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Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
Rule 137: Is It Right for a Man to Decide to Abstain, for Example, for a Given Time from…
Since the Lord said: “Not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me,”2 every judgment of a private will is dangerous. David knew this when he said: “I swore and determined to keep the judgments of thy righteousness,”3 not my own desires.:
Notes
- Cf. Ep. cxcix. 28: “It has seemed to me ridiculous that anyone should make a vow to abstain from swine’s flesh. Be so good as to teach men to abstain from foolish vows and promises’; also Hist. Laus. prol. 9.
- Jn. vi. 38.
- Ps. cxix. 106. Bas. ὦμοσα with ART, Sw. (8) ὀμώμοκα.