Basil: letters, hexaemeron - II. WORKS

9 khvougma). cf. p. 41.

1 Placed at the beginning of St. Basil’s episcopate, c. 370.

2 Canonicae, in the early church, were women enrolled in a list in the churches, devoted to works of charity, and living apart from men, though not under vows, nor always in a coenobium. In Soc., H.E. 1,17 they are described as the recipients of St. Helena’s hospitality. St. Basil is supposed to refuse to recognise marriage with them as legitimate in Ep. cclxxxviii. The word kanonikw`n may stand for either gender, but the marriage of Canonici was commonly allowed). Letter clxxiii. is addressed to the canonica Theodora.

3 Vide the Letter li.

4 khvrugma. On Basil’s use of this word and of dogma, vide note on p. 41.

5 i.e. the two remarkable Antiochene synods of 264 and 269, to enforce the ultimate decisions of which against Paul of Samosata appeal was made to the pagan Aurelian. On the explanation of how the Homoousion came to be condemned in one sense by the Origensit bishops at Antioch in 260, and asserted in another by the 318 at Nicaea in 325, see prolegomena to Athanasius in Schaff and Wace’s ed. p. xxxi.

6 cf.Ath., De Syn. § 45, Hil., De Trin. 4,4, and Basil, Cont. Eunom. 1,19). "Wurde seiner Lehre: ’Gott sey mit dem Logos zugleich Eine Person, e)n proswpon Iwie der Mensch mit seiner Vernunft Eines sey,’ entgegengehalteh, die Kirchenlehre verlange Einen Gott, aber mehrere provswpa  desselben, so sagte er. da auch ihm Christus eine Person (nämlich als Mensch) sey, so habe auch sein Glaube mehrere provswpa, Gott und Christus stehen sich als o Jmo ouvsioi, d. h. wahrscheinlich gleich persönliche gegenüber, Diese veratorische Dialetik konnte zwar nicht täuschen; wohl aber wurde das Wort o Jmoouvsio", so gerbraucht und auf die Person überhaupt bezogen, dadurcheine Weile verdächtig (man fürchtete nach Athan. De Syn. Ar. et Sel. c. 45. eine menschliche Person nach Paul in die Trinität einlassen zu müssen), bis das vierte Jahrhundert jenem Wort bestimmten kirchlichen Stempel gab." Dorner, Christologie. B. 1,513.

7 Vide also Thomasius, Christliche Dogmengesckichte, B. 1, p. 188).

8 cf. Lc 21,30

1 Placed in the beginning of the episcopate.

2 "A class of ministers between bishops proper and presbyters, defined in the Arabic version of the Nicene canons to be ’loco episcopi super villas et monasteria et sacerdotes villarmum; called into existence in the latter part of the third century, and first in Asia Minor, in order to meet the wants of episcopal supervision in the country parts of the now enlarged dioceses without subdivision: first mentioned in the Councils of Ancyra and Neo-Caesera a.d. 314." D.C.A. 1,354. Three mss. give the title "to the bishops under him." The Ben. Ed. remarks: "Liquet Basilium agere de episcopis sibi subditis. Nam qui proprie dicebantur chorepiscopi, manus non ponebant, sed clero inferiores ministros ascribeant, ut videre est in epist. sequenti. Sed tamen ipsi etiam episcopi, qui Ecclesias metropoli subjectas regebant, interdum vocabuntur chorepiscopi. Queritur enim Gregorius Naz. in carmine De vita sua. quod a Basilio, qui quinquaginta chorepiscopos sub se habebat, vilissimi oppiduli constitutus episcopus fuisset.

touvtoi" mj ov penthvkonta cwrepiskovpoi"

stenouvmeno" devdwken.

Hoc exemplo confirmatur vetustissimorun codicum scriptura quam secuti summus.

3 cf. note on Theodoret, 4,20, p. 125.

4 (Ac 8,20 Ac 8,

5 cf. 1Co 11,16.

6 cf. Col 3,5.

7 cf. Ac 1,19.

