Longer Rules (Asceticon, Regulae fusius tractatae)

Contents

Reading pages: 0–2 · 3–7 · 8–15 · 16–23 · 24–34 · 35–42 · 43–54 · 55

1. 0Basil's preface urges his hearers to keep every one of God's commandments, out of the love of sons rather than the fear of slaves or the hope of hirelings, and to search the Scriptures together for anything they lack.
2. 1Asked whether the commandments have an order, Basil answers from the Gospel that love of God is the first and greatest commandment and love of neighbour the second, completing and depending on the first.
3. 2Basil teaches that the power to love God is implanted in human nature, that God's beauty and goodness draw the soul, and that his gifts, above all the redemption in Christ, make love of him a debt we must pay.
4. 3Basil shows that the power to love one's neighbour is also implanted in human nature, that Christ joined love of neighbour to love of himself, and that Moses and Paul showed such love to the point of offering themselves for their people.
5. 4Basil says that fear of God suits beginners, but those mature in Christ need the commandments of love, since much will be required of those to whom much has been given.
6. 5Basil teaches that the commandments can be kept only by a mind undistracted, withdrawn from worldly cares and attachments, which keeps the thought of God constantly before it and does everything to please him rather than men.
7. 6Basil argues that living apart from careless company helps the soul to resist sin, overcome old habits, deny itself, take up the cross, and keep the remembrance of God.
8. 7Basil argues that the common life of like-minded brothers is better than solitude, because we need one another, love does not seek its own, sins are corrected, gifts are shared, and humility and service can be practised only among others.
9. 8Basil teaches that following Christ requires renouncing the devil, the flesh, kin, possessions, and finally oneself, after the example of the apostles and of Paul, because the heart cannot serve two masters and riches choke the word.
10. 9Basil rules that one entering the brotherhood must not neglect his property but should administer it carefully as consecrated to the Lord, warn grasping relatives without quarrelling or going to secular courts, and seek their salvation rather than the money.
11. 10Basil rules that all who come should be received, but only after their past life and character have been examined and tested by labour, confession of sins, and willingness to do humble work.
12. 11Basil rules that runaway slaves should be admonished and returned to their masters, as Paul returned Onesimus, unless the master forces them to sin, in which case the slave must endure or the community must bear the consequences of protecting him.
13. 12Basil rules that married persons may enter the ascetic life only after examination before witnesses of whether both spouses consent, though if one resists, the other may follow Christ's call to leave even a wife, and prayer and fasting often win the reluctant partner's consent.
14. 13Basil commends silence to newcomers as proof of self-control and as the way to unlearn worldly habits and learn the measured speech proper to the godly.
15. 14Basil rules that one who has professed the ascetic life and then abandons it has sinned against God by sacrilege and should no longer be received by the brothers, even for shelter.
16. 15Basil rules that children may be received at any age, orphans freely and others from their parents before witnesses, to be brought up apart from the professed in a separate house under a wise elder, with suited discipline and scriptural schooling, and allowed to profess virginity only when their reason is mature, before the church's leaders as witnesses.
17. 16Basil shows from Scripture and the saints that self-control is necessary for the godly life, defines it as abstinence from pleasures for the subduing of the flesh rather than total fasting, and extends it to glory, wealth, anger, speech, sight, and hearing.
18. 17Basil rules that ascetics must restrain loud laughter, which Christ never used, though a cheerful smile and spiritual joy are fitting, and describes self-control as the destruction of sin and the visible mark of the athlete of Christ.
19. 18Basil rules that ascetics should taste every food set before them, to show against heretics who reject foods that all God's creation is good, while still keeping self-control by using simple food only as need requires.
20. 19Basil teaches that self-control toward the passions means complete estrangement from harmful pleasure, while with food the measure varies by age, work, and health, the common aim being to meet need simply and cheaply, as Christ fed the crowds with barley loaves and fish.
21. 20Basil rules that guests should be served the community's own simple fare, adding only what a weary traveller needs, so as to avoid vainglory, teach outsiders by example, and not waste on luxury the food God gives for the hungry.
22. 21Basil rules that brothers should seek the lowest place at table as Christ commanded, but without contending for it, leaving the seating to the host so that humility is not turned into display.
23. 22Basil rules that the Christian's clothing should be the plainest and cheapest, one garment serving day and night, and that a common, distinctive dress both expresses humility and holds the wearer to the life he professes.
24. 23Basil commends the belt from the examples of John, Elijah, Peter, Paul, Job, and Christ himself, as a sign of readiness for work, and refers to his earlier teaching against owning more than one tunic.
25. 24Basil describes the common life as an ordered body in which the superior acts as the eye and each brother does his part, so that neither the superior's negligence nor the brother's disobedience is without danger.
26. 25Basil warns the superior that he will answer for the blood of any brother he fails to warn or correct, and that he must guide without flattery or self-seeking, caring for the brothers' souls even to death.
27. 26Basil rules that each brother should disclose every movement of his heart to those entrusted with the care of souls, so that good may be confirmed and faults healed.
28. 27Basil rules that if the superior is suspected of a fault, the senior and wisest brothers should remind him, so that he may be corrected or the suspicion cleared without disturbing good order.
29. 28Basil rules that a disobedient brother should be pitied, admonished privately, then rebuked before all, and finally, if incorrigible, cut off from the community like a diseased limb, while the obedient should accept even commands beyond their strength as Christ obeyed to death.
