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Text Box: THE BASILIAN FATHERS (The Society of Clerks Secular of Saint Basil) THE MOUTH THAT BLOWS ON THE SPARK AND TURNS THE SPARK INTO FLAME CAN ALSO BLOW TOO HARD AND EXTINGUISH THE SPARK The gentleness of Christ Teaching should not be interpreted or understood to indicate malleability or flexibility in doctrine. Rather, it should be understood as acknowledging the brittle character of human nature. His gentleness in teaching is an acknowledgment of the difficulty in admitting error experienced by those who desire to or have practiced self indulgence and by those who have practiced error, especially the error discussed in the teaching. However, Christ never stepped back from true dogma in practice or in teaching. Nor did He adjust the strength of His teaching to accommodate the brittleness of those He taught. Considering this, how did He keep from extinguishing the flame He had kindled? How did He keep from blowing out the spark of Faith as He encouraged it with the breath of truth. Christ did not set the flame of the Divine Virtues in a mere candle in the soul. He carefully laid (built) the preparation for a fire as in a fireplace, or as in building a torch bound with pitch and resin, so that once set aflame a gentle breath would quickly spread the fire which would increase in intensity and strength with breaths of ever increasing strength and intensity. He would then add additional fuel to the laid fire, add additional pitch soaked bindings to the torch. A quickly laid fire may or may not catch. It may smoulder and suffocate itself. If this begins to happen, the fire maker must blow the smoke away, and adjust the kindling.

Text Box: Even a well laid and strong fire must be fed and tended. If improperly tended it may begin to smoulder and then need to be fanned or have the smoke blown away. If left unattended it may die out, or even spark and burn down the house. Or, if unattended, another may extinguish it. It should not be brought to such an intensity that it burns itself out, outstripping its supply of fuel. Therefore, fuel must be set aside for it, and fed it as required. A well tended fire will provide warmth in the cold, light in the darkness, change the inedible into nourishing food, and even comfort in the midst of misery. Torches may be lit from it and its illumination spread to establish new fires which will provide the Divine Virtues to others. These new fires must also be carefully tended, just as the original fire must be carefully tended. Remember, the fireman who uses a hose extinguishes the flame, while the fireman who weilds a shovel stokes the flame. Weild a careful shovel. + EVERY PRIEST SHOULD FOSTER THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS IN EACH MEMBER OF HIS FLOCK CHRIST IS THE NEST OF HOLINESS It is impossible to describe what Peter, James, and John saw when Our Saviour Jesus Christ changed at the Transfiguration. His face shone as the sun, His garments became white as snow, and Moses and Elias appeared talking with Him.

Text Box: When someone sees God, or, in this life, the energies of God, he sees the totality of all holiness, beauty, justice, fairness, decency, love, and everything which is good. He sees everything for which decent people strive. It makes the reality of much of this world more stark, more clear; showing it to be nakedly overrun with horrible evil. When a boy dreams of being a knight in shining armor, slaying the dragon, defeating the evil knights, saving the damsel in distress, he is dreaming of shining forth the goodness of God, of being a mirror of Christ who is the mirror of the Father, defeating evil and upholding good. When a girl dreams of being a princess, of holding court and having tea or dinner with her friends, she is dreaming of surrounding herself in a nest of holiness, of being protected from all evil by that knight in shining armor. For so long as a grown man can maintain his admiration of the American Cowboy struggling to establish his home and household and winning against the natural and man made forces which oppose those who would be self sufficient and decent, then there is maintained the desire for victory by the knight in shining armor, the victory of good over evil. For so long as the grown woman has desire for, and hope there will be, a protector for her, who will love her with wholesome and manly strength, then there is maintained the possibility for a family and household established in the beauty of God. It is the beauty of God, seen in the beauty of Christ in the Transfiguration, which maintains hope that at least some part of this world can be made habitable by decent people. It is this hope which keeps the struggle for goodness and against evil alive, for without hope, one does not endeavor or strive. Every Priest has as one of his God

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