1 Placed at the same time as the foregoing.

2 (He 12,14

3 The Ben. note runs, "Ministros, sive subdiaconos, sacratorum ordini ascribit Basilius. Synodus Laodicena inferiores clericos sacratorum numero non comprehendit, sed numerat sacratos a presbyteris usque ad diaconos, apo presbutevrwn e)w" diakovnwn, can. 24, distinguit canone 27, ieratikou;", h) klhrikouv" h) laikouv", sive sacratos, sive clericos, sive laicos. Et can. 30. Oti ouAE dei` ieratiko;n h) klhrikovn h) aAEskhth;n eAEn balaneiw meta; gunaikw`n aAEpolouvesqai, mhde pavnta Xositiano;n h) lai)kovu). Non oportet sacratum vel clericum aut ascetam in balneo cum mulieribus lavari. sed nec ullum Christianum aut Laicum. Non sequuniur hujus synodi morem ecclesiastici scriptores. Basilius, epsit. 287, excommunicato omne cum sacratis commercium intercludit. Et in epist. 198,  iAEeratei`on intelligit coetum clericorum, eique ascribut clericos qui epistolas episcopi perferbant. Athanasius ad Rufinianum scribens, rogat eum ut epistolam legat iverateivw et populo. Gregorius Nazianzenus lectores sacri ordinis, ivepou; tagmato", partem esse agnoscit in epist. 45. Notandus etiam canon 8 apostolicus, ei ti" eAEpivokopo" h) etc. presbuvtero" h) diavkono" h) eAEk tou i Jeoarikou` katalovgon, etc. Si quis episopus vel presbyter vel diaconus, vel ex sacro ordine. Haec visa sunt observanda, quia pluribus Basilii locis, quae dinceps occurrent, non parum afferent lucis." The letter of the Council in Illyricum uses i Jeratiko;n tavgua in precisely the same way. Theod., Ecc. Hist. 4,8, where see note on p. 113. So Sozomen, On the Council of Nicaea, 1,23). Ordo, the nearest Latin equivalent ot the Greek tavgma, was originally used of any estate in the church, e.g. St. Jerome, On Isaih 5,19, 18.

4 meta; th;n prwvthn eAEpinevuhsin. jpinevmhsi" os om ;ater Greel tje recpgmosed equivalent for "indictio" in the sense of a period of fifteen years (Cod. Theod. xi. 28. 3). I have had some hesitation as to whether it could possibly I this passage indicate a date. But eAEpinevmhsi" does not appear to have been used in its chronological sense before Evagrius, and his expression (iv. 20) tou;" periovdou" tw`n kuvklwn kaloumevnwn eAEpinemhvsewn looks as thought the term were not yet common; eAEpivevmhsi" here I take to refer to the assignment of presbyters to different places on ordination. I am indebted to Mr. J. W. Parker for valuable information and suggestions on this question).

1 Placed at the beginning of the Episcopate.

2 (Rm 14,13 Rm 14,

3 On the subject of the subintroductae or suneivsaktoi, one of the greatest difficulties and scandals of the early church, vide the article of Can. Venables in D.C.A. ii. 1937. The earliest prohibitive canon against the custom is that of the Council of Elvira, a.d. 305. (Labbe i. 973). The Canon of Nicaea, to which Basil refers, only allowed the introduction of a mother, sister, or aunt. The still more extraordinary and perilous custom of ladies of professed celibacy entertaining male sune saktoi, referred to by Gregory of Nazianzus in his advice to virgins, a(rsena pavntj aAEleveine suneivsakton de; mavliota, may be traced even so far back as "the Shepherd of Hermas" (iii. Simil. 9,11). On the charges against Paul of Samosata under this head, vide, Eusebius, 7,30.

1 Placed at the beginning of the Episcopate.

2 A layman, of whom nothing more is known).

1 Placed in the year 371.

2 This letter, the first of six to Meletius of Antioch, is supposed to be assigned to this date, because of Basil’s statement that the state of the Church of Caesera was still full of pain to him. Basil had not yet overcome the opposition of his suffragans, or won the position secured to him after his famous intercourse with Valens in 372. Meletius had now been for seven years exiled from Antioch, and was suffering for the sake of orthodoxy, while not in full communion with the Catholics, because of the unhappy Eustathian schism.

