing. This confession contained, in addition to the Nicene symbol, an additional definition of the church teaching about the Holy Spirit and a direct condemnation of the false teachings of Marcellus and Sabellius. St. Basil took upon himself the trouble of handing it over to Eustathius for signing. But Theodotus, despite this, remained unchanged in his opinion regarding Eustathius and continued to harbor dislike for St. Vasily and did not even want to have communication with him in morning and evening prayers, and also refused to go with him to the city of Satala to arrange the affairs of the local Church 217. Exhausted by the long journey, even more distressed by the enmity of Theodotus, St. Basil was forced to return to Caesarea again, without achieving the desired goal of reconciliation. On the way, he, among other things, wrote to his friend Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata: “circumstances about which, whatever they may be and no matter how much they upset me, I will not say anything myself, having once decided to forget everything unpleasant forever, my co-deacon will tell your piety. But my body has completely refused to serve, I can’t even bear the slightest movement without pain” 218. “I would gladly give my life,” wrote St. Basil and Eusebius, just to extinguish the flame of hatred kindled by the evil one” 219. Guided by this feeling of peacefulness, St. Vasily again went to Eustathius to sign the confession of faith. Eustathius signed. St. Basil calmed down and appointed a place for a new council, to which Eustathius was also supposed to appear to establish peace with the other Bishops who shunned communication with him. But Eustathius did not appear at the council and did not send anyone to state the reasons for his absence, and his accomplices directly accused St. Vasily, as if he was preaching a new faith and would never agree to allow their Bishop to communicate with him. Bishop Theophilus of Castaval also went over to Eustathius’s side. Thus, without waiting for Eustathius, St. Vasily, with shame and sorrow in his heart, had to dissolve the meeting 220. Soon Eustathius showed himself completely, to the great sorrow of those who defended him and to the consolation of the enemies of Orthodoxy. He retired to Cilicia, where Arianism reigned, and there he published a confession of faith, which would only have been fitting for Apius and the closest of his disciples to write. This struck the heart of St. Vasily was in great grief and he stopped all communication with him. But Eustathius added to the wickedness extreme and irreconcilable malice towards St. Vasily, who expressed so much of the most sincere and friendly love for him and cared so much about protecting his honor. Having added malice to wickedness, Eustathius said, it was not he who was alienated from communion with St. Vasily, and he alienates him from communication with himself, because, allegedly, that Vasily is in communication with the heretic Apollinaris and cited as proof a letter from Vasily to Apollinaris, written twenty years ago, when he was still a layman. In addition, he also accused Vasily of preaching a new teaching about the Holy Spirit, when he confessed Him to be of equal honor to the Father and the Son 222. Not content with this, Eustathius not only in Cappadocia, but throughout Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, even as far as the Hellespont, distributed hostile letters in which he accused Basil of such vices that could only be attributed to the most wicked person 223. All this, together with such a strong sorrow, struck the soul of St. Vasily, can be seen from his letters to Patrophilus and Olympius. He wrote to Patrophilus, bishop of the church in Egei: “struck by such a terrible and sudden revolution, I could not answer. My heart became tied, my tongue weakened, my hand went numb and I fell into the weakness of an unmanly soul; I almost reached the point of hating humanity; It seemed to me that every character is suspicious, that in human nature there is no good - love, but there is a specious word that serves as some kind of embellishment for those who use it, but in fact there is no such disposition in the heart of a person... that one must assume about others to whom I did not give such guarantees of friendship... Going over this with myself in my soul and constantly turning it into the heart, or better yet, turning away from it with my heart (so the memory of this gnaws and torments me), I did not answer this letter, keeping silent not out of contempt (don’t think that, brother; because I am not justifying myself before people, but speaking about Christ before God), but out of bewilderment and difficulty, not finding what to say corresponding to the sadness. While I was in this state, I was overtaken by another letter written to some Dasis; in fact, it was sent out to everyone, which is proven by its so rapid spread that in a few days it was scattered throughout Pontus and went to Galatia. And others say that the messengers of such good rumors, having bypassed Bithynia, reached the Hellespont itself. What was written against me to Dasis? . . . In it you will see that I am accused of deceit and deceit, of disordering the Churches, of destroying souls. The judge of all this is the Lord” 224. “And how could I not go almost out of my mind,” wrote St. Basil to Olympius - having read a letter to the most reverent brother Dasis, filled with thousands of insults, intolerable accusations and attacks on me, as if I had been convicted of the most dangerous plans against the Churches? ... At first I grieved in soul, because the truth had fallen away from the sons of men (Ps. 11, 1); but then I feared for myself, whether I was suffering, on top of other sins, from the sin of hating people, concluding that no one was loyal anymore, when the people whom I trusted in the most important things turned out to be so towards me and towards the truth itself.” Conveying all his grief, all the slander against him and all the evil generated by these slander to the court of God, St. Vasily did not want to justify himself, expecting righteous judgment from God. But the evil intentions of his enemies did not remain without harmful consequences for his health, which was already always weak 226. In the middle of 373, he became so ill that rumors of his death spread in Cappadocia and the Bishops gathered in Caesarea to elect a new Archbishop. In response to the invitation of Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, to come to Syria to organize church affairs there, St. Vasily wrote: “What state do you think my soul came to when I received the letter of your piety? For, looking at the disposition expressed in the letter, I immediately rushed straight to fly to the Sirians: looking at the bodily weakness with which I was bound, I felt that I did not have the strength not only to fly, but also to turn around on my bed. “I had already spent the fiftieth day in illness when our beloved and most zealous brother, Sodeacon Elpidius, came to me. I was much exhausted by the fever, which, due to the lack of nutrients for it, wrapped itself around this dry flesh, like around a burnt lamp, producing dryness and a slow illness. And then, my old wound, having affected this liver, produced in me an aversion to food, took sleep away from my eyes, kept me between life and death, allowing me to live only to the extent of feeling the troubles of life. That’s why I used the warm waters naturally and took some benefits from doctors” 227. But the water probably did him some good, because St. Vasily wrote: “I’ve been healing with native warm waters for a whole month now in order to get some benefit from it. But in vain, apparently, I work in the desert, or even seem worthy of laughter to many, not listening to the proverb that says that even warm things will not benefit the dead.”228 But if St. Vasily took care of maintaining his health, not in order to continue to enjoy the joys and pleasures of earthly, but in order to also serve the good of the Church, although he knew that nothing awaited him, except for serious sorrows, ahead. In a letter to Patrophilus, he wrote: “Exhausted from a very strong fever and approaching the very gates of death, then called to life by God’s love for mankind, I did not look with joy at the return of my strength, reflecting on what disasters I was going to again. And I thought within myself, whether in the