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BASILIAN MONASTICISM 11-13 February 2009 THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT Very Rev. Basil Koubetch, OSBM—Protoarchimandrite Emeritus page 3 PRAYER IN LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL Rev. Fr. Matej Havryliv, OSBM page 10 ON THE LIFE AND INFLUENCE OF OUR HOLY MOTHER MACRINA Mother Valentina Hadarau, OSBM page 17 MONASTICISM AS A MODEL OF BAPTISMAL LIFE SERVING SOCIETY Rev. Dr. Ivan Kaszczak page 23 THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE R ULE OF ST. BASIL Rev. Fr. Porfiryj Pidruchnyj, OSBM page 29 17-20 November 2009 IOANNIKYJ BASILOVYCH OSBM AND THE MONASTIC FORMATION OF THE BASILIAN MONKS IN THE LATE XVIIITH AND BEGINNING OF THE XIXTH CENTURY IN MUKACHEVO EPARCHY Rev. Dr. Milan Lach, SJ page 37 MONASTIC LIFE IN THE XXIST CENTURY: FINDING A BALANCE IN A LIFE OF PRAYER, WORK AND LEISURE Dr. Michelina Tenace page 55 THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT: GOD’S COMMANDMENTS Very Rev. Basil Koubetch, OSBM—Protoarchimandrite Emeritus page 68 THE MODEL MONK/NUN IN THE XXIST CENTURY THROUGH THE EYES OF ST. BASIL Rev. Dr. Stefan Batruch page 78 21-25 June 2010 NEW LIFE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT Rev. Dr. Renzo Lavatori, SJ page 90 1 METROPOLITAN VELAMYN RUTSKYJ’S COMPILATION OF THE RULE OF ST. BASIL DURING THE BASILIAN REFORM Rev. Dr. Augustine Babiak page 95 THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT: THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS Very Rev. Basil Koubetch, OSBM—Protoarchimandrite Emeritus page 105 PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL TRANSFIGURATION IN THE ANAPHORA OF ST. BASIL Rev. Dr. Steven Hawkes-Teeples, SJ page 110 4-6 May 2011 NATURAL CONTEMPLATION IN ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA Rev. Dr. Enrico Cattaneo, SJ page 117 THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT: POVERTY Very Rev. Basil Koubetch, OSBM—Protoarchimandrite Emeritus page 129 THE ECCLESIASTICAL DIMENSION OF MONASTIC LIFE IN ST. BASIL THE GREAT Very Rev. Archimandrite Manel Nin, OSB page 137 INTRODUCTION TO EVAGRIUS FOR MONASTIC FORMATION TODAY Rev. Dr. Jeremy Driscoll, OSB page 144 April 2012 EAST AND WEST: A PASSING MOMENT Rev. Dr. Ivan Kaszczak page 150 THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT: CHASTITY Very Rev. Basil Koubetch, OSBM—Protoarchimandrite Emeritus page 159 CONTRIBUTORS page 166 2 THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT Very Rev. Basil Koubetch, OSBM Protoarchimandrite Emeritus Introduction The St. Basil the Great’s literary achievements strongly influenced the development of theological thought and spirituality in both East and West. Without a doubt, the faithful have quenched their spiritual thrist in his teaching as from living stream, which flows from a familiar source and which calls them back to that very same fount—Sacred Scripture. Christians—from the earliest times to the present— recognize the perennial value of Eastern Monasticism’s Patriarch. His works still attract the attention of academics, theologians, patristic scholars, as well as monks, nuns and the laity. Scholarly studies on St. Basil’s literary works are many and they can —for the most part— be characterised as historical; that is, they primarily shed light upon his activity within his particular historical context, while themes concerning his ascetical life are for the most part treated only in a general manner (*).1 The historical works —especially the patristic manuals and histories of spirituality— systematically present St. Basil’s work as a key contribution from an important Church Father (*). Other researchers focus their attention on his shaping of the development of monastic life in the East and West (*). Other studies raise the question of the authenticity of his works. The compostion of the Basilian ascetical works is of a great interest to some (*). Other authors try to elaborate the historical context around the develpoment of his asceticism (*), helping the reader to better grasp the originality of St. Basil’s ascetical approach (*). The theme of the love of God and neighbour are key and particularly accented within his works. There are many publications dedicated to this latter topic (*). Some authors concentrate on the call to holiness and perfection (*), while others dedicate their academic energies to that of contemplation (*), of which there is no separate work written by St. Basil, although it permeates all of his works. Other thematic studies include the activity of the Holy Spirit in the desire for perfection (*); St. Basil’s apologetics in the defence of orthodoxy (*); and various other works, which encompass the entire literary inheritance of St. Basil. The weight or rather centrality of Holy Scripture, if not stressed, is at least touched upon in all these studies