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Longer Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
12. Rule 12: How the Married are to Be Received
Married men who want to be admitted to such a life as ours must be questioned whether their action is approved by their wives, according to the apostle’s commandment, “The husband hath not power over his own body,”1 after which the applicant may be received before a number of witnesses. For obedience towards God takes precedence of everything else. But if the other party dissent and resist the step caring little for pleasing God, then let the apostle’s words be remembered, “God hath called us in peace”2; and let the Lord’s commandment be fulfilled, “If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and the rest, he cannot be my disciple.”3 For obedience towards God takes precedence of everything else. However, we have known many cases in which through earnest prayer and perseverance in fasting the life of chastity has been attained, since as a result of bodily austerities the Lord often leads the recalcitrant to acquiesce in a right decision.4
Notes
- 1 Cor. vii. 4.
- 1 Cor. vii. 15, taken to mean that the man who has been called to the monastic life must not allow scruples to interfere with his response.
- Lk. xiv. 26 εἶναι before μαθητής.
- Garnier interprets this to mean that reception was provisional only, liable to be annulled if the consent of the partner was not obtained. But (a) nothing in the text supports this view, note the double pronouncement that obedience is unconditional; (b) such cases did exist and cause scandal, as is shown by the decrees of Gangra, directed against Eustathius, to whom B. owed much of his system; (c) in Mor. lxxiii. 1 B. allows separation if one is hindered in godliness; (d) F. 11 allows the reception of slaves on whom unlawful commands are imposed.