Basil of Caesarea, Letters

To the Church of Neocæsarea. Consolatory.259 i.e. on the death of Musonius, bp. of Neocæsarea. Musonius is not named, but he is inferred to be the bishop referred to in Ep. ccx., in which Basil asserts that sound doctrine prevailed in Neocæsarea up to the time of “the blessed Musonius, whose teaching still rings in your ears.”

1. What has befallen you strongly moved me to visit you, with the double object of joining with you, who are near and dear to me, in paying all respect to the blessed dead, and of being more closely associated with you in your trouble by seeing your sorrow with my own eyes, and so being able to take counsel with you as to what is to be done. But many causes hinder my being able to approach you in person, and it remains for me to communicate with you in writing. The admirable qualities of the departed, on account of which we chiefly estimate the greatness of our loss, are indeed too many to be enumerated in a letter; and it is, besides, no time to be discussing the multitude of his good deeds, when our spirits are thus prostrated with grief. For of all that he did, what can we ever forget? What could we deem deserving of silence? To tell all at once were impossible; to tell a part would, I fear, involve disloyalty to the truth. A man has passed away who surpassed all his contemporaries in all the good things that are within man’s reach; a prop of his country; an ornament of the churches; a pillar and support of the truth; a stay of the faith of Christ; a protector of his friends; a stout foe of his opponents; a guardian of the principles of his fathers; an enemy of innovation; exhibiting in himself the ancient fashion of the Church, and making the state of the Church put under him conform to the ancient constitution, as to a sacred model, so that all who lived with him seemed to live in the society of them that used to shine like lights in the world two hundred years ago and more. So your bishop put forth nothing of his own, no novel invention; but, as the blessing of Moses has it, he knew how to bring out of the secret and good stores of his heart, “old store, and the old because of the new.”260 Lev. xxvi. 10. Thus it came about that in meetings of his fellow bishops he was not ranked according to his age, but, by reason of the old age of his wisdom, he was unanimously conceded precedence over all the rest. And no one who looks at your condition need go far to seek the advantages of such a course of training. For, so far as I know, you alone, or, at all events, you and but very few others, in the midst of such a storm and whirlwind of affairs, were able under his good guidance to live your lives unshaken by the waves. You were never reached by heretics’ buffering blasts, which bring shipwreck and drowning on unstable souls; and that you may for ever live beyond their reach I pray the Lord who ruleth over all, and who granted long tranquillity to Gregory His servant, the first founder of your church.261 i.e. Gregory Thaumaturgus.

Do not lose that tranquillity now; do not, by extravagant lamentation, and by entirely giving yourself up to grief, put the opportunity for action into the hands of those who are plotting your bane. If lament you must, (which I do not allow, lest you be in this respect like “them which have no hope,”)262 1 Thess. iv. 13. do you, if so it seem good to you, like some wading chorus, choose your leader, and raise with him a chant of tears.

2. And yet, if he whom you mourn had not reached extreme old age, certainly, as regards his government of your church, he was allowed no narrow limit of life. He had as much strength of body as enabled him to show strength of mind in his distresses. Perhaps some of you may suppose that time increases sympathy and adds affection, and is no cause of satiety, so that, the longer you have experienced kind treatment, the more sensible you are of its loss. You may think that of a righteous person the good hold even the shadow in honour. Would that many of you did feel so! Far be it from me to suggest anything like disregard of our friend! But I do counsel you to bear your pain with manly endurance. I myself am by no means insensible of all that may be said by those who are weeping for their loss. Hushed is a tongue whose words flooded our ears like a mighty stream: a depth of heart, never fathomed before, has fled, humanly speaking, like an unsubstantial dream. Whose glance so keen as his to look into the future? Who with like fixity and strength of mind able to dart like lightning into the midst of action? O Neocæsarea, already a prey to many troubles, never before smitten with so deadly a loss! Now withered is the bloom of you, beauty; your church is dumb; your assemblies are full of mournful faces; your sacred synod craves for its leader; your holy utterances wait for an expounder; your boys have lost a father, your elders a brother, your nobles one first among them, your people a champion, your poor a supporter. All, calling him by the name that comes most nearly home to each, lift up the wailing cry which to each man’s own sorrow seems most appropriate and fit. But whither are my words carried away by my tearful joy? Shall we not watch? Shall we not meet together? Shall we not look to our common Lord, Who suffers each of his saints to serve his own generation, and summons him back to Himself at His own appointed time? Now in season remember the voice of him who when preaching to you used always to say “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers.”263 Phil. iii. 2. The dogs are many. Why do I say dogs? Rather grievous wolves, hiding their guile under the guise of sheep, are, all over the world, tearing Christ’s flock. Of these you must beware, under the protection of some wakeful bishop. Such an one it is yours to ask, purging your souls of all rivalry and ambition: such an one it is the Lord’s to show you. That Lord, from the time of Gregory the great champion of your church down to that of the blessed departed, setting over you one after another, and from time to time fitting one to another like gem set close to gem, has bestowed on you glorious ornaments for your church. You have, then, no need to despair of them that are to come. The Lord knoweth who are His. He may bring into our midst those for whom peradventure we are not looking.

