Death of the holy ones is precious; birth is dishonorable
Basil is exhorting his hearers not to fear death, contrasting the precious death of the holy ones with the dishonor of human birth and bodily life.
Among people who love wealth, certain little stones that gleam with bright colors have by nature come to be called precious. But truly precious before the Lord is the death of his holy ones. When a soul purified in its life, free from the defilements of the flesh, having no spot or wrinkle, glorified by the contests for the sake of piety, and having bound on the crown of righteousness, outshining all these things by the beauty of virtue, stands before the Master and Judge of all things, possessing a radiance from grace more brilliant than any costly stone—how is the death of such a person not precious before the Lord?
Let us not, then, lament the departures from this world of holy men, but rather their births and their entrances into this life. For the entrance into this world comes through the dishonor of filth and stench, things whose very sight not even one of those presiding over our life could easily endure. For through such things the passage of fleshly birth has been ordained by the necessity of nature. But the departure and release from here is precious and glorious—not for all people, but for those who have passed through this life in holiness and righteousness. Precious, then, is the death; not precious is the birth of human beings. For it is sown, he says, in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:43). Compare, then, death with birth, and stop lamenting for the one who is being released from dishonor.
When they died in the Jewish manner, the corpses were abominable. When death is for Christ's sake, the remains of his holy ones are precious. Before this, it was said to the priests and the Nazirites: “You shall not be defiled by any dead person,” and, “If anyone touches a corpse, he shall be unclean until evening,” and, “He shall wash his garments” (Leviticus 21:1; Numbers 19:11, 19). But now the one who touches the bones of a martyr receives a certain share of sanctification from the grace that attends the body. Precious, then, before the Lord is the death of his holy ones (Psalm 116:15 [LXX 115:15]).
Do not prefer the most dishonorable things to the most valuable, and do not become bad traders, preferring the corruptible life to the incorruptible and blessed state. For apart from the sufferings of dishonor to which most lovers of pleasure are subject, the needs of life also bend down the soul's greatness and, as it were, enslave it, dragging it down into the service of the flesh. And where there is slavery, there clearly is also dishonor. We must therefore flee the life to which dishonor is naturally attached.
“I am doing nothing great,” he says, “in giving myself back to you, the Master. For since I am your servant, I bring to you your own possession. For what has been created is altogether the servant of the Creator. So I am a servant not only by choice, but also by nature. For I am the son of your handmaid, whom the enemy led away when she was an infant and a mere child, and, separating her from your service, made her a slave of sin. But I turn back and run again to the Master from the beginning, and I acknowledge my ancient servitude. You have broken my bonds (Psalm 116:16 [LXX 115:16]). Since you freed me from the bonds of sin, descending into Hades and releasing humanity, which was a prisoner of death and held in the inescapable prisons of Hades, for this reason I will sacrifice to you—not four-footed animals with divided hooves and chewing the cud, nor clean birds, nor fine flour mixed with oil, nor transparent frankincense, nor that incense of compound spices (for these are offered to you, the Master, from the earth). But what is my own possession and the offspring of my own heart—your glorification—I will offer up from it, as from an altar of my own mind.”
Greek