on St. Basil. This emphasis on the weight of the God’s Word in St. Basil’s literary works is treated by many authors in their research, however, there is no one study dedicated to this topic.2 Those studies which underline 1 This symbol (*) represents various studies on a given theme. This present work will give only the main works on St. Basil, which develop the theme of the Word of God in his teaching and works. For a more complete bibliography see: F. TRISOGLIO, Basilio il grande si presenta; la vita, l’azione, le opere (Todo, Perugia: Litograf Srl, 2004), 279-295; A. HOLMES, OSB, A Life Pleasing to God: The Spirituality of the Rules of St. Basil, (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 2000), 263-270; L. CREMASCHI, Basilio di Cesarea — Le regole, (Torino: Ed. Qiqijon, Communità di Bose, 1993), 429-436. 3 St. Basil’s teaching on the inspiration of Sacred Scripture by the Holy Spirit,3 give the reason behind his veneration of God’s Word. On the basis of these various studies, it is easy to see that he had an excellent knowledge of and complete fidelity to the Word of God. In the light of Vatican II, this attribute of St. Basil becomes even more accented by many authors. As for example, Paul J. Fediuk4 and Umberto Neri5 show that in St. Basil’s work “On Baptism” biblical citations make up over fifty percent of the text.6 Obviously, this theme is essential in any study on St. Basil; however, it is also extremely broad in its scope. In fact, it is inexhaustible. Moreover, the aim of our present work is to limit ourselves to the goal of the Commission; i.e., to highlight the importance of God’s Word in the life and works of St. Basil, so that with greater fidelity to our founder, we could share the treasure of his doctrine throughout our Order and Christ’s Church. On the basis of the works and studies on St. Basil, it not necessary to ask ‘if’ and ‘how much’ Sacred Scripture weighs in his works, nor to demonstrate ‘that’ he lived, worked and wrote in accordance with the Word of God. Anyone who as ever read St. Basil’s teachings or rule, or even those academics, who accent this attribute of his works, know this very well. In this present work, however, I intend to show ‘how’ St. Basil does this in a few chosen texts, with the goal of discovering some 2 M. GIRARDI, Basilio di Cesarea — interprete della Scrittura, lessico, principi ermeneutici, prassi, (Bari: Edipuglia 1998), 11. Here, the author refers to this lack and cites the only doctorate found on this theme (P. SCIARMA, L’esegesi di Basilio di Cesarea nelle Omelie sui Salmi /tesi dattil./, (Roma: Università di Roma “La Sapienza, 1983). He states that: “Basilio raramente introduce una determinata interpretazione connotandone la natura dal punto di vista esegetico; di regola si limita semplicemente a proporla, da sola o in alternativa ad altre. See also: B. WAWRYK, OSBM, De exegesi S. Basilii Magni: De canone, textu et inspiratione S. Scripturae (Dissertatio ad lauream), (Romae: 1940); A. Hawkaluk, Nominum divinorum quae apud S. Baslium Magnum reperiuntur; Catalogus et ratio (Dissertatio ad lauream), (Romae: 1966), 493-507 (this is a valuble work, where the author lists the Scripture texts St. Basil cites and their frequency); S. BATRUCH, Модель християнського життя у творах св. Василія Великого, (Львів: Вид. Свічадо, 2007), 121-135; P. SCAZZOSO, Introduzione alla ecclesiologia, in Studia Patristica Mediolanensia, edd. G. LAZZATI and R. CANTALAMESSA, vo. 4, (Milan: Vita e Pensiero, 1975), 125-144 ; F. TRISOGLIO, Basilio il grande si presenta; la vita, l’azione, le opere (Todo, Perugia: Litograf Srl, 2004), 204-224; Basilio tra oriente e occidente, (Torino: Ed. Qiqijon, Communità di Bose, 2001), 67-92. 3 B. WAWRYK, OSBM, Doctrina S. Basilii Magni de canone inspiratione S. Scripturae, (Romae: Apud Curiam Ordinis Basiliani S. Josaphat, 1943). D. AMAND, L’ascèse monastique de Sainte Basile, (Braine-le-Comte, 1949), 82-85. 4 P. FEDIUK, Святий Василій Великий і християнське аскетичне життя, in Analecta OSBM, (Roma-Toronto: 1978), 146. 5 BASILIO DI CESAREA, Il Battesimo, ed. U. NERI, (Brescia: Paideia Editrice), 54-97. 6 Ibid., 54. The author remarks that in such frequent use of Scripture, Basil establishes himself as a theologian (“ciò gli consente di rivelare appieno la sua personalitá di teologo” ) and he also affirms: “E i Moralia, appunto, non sono che una semplice elecazione di testi biblici, intercalata da brevissime enunciazioni interpretive — le cosidette «regole»: a questa ben fornita antologia, Basilio attingerà poi continuamente, nel seguito della sua vita, volta a volta adattandola e intergrandola in ordine alle situazioni nuove che veranno creandosi, o al diverso configurasi dei problemi sui quali occorrerà prendere posizione.” 4 answers to the question: “How can we —Basilian monks and nuns— do the same, today?” 1. General Introductory Themes 1.1.