depths of the wisdom of God there was something intended for which the days of life in the flesh were still given to me? When I learned about this (that is, about those matters about which he writes to him), I concluded that it was pleasing to the Lord so that I would see the Church calmed down from the excitement that they had previously suffered on the occasion of the separation of those to whom everything was entrusted for their hypocritical honesty. Or maybe the Lord wants to strengthen my soul and make it more sober for the next time, so that it does not pay attention to people, but is mindful of the Gospel commandments, which do not change either with time or with the circumstances of human affairs, but are always the same, and as pronounced by not lying and blessed lips, they will remain forever. And people are like clouds that, with the changing winds, rush back and forth through the air” 229. St. was silent. Vasily was silent for a long time when the slander hurt only his honor, but when he saw that the slander violated the peace between the Orthodox and undermined their trust in his saving word and thereby made them less devoted to the truth of Orthodox teaching and more accessible to the lies of heretical wisdom: then he, already jealous of the good of his flock, wrote letters to many, revealing in its entirety both the wickedness of the slanderers and the falsity and maliciousness of all inventions. But we will pay attention only to the beginning of one of his letters, written to expose the lies of his slanderers, in which he expresses the reasons that prompted him to end his silence and speak in defense of himself. “There is a time,” it is said, “to be silent, and a time to speak (Eccl. 3:7); this is the word of Ecclesiastes. That’s why now, says St. Vasily, since there had already been enough time for silence, opened his mouth in good time to discover the truth of what not everyone knows. For the great Job also endured disasters in silence for a long time, proving his courage by this very patience of unbearable suffering. But after he had labored enough in silence and hid the painful sensation in the depths of his heart, he finally opened his lips and uttered what everyone knows. So in these three years of silence I competed with the praise of the prophet, who says: like a man he does not hear, and has no reproach in his mouth (Ps. 37:15). Why did I harbor in the depths of my heart the illness caused to me by slander? For indeed slander humiliates a husband and slander misleads the poor. So, although there is so much evil from slander that it brings down the perfect from the heights (for this is what Scripture understands under the name of man), and misleads the poor, that is, those who are poor in the knowledge of high dogmas (as it seems to the prophet, who says: they are poor and therefore will not listen, I will go to the powerful (Jer. 5:4), calling those poor in understanding wretched; and here, obviously, the parable says that those who have not yet matured in their inner man and have not reached the perfect measure of age are misled and waver. However, I thought that it was necessary to endure grief in silence, expecting some change for the better from the deeds themselves. For I believed that this was said about me not out of any malice, but out of ignorance of the truth. Since with the passage of time the enmity increases and they do not repent of what they said at first and do not at all care to heal the past, but continue their work and strive for the goal that they assumed for themselves at the beginning - to make my life sad, contriving to tarnish me in the opinion of the brethren, then silence no longer seems safe to me. On the contrary, the word of Isaiah came to my mind, who says: keep silent, food, and will I always remain silent and endure? She endures like a woman in labor (Isa. 42:14). Oh, if only I could receive some reward for silence and acquire some strength for reproof, so that, having exposed, dry up this bitter stream of lies poured out on me and come to the state of saying: the stream has passed away my soul; and if the Lord had not been in us, man would never have risen up against us, for they would have devoured us alive, for the water would have drowned us (Ps. 123:2-4).” The suffering of St. Vasily did not end, however, with his struggle with Eustathius. Wherever any kind of wickedness penetrated, hatred and enmity against the saint were always aroused. Vasily, as a zealous defender of Orthodoxy and a fearless denouncer of all wickedness. Slander against St. Basil swept far and finally reached the seaside Bishops, who, due to the remoteness of their place from Caesarea, had almost no communication with the Caesarea Archbishop, although they were somewhat dependent on him and did not want to take any part in the disastrous circumstances of the Eastern Church. Since evil is easily perceived by everyone whose hearts have lost love for their neighbor and the fear of God; for this reason, the coastal bishops, having forgotten the great works of St. Basil in favor of the Church, ignoring his teachings, which served as a light for the entire Eastern Church, enveloped in the darkness of heretical speculations, imputing his high ascetic life as nothing, they easily succumbed to the influence of slanderers and condemned him, without taking the trouble to verify their slander by their own study of the matter or sound reasoning. Peace is always a high good and especially valuable at the time when the Holy Church was being overwhelmed by heretics, supported by powerful secular authorities. Therefore, to maintain peace with them, St. Vasily, unable to come for personal explanations with them, wrote to them so that they would not submit to the slander of evil people and not accuse him without hearing his justifications against the slanderers. To do this, he invited them either to come to him themselves or for him to appoint a place for an explanation with them, presenting to them the fact that enmity brings, first of all, evil to those who nourish it in their hearts. “I had a strong desire,” St. wrote to them. Vasily, to see you, but there was always some obstacle that stopped me from fulfilling this desire. I was held back either by physical illness (which, of course, you also know, that it was inseparable from an early age until this old age, grew together and taught me according to the righteous judgment of the God who arranges everything), or concerns about the Churches, or competition with those who rebelled against the word of truth. Therefore, until now I spend my time in great sorrow and sorrow, realizing that I lack your complicity. For from God himself, who for this purpose took upon himself to come in the flesh, so that, by showing an example of how we should act, he could put our lives in order, and with his own voice proclaiming to us the Gospel of the kingdom, having learned from Him that everyone understands this, as my disciples are, if you love one another (John 13:34-35) and that the Lord, intending to complete his in the flesh economy, as a pre-departure gift to his disciples he left his peace, saying: My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you (Jn. 14:27) - I cannot convince myself that without mutual love with others and without trying to the best of my ability to be at peace with everyone, I can worthily be called a servant of Jesus Christ.” “I have been waiting for a long time to see if I would receive some kind of visit from your love. It is not unknown to you that I am placed in full view of everyone, like underwater rocks protruding from the sea, I receive the fury of heretical waves and they, breaking against me, do not flood what is behind me. And when I say: to myself, I attribute this not to human strength, but to the grace of God, who reveals His strength in human weakness, as the Prophet says on behalf of the Lord: Do you not fear Me, who laid the sand before the sea (Jer. 5:22)? For He, powerful with such a thing as is most powerless and despicable of all, bound the great and uncontrollable sea with sand. So, since there is something similar in my situation, it should be that your love often sends some people close to you to visit me, who is oppressed, and even more often your friendly letters would come to me, either supporting me in my zeal, or correcting me if I am wrong in anything. For I do not deny that I am subject to thousands of stumbling blocks, both