Letter 283: I hope to find a suitable day for the conference, after those which I intend to fix for the hill-country. I see no opportunity for our meeting (unless the Lord so order it beyond my expectation), other than at a public conference. You may imagine my position from your own experience.
Basil of Caesarea→a Widow|c. 373 AD|basil caesarea
Miracles & relics
I hope to find a suitable day for the meeting, after those I intend to schedule for the hill country. I see no other opportunity for us to meet -- unless the Lord arranges it beyond my expectations -- except at a public gathering.
You can imagine my situation from your own experience. If the care of a single household surrounds you with such a crowd of anxieties, think how many distractions each day brings to me.
As for your dream, I think it reveals more clearly than anything the need for spiritual contemplation and for cultivating the inner vision through which God makes Himself known. But you have the consolation of the Holy Scriptures, and you stand in need of neither my assistance nor anyone else's to understand your duty. You have the all-sufficient counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you to what is right.
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA
To a widow.
I hope to find a suitable day for the conference, after those which I intend to fix for the hill-country. I see no opportunity for our meeting (unless the Lord so order it beyond my expectation), other than at a public conference.
You may imagine my position from your own experience. If in the care of a single household you are beset with such a crowd of anxieties, how many distractions, think you, each day brings to me?
Your dream, I think, reveals more perfectly the necessity of making provision for spiritual contemplation, and cultivating that mental vision by which God is wont to be seen. Enjoying as you do the consolation of the Holy Scriptures, you stand in need neither of my assistance nor of that of anybody else to help you to comprehend your duty. You have the all-sufficient counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you to what is right.
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/3202283.htm>.
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I hope to find a suitable day for the meeting, after those I intend to schedule for the hill country. I see no other opportunity for us to meet -- unless the Lord arranges it beyond my expectations -- except at a public gathering.
You can imagine my situation from your own experience. If the care of a single household surrounds you with such a crowd of anxieties, think how many distractions each day brings to me.
As for your dream, I think it reveals more clearly than anything the need for spiritual contemplation and for cultivating the inner vision through which God makes Himself known. But you have the consolation of the Holy Scriptures, and you stand in need of neither my assistance nor anyone else's to understand your duty. You have the all-sufficient counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you to what is right.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.