3 This Theophrastus may be identified with the deacon Theophrastus who died shortly after Easter a.d. 372. (cf. Letter xcv). The secret instructions given him "seem to refer to Basil’s design for giving peace to the Church, which Basil did not attempt to carry out before his tranquilization of Cappadocia, but may have had in mind long before." Maran, Vit. Bas. chap. xvi.

1 Placed in 371.

2 Three mss. give the title Grhgopivw eAEpiskoAEpw kai; aAEdelfw`, but, as is pointed out by the Ben. Ed., the letter itself Is hardly one which would be written to one with the responsibilities of a bishop. Basil seems to regard his brother as at liberty to come and help him at Caesera. Gregory’s consecration to the see of Nyssa is placed in 372, when his reluctance had to be overcome by force). cf. Letter ccxxv. On the extraordinary circumstance of his well meant but futile forgery of the name of his namesake and uncle, bishop of an unknown see, vife Prolegom.

3 Bishop of Tyana, estranged from Basil, cf. Letters cxx., cxxi., cxxii., and ccx).

4 (Qo 40,24 Qo 40,

5 Negat Basilius se adfuturum, nisi decenter advocetur, id est, nist mittantur qui euim in indictum locum deducant. Erat Basilius, nt in ejus modi officiis exhibendis diligentissimus, ita etiam in reposcendis attentus. Meletius Antiochenus et Theodorus Nicopolitanus, cum Basilium ad celebritatem quamdam obiter advocassent per Hellenium Nazianzi Peraequatorem, nec iterum misissent qui de visdem adomoneret aut deduceret; displicuit Basilio perfunctoria invitandi ratio, ac veritus ne suspectus illis esset, adesse noluit." Note by Ben. Ed.

1 Placed in 361, at about the same time as the preceding.

2 Vide n. on preceding page.

3 (Is 42,14, LXX.

4 (Is 42,14, LXX).

5 cf. Mt 18,10.

1 Of the same time as the preceding.

1 Placed in 370 or 371.

2 This, the first of Basil’s six extant letters to Athanasius, is placed by the Ben. Ed. in 371. It has no certain indication of date. Athanasius, in the few years of comparative calm which preceded his death in May, 373, had excommunicated a vicious governor in Libya, a native of Cappadocia, and announced his act to Basil. The intercourse opened by this official communication led to a more important correspondence.

3 (Qo 10,16).

1 Placed about 371.

2 A town in Northern Cappadocia, on the right bank of the Halys, on or near a hill whence it was named, on the road between Ancyra and Archelais. The letter appears to Maran (Vita S. Bas. xvi). to have been written before the encouragement given to the Arians by the visit of Valens in 372. The result of Basil’s appeal to the Parnassenes was the election of an orthodox bishop, expelled by the Arians in 375, and named Hypsis or Hypsinus). cf. Letter ccxxxvii., where Ecdicius is said to have succeeded Hypsis; and ccxxxviii., where Ecdicius is called Parnasshnov".

3 (1Th 4,13 1Th 4,

1 Of about the same date as the preceding.

2 Another reading is Helladius). cf. Letters lxiv., lxxvii., and ixxviii. The identification of these Elpidii is conjectural. The name was common.

1 Of about the same date as the preceding.

2 cf. Letter lxii.

1 Placed about 371, or, at all events, according to Maran, before the year 373, when the ill will of Atarbius towards Basil was violently manifested.

2 Atarbius is recognised as bishop of Neocaesarea, partly on the evidence of the Codices Coislinanus and Medicaeus, which describe him as of Neocaesarea, partly on a comparison of Letters 65,and cxxvi., addressed to him with the circumstances of the unnamed bishop of Neocaesarea referred to in Letter ccx. Moreover (cf. Bp. Lightfoot, D.C.B. i. 179) at the Council of Constantinople he represented the province of Pontus Polemoniacus, of which Neocaesarea was metropolis. On the authority of an allusion In Letter ccx/sec/ 4. Atarbius is supposed to be a kinsman of Basil.).

3 (1Co 13,7 and 8.

4 cf. Ga 5,22.