as a man and as one living in the flesh.” “But since in the time preceding this, or due to the lack of discretion of what was decent, you did not pay tribute to me, the venerable brethren, or, being prejudiced by someone’s slander against me, did not consider me worthy of a friendly visit, then now I myself begin correspondence and admit that I am ready before you to lay aside the guilt brought against me, if only my offenders agree to stand with me face to face before your reverence... But if before if you condemn me by reproach, then I will truly not tolerate any offense from this except that I will lose everything that is most precious to me - love for you; but you will endure this very thing, having lost me and you will find yourself opposing the Gospel, which says: our food law judges man, unless we hear from him first, and understand what he does (John 7:51) ... If you yourself dispose to come to me and personally examine my ailments, are they really the same as you heard about them, or are my errors presented to you with false additions and therefore seem very serious, then let this be too. With open hands I am ready to await your arrival and to devote myself to your strict research, if only love rules all this. And if you would like to appoint a place at your place where, having appeared, I would fulfill my duty to visit you and give you the opportunity to carry out a possible test on me, so that the previous one would be healed and there would be no room for slander in the future: then let this be too. For there is no doubt that although my flesh is weak, as long as I breathe I am obliged not to omit anything to the building of the Churches of Christ” 230. Humility of St. Vasily, his meekness, love and willingness to subject himself to their judgment, affected them so much that they were ashamed of their gullibility to the slanderers, and remembering the high merits of the Church of St. Basil, remained with him in communion of peace and love, so that St. Basil, on behalf of his entire Church, invited them to the feast of St. Martyrs 231. But at St. Vasily had another strong grief, and also less convenient, as it turned out, for healing. This sorrow was the alienation of the inhabitants of Neocaesarea from him. He was brought up in the neighborhood of this city; He revered some of the Bishops as his teachers; Neo-Caesaria had previously shown him extreme honor when he was still a layman; was in close connection with his Caesarea Church, and his relatives lived in it. Despite all this, when her enemies scattered bad rumors about St. Vasily, they listened to them with such greed that everything old was forgotten. The main reason for the bad rumors about St. Basil was Astarvius, the local Archbishop, who was carried away by the heresy of Sabellius. Saint Basil gave him a modest reprimand and asked him to explain himself to him in order to protect his own honor. But Astarvius did not appear to him, did not change his thoughts at all, and only tried to do as much as possible for the saint. Basil is hateful to his people, calling his teaching worldly wisdom 232. The true reason for Astarvius’ hatred of St. Basil was jealous and fearful that he would expose him to the Sabellian heresy 233 . However, St. Vasily did not lose hope for peace. And in this case he adopted the same method that he used in relation to the maritime bishops. He wrote a letter to the Neo-Caesareans, in which, reminding them of the long silence on their part, due to the anger aroused in their hearts against him, he shows that they do not have a fair excuse for a break; on the contrary, there are many important reasons for extreme friendship and unity between them. And the reasons that encourage peaceful relations are, first of all, the commandment of the Lord: about seven, everyone understands that my disciples naturally love one another (John 13:34-35). Secondary, but no less important, reasons for unity are the fact that in his adolescence, he had with them the same teachers of the mysteries of God and spiritual fathers, who at the beginning laid the foundation of the Neocaesarian Church, meaning Gregory, the Neocaesarian wonderworker and all who after him, ascending to the episcopal throne, like certain stars, shining one after another, followed the same footsteps and left clear signs for those who wished. signs of heavenly residence. “If,” says St. Vasily - and one should not despise carnal kinship, on the contrary, it greatly contributes to the inextricable union and communion of life, then in my opinion you have these rights too.” Having thus shown the reasons that prompt them to communicate with him, he further reveals the unfoundedness of their alienation from him and points to the true reason for this alienation. “Why,” he writes further, “most venerable of cities, there is neither a meek message nor a friendly word from you, on the contrary, your ears are open to people ready to slander? Therefore, the more I should sigh, the more I see success in what they are planning. The cause of slander has an open leader (i.e., their Archbishop Astarvius), who, being known for many bad deeds, is most distinguished by this vice, so that this sin turned to his name. But do not be angry at my boldness: having opened both ears to those who slander me, you take everything to heart without examination, and none of you wants to distinguish lies from truth. Who has ever found it difficult to pronounce evil accusations without having an opponent in front of him? Who was accused of lying in the absence of himself - the slandered one? What word will not find credibility among those listening when the slanderer tries to prove that this was the case, but the slanderer is not present and does not hear the blasphemy? Doesn’t the very custom of society teach us that if anyone intends to be an indifferent and impartial listener, he should not be completely carried away by the warning, but expect justification from the accused, so that in this way, when comparing the words of both, the truth will be revealed. Judge righteous judgment (John 7:24): this is one of the commandments most necessary for salvation.” Having thus clarified for the Neo-Caesareans the conditions necessary for pronouncing a righteous judgment on anyone, he further shows that he had been silent hitherto not out of disdain for their opinion of himself, but because, directing his actions to glorify the name of God and the good of his neighbors, he expected a righteous judgment for himself from God. If now he decides to write to them, it is not in order to gain a good opinion from people, but to save their own souls from sin. “Since false slander has previously occupied your ears, my life is being slandered, and my faith in God is being slandered: knowing that the slanderer causes harm to three persons together, for he offends both the slandered person, and to whom his speech is addressed, and himself, I was silent about my harm, not your opinion of me, as you know, neglecting (for is it possible for me to neglect it, which is why I write, and Am I now entering into this struggle so as not to harm myself in it?), but seeing that of the three who suffer harm, I suffer the least. For I am deprived of you; The truth is stolen from you, and the culprit of this separates me from you and alienates himself from the Lord; because it is impossible to get closer to God by doing forbidden things. Therefore, I say this more for you than for myself; I want to save you from unbearable harm, for what greater harm could one suffer who has lost the most precious thing - the truth? Humbly aware of himself that he has not yet reached that perfection to consider himself sinless in relation to those highest requirements of the Gospel teaching, which oblige every Christian to have not only fruitfulness in all actions, but also perfect and constant purity in the movements of thoughts and dispositions of the heart; However, he explains to them that speaking ill of someone in absentia, without checking your words with the explanations of the accused, does not mean denouncing the guilty person, but only slandering and, therefore, exposing yourself to condemnation from God. If they consider themselves justified in accusing him as Archbishop of misdirecting his teaching; then, out of love for the truth and true zeal for the good of the Church, let them form a council of well-intentioned people and capable of correctly reasoning about