At the Feet of the Fathers: St. Basil-Look for Quiet When You Pray

At the Feet of the Fathers

Monday, November 14, 2022

St. Basil the Great

Basil of Caesarea, or St. Basil the Great (AD 330 – AD 379), was a bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was an influential theologian who stood opposed to the heresies of the early Christian church, particularly Arianism (the heresy that while Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, He is but a created creature, not begotten from eternity as of the same substance as the Father). St. Basil, together with his brother Gregory of Nyasa, and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus, are collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers.

Look For Quiet When You Pray

We must work to have a quiet mind. You can't see an object right in front of you if your eye moves restlessly up, down, and sideways; you have to look at it steadily. In the same way, your mind can’t understand the truth if it’s distracted by a thousand worldly cares.

A man who isn't yet married is harassed by wild longings, rebellious impulses, and hopeless heartaches; a man who has found his mate is surrounded by his own storm of cares. A man with no children longs for children; a man with children worries about their education. You worry about your wife, your house, and a downturn in your business. Every day that comes on darkens your soul in its own way, and night after night picks up where the day's worries left off and cheat your mind with dreams to match your daily worries.

One way to escape all this is to separate from the whole world. I don’t mean a physical separation, but cutting off your soul’s sympathy with the body so that your heart can be ready to receive every impression of God’s teaching. We prepare the heart by unlearning the prejudices we pick up in evil conversation—like wiping a slate clean before you write on it.

Solitude is extremely useful for this purpose. It quiets our passions and gives our principles a chance to cut them out of our souls. Just as animals are easier to control when you pet them, lust and anger, fear and sorrow—deadly enemies of the soul—are easier to bring under the control of reason after they‘ve been calmed by doing nothing, where there isn’t constant stimulation. Find a place like ours, away from dealings with other people, so that you won’t have outside interruptions breaking in on your prayers.

-St. Basil, Letter 2, 2