January 1
Every animal has been endowed by God, the Creator of all things, with an interior power of self-protection. You will find upon careful observation that, as a rule , brute beasts have an instinctive aversion for what would be harmful to them. On the other hand, they are drawn by a certain natural attraction to the enjoyment of whatever is beneficial. Consequently God…has given to us this great precept, so that we may do knowingly, by the attentive and diligent application of our reason, that which animals do instinctively.
(Homily on the Words: “Give Heed to Thyself”, pg. 9)
January 2
For it is better to advance little by little. Therefore by slow degrees steal away from the pleasures of life and obliterate every habit, lest by provoking all the pleasures at once you bring upon yourself a multitude of trials. When you have mightily overcome one passion of pleasure, array yourself against the next pleasure, and thus in due season you will overcome them all.
(Letter XLII, Vol. I, pg.247)
January 3
…the law [of God]develops and maintains the powers existing in germ within us. And since we are directed to love our neighbor as ourselves, let us consider whether we have received from the Lord the power to fulfill this commandment also. Who does not know that man is a civilized and gregarious animal, neither savage nor a lover of solitude!
( Long Rule 3, pg 25 )
January 4
Let us flee, brethren, from this disease [envy] that would teach us to wage war upon God. It is mother to homicide, does violence to nature causes us to disregard the closest ties of kinship, and brings upon us an unhappiness based upon irrational motives.
( Homily: ‘’Concerning Envy”, pg 40)
January 5
So all pervading is the malice of envy With this weapon alone, the Devil, the destroyer of our life, has been inflicting wounds upon all men and striking them down from the foundation of the world, and he will continue to do so until its consummation.
( Homily: ‘’Concerning Envy”, pg 43)
January 6
For a man’s life to be above slander is one of the most difficult in the world, not to say an impossibility. Yet to offer of one’s self no opportunity either to those who watch keenly over our doings or to those who spitefully lie in wait for one’s lapses, is not only possible but is the special characteristic of all who conduct their living prudently and with an eye to piety. (Letter XXIV, Vol I, pg. 145)
January 7
Nothing, indeed, is compatible with our nature as living in society and in dependence upon one another and as loving our own kind. Now, the Lord himself gave to us the seed of these qualities in anticipation of His requiring in due time their fruits, for He says: “A new commandment, I give unto you; that you love one another’’(John 13;34)
(Long Rule 3, pg. 25)
January 8
And having done this ( renounce all that you possess) we should watch over our heart with all vigilance not only to avoid ever losing the thought of God or sullying the memory of His wonders by vain imaginations, but also in order to carry about the holy thought of God stamped upon our souls an ineffaceable seal by continuous and pure recollection.
(Long Rule 5, pg. 29)
January 9
As the secular arts are directed toward certain specific aims and adapt their particular activities to these aims, so also, inasmuch as our actions have as their rule and guide the keeping of the commandments in a manner pleasing to God, it is impossible to do this with exactitude unless it be done as He wills who gave [ the commandments ]. And by our painstaking zeal to do the will of God in our work, we shall be united to God through our memory.
(Long Rule 5, pg. 29)
January 10
Consequently, that we may not receive incitements to sin through our eyes and ears and become imperceptibly habituated to it, and that the impress and form, so to speak, of what is seen and heard may nor remain in the soul unto its ruin, and that we may be able to be constant in prayer, we should before all things else seek to dwell in a retired place. In so doing, we should be able to overcome our former habits whereby we lived as strangers to the precepts of Christ ( and it is no mean struggle to gain the mastery over one’s wanted manner of acting, for custom maintained throughout a long period takes on the force of nature), and we could wipe away the stains of sin by assiduous prayer and preserving meditation on the will of God.
(Long Rule 6, pg. 32)
January 11
Moreover, wishing to animate our soul to the observance of this commandment [to love one another], He did not require signs of wonders as the means of recognizing His disciples ( although He gave the power of working these also in the Holy Spirit), but He says: ’’By this shall all men know that you are my disciples; if you love one another.(John 13:35)
(Long Rule 3, pg. 26)
January 12
It is impossible to gain proficiency in this meditation and prayer, however, while a multitude of distractions is dragging the soul about and introducing into it anxieties about affairs of this life. Could anyone, immersed in these cares, ever fulfill that command: ‘’If any man will come after me, let him deny himself ’’( Luke 9:23)
(Long Rule 6, pg. 32)
January 13
The Christians ought not to speak in a light vein. He ought not to make merry or tolerate merry-makers. He must not talk idly, prattling of things which neither conduce to the benefit of his listeners nor to the activities that are indispensable and permitted us by God; so that both the workers may as far as possible have silence in which to apply themselves to their work and that they themselves, who have been entrusted after trial with the dispensation of the word for the upbuilding of the faith, may speak only good words to the workers, lest God’s Holy Spirit be grieved.
(Letter XXII, Vol. I, pg. 133 )
January 14
But withdrawal from the world does not mean a bodily removal from it, but the severance of the soul from sympathy with the body, and the giving up of city, home, personal possessions, love of friends, property, means of substance, business, social relations and knowledge derived from human teaching, and it also means the readiness to receive in one’s heart the impressions engendered there by divine instruction. (Letter II, Vol. I, pg. 11)
January 15
Now to this end (readiness to receive in one’s heart the impressions engendered there by divine instruction) solitude gives us the greatest help, since it calms our passions, and gives reason leisure to sever them completely from the soul. For just as animals are easily subdued by caresses, so desire, anger, fear and grief, the venomous evils which beset the soul, if they are lulled to sleep by solitude and are not exasperated by constant irritations, are more easily subdued by the influence of reason.
