St. Basil the Great
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Today the Orthodox Church is commemorating one of the most wonderful teachers of the Church--St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. First of all, he is known to us as a theologian who made a significant contribution to the development of the teaching on the Holy Trinity.
But we can also call him a mentor of youth, which is evident both from his instructions and way of life, as well as from the way of life of his family. It is known that St. Basil was born in Caesarea, Cappadocia, in 330 A.D. into a very pious Christian family. His grandparents suffered during persecutions under Emperor Diocletian, and they studied under St. Gregory the Wonderworker. His mother became a saint and is now venerated as St. Emilia of Cappadocia. There were also saints among his siblings, of whom we should especially note his elder sister Macrina, who in some sense was his mentor.
Thus, St. Basil lived surrounded by a large family, and there were nine siblings in his family in total (he was the second oldest). He lived among those who excelled in earthly wisdom, and most importantly--in Christian piety. The family was wealthy, they had plots of land in Cappadocia, Pontus, and Lesser Armenia, so they had the opportunity to give their children a good education.
St. Basil was sent to study in Athens--at that time a major center of pagan and secular wisdom. He had been awaited in Athens, because before his arrival there he had become known in Cappadocia as a capable student. In Athens the saint studied rhetoric, grammar, metric and philosophy. In addition, he excelled in astronomy, geometry, and arithmetic; he also studied the subjects that were not compulsory, but necessary to him due to his poor health: for example, medicine.
In Athens St. Basil met a man who became his lifelong friend--St. Gregory the Theologian, and subsequently he helped him assume an episcopal see.
After returning from Athens, St. Basil the Great remained a layman for some time and practiced in the spheres of rhetoric and law. As his friend St. Gregory noted, Caesarea fascinated him, and for a while he was engaged in worldly affairs more than in Church ones.
But already at that time St. Basil (he was between twenty-five and twenty-seven at that time) wrote Instructions for Youth. In this work he says that of all books the Holy Scriptures should be put first. But it happens that young people are not mature enough to comprehend the Divine truths expressed in the Scriptures, so they study by reading pagan books. But at the same time, young people should be like wise bees, which, flying to different flowers, collect what is useful, collect nectar, leaving untouched the flowers that give them no benefit.
Reflecting on music and poetry, St. Basil says that young people should be selective, since not all poetry has a wholesome effect on the soul, and therefore they should pay attention to what impression one or another piece of music or work of art leaves in their souls. He advised them to learn from the great heroes of the past, both Biblical and Antique, pointing out that before becoming a lawgiver and intermediary between God and man through the Law of Sinai, Moses had learned from Egyptian sages, and the Prophet Daniel learned all the wisdom of the Chaldeans in Babylon.
Hieromonk Irinei (Pikovsky)
Firstly, St. Basil the Great recommends young people to watch over their appearance, especially it concerns men who should not stand out by some outward foppishness and take care of the body more than virtue requires. Secondly, he stressed that reading books should lead us to piety, because literature leaves a certain impression in the memory, and poetry should above all instill wisdom. Therefore, it is vital for young people to choose at the right time which poems will be their preferred reading. The same applies to music, which should not incite anger, but should calm us, leading us to a peaceful state when we are able to get to know God.
Later, after writing this work, following Eustathius of Sebaste, St. Basil made a long journey through Syria to Alexandria in Egypt, wishing to learn from people who had succeeded in ascetic life. There he absorbed the traditions of Syrian and Egyptian monasticism. On returning, he took up his residence in one of his family’s estates in Pontus, where he led a secluded ascetic life with St. Gregory the Theologian, reading the instructions of Origen and collecting them into the work that we know as Philokalia.
After that St. Basil returned to Caesarea, his hometown, and organized monasteries there that conducted extensive social activities. These were small monasteries compared to the cenobitic monasteries of St. Pachomius the Great of Egypt. Rather, they were small cenobia that were open to the world, while the requirements for each member of these communities were quite high.
Researchers note that ideally in Christian life for St. Basil the Great there was no significant difference between monastics and laypeople. Although monastics took the vows (they just appeared at the time of St. Basil the Great), at the same time the requirements for the laity were quite high. And when we read his moral instructions, we see that they are not really different from the ascetic rules designed for large monastic communities.
If we consider his ascetic and moral rules, we will see a certain unity of the ideal of Christ--something about which the New Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) wrote to his friend. Of course, St. Basil the Great put first love for God and love for our neighbor. But his teachings have a purely Biblical nature, and therefore, in order to acquire the love of God the observance of all the biblical commandments comes first. St. Basil appealed to the New Testament’s Gospel Law, and, therefore, he believed that Christians who live in the world should strive to live according to the Gospel, not to be slaves of sin, but servants of virtue.
First and foremost, the path to good deeds is through loving God. But how can we come to love God? The following saying of St. Basil the Great is known: "God is good. Everything strives towards good, which means that everything strives towards God." If God is the Creator of man, his first Benefactor, then the very fact of man's existence obliges us to testify to our love and appreciation before Him.
In the Anaphora of St. Basil the Great, which is performed on his feast-day, we more than once find the instruction that a Christian should begin offering a verbal service with a pure heart. God does not need any external gratitude: He does not require any special material recompense, but is content with the love of those whom He did a great favor to. Love for God is expressed by love for our neighbor; in fact, the completion of love for God is love for our neighbor, and it is in the nature of every human being.