spiritual matters, and then, if he turns out to be in fact guilty of what ill-intentioned people are trying to accuse him of in absentia, let them cast him out of the ranks of the saints and deliver the Church from the evil that he inflicted on her with his teaching. But until then, let them remember that by slander they harm only their own souls with confidence in those who listen to them. Continuing his previous word in the Neo-Caesareans, St. Vasily further says: “So, what am I saying, brothers? It’s not that I am sinless, that my life is not filled with thousands of offenses; for I know myself and do not cease to shed tears for my sins, if only it were possible for me to appease my God and avoid the threatening punishment; but whoever judges my deeds, if he claims that his eye is pure, let him look for the speck in my eye; for I confess that I need great care from healthy people for me. And if he does not say this about himself (even more so he will not say the more pure he is, because the perfect do not tend to exalt themselves, otherwise they will undoubtedly be guilty of the arrogance of the Pharisee, who, justifying himself, condemned the publican): then let him look for a doctor with me, and let him not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring the secret of darkness into the light, and declare the counsels of the heart (1 Cor. 4, 5); let him remember the One who said: Judge not, lest he be judged (Matthew 7:1), and: Condemn not, lest he be condemned (Luke 6:37). In general, brethren, if my sins can be easily healed, then why does he not obey the teacher of the churches, who says: reprove, rebuke, entreat (2 Tim. 4:2)? If my lawlessness is incurable, then why don’t you stand up to me and why, by declaring my illegal actions, won’t you save the Church from the harm I cause? So, do not tolerate slander spoken against me through clenched teeth. For a slave working at a mill could do this; In this, any vile person whose tongue is sharp for any slander would have distinguished himself in abundance. But there are Bishops, let them be invited to listen; there is a clergy in every diocese - let the most experienced people be gathered. Let anyone speak freely, but only if it is denunciation and not slander. Let the secrets of my wickedness be brought to light, and then they will not persecute me with hatred, but will admonish me as a brother. I have more right to expect from blessed and sinless men pity for myself, a sinner, than indignation at myself. “If there is a stumbling block in faith: then let the composition be indicated; let indifferent and impartial judges gather again, read the accusation, consider whether it is not through the ignorance of the accuser that the composition seems more worthy of accusation than in its essence it is reprehensible. For many good things do not seem good to people who do not have in their minds the right principle for judgment. And equilibrium weights appear unequal when the weighing cups are not in balance with each other. Even honey seemed bitter to others if their sense of taste was damaged by illness. And the eye in an unhealthy state does not see much that is real, but imagines much that does not exist. Therefore, when evaluating essays, as I notice, it often happens when the judge is inferior in ability to the writer; because whoever judges an essay must approach the task with almost the same reserve as the one who wrote it. One who is not a farmer himself is unable to judge matters of agriculture; does not recognize the discordant and harmonious in musical modes, who has no information about music: but anyone who cannot indicate his teacher and the time when he studied and has not heard at all, neither small nor great, about how to compose, immediately becomes a judge of compositions. And I note that even in the words of the Spirit, not everyone is allowed to begin to examine what is said, but only to those who have the spirit of reasoning, as the Apostle taught us, who, speaking about the division of gifts, said: to everyone is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit: to another the word of understanding in the same Spirit: to another faith by the same Spirit: to another the workings of powers, to another prophecy, to another spiritual reasoning (1 Cor. 12, 8–10). Therefore, if my work is spiritual, then let him who intends to judge it prove that he has the gift of reasoning about spiritual things. And if, as he slanders, this is the fruit of the wisdom of this world, then let him show himself to be experienced in worldly wisdom and then I will give him a voice in court.” He further convinces them not to indulge in any absurd rumor, but to investigate the matter carefully, so as not to sin through negligence against the truth and against their neighbor. At the same time, he expresses his complete readiness to answer all their questions and perplexities, just to save them from the sin of condemnation. As proof of the purity and correctness of his teaching, among other things, it is the fact that all Orthodox Bishops are in spiritual communion with him and have correspondence, such as: Pisidian, Lycaonian, Maurian, both Phrygians, Armenian, Macedonian, Achaian, Illyrian, Gallic, Spanish, all Italy, Sicilian, African, from Egypt, all who observe a sound faith and all the remnant of Syria. Consequently, whoever shuns communion with him, necessarily shuns communion with other Churches, and thus excommunicates himself from communion with the entire Orthodox Church. In conclusion, he threatens them, if they do not correct their opinions and actions, to reveal to the whole Church the true reason for their deviation from communion with him, that is, their deviation towards heretical teachings, condemned by the entire Orthodox Church 235. But this letter from St. Vasily remained unanswered. Fearing being exposed in heresy, the Neocaesarians avoided any explanations with him. St. Basil, in another letter to the Neocaesarea clergy, showed them the true reason for their silence. They, he says in this letter, “are avoiding meeting with me by all means. For what? Is it not because they are afraid of being convicted of evil teachings?” - But the Neo-Caesarean clergy, led by their Archpastor who had fallen into wickedness, in order to justify before the people their malice against St. Vasily, they made it appear that they had displeasure towards him and shunned communication with him because of his innovations, namely: for the organization of monastic life and psalmody. St. Basil shows them that the ascetic life did not begin with him. “They accuse me,” says St. Vasily, - the fact that I have devotees of piety who have renounced the world and all worldly cares... And such people carry the death of Jesus in their body and, having taken up their cross, will follow God... And now, as I hear, some have such a virtue in Egypt, and perhaps in Palestine; others succeed in living the Gospel; I also hear about some perfect and blessed men in Mesopotamia. Compared to the perfect, we are still children. But if women also want to live according to the Gospel, prefer virginity to marriage, enslave carnal wisdom and live in pleasing mourning, then they are blessed for this election in whatever land they are. We still have this in a small form, because we are studying only the rudiments and one introduction to piety... I intend to bring to your attention that I wish to have a host of such husbands and wives who live in heaven, who have crucified their flesh with passions and lusts, who do not care about food and clothing; but undistracted by anything and rooted in God, day and night they remain in prayer, whose lips do not speak human deeds, but who constantly sing hymns to our God, making with their own hands, so that they have something to share with those in need.” Responding to another accusation regarding innovations in church worship, he tells them that they, too, have introduced many new prayers that were not known to the primal Church, and together he explains to them that he reminds them of this not to accuse them, but only to show the groundlessness of their accusations against themselves. As for innovations in church worship in general, he says that they are always possible and useful if they serve to build the soul. Further revealing the order of Divine services performed in Caesarea, he indicates that the same order of Divine services has been adopted by many other Churches. “To