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2 This letter is numbered lxv. among those of Gregory of Nazianzus, to whom it is to be attributed. It is only found in one ms. of the letters of Basil (Coisl. i.)
2 Nephew of Eusebius. cf Letters cxlivi, clvii., and clviii.
3 Eusebius was now in exile in Thrace. On this picturesque scene of his forced departure from his diocese, the agony of his flock at losing him, and his calm submission to the tyranny of Valens, see Theodoret iv. 12 and 13, pp. 115, 116, of this edition.
1 Placed in 374, on the misconduct of Glycerius, a deacon.
2 Tillemont says either of Nyssa or Nazianzus. In thems. Coisl. I. it is preceded by lxxi., unquestionably addressed to Gregory of Nazianzus, and inscribed "to the same." In the Codes Harl it is inscribed Grhgori/w e 9tai/rw. Garnier, however (Viat S. Bas. xxxi. § iv.) allows that there are arguments in favor of Gregory of Nyssa. Probably it is the elder Gregory who is addressed. See Prolegomena.
3 Or Veësa, or Synnasa; the mss. vary.
4 e'pistolh=j is read in the version of this letter appearing in the works of Greg. Naz., and Combefis is no doubt right in thinking that it makes better sense than e'pisth/mhj, reading of the chief mss. here.
5 cf. Prolegomena, and Ramsay's Church and Roman Empire, Cap. xviii.
2 tou= baqmou=. cf. 1 Tim. iii. 13. oi 9 kalw=j diakonhsantej Baqmo\n e 9autoi=j kalo\n peripoiou=ntai.. There seems an evident allusion to this passage, but not such as to enable Basil to be positively ranked with Chrysostom in his apparent interpretation of baqmo/j objectively of preferment, or with Theodoret in his subjective idea of honour with God. Apparently the "degree" is the Diaconate.
3 otolh/. The technical use of this word for a "stole" is not earlier than the ninth century. It was indeed used for a sacred vestment, e.g. the sacred robe which Constantine presented to Macarius, Bishop of Jersusalem. (Theodoret ii. 27.) In Latin "stola" designated the distinctive dress of the matron, and it seems to be used with a suggestion of effeminacy.
2 This Sophronius is distinguished by Maran from the Sophronius, magister offciorum, to whomLetter xxxii., lxxvi., and xcvi. have already been addressed, and who is also the recipient of clxxvi., clxxx., cxcii., cclxii. Nothing else is know of him.
2 On the Canonicae, pious women who devoted themselves to education, district visiting, funerals, and various charitable works, and living in a community apart from men, cf. Soc. i. 17, "virgins in the register," and Sozomen viii. 23, on Nicarete. They were distinguished from nuns as not being bound by vows, and from deaconesses as not so discharging ministerial duties.
2 "Prayer ardent opens heaven." Young, N.T. viii., 721.
1 Written probably early in 374.
2 One ms. reads Magninianus. On the identification of this officer with the recipient of cccxxv., see that letter.
3 But what Basil declined to do at the prompting of Magnenianus, he shortly afterwards did for Amphilochius, and wrote the De Spiritu Sancto.
4 Maran (V. Basil xxx.) thinks that the allusion is to Atarbuis of Neocaesarea and to some of his presbyters. cf. Letter ccx.
2 An invitation to feast of St. Eupsychius, with a request to arrive three days before the actual day of the festival, which was observed on the 7th of September. (cf. Letter c. and note, and the invitation to the Pontic bishops in cclii.)
4 So the date stands in eight mss. However it arose, 5th is a mistake for 7th, the day of St. Eupsychius in the Greek Kalendar.
5 Mnh\mh. The Ben. Ed. understand by this word the church erected by Basil in his hospital (cf. Letter xciv) at Caesarea. In illustration of the use of muh/uh in this sense Du Cange cites Act. Conc. Chalced. i. 144, and explains it as being equivalent to "memoria," i.e. "aedes sacra in qua extat sancti alicujus sepulcrum." cf.Nomocan. Photii. v. § 1. For the similar use of "memoria," in Latin, cf. Aug., De Civ. Dei. xxii. 10: "Nos autem martvribus nostris non templa sicut diis sed memorias sicut hominibus mortuis fabricamus."