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

To the wife of Arinthæus, the General. Consolatory.Letter CCLXIX. 3218To the wife of Arinthæus, the General. Consolatory.1. It had been only proper, and due to your affection, that I should have been on thespot, and have taken part in the present occurrences. Thus I might have at once assuagedmy own sorrow, and given some consolation to your excellency. But my body will no longerendure long journeys, and so I am driven to approach you by letter, that I seem not to countwhat has happened as altogether of no interest to me. Who has not mourned for that man?Who is so stony of heart as not to have shed a warm tear over him? I especially have beenfilled with mourning at the thought of all the marks of respect which I have received fromhim, and of the general protection which he has extended to the Churches of God. Nevertheless,I have bethought me that he was human, and had done the work he had to do inthis life, and now in the appointed time has been taken back again by God Who ordains ourlots. All this, I beseech you, in your wisdom, to take to heart, and to meet the event withmeekness, and, so far as is possible, to endure your loss with moderation. Time may be ableto soothe your heart, and allow the approach of reason. At the same time your great lovefor your husband, and your goodness to all, lead me to fear that, from the very simplicityof your character, the wound of your grief may pierce you deeply, and that you may giveyourself up entirely to your feelings. The teaching of Scripture is always useful, and speciallyat times like this. Remember, then, the sentence passed by our Creator. By it all we whoare dust shall return to dust. 3219 No one is so great as to be superior to dissolution.2. Your admirable husband was a good and great man, and his bodily strength rivalledthe virtues of his soul. He was unsurpassed, I must own, in both respects. But he was human,and he is dead; like Adam, like Abel, like Noah, like Abraham, like Moses, or any one elseof like nature that you can name. Let us not then complain because he has been taken fromus. Let us rather thank Him, who joined us to him, that we dwelt with him from the beginning.To lose a husband is a lot which you share with other women; but to have been unitedto such a husband is a boast which I do not think any other woman can make. In truth ourCreator fashioned that man for us as a model of what human nature ought to be. All eyeswere attracted towards him, and every tongue told of his deeds. Painters and sculptors fellshort of his excellence, and historians, when they tell the story of his achievements in war,seem to fall into the region of the mythical and the incredible. Thus it has come about thatmost men have not even been able to give credit to the report conveying the sad tidings, orto accept the truth of the news that Arinthæus is dead. Nevertheless Arinthæus has sufferedwhat will happen to heaven and to sun and to earth. He has died a bright death; not bowed3083218 Placed in 378.3219 Gen. iii. 19.836