The following expression addressed to those living in a cenobitic community is known: "Man is a meek and social animal, not a solitary and wild one." Therefore, we can conclude about the inherent qualities of man: according to Tertullian's teaching, every soul is a Christian by nature.
Similarly, the conclusions of St. Basil the Great boil down to the idea that man is a social being; therefore, he shows himself as a virtuous creature who lives among his fellow human beings without retiring to the mountains or forests.
But, as we know, human nature is not only prone to goodness, but also to sin, and, therefore, we should educate it and cultivate virtue in ourselves.
"It is mutual love, and not the ability to perform miracles and extraordinary things, that is a sign of true disciples of the Lord," St. Basil the Great said. And, therefore, we should try to rejoice in the joys of others and suffer with those in sorrow. Love is the true law of Christian life and of the whole society. This law must be observed not only in monasteries, but also in the daily life of every Christian. Whether we bring up children, teach, do needlework, care for the sick, engage in hospitality or some other social activities, we all should strive to fulfill the commandment of love. At the same time, in addition to loving our close ones, we are called to love those who hate us: to love our enemies, in accordance with the Gospel commandment.
And in order to acquire it we need to have the fear of God. The fear of God fosters our reverence towards the Creator. This is not so much the animal fear of punishment before Someone Who can punish you as the fear of losing the love of the Heavenly Father. That is why St. Basil says: "Remember God and have fear in your heart," repeating it over and over again and pointing out that this fear must be instilled in our children, the younger generation. He does not mean the animal fear that creatures feel before an expected punishment, but the human fear of losing the Creator's love.
St. Basil the Great understood humility in two senses. On the one hand, it is a virtue, the opposite of anger; and on the other hand, it is the opposite of pride and vanity. In a wider sense, it is a virtue that helps find our place among the living beings created by God. "Those who spiritually took advantage of humility put themselves last among all in order to be the first in the Heavenly Kingdom," St. Basil the Great wrote. Humility is the path by which fallen man returns to God, departing from pernicious pride, moving through the longing for Divine glory, and guided by the example of Christ the Savior. A humble person avoids idle talk, speculation and arguments; shows prudent restraint in dress and behavior; he shows much love to his friends, is gentle towards his servants, lenient and merciful to the poor and the unfortunate.
The virtue that follows humility is obedience, and it is equally characteristic of both monastics and children who must obey their parents. Of course, obedience is rooted in a spiritual foundation. "There is nothing more preferable than obedience to God," St. Basil the Great exhorted.
And how should we show obedience to each other? St. Basil answers this question by saying that the love of the spirit serves as a reason for serving each other. Divine love helps us get to know true obedience: it is the ability to heed, hear, understand, and follow another person out of love for the Creator.
Labor occupies a special place in the teaching of St. Basil the Great on moral virtues. At the same time, the toiler works not only for himself, but also for the glory of God, choosing certain professions. St. Basil recommends preferring the kind of needlework or agriculture that will not prevent a layperson or a monastic from succeeding in virtues. Therefore, it is vital to remain in the state of inner peace and avoid excessive amounts of cares and work.
Prayer. Prayer is not only a word addressed to the Heavenly Father—it is also the remembrance of God, a constant reflection on the Creator, a continuous remembrance that God is with us every moment.
Consequently, according to the teaching of St. Basil the Great, true prayer is performed beyond the boundaries of time and embraces a Christian’s entire life. And, according to St. Basil the Great, it befits us to perform prayers not in sounds alone, but more through the will of the soul and good deeds that accompany our whole lives. And it comes from this that with the help of good deeds a Christian acquires strong prayer.
St. Basil the Great's significant contribution to the teaching on prayer is that he established a close connection between prayer and the remembrance of God.
Thus, we see how St. Basil the Great, through his teaching on the paramount importance of love for God, provides guidance for Christian life. And the main Guide for him is the Savior Jesus Christ.
In today's Gospel reading, on the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, we heard the story of the Teenager Jesus Who came with His pious parents to the Temple in Jerusalem for a feast. His foster-father, Joseph, who was called the “Betrothed”, as is known from the Gospel of Matthew, was a righteous man--that is, devout from the point of view of Jewish law. According to the Gospel, the family did not notice how Jesus, a twelve-year-old Boy, remained in the Temple. It wasn't until the third day that His parents found Him speaking to the teachers and listening to them. And when His Mother Mary told Her Son that They had been looking and worrying for Him for a long time, He left everything and followed Her, being obedient to His parents.
From this short example, an episode from Jesus' childhood, we see how He teaches us two of His virtues: wisdom and obedience. On the one hand, He seeks wisdom in His Heavenly Father's house; and on the other hand, He shows obedience to His earthly parents.
K. Lebedev. The Boy Jesus in the Temple. A Bible illustration
Guided by these and other Gospel extracts, such holy teachers of Christian life as St. Basil the Great direct us to build our entire lives according to the Biblical commandments without choosing those that “suit” or “do not suit” us. But, trying to be guided by the fulfillment of the whole Law of Christ, we are called to live as His disciples should live. And this does not prevent us from using earthly wisdom and modern technology that are given to us. But if a person has chastity and a longing for virtue, he will automatically choose the best and reject the worst and use both Christian and non-Christian literature, choosing, like a wise bee, what increases his knowledge of the world and gives him the opportunity to be virtuous.
May the Lord, through the prayers of St. Basil the Great, whose memory we are celebrating today, help both our parents and our children learn the most important thing that St. Basil teaches us: aspiration for love. And, having acquired the love of God, multiply our love for other people. Amen.
