Saint Basil the Great

![Saint Basil the Great](https://i.imgur.com/oKlKhsQ.png) **330-379AD - 49 years** **From Caesarea - the main city of Cappadocia** *(now Kayseri, Turkey)*

Remnant Network · 2 min read

!Saint Basil the Great

330-379AD - 49 years

From Caesarea - the main city of Cappadocia

(now Kayseri, Turkey)

Ouranophantor: "Revealer of heavenly mysteries".

Brother of Saint Gregory of Nyssa and friend of Gregory of Nazianzus - who are know collectively as the Cappadocian Fathers.

One of the Three Great Hierarchs - Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom.

!the Three Great Hierarchs

VIDEOS

St. Basil the Great weeps over a vast array of sins including:

Pride and Self-Love: Pride, ambition, self-love, and boastfulness.
Anger and Irritation: Fits of anger, irritation, excessive shouting, swearing, quarreling, and cursing.
Criticism and Gossip: Criticizing, censuring, gossiping, slandering, and defaming others.
Negative Emotions: Wrath, enmity, hatred, envy, jealousy, vengeance, and rancor.
Lust and Impurity: Indulgences in lust, impure thoughts, and evil inclinations.
Covetousness and Gluttony: Covetousness, gluttony, drunkenness, and sloth.
Idle Talk and Blasphemy: Talking idly, using foul language, blaspheming, deriding, joking, ridiculing, mocking, and enjoying empty gaiety.
Self-Indulgence: Self-indulgence, cupidity, love of money, and miserliness.
Lack of Charity: Unmercifulness and cruelty.
Laziness and Negligence: Laziness, indolence, negligence, love of comfort, weakness, idleness, absent-mindedness, irresponsibility, inattention, love of sleep, and lack of concentration in prayer.
Lack of Faith: Lack of faith, doubting, perplexity, coldness, indifference, weakness, unfeelingness regarding the Orthodox faith, cunning, and reviling thoughts.
Exaggerated Sorrow: Exaggerated sorrow, grief, depression, and despair.
Willful Sins: Sins committed willingly.
Vain Thoughts and Desires: Indulging in vain thoughts, desires, and yearnings.
Misuse of God's Name: Taking the name of God in vain.
Slandering Others: Slandering, offending, irritating, and mocking others.
Pride and Deceit: Being proud, vainglorious, boasting of good qualities not possessed, lying, deceiving, being cunning, flattering, insincere, and deceptive.
Intolerance: Being angry, intolerant, and mean.
Ridicule: Ridiculing the sins of others and gloating over their misfortunes.
Hostility: Being hostile in anger, hatred, or envy.
Foolish Speech: Laughing stupidly, mocking, deriding, speaking without weighing words, uttering cutting, poisonous, insolent, frivolous, vulgar, coarse, and brazen words.
Lustful Thoughts and Actions: Feeding the mind with voluptuous sensations and satisfying lusts.
Shameful Language: Uttering shameful, vulgar, and blasphemous things.
Intemperance: Yearning for power, being gluttonous, lacking sobriety, and breaking the holy fast.
Selfishness: Refusing help to those in need, being uncharitable, miserly, unsympathetic, and mercenary.
Disrespect in Church: Entering the house of God without fear and trembling, being frivolous and absent-minded in prayer.
Sloth in Prayer: Being cold, indifferent, lazy, indolent, inattentive, and impious in prayer.
Time Wasting: Spending time in empty pastimes, frivolous talk, jokes, laughter, and gossip.
Despair: Losing heart and despairing of salvation.
Deliberate Sin: Sinning deliberately, willingly, and in full awareness.

Confrontation with Judgment

Fear of Judgment: The lament expresses a deep fear of facing judgment after death.
Terrible Demons and Radiant Angels: The soul will face terrible demons and radiant angels who will reveal and torment the individual with their sins.
Standing Before God: The soul will ultimately stand before God's judgment seat, unprepared and unable to give an answer for their sinful life.

Reflections on a Wasted Life

Life in Indolence: The lament highlights a life spent in indolence and sin, with wasted hours, minutes, thoughts, desires, and yearnings.
Lack of Good Deeds: There is an absence of good deeds, with emphasis on a lack of charitable works and observance of fasts.
Desire for Tears: There is an expressed wish for constant tears, seeking a worthy way to weep for a misspent life.
Seeking God's Mercy: Despite the despair, the lament ends by seeking God's mercy and acknowledging His will, whether it be for salvation or destruction.