St. Basil the Great: “In you ought to be preserved the remnants of true religion…”

Epistle 257: To the Monks who were afflicted by the Arians

Written in 376. Its subject is the same as that of Epistle 256 (The heretics had proceeded to persecutions against the Orthodox of Syrian Beroea in 376, and especially against monastic communities. Basil writes in a consolatory manner). The Arians were especially persecuting the monks.

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What I said to myself when I heard about the trial which had been brought upon you by the enemies of God, this I have thought it well to report to you in writing, namely, that in a time which is considered to be peaceful [1] you procured for yourselves a blessing which is reserved for those who suffer persecution for the name of Christ. Not just because a gentle and mild name invests those performing wicked deeds ought we on this account to consider that the acts are not hostile. I judge that a war on the part of those of the same race is harder to bear, because it is even easy to guard against enemies who have been publicly proclaimed, but, in the case of those who mingle with us, it is necessary to be exposed to all harm. This you yourselves, too, have experienced. Our fathers also were persecuted but by idolaters, and their property was plundered and their houses were ruined and they themselves were banished by those who were openly making war on us because of the name of Christ. But the men now appearing as persecutors hate us no less than those, and for the purpose of deceiving the many put forward the name of Christ [2] in order that the persecuted may not even have consolation from their confession of it, since the many and the simpler souls admit that we are wronged but do not account our death for the truth as martyrdom for us. For this reason, I am convinced that the reward reserved by the just Judge is greater for you than for the martyrs of that time, since they not only had the approbation conceded by men but also received the reward from God, but to you, for equally virtuous acts, the honors from the people are not granted. Therefore, the likelihood is that a manifold recompense for your sufferings for the sake of piety is reserved for you in the future life.

For this reason, we urge you not to be faint-hearted in your afflictions, but to renew yourselves in your love for God and daily to increase your zeal, being conscious that in you ought to be preserved the remnants of true religion which, when the Lord comes, He will find upon earth. And, if bishops have been driven from their churches, let this not cause you to waver, or, if traitors have sprung up among the clergy themselves, let not this weaken your confidence in God. The names are not the things which save us, but our motives and our sincere love for Him who created us. Consider that even in the plot against our Lord the chief priests and the scribes and the elders contrived the treachery and few of the people were found really accepting the teaching; moreover, that it is not the multitude that is saved, but the elect of God. Therefore, never let the crowd of people dismay you, since they are borne hither and thither like the water of the sea by the winds. For, if even one is saved, as Lot in Sodom, he ought to persevere in his right judgment with hope in Christ unchanged, because the Lord will not abandon His holy ones. Salute all the brethren in Christ for me; offer up sincere prayers for my pitiable soul.

 

1. Without external persecutions, that is, while there were internal disputes caused by the heretics.

2. The heretics who self-identify as Christians.

 

Greek source: https://katanixi.gr/eis-sas-prepei-na-diasothi-to-ypoleimma-tis-eyseveias-megas-vasileios/

Epistle translation from The Fathers of the Church: Saint Basil, Letters, Vol. 2 (186-368), translated by Sister Agnes Clare Way, Catholic University Press, Washington, D.C., 1955, pp. 215-216.