SAINT BASIL AND A WIDOW’S REPENTANCE

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,,C

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

SAINT BASIL AND A WIDOW’S REPENTANCE

A certain widow, who has surpassed the other women of Caesarea with regard to her wealth and nobility,had come to enslave herself in gluttony and in profligacy (licentiousness, lewdness or vulgar), being enthralled in defiling carnal passions and squandering her fortune. At length, unsettled and shaking when she brought to mind everlasting torments, she resolved to go before the Saint in order to confess the morass of her sins. But the enemy of the salvation of man, the devil, suggested to her thoughts of how intolerable her shame would be in confessing her deeds. Thus, he hindered her from coming to repentance by means of a thorough confession. Though the devil may have postponed her good intention, by the grace and mercy of God she did not abandon her decision to change her life. What then did she think to do? She wrote down on paper all her sins. At the end of her listing, she recorded one deadly sini; and then she sealed the letter appropriately. Then, while Saint Basil was on his way to church, she intercepted him and cast the sealed letter before his feet. With tears, she cried aloud, "Have mercy on me, O Saint of God, who am the most sinful of all the people!" Standing still, the Saint asked her the cause for such a flow of tears. She replied, "Holy master, I have written all my sins in this letter. I beseech thy holiness not to open it, but only through thy prayer thou mayest blot out my sins." The Saint took the letter and looked up to heaven, praying thus, "It is Thy work, O Master and Lord, to forgive the sins of this Thy handmaid; for Thou, the only sinless One, art good and the lover of man, and didst bear the sins of the people."

And making this entreaty, the Saint then entered the church and began to celebrate the Divine Liturgy while holding the letter. After the dismissal, he summoned that woman who gave him the letter. Listen, woman, for no one is able to forgive sins, save God alone," the Archbishop told her. " I did hear, holy master, and for this reason I besought thee to intercede with God for the forgiveness of my sins," she said. Then the woman broke the seal and unrolled the paper. And–O the Wonder! –she found it unwritten upon, except for that last grievous sin she had penned. Seeing this one had remained, she became faith hearted and beat her breast with her hands. Falling at the feet of the Saint, she held the letter and implored him, ‘Have mercy on me, O Saint of the Most High God, even as my other sins were blotted out through thy holy prayers, in like manner entreat God to wipe out this lawless deed of mine." The Saint, weeping, advised, "Arise, O woman, because I also am a sinful man, and I too have need of forgiveness. Go into the desert and seek a certain great ascetic named Ephraim. When he offers up entreaty to God, He will blot out thy sin."

The woman, therefore, having received the blessing of the Saint arrived in the desert and found the righteous Ephraim who upon hearing that she was sent to him by Archbishop Basil and of her request to blot out the deadly sin said to her, "…the same one who besought God from Whom thou didst receive forgiveness of many sins is able to supplicate on thy behalf for even this one. Go, therefore, back to him. However, Saint Basil had reposed by the time she returned. As she entered Caesarea, she met the precious relics of the Saint being escorted by a multitude proceeding to the place of burial.

After disclosing this, she cast the letter upon the bier of the Saint and recounted her story before all the people. One of the clergy took up the letter, because she desired to know what was that great lawless deed, but he found the paper to be utterly blank. Then he cried out with a loud voice to the woman, "O woman, there is nothing written anywhere on the paper! Why are you troubled? Do you not recognize the kindness of God? She acknowledged the compassion of God and also thanked Saint Basil and Saint Ephraim. From that time on she conducted the rest of her life in a prudent, chaste, and God-pleasing manner, until her repose in the Lord. [Resources: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church].

(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George