5 i.e. the attacks of Valens on the Church.

1 Placed in 371). cf. Letter lxii.

2 u Jper th`" paroikiva" tw`n kaqj h Jma`" merw`n. On the use of paroikiva in this sense, cf. Bp. Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers I. 2,5. So Apollon. in Eus., H.E. 5,18). h J i Jdiva paroikiva, of the Christian society. Thus the meaning passes to parochia and parish.

3 "Them" is referred by the Ben. Ed. not to the sovereigns (tw`n kratouvntwn they understand to mean Valens) but to the Western bishops.

4 A various reading ("Tres mss. et secunda manu Medicoeus," Ben. Ed). for pogia`" reads politeiva" "the life and conversation of your Holiness." - Athanasius was now about 75. His death is placed in 373).

5 To end the schism caused by the refusal of the Eustathian or old Catholic party to recognise Meletius as bishop of the whole orthodox body. The churches of the West and Egypt, on the whole, supported Paulinus, who had been ordained by Lucifer of Cagliari, bishop of the old Catholics. The Ben. Ed. supposes the word oiAEkonomh`sai, which I have rendered "control," to refer to Paulinus. The East supported Meletius, and if the oivkonomiva in Basil’s mind does refer to Paulinus, the "management" meant may be management to get rid of him.

1 Of the same year as the preceding.

2 i.e. Paulinus and his adherents.

1 Of the same time).

2 f. Letter ccli.

1 Of the same period as the preceding.

2 i.e. the Romans; specially the proposed commissioners. It was a sore point with Basil that Marcellus, whom he regarded as a trimmer, should have been "received into communion by Julius and Athanasius, popes of Rome and Alexandria." Jer., De Vir. Illust. c. 86.

3 On the heretical opinions attributed to Marcellus of Ancyra, cf. Letters cxxv. and cclxii.

4 Although he strongly espoused the Catholic cause of Nicaea later in attacking the errors of Asterius, he was supposed to teach that the Son had no real personality, but was merely an external manifestation of the Father).

5 u Jfestavnai.

1 Of the same period as the preceding.

2 "This letter is obviously addressed to Pope Damasus." - Be Ed. n.

3 The Ben. Ed. points out that what is related by Basil, of the kindness of the bishops of Rome to other churches, is confirmed by the evidence both of Dionysius, bishop of Corinth (cf. Eusebius, Hist. Ecc. 4,23), of Dionysius of Alexandria (Dionysius to Sixtus II). Apud Euseb., Ecc. Hist. 7,5), and of Eusebius himself who in his history speaks of the practice having been continued down to the persecution in his own day. The troubles referred to by Basil took place in the time of Gallienus, when the Scythians ravaged Cappadocia and the neighbouring countries. (cf. Sozomen, 2,6). Dionysius succeeded Sixtus II. at Rome in 259).

1 Placed in the same period.

2 When Gregory, on the elevation of Basil to the Episcopate, was at last induced to visit his old friend, he declined the dignities which Basil pressed upon him (thvnde th`" kaqevdra" tiuhvn, i.e. the position of chief presbyter or coadjutor bishop, Orat. 43,39), and made no long stay. Some Nazianzene scandal-mongers had charged basil with heterodoxy. Gregory asked him for explanations, and Basil, somewhat wounded, rejoins that no explanations are needed. The translation in the text with the exception of the passages in brackets, is that of Newman). cf. Proleg. and reff. to Greg. Naz.

1 Placed at about the same period as the preceding.

2 cf. Letter 64,Letters lxxii. and 73,illustrate the efforts made by basil to mitigate the troubles caused by slavery, and to regulate domestic as well as ecclesiastical matters).

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

1 About the same date as the preceding.

2 A dignitary of Cappadocia otherwise unknown, whom Basil asks to intercede with the Emperor Valens to prevent that division of Cappadocia which afterward led to so much trouble. Basil had left Caesarea in the autumn of 371, on a tour of visitation, or to consecrate his brother bishop of Nyssa (Maran, Bit. Bas. Cap. xix)., and returned to Caesarea at the appeal of his people there).

3 cf. the opening of the Odyssey, and the imitation of Horace, De Arte Poet. 142:

Qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes."