(Letter II, Vol. I, pg. 13)
January 16
So be thou aware of this, brother, that it was not the presence of Christ but the fruit of the supplicant that freed the sick man of his sickness (Mathew 8: 8-13). So also now, if you pray, wherever you may be, and he who is sick believes that he will be aided by your prayers, all things will turn out for him according to his desire.
(Letter XLII, Vol. I, pg. 249)
January 17
Do not, therefore, withdraw from your place of living for your relatives’ sake, for if you withdraw from your place of living, you will perhaps withdraw from your way of living.
(Letter XLII, vol. I, pg 251)
January 18
For even if others are powerful, and great and confident in themselves, we, on the contrary, are nothing, and worth nothing; consequently we would never attribute so much to ourselves as to consider that single-handed we could surmount our difficulties, for we know very clearly that we need the help of each and every brother more than one hand needs the other. Indeed, from the very constitution of our bodies the Lord has taught us the necessity of the community.
(Letter XCVII, Vol. II, pg. 161-163)
January 19
For whenever I look upon these very limbs of ours and see that no one of them is sufficient in itself to produce action, how can I reason that I of myself suffice to cope with the difficulties of life? For one foot could not make a stride safely unless the other supported it, nor could the eye see accurately unless it had the other as its partner and, working in harmony with it, cast its glance upon the objects of sight.
(Letter XCVII, Vol. II, pg. 163)
January 20
And to sum up, I see that none of those things which are accomplished either by nature or by deliberate choice is completed without the union of the related forces; since, in truth, even prayer itself, if it be not voiced by many together, is much less efficacious than it might be, and the Lord has promised that He would be in the midst of two or three who should invoke Him together.
(Letter XCVII, Vol. II, pg. 163 )
January 21
And in short, the condition of the church now ( to use a vivid example, even if it seems to be rather mean) is like that of an old cloak, which being easily torn by an ordinary strain, cannot be again restored to its original strength. In such times, therefore, as these there is need of great diligence and much care that the churches may be in some way benefited, and a benefit it is that the parts which have hitherto been broke apart be united again. And a union might be effected if we should be willing to show indulgence to the weaker, whenever we can do so without causing harm to souls.
(Letter CXII, Vol. II, pg.223)
January 22
Examine closely what sort of being you are. Know your nature – that your body is mortal, but your soul, immortal; that our life has two denotations, so to speak: one relating to the flesh, and this life is quickly over, the other referring to the soul, life without limit. ’’Give heed to Thyself’’ cling not to the mortal as if it were eternal; disclaim not that which is eternal as it were temporal. Despise the flesh for it passes away; be solictous for your soul which will never die.
( Homily: “Give Heed to Thyself”, pg.11)
January 23
Vainglory, the desire to please men, and acting for display are strictly forbidden to Christians under all circumstances, because even a man who observes the precept but does it for the purpose of being seen and glorified by men loses the reward for that observance.
(Long Rule 20, pg.6)
January 24
That he who is drawn into sin against his will should understand that, because he was voluntarily mastered by another sin committed previously, he is now, as a consequence of this first sin, led into another against his will.
(Moral Rule 23, pg 42)
January 25
Does not the very custom of the world teach you in this matter, that it is necessary for one who will be a fair and impartial listener, not to be led entirely away by the one who is first to speak, but to await also the defense of him who is accused, that thus from the comparison of both arguments, the truth may be made manifest?
(Letter CCIV, vol. III pg. 159)
January 26
The deer cannot be caught with traps because of the keenness of his vision; whence its name, deriving from its own sharpsightedness. See to it, then, that you are not more remiss than the animals in protecting yourself.
( Homily: “Give Heed to Thyself”, pg.10)
January 27
That if anyone, does not keeps His commandments, it is proof that he does not love God and his Christ; but the observance of the commandments of Christ in bearing the tribulations sent by Him even unto death is proof of love.
(Short Rule 3, pg. 14)
January 28
That he who has the charity of Christ sometimes causes pain, even to one whom he loves, for his good.
(Short Rule 5, pg. 17)
January 29
Acquire an exact understanding of yourself, that you may be known how to make a suitable allotment to each of the two sides of your nature; food and clothing to the body and to the soul, the doctrines of piety, training in refined behavior, the practice of virtue, and the correction of vice.
( Homily: “Give Heed to Thyself”, pg. 11)
January 30
The most important path to the discovery of duty is also the study of the divinely- inspired Scriptures. For in them are not only found the precepts of conduct, but also the lives of saintly men, recorded and handed down to us, which lie before us like living images of God’s government, for our imitation of their good works.
( Letter II, Vol.I pg. 15)
January 31
And in general, just as painters in working from models constantly gaze at their examplar and thus strive to transfer the expression of the original to their own artistry, so too he who is anxious to make himself perfect in all the kinds of virtue must gaze upon the lives of the saints as upon statues, that move and act, and must make their excellence his own by imitation.
( Letter II, vol.I , pg.17)
Sources: Saint Basil: The Letters by Roy Deferrari in four volumes
St. Basil: The Fathers of the Church by Sr. Monica Wagner, C.S.C. in six pamphlets
Saint Basil Ascetical Works translated by Sr. Monica Wagner, C.S.C.
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