3. I meant to have come to an end long before this, but the pain at my heart does not allow me. Now I charge you by the Fathers, by the true faith, by our blessed friend, lift up your souls, each man making what is being done his own immediate business, each reckoning that he will be the first to reap the consequences of the issue, whichever way it turn out, lest your fate be that which so very frequently befalls, every one leaving to his neighbour the common interests of all; and then, while each one makes little in his own mind of what is going on, all of you unwittingly draw your own proper misfortunes on yourselves by your neglect. Take, I beg you, what I say with all kindliness, whether it be regarded as an expression of the sympathy of a neighbour, or as fellowship between fellow believers, or, which is really nearer the truth, of one who obeys the law of love, and shrinks from the risk of silence. I am persuaded that you are my boasting, as I am yours, till the day of the Lord, and that it depends upon the pastor who will be granted you whether I shall be more closely united to you by the bond of love, or wholly severed from you. This latter God forbid. By God’s grace it will not so be; and I should be sorry now to say one ungracious word. But this I do wish you to know, that though I had not that blessed man always at my side, in my efforts for the peace of the churches, because, as he himself affirmed, of certain prejudices, yet, nevertheless, at no time did I fail in unity of opinion with him, and I have always invoked his aid in my struggles against the heretics. Of this I call to witness God and all who know me best.

Τῌ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙᾼ ΝΕΟΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΙΑΣ ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΗΤΙΚΗ

