Thursday, April 20 : Saint Basil

The soul that loves God is never satisfied, yet to speak of God is bold indeed: our minds are very far from so great a matter… The further one goes in the knowledge of God, the more one feels one’s powerlessness. This is what it was like for Abraham, this, too, was what it was like for Moses: even though they were able to see God – insofar as that is humanly possible – both made themselves least of all. Abraham referred to himself as «dust and ashes»; Moses said of himself that he was stumbling and slow in speech (Gn 18,27; Ex 4,10). In fact he was giving testimony; the feebleness of his tongue gave voice to the greatness of Him whom his mind grasped. We speak about God, not as he is but insofar as we can grasp him. As for you, if you want to say or understand something about God, leave your bodily nature behind, forsake your bodily senses… Raise your mind above all created things and contemplate the divine nature: it is there, immutable, indivisible, inaccessible light, shining glory, most desirable goodness, inimitable beauty by which the soul is wounded but unable to put worthily into words. There is the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit… The Father is the principle of all things, the cause of being of all that is, origin of living creatures. He is the one from whom flows the source of Life, Wisdom, Power, the Image who perfectly resembles the invisible God: the Son, begotten of the Father, living Word, who is God and turned towards the Father (1Cor 1,24; Heb 1,3; Jn 1,1). From this name ‘Son’ we learn that he shares the same nature: he is not created through an order but unceasingly shines out from within his own substance, one with the Father from all eternity, equal to him in goodness, partaking in his glory… And when our intellect has been purified of all earthly passions and has set aside every sensible creature, like a fish that rises from the depths to the surface, given back to the purity of its creation, it will then see the Holy Spirit where the Son and the Father are to be found. This Spirit, being of the same essence according to its nature, likewise possesses every good: goodness, uprightness, holiness, life… Just as burning belongs to fire and shining to light, so one can no more take away from the Holy Spirit the task of making holy or giving life than of goodness and uprightness.

maronite readings – rosary,team