The reading, to which all
listened during their meal, was selected from that new volume of
Cassiodorus so esteemed by the abbot; it closed with a prayer in
which Basil found the very utterance his soul needed.
'O Lord, our Teacher and Guide, our Advocate and Judge, Thou the
Bestower and the Admonitor, terrible and clement, Rebuker and
Consoler, who givest sight to the blind, who makest possible to the
weak that which Thou commandest, who art so good that Thou desirest
to be for ever petitioned, so merciful that Thou sufferest no one to
despair; grant us that which we ask with Thy approval, and yet more
that which in our ignorance we fail to beseech. How weak we are,
Thou indeed knowest; by what a foe we are beset, Thou art aware. In
the unequal contest, in our mortal infirmity, we turn to Thee, for
it is the glory of Thy Majesty when the meek sheep overcomes the
roaring lion, when the Evil Spirit is repulsed by feeble flesh.
Grant that our enemy, who rejoices in our offending, may be saddened
by the sight of human happiness. Amen.'
He rose, for the first time, to attend the midnight office,
Deodatus, who was punctual as a monk at all the hours, awaking him
from sleep.
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