[1] Ἀπῄτει μὲν τὰ συμβάντα τὴν ἡμῶν αὐτῶν παρουσίαν, τοῦ τε τὴν τιμὴν τῷ μακαρίῳ τοῖς οἰκειοτάτοις ὑμῖν συνεκπληρῶσαι καὶ τοῦ τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει κατηφείας ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς θέας τῶν σκυθρωποτέρων συμμετασχεῖν, καὶ ὥστε τῶν ἀναγκαίων βουλευμάτων ὑμῖν κοινωνῆσαι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν σωματικὴν συνάφειαν πολλὰ τὰ διακωλύοντα, λειπόμενον ἦν διὰ τοῦ γράμματος κοινωνεῖν ὑμῖν τῶν παρόντων. Τὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς θαύματα, ἐφ' οἷς καὶ μάλιστα τὴν ζημίαν ἡμῖν ἀφόρητον ὑπάρχειν λογιζόμεθα, οὔτ' ἂν ἐπιστολῆς μέτρον ὑποδέξαιτο, καὶ ἄλλως ἄωρον ἀνδραγαθημάτων πλήθει τὸν λόγον προσάγειν, οὕτω συμπεπτωκυίας τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τῇ λύπῃ. Τί γὰρ τῶν ἐκείνου τοιοῦτον οἷον ἢ τῆς μνήμης ἡμῶν ἐκπεσεῖν, ἢ σιωπᾶσθαι ἄξιον νομισθῆναι; Πάντα μὲν γὰρ ἀθρόως εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν ἀμήχανον, τὸ δὲ ἐκ μέρους λέγειν δέδοικα μὴ προδοσίαν ἔχῃ τῆς ἀληθείας. Οἴχεται ἀνὴρ διαφανέστατα δὴ τῶν καθ' ἑαυτὸν πᾶσιν ὁμοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ὑπερενεγκὼν ἀγαθοῖς, ἔρεισμα πατρίδος, Ἐκκλησιῶν κόσμος, στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας, στερέωμα τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως, οἰκείοις ἀσφάλεια, δυσμαχώτατος τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις, φύλαξ πατρῴων θεσμῶν, νεωτεροποιίας ἐχθρός: ἐν ἑαυτῷ δεικνὺς τὸ παλαιὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σχῆμα, οἷον ἀπό τινος ἱεροπρεποῦς εἰκόνος, τῆς ἀρχαίας καταστάσεως τὸ εἶδος τῆς ὑπ' αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας διαμορφῶν, ὥστε τοὺς αὐτῷ συγγενομένους τοῖς πρὸ διακοσίων ἐτῶν καὶ ἐπέκεινα φωστήρων τρόπον ἐκλάμψασι συγγεγονέναι δοκεῖν. Οὕτως οὐδὲν οἴκοθεν οὐδὲ νεωτέρας φρενὸς εὕρημα προέφερεν ὁ ἀνήρ, ἀλλά, κατὰ τὴν Μωσέως εὐλογίαν, ᾔδει προκομίζειν ἐκ τῶν ἀδύτων τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν θησαυρῶν παλαιὰ παλαιῶν καὶ παλαιὰ ἀπὸ προσώπου νέων. Ταύτῃ τοι καὶ τῆς προτιμήσεως οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐν τοῖς συλλόγοις τῶν ὁμοτίμων ἠξιοῦτο, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ πάντας ἦν τῷ τῆς σοφίας ἀρχαίῳ, ἐκ κοινῆς συγχωρήσεως τὸ πρωτεῖον καρπούμενος. Ὅσον δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀγωγῆς τὸ κέρδος οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐπιζητήσειε, πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀποβλέπων. Μόνοι γὰρ ὧν ἴσμεν, ἢ κομιδῇ γε ἐν ὀλίγοις, ἐν χειμῶνι τοσούτῳ καὶ λαίλαπι πραγμάτων ἀκύμαντον τῇ ἐκείνου κυβερνήσει τὴν ζωὴν διηγάγετε. Οὐ γὰρ ἥψατο ὑμῶν αἱρετικῶν πνευμάτων ζάλη, καταποντισμοὺς ἐπάγουσα καὶ ναυάγια ταῖς εὐπεριτρέπτοις ψυχαῖς. Μήτε δὲ ἅψαιτό ποτε, ὦ Δέσποτα τῶν ἁπάντων, ὃς τῷ σῷ θεράποντι Γρηγορίῳ, τῷ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πηξαμένῳ τὴν κρηπῖδα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐπὶ μήκιστον ἀταραξίας τὴν χάριν ἔδωκας. Ἣν μὴ προδῶτε ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ παρόντι καιρῷ, μηδὲ θρήνων ἀμετρίᾳ καὶ τῷ ἐκδότους ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς λυπηροῖς ποιῆσαι τοὺς τῶν ἀναγκαίων καιροὺς τοῖς ἐφεδρεύουσι πρόησθε. Ἀλλ' εἰ δεῖ πάντως θρηνεῖν (ὥσπερ οὖν οὔ φημι, ἵνα μὴ ὁμοιωθῶμεν ἐν τούτῳ τοῖς μὴ ἔχουσιν ἐλπίδα), ὑμεῖς, εἰ δοκεῖ, οἷόν τις χορὸς πενθήρης τὸν κορυφαῖον ἑαυτῶν προστησάμενοι, ἐμμελέστερον μετ' ἐκείνου τὸ συμβὰν ἀποκλαύσατε.