the accusation of chanting,” writes St. Vasily, - with which my slanderers most frighten simple-minded people, I can say the following: the customs now established in all the Churches of God are uniform and consistent. For our people have been awake since night in the house of prayer, in labor, in sorrow and in tears of contrition, confessing to God, and finally rising through prayers, they begin to sing psalms. And sometimes, dividing into two parts, they sing alternately, one after the other, through this together both strengthening the teaching in words, and producing contrition and composure in their hearts. Then, again allowing one to begin singing, the others sing along and thus, spending the night in various psalmody, interrupted by prayers at the dawn of the day, everyone together, as if with one mouth and one heart, lifts up a psalm of confession to the Lord, each one speaking in his own words of repentance. If you are already running from us for this, then run from the Egyptians, run from the inhabitants of this and that Libya, the Thebans, the Palestinians, the Arabians, the Phoenicians, the Syrians and those living near the Euphrates, in a word, from everyone who respects vigils, prayers and common psalmody.”236 But this letter from St. Vasily, eliminating all visible pretexts for hostility against him, remained without beneficial consequences, because the true reason for the hostility against him was not what was said, but what they tried to hide. One day St. Vasily happened to be near Neocaesarea in a deserted monastery (in which his brother Peter was in charge) to rest from incessant and tedious labors. His proximity to Neocaesarea brought such fear to the leaders and main heralds of the wicked Sabellian teaching that everyone left the city and fled, thereby showing their indestructible persistence in wickedness. Other servants of wickedness were bribed and, with intoxicating feasts, persuaded to divulge among the people the most wicked, deceitful and insulting inventions against St. Vasily, in order to cover up only the true reason for his flight. – St. Vasily, realizing that the people were carried away by the wicked teachings of their Archpastor out of unreason and the inability to distinguish truth from lies, and the clergy followed him either out of man-pleasing or inclined to do so for selfish reasons, wrote a letter to the Neocaesarea scientists, who were able to treat the subjects of dispute more impartially. In this letter, having revealed to them the ugly actions of the leaders of the Neo-Caesarean Church, proving the wickedness of their teaching, which had long been rejected and condemned by the entire Orthodox Church, he convinced them not to mix with this false teaching. In conclusion, he tells them that if they and their leaders renounce their false teachings, then the goal of his concerns will be achieved and he will forget the past, if only the present is healed. “If,” he wrote further, “they remain the same, it will be necessary for me to cry out to other Churches about your wickedness and try to get letters from more Bishops to you that would overthrow this great wickedness that you are preparing. This will either be somewhat useful for our purpose or, without a doubt, this testimony will free us from guilt at trial” 237. This attitude of the Neocaesarians towards him had a very unpleasant effect on his soul and further upset his health. Returning from a long journey, he wrote to Amphilochius, I came with a broken body and a rather sad soul.”238 With all the efforts of St. Basil to pacify the warring, repel the enemies of the Church, protect the purity of faith among the Orthodox; by God's permission, the enemies decreased little in number and strength; and his friends and defenders of Orthodox truth, who had walked the path of earthly life appointed by God, departed into eternity to receive the rewards they deserved from the righteous Judge. St. Athanasius of Alexandria, who helped him in many ways and in some cases protected him from the attacks of enemies and in which alone St. Vasily believed in the strengthening of church peace and went to the Lord. St. did not have time. Vasily was freed from the grief of separation from him, his heart was struck by the news of the cruel persecution raised against the Orthodox in Alexandria. Wanting to maintain spiritual communion with the Alexandria Church, St. Vasily hastened to greet Athanasiev’s successor, Peter, wanting him to inherit from the former great and holy Archpastor and the love for him that he enjoyed from St. Athanasius “and care for the brethren living everywhere with the same compassion and with the same zeal that that blessed man had for all those who truly love God” 239. Didn't leave St. Vasily without consolation and the mournful Alexandrian flock. But in a special letter to the inhabitants of Alexandria, inspiring them to courageously endure the bitterness of their enemies in imitation of their former fathers, who only in this way could achieve glory in heaven, he apologizes that he himself could not personally appear to them with consolation, both because of his illness and because of his enemies, who, like predatory wolves, lie in wait for him in order to seize the opportune time to plunder the sheep of Christ 240. The death of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria deprived him of St. Basil was the main collaborator in the pacification of the Church of Antioch, which suffered both from the attack of the Arians and from the struggle of two Orthodox archbishops, Meletius and Paulinus. Paulinus, as consecrated to the rank of Archbishop after Meletius, did not have the right to the Antiochian throne during the life of the former Archbishop, but as supported by the Western Bishops, who were trying to subjugate the Eastern Church to their influence, he illegally sought power, thereby increasing the misfortunes of the Antiochian Church. To the greater sorrow of St. Basil and the presbyter Evagrius, a learned man, who had hitherto supported, together with St. Vasily Meletia was right and leaned towards Peacock. But this did not end the sorrows of St. Vasily. Soon after this, the father of his friend, Bishop Gregory of Nazianium, whom he revered and loved as a father, died. Despite the weakness of his bodily strength, St. Vasily visited his friend, St. Gregory the Theologian. Following this loss, another was not slow to appear, no less difficult for the heart of the saint. Vasily. His sincere friend and adviser in all matters, St. Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, was exiled to prison by order of Valens. Among these sorrows and deprivations, St. Vasily, however, was not left by the Lord completely inconsolable. His faith and patience needed to be reinforced by the example of a courageous ascetic for the faith: and so, by the will of the Lord, the relics of St. Savva of Goth by his relative, the regional commander on the borders of Scythia, Soran 241. And Asholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, in a special message, filled with expressions of sincere love and respect for him, vividly described all the suffering and all the courage for the faith of St. Martyr Eutyches, whom St. sent along with him. power 242. Reading the message of Ascholia, St. Vasily was transported in thought to the primitive times of the Church, firm in faith and united by love. And in general the celebration in honor of St. martyrs of st. Vasily always performed with great triumph, drawing strength from their courageous suffering for the faith to bear the sorrows that surrounded him from everywhere. Let us pay attention to at least one of the conversations of St. Basil, spoken by him in honor of St. martyrs. At the beginning of the conversation on St. Martyr Barlaam, St. Basil shows that in former times the death of saints was celebrated with lamentation and tears; but now, since the state of the saints in the afterlife after the cross has changed, “we no longer cry,” he says, “we accompany the death of the saints, but we rejoice in rapturous jubilation at their tombs. Because death for the righteous is a dream, or rather, a departure to a better life. Therefore, the hardened martyrs rejoice; the desire for endless life kills in them the feeling of illness at the slaughter. The martyr does not look at dangers, but at crowns; is not horrified by the blows, but calculates the rewards, sees not the executioners scourging