Letter 26: Thanks to God for showing forth His wonderful power in your person, and for preserving you to your country and to us your friends, from so terrible a death. It remains for us not to be ungrateful, nor unworthy of so great a kindness, but, to the best of our ability, to narrate the marvellous works of God, to celebrate by deed the kindness which ...

From: Basil of Caesarea To: Caesarius, brother of Gregory of Nazianzus [a physician and civil official; Gregory of Nazianzus's younger brother, who had recently survived the earthquake at Nicaea] Date: ~368 AD Context: Caesarius barely survived a catastrophic earthquake. Basil writes urging him to treat his survival as a call to dedicate his life to God. Thanks be to God for displaying His power through you and for preserving you — for your country and for us your friends — from so terrible a death. It remains for us not to be ungrateful for so great a kindness, but to the best of our ability to proclaim the marvelous works of God, to acknowledge by our actions the mercy we have experienced, and not to offer thanks in words alone. We ought to become in reality what I, based on the miracle in your case, am persuaded you already are. We urge you still more earnestly to serve God, ever increasing your reverence and advancing toward perfection, so that we may prove to be wise stewards of a life that God's goodness has spared. For if every one of us is commanded to "yield ourselves to God as those alive from the dead" (Romans 6:13), how much more does this apply to those who have been lifted up from the very gates of death? I believe this would best be accomplished if we always kept the same frame of mind we had in the moment of danger. For surely the emptiness of this life came before us then, and we felt that everything belonging to mortals — exposed as it is to sudden change — has nothing sure or firm about it. We felt regret for the past, and we made a promise for the future: if we were saved, to serve God and give careful attention to our souls. Since the immediate threat of death gave me cause for reflection, I think you must have been moved by the same or very similar thoughts. We are therefore bound to pay a debt we owe with joy — grateful for God's gift to us, and serious about the future. I have taken the liberty of saying all this to you. It is for you to receive it well, as you always used to do when we talked face to face.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Cæsarius, brother of Gregory. Thanks to God for showing forth His wonderful power in your person, and for preserving you to your country and to us your friends, from so terrible a death. It remains for us not to be ungrateful, nor unworthy of so great a kindness, but, to the best of our ability, to narrate the marvellous works of God, to celebrate by deed the kindness which we have experienced, and not return thanks by word only. We ought to become in very deed what I, grounding my belief on the miracles wrought in you, am persuaded that you now are. We exhort you still more to serve God, ever increasing your fear more and more, and advancing on to perfection, that we may be made wise stewards of our life, for which the goodness of God has reserved us. For if it is a command to all of us to yield ourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, Romans 7:13 how much more strongly is not this commanded them who have been lifted up from the gates of death? And this, I believe, would be best effected, did we but desire ever to keep the same mind in which we were at the moment of our perils. For, I ween, the vanity of our life came before us, and we felt that all that belongs to man, exposed as it is to vicissitudes, has about it nothing sure, nothing firm. We felt, as was likely, repentance for the past; and we gave a promise for the future, if we were saved, to serve God and give careful heed to ourselves. If the imminent peril of death gave me any cause for reflection, I think that you must have been moved by the same or nearly the same thoughts. We are therefore bound to pay a binding debt, at once joyous at God's good gift to us, and, at the same time, anxious about the future. I have ventured to make these suggestions to you. It is yours to receive what I say well and kindly, as you were wont to do when we talked together face to face. About this page Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 8. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202026.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.