[2] Καίτοιγε εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐπ' ἐσχάτου γήρως ἤλαυνεν ὁ ἀνήρ, ἀλλ' οὖν τοῦ γε χρόνου ἕνεκεν τῆς ὑμετέρας ἐπιστασίας οὐκ ἐνδεῶς εἶχε τοῦ βίου, τοῦ τε σώματος τοσοῦτον μετεῖχεν ὅσον τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ καρτερὸν ἐν ταῖς ἀλγηδόσιν αὐτοῦ δεικνύναι. Τυχὸν δ' ἄν τις ὑμῶν ὑπολάβοι ὅτι καὶ ὁ χρόνος αὔξησις συμπαθείας καὶ προσθήκη φίλτρου, οὐχὶ ἀφορμὴ κόρου τοῖς πειραθεῖσιν γίνεται, ὥστε, ὅσῳ ἐν πλείονι χρόνῳ τῆς εὐεργεσίας πεπείρασθε, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον τῆς ἀπολείψεως ἐπαισθάνεσθε: σώματος δὲ δικαίου καὶ σκιὰ τοῦ παντὸς ἀξία τοῖς εὐλαβέσι. Καὶ εἴη γε πολλοὺς ὑμῶν ἐπὶ ταύτης εἶναι τῆς διανοίας (οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀμελῶς ἔχειν τοῦ ἀνδρός φημι χρῆναι), ἀλλ' ἀνθρωπίνως συμβουλεύω τὸ λυπηρὸν διαφέρειν. Ἐπεὶ ὅσα γέ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν ἀποκλαιομένους τὴν ζημίαν οὐδὲ ἐμὲ αὐτὸν διαφεύγει. Σιωπᾷ μὲν γλῶττα ποταμοῖς ἴσα τὰς ἀκοὰς ἐπικλύζουσα, καρδίας δὲ βάθος, οὐδενὶ τέως καταληπτόν, ὀνείρων ἀσθενέστερον, ὅσα γε πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, διιπτάμενον οἴχεται. Τίς ὀξύτερον ἐκείνου προϊδέσθαι τὸ μέλλον; Τίς ἐν οὕτω σταθερῷ καὶ παγίῳ τῆς ψυχῆς ἤθει ἀστραπῆς τάχιον τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐπελθεῖν ἱκανός; Ὦ πόλις πολλοῖς μὲν ἤδη προειλημμένη πάθεσιν, ὑπ' οὐδενός γε μὴν οὕτως εἰς αὐτὰ τὰ καίρια τοῦ βίου ζημιωθεῖσα. Νῦν ἀπήνθηκέ σοι κόσμος ὁ κάλλιστος: Ἐκκλησία δὲ μέμυκε καὶ σκυθρωπάζουσι πανηγύρεις καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν συνέδριον τὸν κορυφαῖον ἐπιποθεῖ, λόγοι δὲ μυστικοὶ τὸν ἐξηγητὴν ἀναμένουσιν, οἱ παῖδες τὸν πατέρα, οἱ πρεσβῦται τὸν ἡλικιώτην, οἱ ἐν τέλει τὸν ἔξαρχον, ὁ δῆμος τὸν προστάτην, οἱ βίου δεόμενοι τὸν τροφέα: πάντες ἐκ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων αὐτὸν ὀνομάτων ἀνακαλούμενοι, ἐπὶ οἰκείῳ πάθει οἰκεῖον αὐτῷ καὶ προσήκοντα ἕκαστος τὸν θρῆνον αἴρουσιν. Ἀλλὰ ποῦ μοι ὁ λόγος ὑφ' ἡδονῆς τῶν δακρύων ἐκφέρεται; Οὐκ ἀνανήψομεν; Οὐχ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν γενησόμεθα; Οὐκ ἀποβλέψομεν πρὸς τὸν κοινὸν Δεσπότην, ὅς, ἕκαστον τῶν ἁγίων τῇ ἰδίᾳ γενεᾷ ἐπιτρέψας ὑπηρετήσασθαι, τοῖς καθήκουσι χρόνοις πρὸς ἑαυτὸν πάλιν ἀνεκαλέσατο; Νῦν ἐν καιρῷ τῶν ἐκείνου φωνῶν ὑπομνήσθητε, ὅς, ἐκκλησιάζων ὑμῖν ἀεὶ διεστέλλετο: »Βλέπετε, λέγων, τοὺς κύνας, βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας.« Πολλοὶ οἱ κύνες. Τί λέγω κύνες; Λύκοι μὲν οὖν βαρεῖς, ἐν ἐπιφανείᾳ προβάτων τὸ δολερὸν ὑποκρύπτοντες, πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸ Χριστοῦ ποίμνιον διασπῶσιν. Οὓς φυλακτέον ὑμῖν ἐγρηγορικοῦ τινος ποιμένος ἐπιστασίᾳ. Ὃν ὑμέτερον μὲν αἰτῆσαι, φιλονεικίας πάσης καὶ φιλοπρωτίας τὰς ψυχὰς καθαρεύοντας, τοῦ Κυρίου δὲ ἀναδεῖξαι, ὅς, ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγάλου προστάτου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὑμῶν Γρηγορίου μέχρι τοῦ μακαρίου τούτου, ἄλλον ἐπ' ἄλλῳ προστιθεὶς καὶ συναρμόζων ἀεί, οἷον ἔκ τινος ἁρμοῦ λίθων πολυτελῶν, θαυμαστὸν οἷον τὸ κάλλος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὑμῶν ἐχαρίσατο. Ὥστε οὐδὲ τῶν ἐφεξῆς ἀπελπιστέον. Οἶδε γὰρ Κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀγάγοι ἂν εἰς τὸ μέσον τοὺς παρ' ἡμῶν τυχὸν οὐ προσδοκωμένους.

