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E01278: The Long Rules of the Asketikon, ascribed to Basil of Caesarea, express disapproval for commercial fairs taking place at shrines and festivals of martyrs. Written in Greek in Asia Minor, in the 4th c.

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posted on 2016-04-18, 00:00 authored by Bryan
Basil of Caesarea, Asketikon: Long Rules (CPG 2875)

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Μʹ.
Περὶ τῶν ἐν συνόδοις πραγματειῶν.

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ.
Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὰς ἐν τοῖς μαρτυρίοις γινομένας ἀγορασίας οἰκείας ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος δείκνυσιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἄλλου τινὸς ἕνεκεν ἐν τοῖς μαρτυρίοις ἢ ἐν τοῖς περὶ αὐτὰ τόποις φαίνεσθαι ἐπιβάλλει Χριστιανοῖς, ἢ προσευχῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ τοῦ εἰς ὑπόμνησιν ἐλθόντας τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας μέχρι θανάτου ἐνστάσεως πρὸς τὸν ζῆλον τὸν ὅμοιον προτραπῆναι· μεμνημένους τῆς φοβερωτάτης ὀργῆς τοῦ Κυρίου, ὅτι, καίπερ πάντοτε καὶ πανταχοῦ πραῢς ὢν, καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καθὼς γέγραπται, μόνοις τοῖς περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν πωλοῦσι καὶ ἀγοράζουσι τὴν μάστιγα ἐπανετείνατο, ὡς τῆς ἐμπορίας τὸν οἶκον τῆς προσευχῆς μεταποιούσης εἰς σπήλαιον λῃστῶν. Οὐ μὴν, ἐπειδὴ ἕτεροι προλαβόντες παρέφθειραν τὴν κεκρατηκυῖαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων συνήθειαν, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ προσεύχεσθαι ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων, καὶ μετὰ πλειόνων προσκυνεῖν καὶ προσκλαίειν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐξιλάσκεσθαι μὲν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, εὐχαριστεῖν δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, οἰκοδομεῖν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου τῆς παρακλήσεως, ὅπερ ἔτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας μνήμης τηρούμενον ἔγνωμεν, ἀντὶ τούτων ἀγορὰν, καὶ πανήγυριν, καὶ κοινὸν ἐμπόριον τόν τε καιρὸν καὶ τὸν τόπον ποιοῦνται, ἤδη καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀκολουθεῖν αὐτοῖς προσῆκε, καὶ βεβαιοῦν τὰ ἄτοπα τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τοῦ πράγματος· ἀλλὰ μιμεῖσθαι τὰς ἐπὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ἱστορουμένας συνόδους, καὶ πληροῦν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ὡς συντελοῦντα τῷ τοιούτῳ τύπῳ διατεταγμένα. Γράφει δὲ οὕτως· Ὅταν συνέρχησθε, ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ψαλμὸν ἔχει, διδαχὴν ἔχει, ἀποκάλυψιν ἔχει, γλῶσσαν ἔχει, ἑρμηνείαν ἔχει· πάντα πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν γινέσθω.

‘Question 40. Concerning commercial transactions at ecclesiastical festivals.

But the Word also shows us that the commercial transactions conducted at the shrines of martyrs (martyria) are not a seemly practice for us either. Because for no other reason does it require Christians to appear at the shrines of martyrs or their surroundings, except for prayer or in order to be animated towards the same zeal, by being reminded of the struggle of the saints to death on behalf of piety. We should remember the most dread wrath of the Lord: that, even though He was always and everywhere meek and humble of heart, as it is written (Matt. 11.29), He brandished the scourge against those alone, who were selling and buying at the Temple, since their trafficking turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves (Mt. 21:13). So, if others before us have debased the established customs associated with the saints and, instead of praying for one another, of venerating and imploring God in the company of many, of obtaining his forgiveness for our sins, of giving thanks for His benefactions, and of edifying the people by words of exhortation – these things indeed used to be kept in our own memory – indeed if, instead of these, they make of the place and occasion a market and fair and common trade, is it, then, proper for us to follow their example and sanction this unacceptable situation by our participation? Of course, not. We should rather imitate those assemblies under our Lord Jesus Christ, which are described in the Gospels, and we should fulfil the things the Apostle has prescribed as appropriate for such an occasion: When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation; let all things be done to edification (1 Cor. 14.26).’

Text: Migne, Jacques-Paul, ed. Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Series Graeca. vol. 31 Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1857, 1020-21.
Translation : E. Rizos.

History

Evidence ID

E01278

Saint Name

Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060

Type of Evidence

Literary - Theological works Canonical and legal texts

Language

  • Greek

Evidence not before

350

Evidence not after

380

Activity not before

350

Activity not after

380

Place of Evidence - Region

Asia Minor

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Nicomedia Νικομήδεια Nikomēdeia Izmit Πραίνετος Prainetos Nicomedia

Major author/Major anonymous work

Basil of Caesarea

Cult activities - Festivals

  • Saint’s feast

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - unspecified

Cult activities - Activities Accompanying Cult

  • Fair

Cult activities - Rejection, Condemnation, Scepticism

Condemnation of other activity associated with cult

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Source

Born around 330 to an aristocratic Christian family of Neokaisareia/Neocaesarea of Pontus Polemoniacus (Anatolia), Basil was educated in Kaisareia/Caesarea, Antioch, and Athens. After his studies, he spent time in the monasteries in Egypt, before returning to Pontus, where he organised an ascetic community on his family estate in Pontus. In the 360s, Basil was ordained in Kaisareia/Caesarea, and, on 14 June 370, he was consecrated bishop there. He died on 1 January 379. Basil was a prolific writer, composing homilies, theological, ascetical, and liturgical works. The Asketikon was written gradually from the late 350s to the 370s, providing instruction for the life of the monastic communities established by Basil on his estate in Pontus and at Kaisareia/Caesarea. It is organised in the form of questions and answers, consisting of two collections: the Longer and Shorter Responses. On the complex history of recensions and the manuscript tradition of the Asketikon, see: Fedwick, P. J. Bibliotheca Basiliana Universalis. Corpus Christianorum. 5 vols. Vol. III: Ascetica, Turnhout: Brepols, 1996. Silvas 2005, 1-18. http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/12041/

Discussion

Question 40 of the Longer Responses must be read together with questions 38 and 39, of which it is a continuation. Question 39 concerns the productive activities and crafts appropriate for monks, which, according to Basil, include weaving, leatherwork, building, carpentry, copper-work, and, best of all, agriculture. Question 39 is concerned with the proper ways of selling the goods produced by the monks. The author instructs the monks to sell locally and only at designated fairs. Question 40 specifies this, by forbidding their participation at fairs organised during festivals of Christian shrines, which was apparently practiced. The wording of these passages is particularly interesting, as the author calls the Christian festivals σύνοδοι/synodoi, while commercial fairs are defined as πανηγύρεις/panēgyreis. Equally significant is Basil’s designation of μαρτύριον/martyrion as a shrine where Christians go for prayer and in order to be reminded of the struggle of the saints – i.e. devotion and commemoration.

Bibliography

Text: Migne, J.-P., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Graeca 31 (Paris, 1857), 1020-21. Translations and commentaries: Silvas, A., The Asketikon of St Basil the Great (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 250-251. Wagner, M.M., The Ascetical Works of Saint Basil (Fathers of the Church 9; Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1962), 313-314.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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