Perchance you knew him in the world?'
Gladly Basil recounted his memories of the great counsellor. And the
abbot listened with an attentive smile.
'I marvel not that you loved him. Reading in these pages, I am
delighted by the graces of his mind, and taught by the sanctity of
his spirit. At the very beginning, how sweetly does his voice sound.
Listen. "Trusting in the Lord's command, I knock at the doors of the
heavenly mystery, that He may open to my understanding His flowery
abodes, and that, permitted to enter the celestial garden, I may
pluck spiritual fruit without the sin of the first man. Verily this
book shines like a lamp; it is the salve of a wounded spirit, sweet
as honey to the inner man. So much hath it of beauty for the senses,
such healing in its balmy words, that to it may be applied the words
of Solomon: 'A closed garden, and a fountain sealed, a paradise
abounding in all fruits.' For if Paradise be deemed desirable
because it is watered by the delightful flow of four rivers, how
much more blessed is the mind which is refreshed by the founts of
one hundred and fifty psalms!"'
Basil scarce heeded the sense of the passage read to him.
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