4 Now Podando, in Southern Cappadocia, made by Valens the chief town of the new division of the province.

5 (So the Spartans named the pit into which condemned criminals were thrown. Pausanias, Book IV. 18, 4. Thucyd., 1,134. Strabo, 8,367.

6 i.e. on the seizure of the Acropolis by Pisistratus, Solon, resisting the instance of his friends that he should flee, returned them for answer, when they asked him on what he relied for protection, "on my old age." Plutarch, Solon 30. The senate being of the faction of Pisistratus, said that he was mad. Solon replied:

Deivxei dh; manivhn me;n eAEmh;n Baio;" crovno" aAEstoi`",

Deixei aAElhqeivh" eAE" mevson eAErcomevh"

Diog. Laert. 1–49

1 About the same date as the preceding.

2 cf. Letters 33,cxlvii. clxxviii. cxcvi. and ccciv.

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

2 i.e). magister offciorum). cf. Letters xxxii., xcvi., clxxvii., clxxx., cxciii., cclxxii).

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

2 Perhaps to Elpidius. Therasius is probably the governor referred to in Letter xcvi. to Sophronius.

3 The text is here corrupt. The Ben. Ed. say "corruptissimus."

1 Of the same date.

1 Also of the year 371.

2 cf. Letter cxic. Sebaste is Siwas on the Halys. On Eustathius to Basil a type at once of the unwashable Ethiopian for persistent heresy (Letter 130,1) and of the wind-driven cloud for shiftiness and time-serving, (Letter ccxliv. 9)). Vide proleg.

1 Placed in 371 or early in 372).

1 Placed in 372.

2 cf. Letter 1. The see of this Innocent Is unknown). cf Letter lxxxi. and note. To the title of this letter on e manuscript adds "of Rome," as the Ben. Ed. note "prorsus absurde".

3 e[kgono", i.e. the spiritual offspring of Hermogenes, by whom he had been ordained.

4 Bishop of Caesarea, in which see he preceded Dianius). cf. Letters ccxliv. 9 and cclxiii. 3. "The great Synod" is Nicaea. Baronius on the year 325 remarks that Basil’s memory must have failed him, inasmuch as not Hermogenes but Leontius was present at Nicaea as Bishop Caesarea. But Hermogenes may have been present in lower orders). cf. Stanley, East. Ch. pp. 105, 140.

1 Placed at the end of 371 or the beginning of 372.

2 The fitness of this figure in a letter to the bishop of Alexandria will not escape notice. At the eastern extremity of the island of Pharos still stood the marble lighthouse erected more than 600 years before by Ptolemy II., and not destroyed till after the thirteenth century).

3 On Basil’s use of this nautical metaphor, cf). De Spirtu Sancto, chap.xxx. It is of course a literary commonplace, but Basil’s associations all lay inland.

4 The story of "the boy bishop" will be remembered, whose serious game of baptism attracted the notice of Alexander and led to the education of Athanasius in the Episcopal palace. Soc., Ecc. Hist. 1,15. Rufinus 1,14). cf. Keble, Lyra Innocentium, "Enacting holy rites."

5 (Gn 43,9 Gn 43,

1 Placed in 372.

2 Censitor, i.e. the magistrate responsible for rating and taxation in the provinces.

3 cf. Aristotle Eth. Nic. 8,12, 3; and Cic). Loel. xxi. So, amicus est tanquam alter idem.

1 Placed in the year 373.

2 Probably Elias). cf Letters 94,and xcvi. The orphan grandson of the aged man in whose behalf Basil writes had been placed on the Senatorial roll, and the old mane in consequence was compelled to serve again).

1 Placed in the year 372.

2 The distress of the Cappadocians under the load of taxes is described in Letter 74,An objectionable custom arose, or was extended, of putting the country people on oath as to their inability to pay.