here on earth, but imagines Angels greeting from heaven; does not mean short-term dangers, but eternal rewards.” And for the fact that they sought only heavenly glory and here enjoy sincere and animated glorification from all true admirers of the hero Christ. Not a single earthly celebrity lasts for so long and his memory is not honored with such triumph as the memory of a servant of God, filled with Divine grace, is honored, even if during his lifetime he possessed neither powerful power nor earthly wisdom. Pointing further to the origin and title of St. The martyr, who annually gathers a large crowd for his festival, shows how much he is superior to anyone proud of his scientific education and high origin - a man simple in mind, but enlightened by faith and warmed by fiery love for the Lord. People, enlightened by science, endowed with not even a small store of theological information, but alien to active love for the Lord, when they are faced with the feat of renouncing some sinful habit, directly condemned by the word of God, or renouncing any pleasure that impedes the achievement of any virtue and is directly prohibited by church decrees, with all kinds of speculation they try to convince themselves of the excess of such feats and the possibility to please God and without depriving oneself of those pleasures that, due to long-term habit, have already become a need of nature. Having calmed themselves with such speculations, they go to their destruction, without feeling any embarrassment in their crafty conscience. But this is not how the living faith of a person simple in mind, but strong in love for the Lord works: and St. Martyr Varlaam. “Now is the time for us to exclaim,” says St. Basil: where is the wise man, where is the scribe, where is the questioner of this age (1 Cor. 1:20)? Today we have an invincible teacher of piety - a villager, whom the tormentor attracted like easy prey, but in whom, after testing, he recognized an insurmountable warrior; at whom he laughed for his incorrect speech and who frightened him with angelic courage: for his morals did not become coarsened along with the instrument of speech and his reason did not show in himself the same shortcomings that he had in syllables. But he became the second Paul, saying with Paul: Though ignorant in word, yet not in understanding (2 Cor. 11:6). The executioners scourging him fell into a stupor, and the martyr found himself growing in strength; The hands of those who planed weakened, but the mind of the person being planed did not bow; they beat, they tore apart the harmonious plexus of veins, but the strength of faith became more indissoluble; the flesh on the torn sides disappeared, but the wisdom of the mind blossomed; Most of the flesh was dead, but the martyr was as cheerful as one who had not yet begun his exploits. “When the love of piety settles in the soul, then all types of abuse are ridiculous for her, and everyone who torments her for her favorite object delights rather than amazes.” When the cruel tormentors, having experienced all kinds of torment over the holy martyr, could not bend him to sacrifice to idols, in order to get rid of the shame of being defeated by the invincible courage of a believing villager, they came up with a special kind of torment. Having laid fire on the altar, they ordered the martyr to hold his right hand over it and put burning incense into his hand, so that he, not having sacrificed to the idols voluntarily, would throw the incense onto the altar, albeit involuntarily, unable to withstand the torment of the fire. Indeed, the hand, engulfed in flames both above and below, was burned to the bones, but St. The martyr did not move it, so all the incense burned on his palm. – An edifying lesson for those who refuse to observe the fasts legalized by the Church or do not want to renounce certain types of pleasures that interfere with maintaining purity of heart and firmness in fulfilling the Divine will! When contemplating the courage and patience of St. martyrs, St. Vasily was inspired to endure the sorrows that awaited him ahead and which, with his bodily strength weakened, had a more painful effect on his soul. A new governor was appointed to Cappadocia, the prefect Dimosthenes, the patron saint of the Arians. On the occasion of his arrival, this is what St. wrote about him. Basil to Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata: “The governor has arrived to us - this is the first and greatest of our evils. I don’t know if he is a heretic in his way of thinking (but I think that he does not know any teaching, has no zeal for such matters and does not engage in them; because, as I see, day and night, soul and body, he is devoted to other pursuits), but at least he is a lover of heretics and loves them as much as he hates us.”243 With his assistance, the Arians, based on false denunciations, condemned and declared deposed Vasiliev's brother, Gregory Bishop of Nyssa, and Vasily, with all his efforts to justify his innocent brother, was unsuccessful 244. Soon, Bishop Theodotus of Nikopol, a famous zealot of Orthodoxy, died. So that the Arians do not have time to elevate any of their own to the throne of Nicopolis, St. Basil convinced the clergy and residents of the Colony to yield their Bishop Euphrosyne. But the colonists did not agree to fulfill his desire, and while the dispute and convictions continued, the Arians managed to install one of their like-minded people as bishop of Nicopolis 245 . So, the constant rejection of the Orthodox Churches to the side of the Arians struck the soul of St. Vasily with constant sorrow. Since Emperor Valentinian, the ruler of the Western Empire, was an Orthodox Christian and supported Orthodoxy in his state, the Western bishops, with his assistance, could help to pacify the Eastern Churches. If only Valentinian had to be disposed to this, he could have ordered Valens to stop the persecution of the Orthodox, since he was completely dependent on him, as his assistant in the management of a vast empire. St. Basil adhered to this thought and, during the continuation of his Archbishop's ministry, made many efforts to persuade Western bishops to sympathize with the plight of the Eastern Churches. But after repeated and many years of experience, I came to the conviction that the head of the Roman Church is dominated by pride, arrogance and the desire for dominion, and then by complete indifference to the plight of those who do not recognize his power over themselves 246. Therefore, when other Eastern Bishops, seeing the constant absorption of the Orthodox Churches by the Arians, asked him to test him again and send a general letter to the Western Bishops explaining all the disasters suffered by the Eastern Church, St. Vasily gave the following answer: “People of an arrogant disposition, when they are pleased, become even greater despisers. If the Lord has mercy on us, then what else should we desire beyond this? And if the wrath of God remains upon us, what help will Western pride give us? They do not know the matter as it is and do not want to know it... I myself would like to write not in the form of a general message to their supreme one and not about church affairs, but about the fact that we should not attack people oppressed by temptations, recognize pride as a virtue - this sin, which alone can make us enemies of God” 247. But obeying the common desire of all the Eastern Bishops, St. Basil again wrote two letters to the Western Bishops in 376. In these letters, vividly depicting the disasters that Orthodoxy has suffered in the East since the reign of Valens for the thirteenth year, he asked them to bring the state of the Eastern Churches to the attention of the Western Emperor and if this cannot be done, then at least send someone to visit and console the mourners 248 . The consequences of these letters showed that St. Vasily was not deceived in the futility of relations with the West. The Western Bishops not only did not provide any assistance to the Eastern Churches and not only did not accuse, as they should have if they were jealous only of the Orthodox truth, Paulinus, whom they installed, for his deviation into the Marcellian heresy, but also accused the zealous defenders of Orthodoxy, Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, and Eusebius, the bishop of Samosatsky 249. No matter how sad the news of this was for Saint Basil, he did not lose hope in the merciful