Basil the Great Archives - Page 3 of 4

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent: Gluttony is the Snare of the Devil & Ridiculous Conceit

04/22/2016

Gluttony is the Snare of the Devil The devil said to Jesus: ‘If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ [Luke 4:3] Here we learn that there are three principal weapons that the devil likes to carry in order to wound our souls. They are gluttony, arrogance and ambition. He begins with the weapon with which he has already been victorious. We likewise should begin to be victorious in Christ

The Fifth Tuesday of Great Lent: How Weak the Wicked Are! & Sin is a Contagious Disease

04/12/2016

How Weak the Wicked Are! See for a moment how weak the wicked are. They cannot even reach the spot to which instinct is leading and almost pushing them. What would happen if they lacked even this help from nature, so strong as to seem irresistible? Look how impotent they are! They long for objects that are simple and of little account and yet they do not even succeed in attaining these. They indeed lack

The Third Friday of Great Lent: The Reins of Power & You are Utterly Fair, my Love, and there is no Flaw in You

04/01/2016

The Reins of Power In certain cases, the spirit follows the inclinations of nature like a slave. The body takes the upper hand, rouses the passions and drives us to demand selfish pleasure. Then the spirit gives in to the body and even supplies it with the necessary means to satisfy its lusts. This is not the experience of everyone. Those who are holy do not behave like that. In them it is the spirit

ON PRAYER (Part III)

06/12/2015

A PERSON who resolves to begin regular morning exercises usually does so not because he already has physical fitness but in order to get something he does not have. Once one has something he can be anxious to keep it; previous to that, he is anxious to get it. Therefore, begin your practice without expecting anything of yourself. If you are fortunate enough to sleep in a room by yourself, you can quite 1iterally and

The Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs

01/30/2015

On 30 January, the Church celebrates the memory of the three great hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. This is not a commemoration in the strict sense of the word, i.e. the anniversary of the death of these Fathers, but a common feast, a “synaxis”, to use liturgical terminology. Basil the Great died on 1 January in the year 379 and his memory is celebrated, as is well-known, on January 1;

ON THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD

06/17/2014

ST. BASIL THE GREAT says: One cannot approach the knowledge of the truth with a disturbed heart. Therefore we must try to avoid everything that disturbs our heart, that causes forgetfulness, excitement or passion, or that awakens unrest. We must free ourselves as much as possible from all fuss and flutter and ado over vain things. Yes, when we serve the Lord we shall not be troubled about many things, but always keep in mind

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent

04/02/2014

The Right Use of Doctors Medicine is a gift from God even if some people do not make the right use of it. Granted, it would be stupid to put all hope of a cure in the hands of doctors, yet there are people who stubbornly refuse their help altogether. Not infrequently, illness is an opportunity to correct one’s faults. Their correction, though, is an image and symbol of the improvements due to the soul.

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent

03/24/2014

Hope Lessens the Labour The Psalter begins with the words: ‘Happy is the one who does not take the counsel of the wicked for a guide.’ These words immediately show us our final end which is happiness. The hope of future goods, therefore: can help us to accept willingly the sufferings of life. For anyone travelling along an impassable road, the hope of a comfortable hotel is a relief. Merchants have to face many risks,

The Second Thursday of Great Lent

03/13/2014

The Soul’s Dizziness There are two different roads, one broad and easy, the other hard and narrow. And there are two guides vying with each other to attract the traveler’s attention. Now that we are grown to years of discretion we see that life is an amalgam of vice and virtue. The soul by casting its gaze first on one and then on the other can calculate the consequences of each. The life of the

The Second Wednesday of Great Lent

03/12/2014

Before the Ship Sinks An illness that has become chronic, like a habit of wrong-doing that has become ingrained is very hard to heal. If after that, as very often happens, the habit turns into second nature, a cure is out of the question. So the ideal would be to have no contact with evil. But there is another possibility: to distance yourself from evil, to run away from it as if from a poisonous

Archive

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent: Gluttony is the Snare of the Devil & Ridiculous Conceit

The Fifth Tuesday of Great Lent: How Weak the Wicked Are! & Sin is a Contagious Disease

The Third Friday of Great Lent: The Reins of Power & You are Utterly Fair, my Love, and there is no Flaw in You

ON PRAYER (Part III)

The Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs

ON THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent

The Second Thursday of Great Lent

The Second Wednesday of Great Lent

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