by St. Basil the Great

Our father among the saints Basil the Great (ca. 330 – January 1, 379), was bishop of Caesarea, a leading churchman in the 4th century.

The Church considers him a saint and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Saints Gregory the Theologian (Gregory Nazianzus) and John Chrysostom. Basil, Gregory the Theologian, and Basil’s brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa are called the Cappadocian Fathers.

“Any part of the Scriptures you like to choose is inspired by God. The Holy Spirit composed the Scriptures so that in them, as in a pharmacy open to all souls, we might each of us be able to find the medicine suited to our own particular illness.

Thus, the teaching of the Prophets is one thing, and that of the historical books is another. And, again, the Law has one meaning, and the advice we read in the Book of Proverbs has a different one. Read more

by St. Basil the Great

We know that today philosophical naturalism interprets the scientific data, and this causes the world to interpret certain scientific data to foretell a present and future environmental crisis. However, St. Basil dispels this pessimistic doomsday attitude by showing that the crisis is not in the environment, but within ourselves. God’s providential care for His creation still exists, and whatever befalls us is meant for our repentance and our own transformation. Without such an attitude, we may as well be atheists and alarmists allowing such opportunities of self-refinement to pass us by. The following is taken from St Basil the Great’s sermon “In Time of Famine and Drought,” which is included in the recently published St Basil the Great: On Social Justice (SVS 2009).

This was taken from John Sanidopoulos’ excellent blog – Mystagogy.

“And I also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would be rained upon, and the field on which it did not rain withered; so two or three towns wandered to one town to drink water, and were not satisfied, because you did not return to Me, says the Lord.” – Amos 4:7-8

We should learn, then, that it is because we have turned away from the Lord and discarded His ways that God has inflicted these wounds upon us. He does not seek to destroy us, but rather endeavors to turn us back to the right way, just as good parents who care for their children are stern and rebuke them when they do wrong, not because they wish them harm, but rather desiring to lead them from childish negligence and the sins of youth to mature attentiveness. Read more

by St. Basil the Great

Our father among the saints Basil the Great (ca. 330 – January 1, 379), was bishop of Caesarea, a leading churchman in the 4th century. The Church considers him a saint and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Saints Gregory the Theologian (Gregory Nazianzus) and John Chrysostom. Basil, Gregory the Theologian, and Basil’s brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa are called the Cappadocian Fathers. The Roman Catholic Church also considers him a saint and calls him a Doctor of the Church.

Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all

“fullness of blessing,” Rom. 15:29 Read more

I found this on the blog Mystagogy, one of my favorites.

‘Below are some excerpts from St. John Chrysostom, found throughout his writings, that deal with the relationship between Faith and Reason. For St. John, there is not a contradiction between Faith and Reason when used for their own purpose, since both are gifts of God, but he does demonstrate and drive home strongly that Faith is far superior to Reason. Moreover he continuously warns against misusing Reason to be an enemy of Faith.

Reasoning should not interfere in matters of Faith, because Reason cannot even hope to comprehend the transcendent nature of Faith.

Reason cannot enlighten Faith, but Faith can enlighten Reason. Reason diminishes Faith because it limits it and does not allow it to grow. And Faith that does not increase eventually withers and dies. At the same time Reason unenlightened by Faith is like being born and raised in a dark prison cell, confined and unaware of the world beyond your limited experience. Reason can never move us beyond its own ignorance and it serves its purpose only when it drives a person to deeper Faith.’ – John Sanidopoulos.

“In that God has bestowed upon us benefits that surpass man’s reasoning, suitably enough He has brought in faith. It is not possible to be steadfast when demanding reasons. For behold all of our noble doctrines – how destitute they are of reasoning, and dependent upon faith alone. For example, God is not anywhere, and is everywhere. What has less reason in it than this? Each – by itself – is full of difficulty. … He was not made, He made not Himself, He never began to be. What reasoning will receive this, if there be not faith?” Read more