Παρὰ μὲν οὖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῖς φιλο πλούτοις λιθίδιά τινα, ἀνθηροῖς χρώμασιν ὑπολάμ ποντα, τίμια πέφυκεν ὀνομάζεσθαι· Τίμιον δὲ ἀληθῶς ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ. Ὅταν ψυχὴ κεκαθαρμένη τῷ βίῳ, ἐλευθέρα τῶν τῆς σαρκὸς μολυσμάτων, μὴ ἔχουσα σπῖλον ἢ ῥυτίδα, ἐκ τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγώνων δεδοξασμένη, καὶ τὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀναδησαμένη στέφανον, ἐκ πάντων τού των ὑπερλάμπουσα τῷ κάλλει τῆς ἀρετῆς, παραστῇ τῷ Δεσπότῃ καὶ κριτῇ τῶν ὅλων, παντὸς λίθου πολυτελοῦς διαυγεστέραν τὴν ἐκ τῆς χάριτος φαιδρότητα κεκτημένη, πῶς οὐχὶ τίμιος τοῦ τοιούτου ἀνθρώ που ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος; Μὴ τοίνυν ὀδυρώμεθα τὰς ἐντεῦθεν ἐξόδους τῶν ὁσίων ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τὰς γενέσεις καὶ τὰς εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ταύτην παρόδους. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον εἴσοδος, δι' ἀτι μίας ἐστὶ ῥύπου καὶ δυσωδίας, καὶ ὧν οὐδ' ἂν τὴν θέαν εὐκόλως ἀνάσχοιτό τις τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν καθηγουμένων· διὰ γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων ἡ πάροδος τῆς σαρκίνης γενέσεως τῷ τῆς φύσεως ἀναγκαίῳ νε νομοθέτηται. Ἢ δὲ ἔξοδος καὶ ἡ ἀπαλλαγὴ ἡ ἐντεῦθεν, τιμία καὶ περιφανής· οὐ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ τῶν ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως τὸν ἐνταῦθα βίον διενεγκόντων. Τίμιος οὖν ὁ θάνατος, οὐχὶ τιμία τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ γένεσις. Σπείρεται γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ, ἐγείρε ται ἐν δόξῃ· σπείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ. Σύγκρινον τοίνυν τῇ γενέσει τὸν θάνατον, καὶ παῦσαι ὀδυρόμενος τὸν τῆς ἀτιμίας ἀπαλλασ σόμενον. Ὅτε Ἰουδαϊκῶς ἀπέθνησκον, βδελυκτὰ ἦν τὰ θνησιμαῖα· ὅτε ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ὁ θάνατος, τίμια τὰ λείψανα τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ. Πρὸ τούτου ἐλέγετο τοῖς ἱερεῦσι καὶ τοῖς Ναζωραίοις τὸ, Οὐ μιανθήσεσθε ἐπ' οὐδενὶ τεθνηκότι· καὶ τὸ, Ἐάν τις ἅψηται νεκροῦ, ἀκάθαρτος ἔσται ἕως ἑσπέρας· καὶ τὸ, Πλυνεῖ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ ἱμάτια. Νυνὶ δὲ ὁ ἁψάμενος ὀστέων μάρτυρος, λαμβάνει τινὰ μετουσίαν ἁγιασμοῦ ἐκ τῆς τῷ σώματι παρεδρευούσης χάριτος. Τίμιος οὖν ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ. Μὴ προτιμᾶτε τῶν πολυτιμήτων τὰ ἀτιμότατα, μηδὲ κακοὶ συναλλάκται γίνεσθε, τὴν φθειρομένην ζωὴν τῆς ἀφθάρτου καὶ μακαρίας καταστάσεως προτιμῶντες. Ἄνευ γὰρ τῶν παθημάτων τῆς ἀτιμίας, οἷς οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν φιληδόνων ὑπόκεινται, ἔτι καὶ αἱ κατὰ τὸν βίον χρεῖαι, τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς κατακάμπτουσαι, οἱονεὶ δουλοῦνται αὐτὴν, πρὸς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν τῆς σαρκὸς κατασύρουσαι. Ὅπου δὲ δουλεία, ἐκεῖ δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ἀτιμία. Φευκτέον οὖν τὴν ζωὴν, ᾗ τὸ ἄτιμον παραπέφυκεν. Οὐδὲν, φησὶ, μέγα ποιῶ, ἐμαυτόν σοι ἀποδιδοὺς τῷ Δεσπότῃ. Δοῦλος γὰρ ὢν σὸς, σοὶ προσάγω τὸ σὸν κτῆμα. Πάντως γὰρ τοῦ κτίσαντος δοῦλον ὑπάρχει τὸ ἐκτισμένον. Ὥστε οὐ προαιρέσει δοῦλος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ φύσει. Υἱὸς γάρ εἰμι τῆς παιδίσκης σου, ἣν νηπιάζουσαν καὶ κομιδῇ παῖδα παραγαγὼν ὁ ἐχθρὸς, καὶ ἀποστήσας τῆς σῆς δουλείας, δούλην τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐποίησεν. Ἀλλ' ἐπιστρέφω καὶ ἐπανατρέχω πρὸς τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς Δεσπότην, καὶ ἐπιγινώσκω τὴν ἀρχαίαν δουλείαν. Διέῤῥηξας τοὺς δεσμούς μου. Ἐπειδή με τῶν δεσμῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἠλευθέρωσας, κατελθὼν εἰς ᾅδου, καὶ λύσας τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα δεσμῶτιν οὖσαν τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀφύκτοις εἱρκταῖς τοῦ ᾅδου κατεχομένην, διὰ τοῦτό σοι θύσω, οὐχὶ τετράποδα διχηλοῦντα καὶ μηρυκίζοντα, οὐδὲ πτηνὰ καθαρὰ, ἢ σεμίδαλιν ἀνα-πεποιημένην ἐλαίῳ, ἣ λίβανον διαφανῆ, ἢ τὸ τῆς συνθέσεως ἐκεῖνο θυμίαμα (ταῦτα γάρ σοι παρὰ τῆς γῆς προσφέρεται τῷ Δεσπότῃ)· ἀλλ' ὅ ἐστιν ἐμὸν ἴδιον κτῆμα, καὶ καρδίας γέννημα τῆς ἐμῆς, τὴν σὴν δοξολογίαν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀνοίσω, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ θυσιαστηρίου τινὸς τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ διανοίας.