30. 29Basil rules that work done with grumbling or pride is like a blemished sacrifice and must not be accepted by the community, lest the superior encourage the fault, while the obedient should do even the hardest tasks gladly in hope of reward.
31. 30Basil warns the superior not to be proud of his rank but to regard his care of the brothers as service, like a physician tending many wounds, since the first must be servant of all.
32. 31Basil rules that brothers should accept service from their superiors, as the disciples accepted Christ's washing of their feet, since refusing it under a show of humility is really pride.
33. 32Basil rules that brothers should not leave the community to visit or care for relatives, that godly relatives should be cared for by the superior as common kin, worldly ones kept at a distance, and that only those gifted for it should speak with visitors.
34. 33Basil rules that meetings between brothers and sisters should take place only when need requires, at a fit time and place, with at least two and no more than three on each side, and that private matters should be handled through chosen elders of each sex.
35. 34Basil rules that those who distribute necessities must do so to each according to need, without favouritism or rivalry, as serving Christ himself, and that those served must show themselves worthy by doing God's will in health and sickness.
36. 35Basil argues against forming several brotherhoods in one village, since good superiors are rare, rival communities breed contention and burden visitors, and the apostolic pattern is one heart and one common life under one care.
37. 36Basil rules that a brother may leave the community only if, having rebuked a fault as Christ commanded and appealed to competent judges, he finds the others persisting in evil, or if sent elsewhere by the Lord's commandment; leaving through fickleness bars him from the brotherhoods.
38. 37Basil rules that the brothers must work diligently with their hands, praying and giving thanks while they work, and must also keep the appointed hours of common prayer: dawn, the third, sixth, and ninth hours, evening, nightfall, midnight, and before daybreak.
39. 38Basil rules that the brothers should practise crafts that keep their life quiet and simple, serve real needs rather than luxury or vice, and do not draw them from prayer, preferring farming where it brings no disturbance.
40. 39Basil rules that the brothers should sell their work nearby, even at a lower price, rather than travel; when travel is unavoidable they should go together to towns of devout people, keep the hours of prayer, and lodge together.
41. 40Basil forbids the brothers to trade at the fairs held at martyrs' shrines, which should be places of prayer and of imitation of the martyrs, as Christ drove the traders from the temple.
42. 41Basil rules that each brother should practise the craft assigned by his superiors, not one of his own choosing, give up even a craft the community disapproves, work diligently at one task, help in others only when called, and claim no ownership of his tools.
43. 42Basil teaches that the brothers should work not for their own needs but to fulfil Christ's command to serve those in need, explaining Paul's “eat their own bread” as addressed to idlers, and warning that hope placed in oneself or another rather than God is apostasy.
44. 43Basil teaches that the superior must be a living example of every commandment, above all of Christ-like humility and meekness, compassionate yet not silent about sin, wise and far-seeing, and chosen by the leaders of other brotherhoods after proving his character.
45. 44Basil rules that only those who can travel without spiritual harm should be sent on journeys, preferably in company with brothers of neighbouring communities, and that on their return they should give an account of their conduct, as Peter and Paul reported to the churches.
46. 45Basil rules that a deputy should be appointed to care for the brothers when the superior is away, and that only one appointed brother should answer visitors' questions, since speaking about God's judgments, like surgery, belongs only to the tested and skilled.
47. 46Basil rules that every sin, one's own or a brother's, must be disclosed to the superior if it cannot otherwise be healed, since concealed sin festers like a hidden disease and hiding it is to help kill the sinner.
48. 47Basil rules that a brother who disagrees with the superior's orders should object openly, or through others, on scriptural grounds, or else obey in silence, and that those who persist in secret murmuring against them must be expelled.
49. 48Basil rules that brothers should not pry into the superior's decisions, which only his close counsellors share, but should attend to their own tasks, as the disciples did not question Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman.
50. 49Basil rules that disputes among the brothers should not be argued contentiously but referred, through one appointed and capable brother, to common examination or to the superior.
51. 50Basil rules that the superior must rebuke without anger, more severely for offences against God or others than for slights to himself, so as to show that he hates the sin, not the sinner, and acts for God's glory and the brother's salvation.
52. 51Basil rules that the superior should correct faults like a physician, treating each by its opposite: idle talk by silence, oversleeping by vigils, idleness by labour, greed by fasting, and grumbling by separation until the brother repents.
53. 52Basil rules that brothers should accept penalties not with resentment but as patients accept painful treatment from physicians, regarding the one who causes them godly grief as a benefactor.
54. 53Basil rules that craft-masters should not punish their pupils themselves but bring their faults to the superior, who alone, or one he has tested and appointed, should decide the correction.
55. 54Basil recommends periodic meetings of the superiors of the brotherhoods, so that each may report difficult cases and have his handling of them corrected or confirmed by the judgment of the others.
56. 55Basil teaches that medicine is God's gift for the weakness of the fallen body and may be used by Christians, provided they place their hope in God rather than physicians, accept illness when it is God's discipline, and treat the body's healing as a pattern for the healing of the soul.