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

2 Probably to Elias. Three manuscripts add "of recommendation on behalf of presbyters about the carrying off of corn."

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

2 Probably to Elias.

3 Patriv". The Ben. Ed suppose the reference to be here to Annesi). cf. Letters viii. and li.

1 Of the same date

2 crusivon poagmateutikovn, Lat). aurum comparatitium. The gold collected for the equipment of troops). Cod. Theod. 7,6. 3. The provinces of the East, with the exception of Osroene and Isauria, contributed gold instead of actual equipment. The Ben. note quotes a law of Valens that this was to be paid between Sept. 1 and April 1, and argues thence that this letter may be definitely dated in March, 372, and not long before Easter, which fell on April 8.

1 Placed in the year 372).

2 It is the contention of Tillemont that this cannot apply to the great Athanasius, to whom Meletius is not likely to have refused communion, but is more probably to be referred to some other unknown Athanasius. Maran, however, points out (Vit. Bas. xxii). not only how the circumstances fit in, but how the statement that communion was refused by Meletius is borne out by Letter cclviii. § 3, q.v. Athanasius was in fact so far committed to the other side in the unhappy Antiochene dispute that it was impossible for him to recognise Meletius). cf. Newman, Church of the Fathers, chap. 7,

1 Placed in 372.

2 By Newman, who translates the first paragraphs, this letter, as well as xcii., is viewed in close connection with Letter lxx., addressed to Damasus.

3 khvrugma). cf. note on the De Sp. Sancto. p. 41).

1 Placed in 372.

2 Or, in some mss., the Illyrians. Valerianus, bishop of Aquileia, was present at the Synod held in Rome in 371 (Theodoret, Hist. Ecc. 2,2). and also at the Synod in the same city in 382. (Theod). Ecc. Hist. 5,9, where see note). Dorotheus or Sabinus had brought letters from Athanasius and at the same time a letter from Valerianus. Basil takes the opportunity to reply.

3 (Pr 5,25 Pr 5,

4 cf. Matt, xxiv, 12.

1 Placed in 372.

2 Of Antioch.

3 Of Samosata.

4 Of Caesarea.

5 Tillemont conjectures Barses of Edessa.

6 Of Nazianzus, the elder.

7 Of Laodicea.

8 Of Tyana.

9 Of Nicopolis.

10 Vitus of Carrhae.

11 Of Batnae). cf. Lettercxxxii.

12 Of Tyre.

13 Of Urimi in Syria.

14 For Iatrius, Maran would read Oterius of Melitine.

15 Of Sebasteia.

16 Maran would read Isaaces, and identify him with the Isacoces of Armenia Major.

17 Probably of Nyssa, lately consecrated

18 cf. Rm 13,10).

19 After noting that the Synodical Letter is to be found in Theodoret and in Sozomen (i.e. is in Theodoret I. 8,and in Socrates I. ix). the Ben. Ed. express surprise that Basil should indicate concurrence with the Synodical Letter, which defines the Son to be th`" auAEth`; u Jpostasew" kai; ouAEsiva", while he is known to have taught the distinction between u Jpovstasi" and ouAEsiva. As a matter of fact, it is not in the Synodical Letter, but in the anathemas originally appended to the creed, that it is, not asserted that the Son is of the same, but, denied that He is of a different ouAEuiva or uvpovstasi". On the distinction between ouAEsiva and u Jtovstasi" see Letters xxxviii., cxxv., and ccxxxvi. and the De Sp. Sancto. § 7. On the difficulty of expressing the terms in Latin, cf. Letter ccxiv. As upovstasi" was in 315 understood to be equivalent to ouAEsiva, and in 370 had acquired a different connotation, it would be no more difficult for Basil than for the Church now, to assent to what is called the Nicene position, while confessing three hypostases. In Letter cxxv: Basil does indeed try to shew, but apparently without success, that to condemn the statement that He is of a different hypostasis is not equivalent to asserting Him to be of the same hypostasis.

1 Placed in 372.

2 Two mss. read Caesarius.

3 (Jn 6,54 Jn 6,

4 A various reading is "martyr." In Letter cxxcvii. to S. Ambrose, S. Basil, states that the same honour was paid to S. Dionysius of Milan in his place of sepulture as to a martyr. So Gregory Thaumaturgus was honoured at Neocaesarea, and Athanasius and Bail received like distinction soon after their death.

