Sow Integrity By Works of Mercy - St. Basil the Great

O man, be like the earth. Bear fruit like her and do not fall short of what mere inanimate matter can achieve. The earth bears crops not for her own benefit but for yours. You, on the other hand, when you give to the poor, are bearing fruit which you will gather in for yourself, since the reward for good deeds goes to those who perform them. Give to a hungry man, and what you give becomes yours, and indeed it returns to you with interest. Just as the wheat that falls on the ground falls there to the great profit of the one who sowed it, so the bread given to a hungry man will bring you great profit in the world to come. Let your husbandry be aimed at sowing this heavenly seed: as scripture says, Sow integrity for yourselves.

You are going to leave your money behind you here whether you want to or not. As for whatever share of glory you have received through your good works, that you can take with you to the Lord. All the people will stand round you in the presence of him who judges you all: they will acclaim you as one who feeds the hungry and gives to the poor, they will name you as a merciful benefactor.

Do you not see how people throw away their wealth for a moment’s glory, for the shouts and praise of the crowds in the theatre, at sporting events, at fights with wild beasts in the arena? Where can you get that sort of glory for yourself if you hold on to your money or spend it meanly? God will give his approbation; the angels will praise you; all people who have existed since the beginning of the world will call you blessed. You will receive eternal glory and the crown of righteousness as a prize for rightly disposing of your wealth – wealth that in any case cannot last and must decay.

Why do you think nothing of the future hopes that are stored up by those who despise the cares of the present time? Come, spread your wealth around, be generous, give splendidly to those who are in need. Then it will be said of you as it is in the psalms: He gave alms and helped the poor: his righteousness will endure for ever.

How grateful you should be to your own benefactor; how cheerful you should be at the honour he has conferred on you, that you do not have to make a nuisance of yourself at other people’s doors, but other people come and bother you at your own! But at the moment you are grumpy and no-one can get to you. You avoid meeting people in case you might be obliged be part with even a little of what you have. You can say only one thing: “I have nothing to give you. I am only a poor man.” Indeed you are poor and utterly destitute. Poor in love, poor in humanity, poor in faith in God, and destitute of any hope of eternal happiness.

St. Gregory Nazianzen - 6th January 2009

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Gregory Nazianzen. Let us read what Dr. Plinio has to say about this saint. I particularly like the section dealing with Temperance, a virtue which I need to practice more.



Biographical section

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, or St. Gregory Nazianzen, fourth century, was Patriarch of Constantinople and a close friend of St. Basil. A writer and orator, he fought against the Arians. He is a Father and a Doctor of the Church.

When he was already advanced in the practice of virtue and piety, Gregory was favored with a mystical vision that gave him a special esteem for chastity. He described it:

“I saw two young virgins dressed in white. They wore no superfluous ornaments, as is so common to women, but they were very beautiful. A veil covered each of their heads and also hid part of their faces. They kept their eyes modestly lowered and were silent. I felt a great joy penetrating my whole soul. I asked them who they were and whence they came.

"‘We are chastity and temperance,’ they replied. ‘We stand on either side of the throne of Christ. Join us, and we will bring you to contemplate the Eternal Trinity.’

“From that moment on, I sought out the company of those who were chaste, and renounced the pleasures of the flesh, even the legitimate bonds of matrimony. I bent myself to the yoke of temperance and frugality and dedicated myself to the reading of books about God. I also avidly read works against heretics. I continued to cultivate the arts with the sole purpose of helping me to acquire true knowledge, for I never preferred human science to the Divine Scriptures.”

Comments of Prof. Plinio:

This beautiful vision of St. Gregory of Nazianzus reflects elements of classical culture. You know that the time in which he lived was still influenced by the art and symbolism of classical Roman-Greek culture. One of the artistic customs was to symbolize virtues and qualities by abstract personages – men or women.

You can see that in this vision God Himself used the same artistic practice to make St. Gregory understand the worth of chastity and temperance. He presented them as two young ladies, equally beautiful, with a symmetric grace and charm that allowed them to stand at both sides of the throne of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, they are symmetric adornments for the King of glory and Redeemer of the human race.

St. Gregory described the young ladies as modest and recollected, with lowered gaze, to indicate that such virtues require one to be concerned about superior things and to avoid dissipation and superficiality. These two virtues are placed on either side of the throne of Christ to show that Our Lord has a special love for these virtues and wants to honor them in a singular way.

Why are chastity and temperance sister-virtues?

What is chastity? Chastity, you know, is abstention from the pleasures of the flesh. Even if the person is married, if both the husband and wife agree to the arrangement, perfect chastity can be practiced. It represents the complete triumph of the spirit over the flesh, a complete detachment from the flesh’s instincts to leave the spirit greater freedom to rise to higher spheres of thought, which are the proper habitation for the soul.

