day of Saint Basil the Great

🔆 Today is the day of Saint Basil the Great (✝️379). Here are some of his teachings.

On not completely trusting authorities:

One should not completely surrender to these men (writers, scholars, teachers), as if to helmsmen, the rudder of one’s thoughts and follow them wherever they lead, but, borrowing from them what is useful, one must know what should be left behind.’

On the envious:

‘Dogs, when fed, become gentle; lions, when cared for, become tame, but the envious grow fierce when shown kindness – as Saul persecuted David, as the brothers of noble Joseph made him a slave in Egypt.’

On slander:

‘A slanderer harms three persons at once, for he offends the one slandered, the one to whom the speech is addressed, and himself.’

Warning about a bad person:

‘It is permissible to speak ill of someone when you are consulting with spiritual people about correcting one who has sinned, and warning others about a bad person whom they consider good, as the apostle writes to Timothy: Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his deeds! Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our words. (2 Tim. 4:14-15).