5 The custom of the reservation of the Sacrament is, as is well known, of great antiquity). cf. Justin Martyr, Apol. 1,85; Tertull., De Orat. 19,and Ad Ux. 2,5; S. Cyprian, De Lapsis cxxxii.; Jerome, Ep. cxxv. Abuses of the practice soon led to prohibition. So an Armenian Canon of the fourth century (Canones Isaaci, in Mai, Script. Vet. Nov. Coll. 10,280) and the Council of Saragossa, 380; though in these cases there seems an idea of surreptitious reservation. On the doctrine of the English Church on this subject reference may be made to the Report of a Committee of the Upper House of the Convocation of Canterbury in 1885.

The Rubric of 1549 allowed reservation, and it does not seem to have been prohibited until 1661. Bishop A. P. Forbes on Article 28,points out that in the Article reservation is not forbidden, but declared not to be of Christ’s institution, and consequently not binding on the Church. The distinction will not be forgotten between reservation and worship of the reserved Sacrament.

1 Placed in 372, at the departure of Valens).

2 Among the honourable functions of the clergy was that of acting as guides and escort, parapevmponte" cf. Letters xcviii. and ccxliii.

3 The church and hospital, of which mention is here made, were built in the suburbs of Caesarea. Gregory of Nazianzus calls it a new town). cf. Greg. Naz., Or. 20,and Theodoret, Ecc. Hist. 4,19, and Sozomen, 6,34. On Alexander’s ear, cf. Letter xxiv.

1 Placed in 372.

2 Theodotus of Nicopolis was distressed at Basil’s being in communion with Eustathius.

1 Placed in 372.

2 On the removal of Elias).

1 Placed in 372.

2 On the whole circumstances of the difficulties which arose in consequence of the civil division of Cappadocia, and the claim put forward in consequence by Anthimus, bp. of Tyana, to exercise metropolitan jurisdiction, see the biographical notice in the Prolegomena.

3 i.e. of the Incarnation). cf. note on p. 7, and on Theodoret, p. 72).

1 Placed in 372.

2 On a proposed meeting of bishops, with an allusion to the consecration of the younger Gregory.

3 Tillemont supposes the reference to be to Gregory of Nyssa. Maran, however (Vit. Bas. xxiv)., regards this as an error, partly caused by the introduction into the text of the word eAEmovn, which he has eliminated; and he points out the Gregory of Nyssa, however unwilling to accept consecration, never objected after it had taken place, and was indeed sent to Nazianzus to console the younger Gregory of that place in his distress under like circumstances. Moreover, Gregory of Nyssa was consecrated n the ordinary manner on the demand of the people and clergy with the assent of the bishops of the province. (cf. Letter ccxxv). Gregory the younger, however, was consecrated to Sasima without these formalities.

1 Placed in 372.

2 cf. Letter ccxiv. On Terentius vide Amm. Marcellinus, 27,12 and 31,He was an orthodox Christian, though in favour with Valens. In 372 he was in command of twelve legions in Georgia, and Basil communicates with him about providing bishops for the Armenian Church. According to some manuscripts of Letter cv., q.v., his three daughters were deaconesses).

3 katagagwvn. So six mss., but the Ben. Ed. seem rightly to point out that the invitation never resulted in actual "conducting."

4 i.e.The Armenian Nicopolis).

1 Placed in 372.

2 cf. Letters clxxvi. and cclii. Eupsychius suffered for the part he took in demolishing the Temple of Fortune at Caesarea). cf. Sozomen, Ecc. Hist. 5, 11. An Eupsychius appears in the Bollandist acts under April 9th). Vide Prolegomena.

3 The Ben. note, in answer to the suggested unlikelihood of Basil’s being plotted against by his brother, calls attention to the fact that this opposition was due not to want of affection but to want of tact, and compares Letter lviii. on Gregory’s foolish falsehood about their uncle.

1 Placed in 372.

2 To the title has been added "to the wife of Arinthaeus," but no manuscript known to the Ben. Ed. contained it).

3 (1Th 4,12 1Th 4,

1 Placed in 372.

2 On the appointment of a bishop for that see in the North East of Armenia Minor.

3 cf. Za 2,8.