care of the Churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore in 378 he wrote to St. Eusebius, who lived in exile, expressed his firm confidence that the merciful God, listening to the tears of the Churches and the sighs emitted by all, would return the exiled Bishops to their thrones during his lifetime 250. And his trust in God did not put him to shame. In May 378, the Western Emperor Gratian issued a decree in favor of Orthodoxy, which did not allow heretics to have any church meetings either in cities or outside cities. Although this decree during Valens’s lifetime could not bring the Orthodox all the beneficial fruits that could have been expected from it, nevertheless, it greatly encouraged the spirit of the Orthodox and confirmed their hopes for better times. However, Divine Providence, which set the limit to everything, both joys and sorrows, was not slow in sending the suffering Orthodox complete consolation, and at the same time inflicting final defeat on the heretics. In August of the same year 378, Valens died in the war against the Goths, and with him the rule of the Arians collapsed. Immediately after the death of Valens, Gratian ordered the return of all confessors of Orthodoxy from prison, and expelling heretics from the cities, and elevating Orthodox Bishops to the cathedras of the church, to whom they previously belonged 251. To execute this decree, Gratian sent a special official, Sapor, to the East. And St. Vasily, exhausted by his eight-year struggle against heretics in the rank of Archbishop, weakened by constant and tireless labors, exhausted by continuous illnesses, exhausted by the exploits of philosophy at the end of the days of his earthly life, had still the consolation of seeing his friends, Meletius and Eusebius, returned to their sees. The zealous Archpastors immediately set about restoring the Churches that had suffered from the Arians, elevating to the desolate thrones people who proved both the purity and firmness of their Orthodoxy 252 . Many of the disciples of St. were elevated to these church pulpits. Vasily himself a few days before his death, which followed on January 1, 379 in the 51st year of his life. St. Gregory the Theologian, despite his strong desire to say goodbye to his friend departing into eternity or even to kiss his sacred ashes, could not do this due to illness, which did not give him any opportunity to leave his bed 253. But returning from Constantinople at the first opportunity, he visited his grave and honored the memory of his friend with a funeral oration, in which he recounted his entire life from his birth to his death. And therefore we will listen to his story about the last days of the life of the Great Saint and about the triumph of burial, at which both the deep respect for him of the Caesarea flock and sincere love and gratitude for him were clearly expressed. “When the current ends,” says St. Gregory about his holy friend - and having maintained his faith, he wished to be resolved and the time had come to accept the crowns; when he heard not that command: go up the mountain and die (Deut. 32:49-50), but another: die and come to us: then he performs a miracle no less than those described. Being already almost dead and breathless, having left most of his life, he turns out to be still strong when delivering his initial speech, in order to depart from here with broadcasts of piety and offers his hand and spirit to the ordination of his most sincere servants, so that the altar is not deprived of his disciples and assistants in the priesthood. “It is true that the word will touch upon what follows, but it will touch upon it, although it would be more fitting to speak about this to others, and not to me, who (no matter how much I have studied philosophy) I do not know how to maintain wisdom in grief, when I bring to mind the general loss and sorrow that then gripped the universe.” “Vasily lay at his last breath, called to face the face to which he had been looking forward for a long time. The whole city was worried around him; the loss was unbearable; they complained about his departure as oppression, they thought to hold on to his soul, as if it were possible to seize and forcibly stop it with their hands and prayers (grief made them reckless) and everyone, if only possible, was ready to give him something from their lives. When all their efforts were in vain (it was necessary to explain that he was a man) and when, having uttered the last word: in Your hands I commend my spirit (Ps. 30:6), captured by the Angels, he joyfully gave up the ghost, however, having secretly led those present before and perfected them with his instructions: then the most wonderful miracle that has ever happened is revealed. The saint was bearable, lifted up by the hands of the saints. But everyone took care to either take up the opening of the vestments, or the canopy, or the sacred bed, or only touch (for what is more sacred and purer than his body?), or even walk next to those carrying them, or enjoy just sight (as if it would bring benefit). Marketplaces, passages, second and third dwellings were filled; Thousands of people of all kinds and ages, hitherto unknown, either preceded, then accompanied, or surrounded the bed and crowded each other. The psalmody was drowned out by sobs, and wisdom was resolved by grief. Our people argued with outsiders, with pagans, with Jews, with strangers, they with us about who would enjoy the spectacle more and derive greater benefit for themselves. I will say in conclusion that the grief ended in real disaster: from the crowded conditions, aspirations and excitement of the people, a considerable number of people lost their lives and their death was blessed, because they moved from here with Vasily and became (as another zealous person would say) tombstone victims. When the body barely escaped from predatory hands (i.e. from the hands of zealous worshipers who did not want to part with it) and left behind those accompanying it, it is consigned to the tomb of the fathers and a bishop is attached to the priests, to the preachers - a great voice that still resounds in my ears, to the martyrs - a martyr. And now he is in heaven, where, as I think, he makes sacrifices for us and prays for the people” 254. To everything that has been said about the life of St. We find it necessary to add Basil the Great on the basis of the legends of St. Dmitry of Rostov the Wonderworker about the special grace-filled actions of the Holy Spirit manifested through St. Vasily during his life on earth. When St. Basil the Great Archbishop, then during his celebration of the Divine Liturgy for the consecration of gifts, the altar was illuminated by some special heavenly light and the great Bishop himself was surrounded by certain luminous men in white robes, which served as a clear indication of the presence in the temple of the Holy Spirit and the concelebration of the Angels. This vision was clearly present to many reverent clergy who participated in the service with the holy Archpastor. One Jew, having come to church out of curiosity to find out what was being done by Christians during the Liturgy, by God’s special providence, during the breaking of consecrated bread, he saw a baby in the hands of the Saint, whom he was crushing into pieces. Wanting to be even more convinced of the reality of the miracle he had seen, he, along with other Christians, came up to receive the Holy Mysteries, and became even more convinced of the reality of the fact that Christians were being taught the true Body and the true Blood. This miraculous transformation of bread and wine into the true Body and into the true Blood, with the grace of illumination from the Lord, gave him the opportunity to understand the height of the Christian Sacrament, and the next day, with his entire family, he received holy baptism from the hands of the saints and was a reverent Christian. One poor woman, offended by the prince who was collecting taxes, fell at the feet of the Saint and begged him to write to this prince and ask him for mercy for her, assuring him that the prince would listen to him. The saint gave this poor woman a letter to the prince, in which he wrote: this woman told me that my writing is of great importance before you; if it is fair, then show her what mercy you can. The prince answered him: I would like to, but I cannot do any kindness for her. The saint again wrote to him prophetically: if