Wherefore the virgin turned away shamelessly, although she had heard that the Bridegroom Christ said through Jeremiah: "And he said, when she committed adultery in all these things, turn to me. And be not converted" (cf. Jeremiah 3:7). "Or is Ritina (resin, balm) not in Gilead? Or is there no doctor there? For what reason is the daughter of My people healed?" (cf. Jeremiah 8:22). And in the Divine Scriptures you will find many remedies for this evil, many cures that save from perdition — such are the mysteries concerning death and resurrection, such are the words about the Last Judgment and eternal torment, the teachings about repentance and the remission of sins, the thousandfold examples of conversion, the drachma, the sheep and the son who devoured his possessions with harlots, "bent it and be found, dead and alive again" (cf. Lux. 15:32). Let us make use of these remedies from evil, and with them let us heal our souls.

Meditate, then, on the last day (for surely you will not live forever alone); imagine the confusion of the contraction of breath and the hour of death, the approaching sentence of God, the hastening Angels, the soul in terrible confusion, mercilessly tormented by a sinful conscience, turning pitiful eyes to the there, at last, inevitable necessity of distant migration.

Write in your mind the final revolution in the common life, when the Son of God will come in His glory with His angels. For "he will come... and he will not be silent" (Psalm 49:3), when he comes to judge the living and the dead, and to reward each one according to his deeds, when this trumpet, having sounded something great and terrible, will awaken those who have fallen asleep from eternity, "and those who have done good shall come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29). Bring to mind the vision of Daniel, how he harasses the Judgment before our eyes. "Behold," he says, "until the thrones are set up, and the Ancient of Days is gray, and His garments are white as snow, and the hair of His head is like a pure wave... His wheels are scorching fire. A river of fire flowed forth before Him: thousands of thousands served Him, and thousands of them stood before Him: the judgment seat was sitting, and the books were opened" (Dan. 7:9-10). The good, the bad, the open, the secret, the deeds, the words, the thoughts—all are suddenly clearly revealed to the ears of all, angels and men. In what position will those who have lived badly necessarily be? Where will the soul be hidden, which suddenly appears full of shame before the eyes of so many spectators? What will be the state of the body of one who has undergone these endless and unbearable torments where there is an inextinguishable fire, an immortally tormenting worm, a dark and terrible bottom of hell, bitter weeping, extraordinary wailing, weeping and gnashing of teeth, and there is no end to suffering? There is no deliverance from all this after death, there is no way or opportunity to escape the bitter torments.

This can be avoided now. As long as there is an opportunity, let us raise ourselves from falling and let us not despair of ourselves if we reform ourselves from evil deeds. Jesus Christ came into the world of sinners to save. "Come, let us worship and fall down before Him, and let us weep before Him" (cf. Ps. 94:6). The Word, which calls us to repentance, cries out and cries: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). So, there is a way of salvation, if we will. "Thou hast devoured death," but know for sure that "God will take away every tear from every face" of the penitent (cf. Isaiah 25:8). "The Lord is faithful in all His words" (Psalm 144:13). He does not lie when he says: "If your sins are as scarlet, they are as white as snow, but if they are as scarlet, they are as white" (cf. Isaiah 1:18). Ready to heal your infirmity is the great Physician of Souls, this ready Deliverer not only of your soul, but of all souls enslaved to sin. His word, His sweet and saving lips spoke: "They do not require the health of a physician, but he who is sick... For the righteous have not come, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:12-13). What excuse have you or anyone else for crying out? The Lord wants to deliver you from the painful wound and show you the light from the darkness. The Good Shepherd is looking for you, leaving the sheep that have not gone astray. If you give yourself up to Him, the Lover of Mankind will not hesitate to carry you on His shoulders, rejoicing that He has found His sheep bent. The Father has risen and awaits your return from error. Only reform yourself, and when you are still far away, He will flow, fall on your neck, and enclose you in a friendly embrace, already cleansed by repentance. And in the "first garment" (cf. Luke 15:22) He will put on the soul that has put off "the old man with his works" (Col. 3:9), and He will put the "ring" (cf. Luke 15:22) on the hands that have washed away the blood of death, and He will put on the feet that have turned from the path of evil to the path of the Gospel world, and He will declare a day of gladness and joy to Himself, and to Angels and men, and in every way He will celebrate your salvation Amen, "I say unto you,"  He says, "as joy is in heaven" before God for "the only sinner who repents" (cf. Luke 15:7). If any of those who think to stand condemns you that you are soon accepted, then the good Father Himself will say in your defense: "Rejoice and rejoice in the manner befitting you, for this" My daughter "is dead, and is alive, and bent away, and is found" (cf. Luke 15:32).

