irreprehensible, rightly teaching the word of truth. Beware that you do not take your stand for the synaxis having enmity with anyone, lest the Paraclete flee from you. On the day of the synaxis, do not summon anyone to judgment, nor contend at all; but praying in secret, devote yourself to reading until that hour; and so draw near to the holy altar in compunction. Look neither here nor there, nor shorten your prayers by rushing; and while you pray, have no regard for any man, but behold the King who is present, and the angels standing round about. Do not simulate anything, nor distribute the divine body when it is not fitting. Make yourself worthy of the sacred canons, and perform the liturgy just as they prescribe. Consider, therefore, how you come to the holy table, how you perform the sacred rite, and what you distribute, and how you receive. Beware, then, that you do not forget the Lord’s precepts and the traditions of His disciples. For He says: “Do not give the holy things to the dogs, nor cast my pearls before swine.” See to it, therefore, that you are not led away by human fear and deliver the Son of God into the hands of the unworthy; but do not fear any of the notables of the earth, and do not even be dismayed by those who wear a diadem in that hour when you perform the liturgy. Observe those who wish to partake of the holy gifts in their own homes; you will see that they are given even by women, and indeed even by the unworthy. See, therefore, how the divine canons and the synods of the holy Fathers have decreed; act in this way, and do not distribute to the unworthy, whether laymen or clerics, but rather turn them back to the orthodox faith. Woe to those who distribute to such! Beware, furthermore, that flies do not fall into the holy chalice, or that it be not dampened by your negligence, or grow moldy, or become infested with gnats, or be handled by heretics; but observe how you store it after the completion of the divine liturgy, lest through your haste a pearl fall out, or remain in the chalice; or that the holy chalice, possessing liquid, be defiled by dust. But having properly arranged both, depart in peace. If you observe this tradition, O priest, you will save yourself and those whom you are to teach; praying also for me, miserable as I am, to the Lord, to whom glory is due for ever and ever. Amen.
TRACT OF SAINT BASIL: ON CONSOLATION IN ADVERSITIES
By an uncertain but ancient interpreter (24).1. Just as a ship, when it is shaken by the tempest of the waves, is quickly destroyed by the floods of the sea unless it has a most skilled pilot, so too, when a man has been placed in certain adversities, unless he has a mind instructed by the divine oracles, his spirit is quickly broken and he sustains the [loss of his own salvation.]