PS Basil, Longer Rule Flashcards
According to Basil, what are the benefits of living in retirement (living in seclusion)?
1) A secluded or remote habitation contributes to the removal of distraction from the soul. So that we might not receive incitements to sin through our eyes and ears and become imperceptibly habituated to it and distract us from being able to be constant in prayer.
[Remove distraction to sin which draws us away from the meditation on the will of God]
2) The soul in looking at the crowd of other offenders does not have time to become aware of its own sins and to afflict itself penance for its errors; on the contrary, by comparison with those who are worse, takes on a certain deceptive appearance of self righteousness.
[Remove the dangers of self-righteousness and desensitisation of our own sins which draws us away from the remembrance of God]
According to Basil, why it is necessary to live in community?
1) No one of us is self-sufficient as regards to corporeal necessities, but we require one another’s aid in supplying our needs. The doctrine of the charity of Christ does not permit the individual to be concerned solely with his own private interests; but a life of solitude is concerned only with the private service of individual needs.
[We need the help of others especially for our physical needs, and solitude precludes us from helping others]
2) A person living in solitary retirement will not readily discern his own defects, since he has no one to admonish and correct him with mildness and compassion.
[We need others to correct our own shortcomings]
3) The majority of the commandments are easily observed by several persons living together, but not so in the case of one living alone.
[In community, we are in a better position to lead lives that are fruitful in serving the common good and in accordance to God’s command]
4) No one has the capacity to receive all spiritual gifts, but the grace of the Spirit is given proportionately to the faith of each, when one is living in association with others, the grace privately bestowed on each individual becomes the common possession of his fellows.
[We are able to exercise and share our spiritual gifts in community]
According to Basil, what are some dangers of living in solitude?
1) Self-satisfaction; since the solitary has no one to appraise his conduct, he will think he has achieved the perfection of the precept.
2) He will not recognise his own deficiencies nor will he discover the advance he may have made in his manner of acting, since he will have removed all practical occasion for the observance of the commandments.
[No way to practically live out God’s commands e.g. how to show humility when no one to compare or confirm his humility, how to exercise patience when no one to contradict you?]
