Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
The soul is an image of heaven because the Lord dwells within it, but the flesh is of earth, wherein live mortal men and irrational beasts. Regulate the needs of your body, therefore, in conformity with the hours of prayer and be prepared to dismiss arguments which would draw you away from observance of the rule; for it is the way of the devils to urge us to be absent during the time of prayer on the pretext of a seemingly worthy reason, so that they may plausibly draw us away from saving prayer. Do not make excuses, saying, ‘Alas, my head! Alas, my stomach!’ alleging invisible proofs of non-existent pain and relaxing the rigor of the vigil for the sake of taking rest. Rather, be constant in secret prayer which God beholds in secret and will repay you for openly (Matthew 6:18). Hoard the accruing gains of the most perfect way of life, that in the day of need you may discover hidden wealth. When it is your turn to serve, add to your physical labor a word of exhortation and comfort for love of those whom you serve, that your ministry, seasoned thus with salt (Colossians 4:6), may be acceptable. Do not allow another to do the work that is rightly yours, so that the reward as well may not be taken from you and given to another and he be enriched with your wealth while you are put to shame. Perform the duties of your ministry decently and with care as if you were serving Christ, for, ‘Cursed,’ says the Prophet, "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully." (Jeremiah 48:10). Fear, as if the eye of the Lord were upon you, the perversity which arises from fastidiousness and contempt, even though the task in hand seem to you a menial one. The work of the ministry is an exalted work and leads to the kingdom of heaven. It is a dragnet of the virtues, comprising within itself all the commandments of God. It contains, first of all, the virtue of virtues, humility, which brings with itself a host of blessings; secondly, there is that saying of the Lord: ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; stranger and weak and in prison and you ministered to me (Matthew 25:35, 36). There is, furthermore, a special merit in performing the owed service in a humble spirit without arrogance or irritation and murmuring. Be a zealous follower of those who lead upright lives and inscribe their deeds upon your heart. Pray to be among the few, for the good is rare; wherefore, few, also, are they who enter into the kingdom of heaven. Do not think that all who live in a cell are saved, the bad as well as the good, for this is not true. Many, indeed, take up the life of virtue, but few bear its yoke. The kingdom of heaven is the prize of the violent and the violent bear it away-these are the words of the Gospel (Matthew 11:12). By ‘violence’ is meant the affliction of the body which the disciples of Christ voluntarily undergo in the denial of their own will, in the refusal of respite to the body, and in the observance of Christ’s precepts. If, then, you wish to bear away the kingdom of God, become a man of violence; bow your neck to the yoke of Christ’s service (Matthew 11:30). Bind the strap of the yoke tightly about your throat. Let it pinch your neck. Rub it thin by labor in acquiring virtues, in fasting, in vigils, in obedience, in silence, in psalmody, in prayer, in tears, in manual labor, in bearing all the tribulations which befall you at the hands of men and demons. Source: St. Basil of Caesarea, Saint Basil: Ascetical Works, ed. Roy Joseph Deferrari, trans. M. Monica Wagner, vol. 9, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1962), 28–30
1 Comment
|
AboutMonthly articles for servants. Adapted from HGBY and other fathers' writings. Archives
April 2022
Categories
All
|