51 (55). To Parigorius, presbyter

(He inspires this presbyter that he is trying in vain to justify himself in keeping a strange woman in his house, contrary to both Basil's prohibition and the canon of the Council of Nicaea. (Written at the beginning of the episcopacy)

With all patience I read your letter and wondered why, when you could briefly and easily justify yourself in a case, you intend to remain with what you are accused of, and try to heal the incurable by verbosity. We were not the first, and we were not the only ones, Parigorius, who decreed that women should not live together with men. But read the canon issued by our holy fathers at the Council of Nicaea, which clearly forbade the possession of synisacts. A celibate life is honorable because a man withdraws from cohabitation with a woman. Why, if a man, bearing a vow by name, in fact acts like those who live with women, then it is evident that he only in the name seeks the honor of virginity, but does not abstain from unseemly pleasures. It was all the more convenient for you to yield to my demand, since, as you say, you are free from all carnal passion. And I do not think that a seventy-year-old would live together with a woman out of passion, and what I have defined is determined not because something unseemly is being done, but because we have been taught by the Apostle "not to consider stumbling a stumbling block to a brother" (cf. Rom. 14:13). I know that what some people do is reasonable, but for others it is a reason for sin. For this reason, following the decree of the Holy Fathers, I commanded you to separate from this woman. Why then do you blame the chorbishop and mention the old enmity? Why do you complain about me, as if I willingly incline my ears to accept slander, and not about myself, who finds it difficult to lag behind the habit of a woman? Therefore, remove her from your home and place her in a monastery. Let her live with virgins, and men serve you, so that the name of God will not be blasphemed for your sake (cf. Rom. 2:24). And while you do this, the thousands of excuses that you make in your letters will not benefit you, but you will end your life idle and give an account to the Lord of your idleness. And if, without reforming, you dare to keep the priesthood with you, then you will be anathema to all the people, and whoever receives you will be pronounced excommunicated in the whole Church.

81 (85). On what should not be sworn

(St. Basil, who often in general meetings and in private conversations suggested that tax collectors should not force the villagers to take oaths, proposes the same in writing. (Written in 372)

And at every meeting I do not cease to testify, and say the same thing in private, so that when collecting public taxes, the collectors do not bring the villagers to oaths. It remains also to testify in a letter before God and men about the same thing, namely, that you must cease and not cause death to the souls of men, but to devise some other means of punishment, and to show this mercy to people, so that their souls may be unharmed. I am writing to you about this not because you have need of verbal exhortation (you have your own motives to fear the Lord), but so that all who are in your dependence may learn from you not to irritate the Holy One and not to bring Yourself to indifference to Him by a bad habit in a forbidden matter. For they are of no use for oaths and for the punishments themselves, but in their souls they give place to the evil recognized by all. As soon as people learn to break their oath, they are in no hurry to pay their due, but think that the oath was invented for them as an instrument of deception and as a pretext for postponing payment. And so, either a speedy recompense from the Lord will come upon the perjurers, and there will be no one to do what is required, because those who are subject to judgment have already been destroyed by punishment, or the Lord in His long-suffering delays punishment, and, as I have already said before, those who have tried the patience of the Lord despise the goodness of the Lord. Let them not break the laws in vain, and do not provoke God against themselves. I have said that I was obliged to say: the disobedient will see this.

102 (106). To the warrior