What is temperance? Temperance is a cardinal virtue, one of the four fundamental virtues of Catholic moral behavior. Temperance is the virtue by which the person regulates his actions following the norms of reason. Instead of conceding to the impetus of his instincts, he acts following the counsels of reason in all things. It is wise, because the first responses of the instincts are disordered; they need to be corrected and tamed. This means that there is a temperate way of speaking, eating, sleeping, studying, and doing everything else. The essence of temperance, therefore, is the submission of the instincts to the guidance of reason. Temperance is wisdom governing all human internal movements.

What is the relation between temperance and chastity? It is simple, chastity is temperance applied to the sexual instinct. It is an aspect of temperance. But it is such an important aspect that normally it is considered as a separate virtue. This affinity of chastity and temperance explains why they appear as twin virtues that stand near the throne of Christ in St. Gregory’s vision.

This subject matter raises a parallel question that seems opportune to address. As single lay people, should we strive to acquire such virtues? Should we be chaste and temperate? Of course we should. But let me answer an objection that says the opposite.

During the pontificate of Pius XII, some second-rate theologians came up with a bizarre thesis that proposed every lay person should either marry, or become priests or religious. According to their theory, anyone who wants to be single and chaste should become a priest; if not, he or she should marry. These theologians represented a small minority, and no one learned in Church History paid any attention to them. Soon, the theory was no longer even mentioned. However, this narrow mentality remained present in some traditionalist ambiences that suffered the influence of those theologians. For this reason, still today at times we face an accusation that stems from this false view: “You cannot be lay, single and chaste; you should either marry or enter the priesthood.”

The reality is much more subtle and diversified than the simplified alternative: “Marry or be a priest.” This sophism is based on a generalization that supposes there are only two kinds of people, those able to maintain complete chastity and those who cannot. The former should not marry and serve the Church as priests or consecrated religious; the latter should marry in order not to sin and to perpetuate the species.

Even though the rule is correct, and this is actually one of the reasons for marriage, the argument is wrong because it does not consider the many exceptions the rule supposes. According to this false presupposition, it would be not possible to marry and remain a virgin, as St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary did; as St. Henry, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and his wife Empress St. Cunegundes did, as well as many other saints. Also it would be impossible for a lay man to be single and be chaste as was St. Casimir, King of Poland, or St. Rose of Lima, who never became a religious. The list of saints who represent exceptions to the rule is long. But this is not my point at the moment. I mention it to show that the simple existence of such saints destroys the narrow-minded sophism.

Here I will present two other arguments. First, St. Thomas Aquinas offers a picturesque metaphor to explain the rule of marriage and chastity. He says that marriage represents the feet of mankind, since it is by means of marriage that the human race perpetuates itself and therefore walks onward. Chastity represents the eyes of mankind, given that it is by means of chaste persons that humanity sees the far horizons. He stresses that one of the main characteristics of chastity is to give broad horizons.

It is a valid comparison, because to consider only the practical aspect, married persons normally are so taken up with raising their families, they usually have little time to think of other things. The single person can maintain himself with much less effort, and therefore has more time for higher studies or causes.

If we were to take this comparison of St. Thomas, however, and apply it to the simplified rule we are refuting, “Marry or be a religious,” then the lay man or woman would be excluded from viewing the broad horizons of Christendom and the Catholic Church, which is perfectly absurd, given the enormous number of single lay people who became great warriors, politicians, scientists, poets etc. exactly because they had such horizons.

Second, it was so common in History for persons to choose to be lay, single, and chaste that they formed movements that assisted the Church in fields where ecclesiastics cannot act. For instance, what would the Middle Ages be without the knights errant, most of them living single, chaste, and turned to the defense of widows and orphans? But a priest, who is forbidden to shed human blood, could not be a knight errant.

What about the many Orders of Chivalry dedicated to defending the Catholic possessions in the Holy Land? The same is true, since ecclesiastics could not perform this task. Until today, some of these orders have a special status for their single and chaste members. How many centers of studies and arts, diverse movements that brought great benefits for Christendom – in the past or present – were made up of single chaste lay men or women? We see that the sophism incurs an erroneous generalization.

These are some lessons we can learn from the beautiful vision described by St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Let us ask him to help us to more firmly maintain and constantly increase our understanding of the fight for Christendom and the Catholic Church, and for that, to be chaste and temperate as he was.

St. Basil the Great - 2nd January 2009

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Basil the Great. Let us read the commentary of Dr. Plinio.

(The subject of the altarpiece is St. Basil Celebrating Mass in the presence of the Arian Emperor Valens.)

Biographical selection (from The Golden Legend):

Basil was a venerable Bishop and an eminent Doctor. His life was written by Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.

