NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works - Holy Bible Institute

To the clergy of Nicopolis.Letter CCXXIX. 2934To the clergy of Nicopolis.I am sure that a work done by one or two pious men is not done without the cooperationof the Holy Spirit. For when nothing merely human is put before us, when holy men aremoved to action with no thought of their own personal gratification, and with the sole objectof pleasing God, it is plain that it is the Lord Who is directing their hearts. When spirituallymindedmen take the lead in counsel, and the Lord’s people follow them with consentienthearts, there can be no doubt that their decisions are arrived at with the participation of ourLord Jesus Christ, Who poured out His blood for the Churches’ sake. You are thereforeright in supposing that our very God-beloved brother and fellow minister Pœmenius, 2935who arrived among you at an opportune moment, and discovered this means of consolingyou, has been divinely moved. I not only praise his discovery of the right course to take; Imuch admire the firmness with which, without allowing any delay to intervene, so as toslacken the energy of the petitioners, or to give the opposite party an opportunity of takingprecautions, and to set in motion the counterplots of secret foes, he at once crowned hishappy course with a successful conclusion. The Lord of His especial grace keep him andhis, so that the Church, as becomes her, may remain in a succession in no way degenerate,and not give place to the evil one, who now, if ever, is vexed at the firm establishment of theChurches.2. I have also written at length to exhort our brethren at Colonia. You, moreover, arebound rather to put up with their frame of mind than to increase their irritation, as thoughyou despised them for their insignificance, or provoked them to a quarrel by your contempt.It is only natural for disputants to act without due counsel, and to manage their own affairsill with the object of vexing their opponents. And no one is so small as not to be now ableto give an occasion, to those who want an occasion, for great troubles. I do not speak atrandom. I speak from my own experience of my own troubles. From these may God keepyou in answer to your prayers. Pray also for me, that I may have a successful journey, and,on my arrival, may share your joy in your present pastor, and with you may find consolationat the departure of our common father. 29362934 Placed in 375.2935 On Pœmenius, bishop of Satala in Armenia, cf. p. 185.2936 i.e.Theodotus. cf. Letter cxxi. and cxxx. pp. 193 and 198.755