he wanted to do good, but could not, then this is not a problem; but if you could, but didn’t want to, then you yourself will fall into the state of asking for mercy. Soon the prince really fell under the wrath of the king and was put on trial. He did not find protection for himself from anyone, so he turned to St. Vasily, asking for his protection before the king, since he had many favored people among the high court ranks. Saint Basil, to admonish him, reminding him of his disfavor towards the poor woman, began to intercede for him and he was released from the trial with the return of his previous positions. Then the prince called to him the poor woman he had previously despised and rewarded her generously. To remember the Holy Spirit, who appeared over our Lord Jesus Christ, who was baptized in the waters of the Jordan, in the form of a dove, St. Vasily ordered to make a dove out of pure gold to store the Holy Gifts in it. This dove was hung over the holy table and always during the Liturgy performed by the holy Archpastor, when invoking the Holy Spirit, it shook three times, which palpably testified to the presence of the Holy Spirit before everyone who was in the altar. But at one time this miraculous action did not occur. St. Basil, with astonishment and sorrow, looking with his perceptive eye at all those standing before the throne, as if looking for someone to blame for the absence of a visible sign of the appearance of the Holy Spirit, saw that one deacon, holding the ripids, was casting immodest glances at one wife who was standing outside the altar. He immediately ordered this deacon to go out and the dove began to move as usual. Glory to the great spiritual wisdom of St. Basil, as well as his holiness and great deeds of piety, spread far beyond the borders of the Caesarea region, and finally reached the ears of the great ascetic in Syria, known throughout the Orthodox world for his spiritual and ascetic writings, Ephraim the Syrian. He delighted in hearing about the great deeds and holiness of the life of St. Basil the Great and thanked God, who raised up such a great man in such difficult times for the Church, but due to the extreme distance of the journey, combined with great difficulties and out of love for solitude, he did not dare to come to Caesarea to personally enjoy his conversation. But Divine Providence, for the benefit of both holy men, found it necessary to temporarily unite them with each other. Saint Ephraim wanted to know what St. Basil, according to the judgment of God, in order to find in his example an incentive for himself to achieve higher self-improvement in spiritual life, and with this holy desire he turned to God himself, who knows the heart. Paying attention to the good purpose of the desire of St. Ephraim, God revealed to him in a vision what Vasily was like. Ephraim saw a pillar of fire rising from the earth and touching the sky, and at that time a voice was heard: Ephraim, what is this pillar that you see, such is Vasily. After such a vision, Ephraim had a strong desire to see the one whom the not lying judge himself considered great - God. Taking with him a translator, since he himself did not know Greek and therefore could not talk with St. Basil, set off and arrived in Caesarea on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany. On the very holiday, having come to the church, he stood on the western side in the corner and had the opportunity to pray alone, unnoticed by anyone, and to see St. himself. Basil during the Divine Liturgy. Having formed the concept for himself that a holy servant of God must not only be humble in his soul, but also be so in appearance under all circumstances of life, St. Ephraim was tempted when he saw St. Vasily, dressed, with all those who served him, in rich vestments, with an expression of greatness in his very movements. But St. Vasily, having never seen him before or heard of his arrival, by revelation from the Lord, the knower of the heart, saw his thoughts and sent his archdeacon to invite him to the altar. St. Ephraim was surprised to hear the invitation from the Archbishop and explained to the Archdeacon that he was a wanderer, had recently arrived in the city, was unknown to the Archbishop, and therefore believed that his invitation applied to someone else. The archdeacon returned to the altar and said the answer to St. Ephraim. But St. Vasily again sent the archdeacon to tell the wanderer Ephraim that it was him that the Archbishop required. Then St. Ephraim became convinced that St. Vasily is truly a holy man and has the gift of clairvoyance. But out of deep humility, he did not want to introduce himself to him among the people and therefore asked permission to appear before the Archbishop after the Liturgy. After talking with St. Vasily, through an interpreter, and feeling great pleasure in his soul from his conversation, he regretted that he could not directly talk with him. Believing, however, in the power of the prayers of St. Basil, St. Ephraim asked him to pray to God to grant him the gift of speaking Greek to him. St. Basil said that he was asking too much for his weakness; but I added, as a reward for the great work you have undertaken, let us pray to the Lord God and hope that He, according to your faith, will give you what you ask. And indeed, at the end of the prayer, St. Ephraim received the ability to speak Greek himself and understand what St. said to him. Vasily. In gratitude for the great consolation that he received over the course of several days from the conversation of St. Vasily, wrote a word of praise in honor and memory of him, which has been preserved to this day among the works of St. Ephraim the Syrian. In Caesarea there was a certain Jew Joseph, who, while practicing medicine, acquired such experience that, having felt the veins of a patient, he determined the day and hour of his death. Saint Basil, foreseeing in his spirit his conversion to Christ, sometimes invited him to his place and convinced him to leave the Jewish faith. But the Jew always answered one thing to all his convictions: I want to die in the faith in which I was born. When St. Vasily fell into an illness from which he was supposed to end his days, invited this Jew to his place and asked him: am I going to die soon? The Jew, having felt his veins, said that very soon, you will not live until the evening. “What if,” said St. Vasily, “I’ll live until six o’clock in the morning, what will you do then?” “I’m ready to die myself,” answered the Jew. St. Basil said: thus you will die to sin and live for God. “I understand what you are talking about and I swear, if you live until morning, I will fulfill your will,” the Jew answered firmly. Saint Basil prayed to the Lord God to extend his life until the morning for the sake of saving the soul of the Jew. When morning came, St. Vasily sent for the Jew. The Jew did not want to believe the servant and hurried to the Saint himself. Seeing him still alive, he exclaimed: truly great is the Christian God and there is no other God besides Him; I renounce God-hating Judaism and approach the true Christian faith. They commanded the Holy Father to immediately administer holy baptism to me and my entire household. “I myself will give you holy baptism with my own hands,” the saint told him. Vasily went to church with him. Having baptized him and all members of his family and taught them the Holy Mysteries after the Divine Liturgy, he returned to his home. And here, having taught all those present words of edification and blessed everyone, he departed in peace to the Lord. Basil the Great, letter 114. Basil the Great, letter 95. Basil the Great, letter 96. Basil the Great, letter 236. Basil the Great, letter 218. His letter 114, 216, 236. Basil the Great, letter 133. Basil the Great, letter 195. Basil the Great, letter 244. Astarvius, Archbishop of Neocaesarea, who was at enmity with St. Vasily, who rebelled his flock against him, did not study at any educational institution. Basil the Great, letter 196. Basil the Great, letter 199. Basil the Great, letter 202. Basil the Great, letter 209. Basil the Great, letter 128. Basil the Great, letter 160. Basil the Great, letter 229. Basil the Great, letter 217. Basil the Great, letter 207, 208. Basil the Great, letter 231. Basil the Great, letter 258. Socrates 5, 2; Sozomen book. 7; Theodoret 5, 4. Gregory the Theologian, letter 70. Gregory the Theologian, lyrics. 43, pp. 136–138.