Basil’s great holiness was made manifest in a vision granted to a hermit named Ephrem, who, being rapt in ecstasy, saw a column of fire the tip of which touched heaven, and heard a voice from above saying: “Basil is as great as the immense column you see before you.”

Ephrem therefore went into the city on the feast of the Epiphany because he wanted to look upon this great man. When he saw the Bishop clothed in shining white vestments moving solemnly in procession with his clergy, he said to himself:

“I know now that I have gone to all this trouble for nothing! This man who lives surrounded by such honors certainly cannot be the great saint I expected to see! How could such a man in such glory be seen by Heaven as a column of fire in preference to us, who bear the burden of the open seasons in our hermitages.”

Basil knew in spirit what was going through Ephrem’s mind and had the hermit brought before him; and when he came to the Bishop’s presence, he saw a tongue of flame coming out of the Bishop’s mouth as the hermit spoke. “Truly Basil is great,” Ephrem exclaimed, “truly Basil is a column of fire, truly the Holy Spirit speaks through his mouth!” And to the Bishop, Ephrem said: “I beg of you, my lord, to obtain for me the ability to speak Greek.” Basil replied: “You have asked for something very strange.” Nevertheless he prayed for the hermit, who at once began to speak Greek.

There was another hermit who, seeing Basil somewhere in procession in his episcopal robes, despised him, thinking in his heart that the Bishop took much pleasure in such pomp. And a voice spoke to him, saying: “You there, you have more delight in stroking yuour cat's back in your hermitage than Basil takes in the apparel of his dignity!”

Emperor Valens, who was partial to the Arians, confiscated a church that belonged to the Catholics and gave it to the heretics. Basil went to the Emperor and said: “Your Majesty, it is written that the honor of the king loves judgment, and the judgment of the king loves justice. Why then has your heart ordered that the Catholics be excluded from their church and it be given to Arians?”

“So there you are, Basil,” the Emperor retorted, “shaming me again! This is unworthy of you!”

Basil replied: “What is worthy of me is to die, if I must, for justice!”

Then Demosthenes, who was in charge of the Emperor’s table and was also a partisan of the Arians, spoke in defense of the heretics and treated the Bishop insolently. “Your business is to cook chicken for the Emperor,” Basil answered, “and not to cook divine dogmas!” The steward, in confusion, had no more to say.

Valens now addressed the Bishop: “Basil, go and give judgment in this case, but do not be swayed by immoderate love of the people.” So Basil went before the Catholics and the Arians and proposed that the doors of the church be closed and sealed with the seal of each party, and that the church would belong to the party at whose prayer the doors opened. This satisfied everybody. The Arians then prayed for three days and three nights, but when they came to the church the next morning, the doors were not opened. Then Basil led a procession to the church, prayed, gave the doors a light blow with his pastoral crook, ordering them to open. The doors flew open at once, all the people went in, thanking God, and the church was returned to the Catholics.


Comments of Prof. Plinio:

These are beautiful stories, each one of which would deserve a special comment.

They are stories lacking historical rigor, since they are semi-legend. The Golden Legend is made up of semi-historical legends. Some of these things happened, others did not. And the true events are not necessarily narrated just as they happened. They were embellished by the imagination of the medieval people. Notwithstanding, they have a great spiritual value because they indicate how the piety of those people so filled with devotion painted the figures of the saints. This cannot simply be dismissed as a lie, because it is not.

St. Basil lived in a time of many heresies. He waged an enormous fight against the Arian heresy and also against the Emperor. In general the Emperors of Byzantium wanted to control the Church. Since the Catholic Church did not allow them to do this while the Arian bishops permitted it, the Emperors supported Arianism. According to Catholic doctrine, the Church is a perfect society, that is, in the spiritual sphere she is a sovereign society that can be governed only by herself, using her own authority. Following this doctrine the Catholic Church stood as a natural obstacle to the absolutism of the Byzantine Emperors, and they persecuted her.

The heresy of Arianism was devastating the East. The Greek Byzantium spirit was very arrogant and scorned Rome. This arrogant attitude toward Rome was one reason why the Eastern ecclesiastics invented so many sophisticated heresies in contrast with the holy simplicity of Catholic doctrine taught by Rome.

Notwithstanding, that time saw the blossoming in the East of a great grace, the grace of the eremitic state of life. This eremitic life was understood with much greater rigor than it is in modern times. The true hermit is not one who lives in a house with others. When many live together, each one is a cenobite, not a hermit. The hermit lives completely alone. He used to live in places without great beauty, like a cave or a desert, so as not to distract his imagination and senses. When a person lives isolated, entirely alone, conditions are created for his spirit to grow and fly. He is able to concern himself principally with superior things, and doing this he draws near to God.

This eremitic state appeals to the Eastern psychology. The Eastern man knows how to deal with solitude. His state of spirit abounds in imagination and fantasy, in the good sense of the word. He knows how to see the countless marvels of silence, the innumerable attractions of solitude. The Western man, especially if he is contaminated by the spirit of the Revolution, often is blind to these values.