[3] Πάλαι με θέλοντα τῶν λόγων παύσασθαι ἡ ὀδύνη τῆς καρδίας οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει, ἀλλ' ἐπισκήπτω ὑμῖν πρὸς τῶν Πατέρων, πρὸς τῆς ὀρθῆς πίστεως, πρὸς τοῦ μακαρίου τούτου, διαναστῆναι τὴν ψυχήν, οἰκεῖον ἕκαστον ἑαυτοῦ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον κρίναντα καὶ τῆς ἐφ' ἑκάτερα τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως πρῶτον αὐτὸν ἀπολαύσειν ἡγούμενον, μηδέ, τὸ τοῖς πολλοῖς συμβαῖνον, πρὸς τὸν πλησίον τὴν τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμέλειαν ἀπωθεῖσθαι, εἶτα, ἑκάστου τῇ αὐτῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων ὀλιγωροῦντος, λαθεῖν ἅπαντας ἴδιον ἑαυτοῖς κακὸν διὰ τῆς ἀμελείας ἐπισπασαμένους Ταῦτα εἴτε ὡς γειτόνων συμπάθειαν, εἴτε ὡς ὁμοδοξούντων κοινωνίαν, εἴτε καί, ὅπερ ἀληθέστερόν ἐστι, τῷ τῆς ἀγάπης πειθομένων νόμῳ καὶ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ σιωπῆσαι κίνδυνον ἐκκλινόντων, μετὰ πάσης εὐνοίας δέξασθε, πεπεισμένοι ὅτι καύχημα ἡμῶν ἐστε, καθάπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῶν εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ δοθησομένου ποιμένος ὑμῖν, ἢ ἐπὶ πλέον τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς ἀγάπης ἑνωθησόμεθα, ἢ πρὸς παντελῆ διάστασιν: ὃ μὴ γένοιτο, οὐδὲ ἔσται τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι, οὐδ' ἂν αὐτὸς νῦν εἴποιμι βλάσφημον οὐδέν. Τοῦτο δὲ εἰδέναι ὑμᾶς βουλόμεθα, ὅτι εἰ καὶ πρὸς τὴν εἰρήνην τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν συντρέχοντα ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔσχομεν τὸν μακάριον, διά τινας, ὡς αὐτὸς ἡμῖν διεβεβαιοῦτο, προλήψεις, ἀλλ' οὖν γε τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμοδοξίας καὶ τοῦ ἀεὶ κοινωνὸν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τῶν πρὸς τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς ἀγώνων, ὑπὸ μάρτυρι τῷ Θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις τοῖς πεπειραμένοις ἡμῶν, οὐδένα καιρὸν ἀπελείφθημεν.