4 the relative referred to is Poemenius). cf. Letter cxxii.

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

1 Placed in 372.

2 On the rating of the clergy).

3 tou`" tou` qeou` i Jerwmenou", presbutevrou" kai; diakovnou". The Ben. note points out that the words priests and deacons probably crept into the mss., in all of which it is found, from the margin, inasmuch as by i Jerwmevnou" and cognate words Basil means the whole clergy). cf. Letter 54,and note on p. 157.

1 Placed in 372.

2 cf. Letter xcix. and note.

1 Placed in 372.

2 Among others, conspicuous instances of the statement in the text ore Cornelius, St. Martin, Jn de Joinville, Peter du Terreil, Sieur de Bayard, Henry Havelock, and Charles Gordon).

1 Placed in 372.

2 On the pressure put upon her by the guardian of her heirs.

1 Placed in 372.

1 Of the same date as the preceding).

1 Placed in 372.

2 On the tribute of iron paid in Mount Taurus.

1 Placed in 372.

1 Placed in 372.

2 Asking for the merciful consideration of Domitianus, a friend of Basil).

3 Herod. 1,45.

4 Herod. I. 88.

1 Placed in 372.

2 That the Nicene Creed alone is to be required of the brethren).

3 (Rm 8,28 Rm 8,

1 Placed in 372.

2 Like the preceding Letter, on the sufficiency of the Nicene Creed.

3 cf. Mt 24,12.

4 cf. He 1,1.

1 Placed in 372.

2 The Ben. E. note that in the imperial codex No. lxvii. appears an argument of this letter wanting in the editions of St. Basil. It is as follows: "Letter of the same to Simplicia about her eunuchs. She was a heretic. The blessed Basil being ill and entering a bath to bathe, Simplicia told her eunuchs and maids to throw his towels out. Straightway the just judgment of God slew some of them, and Simplicia sent money to the blessed Basil to make amends for the injury. Basil refused to receive it, and wrote this Letter." This extraordinary preface seems to have been written by some annotator ignorant of the circumstances, which may be learnt from Greg. Naz). Letter xxxviii. It appears that a certain Cappadocian church, long without a bishop, had elected a slave of Simplicia, a lady wealthy and munificent, but of suspected orthodoxy. Basil and Gregory injudiciously ordained the reluctant slave without waiting for his mistress’s consent. The angry lady wrote in indignation, and threatened him with the vengeance of her slaves and eunuchs. After Basil’s death she returned to the charge, and pressed Gregory to get the ordination annulled). cf. Maran, Vit. Bas. chap xxv.

3 Presumably the slaves and eunuchs mentioned below. If the letter is genuine it is wholly unworthy of the Archbishop of Caesarea).

1 Placed in 372.

2 A young soldier whom Basil would win from the army to ascetic life.

1 Answer of Firminius to the preceding).

1 Placed at the end of 372 or the beginning of 373.

2 The mss. vary between Jovinus and Jobinus). cf. Theodoret, Ecc. Hist. 4,13.

1 Placed in the end of 372 or beginning of 373.

2 On the misconduct of Basilius and Sophronius, two disciples of Eustathius.

1 Placed in 373.

2 Basil keeps up his support of the claims of Meletius, now in exile in Armenia, to be recognised as Catholic bishop of Antioch, and complains of the irregular ordination of Faustus as bishop of an Armenian see by Basil’s opponent, Anthimus of Tyana. Sanctissimus, the bearer of the letter, is supposed by Tillemont (vol. 9,p. 210) to be a Western on account of his Latin name. Maran (Vit. Bas. 26) points out that Orientals not infrequently bore Latin names, and supposes him to be a presbyter of Antioch).

3 The title was not even at this time confined to bishops, and who this papa is is quite uncertain. The title is not generally limited to the bishop of Rome until the eighth century. So late as 680 Cyrus is called pope of Alexandria at the Sixth Council. (Mansi 11,214). It was not till 1073 that Gregory VII. asserted an exclusive right to the name. (Gieseler, vol. 1, 2, 405).

1 Of the same date as the preceding.

2 On the same subject.


Basil: letters, hexaemeron - II. WORKS