In this East, replete with its bad and good aspects, we see the great figure of St. Basil, and also some hermits who opposed him.

It has always happened in the History of the Church that when the ideal of poverty is raised, some have exaggerated it and arrived at a bad consequence, which is to combat the pomp and richness of the institution of the Church. For example, after St. Francis of Assisi preached his ideal of poverty, some Franciscans initiated the Fraticelli heresy, which was communist, went against the right of private property, and was opposed to any notion of honor, pomp, and brilliance in the Church and Catholic Civilization.

The same thing happened at the time of St. Basil. Some hermits, accustomed to living in complete poverty and solitude, without servants or pomp, made this erroneous reasoning: “If I would live in pomp, I would lose my soul; therefore all those who live in pomp lose their souls.” The first part of this reasoning is true, the second is false. Each person saves his soul by following the road God chose for him. So the hermit saves his soul in the cave, but another can also save his soul serving God amid riches and pomp.

Because of this problem, two hermits saw St. Basil in his Episcopal grandeur and doubted his sanctity. The two episodes were described in the Golden Legend with a great psychological accuracy. The first one, the hermit Ephrem, was a man moved by impressions, not by principles as he should have been. He saw a column of fire, was impressed, and believed in the sanctity of St. Basil. He saw the saint in his ceremonial pomp, had a negative impression and doubted his sanctity. St. Basil had him brought before him to talk with him, and Ephrem immediately had a different impression. After that, to confirm in his mind the sanctity of Basil, he asked for a miracle – yet another impression. By giving the miracle, God was confirming the thesis that one can be a saint and live in Episcopal pomp. It was the right thing to do with a man moved by impressions. This type of psychology was very well pictured in the text.

The second hermit represents the sentimental man turned toward small comforts and affections. He was attached to his cat. One can imagine that for a certain type of person to live outside of life in society can be a relief – no one to bother you, no tragic temptations of sin, a life with all the practical problems resolved and a great deal of tranquility. Instead of striving foremost for a great union with God, he was turned toward enjoying his tranquility. All these bad tendencies were summarized in the enjoyment he took in petting his cat. The Golden Legend discerned the defect of the man and refuted his objection by saying that St. Basil was less attached to his Episcopal position than the hermit was to his cat. Again, it was a subtle way to resolve the problem for the reader and move him toward God.

These two cases are presented in a light and delicate manner that lets the reader understand the solution to a greater problem, the balance between poverty and riches in the Church. So, even if these incidents did not take place historically, the pictures they present give us a good fruit: the understanding that it is normal to have both riches and poverty in the Church.

The episode of St. Basil before Emperor Valens is also very well described. From the Emperor’s comment – “So here you are, Basil, shaming me again!” – you can see that St. Basil attacked the Emperor many times.

Then the kitchen chef enters and tries to defend the Arians and impress the Monarch with his knowledge of theology. St. Basil has this response that puts everything in its place: “Your business is to cook food. It’s my business to cook the dogmas. So stop talking about things you don’t understand.”

You can see that this episode follows the same style. One reads it, smiles, and understands. It is a lesson well given.

The last episode with the Arians is also piquant. The Emperor had given a Catholic church to the Arians and the Catholics were upset. He invites St. Basil to find a just solution. The saint proposes a judgment by God. The church doors are duly closed and sealed and both parties, Catholic and Arian, each one in its turn, are asked to approach to ask God to open the doors. The one whose cause is right will be heard by God. The Arians make their futile prayers and nothing happens. Then St. Basil approaches, followed by his clergy in a grandiose procession, and the doors of the church open. The Catholics are the ones in the right, God listens to them.

Even if these things did not happen exactly this way, there is a residual of truth in these stories. What is being affirmed here is that piety should feed the capacity for the marvelous in the human soul. This kind of piety existed in the Middle Ages and was objectively reported by Jacobus de Voragine. It is a type of piety open to the marvelous that exists in the supernatural life, which is a participation of the marvelous that exists in Heaven.

When we read these stories in the Golden Legend we experience a great relief. We feel removed from the monstrosities we are witnessing today that come from the Revolution and the progressivist Church. Reading these texts we are charmed and we marvel. They raise a hymn of admiration in our souls for that spirit which inspired them. When we finish reading and we have to return to normal life, we feel something like a soul who would have just seen Heaven and now had to return to Purgatory.

Let us pray to Our Lady to give us the spirit of admiration that inspired these texts. A disinterested and humble spirit that is able to be moved by this marvelous order of things, which is the most profound aspect of reality and gives us a pre-taste of Heaven. It is an order of things that exists in Heaven, which souls who know how to admire can already begin to appreciate in this life.