De virginitate de saint Basile

Description

Note

"L'extrait du De virginitate dans l'Izbornik de Svjatoslav": p. 90-96.
"Tandis qu'une tradition ferme, l'autorite� de Suidas, celle encore de Combefis a� la fin du XVIIe sie�cle...attribuaient [ce traite�] sans reserve a� saint Basile, les critiques depuis Tillemont et l'e�dition des be�ne�dictins sont a� peu unanimes a� le de�clarer apocryphe."
Church Slavic and French on opposite pages.

Physical Description

viii, 108 p. 25 cm.

Arthur Rosh, [13/10/25 15:59]:

This work, recovered from the works of Saint Basil the Great, is by Basil of Ancyra (+ c. 364) and entitled, On True Purity in Virginity (Asceticism).

The Greek and Latin edition is found in:

Migne, Patrologia Graeca 30, Col. 669-809.

The tenth-century Slavonic text, has been translated into French:

A. Vaillant, De virginitate de saint Basile. Texte vieux-slave et traduction française, 1943.

Arthur Rosh, [13/10/25 16:00]:

The physiological and anatomical details found throughout the work support the tradition that Basil had been a physician. The angelic life of virginity can be achieved only on the foundation of bodily harmony through the guarding of the senses especially taste and touch, the avoidance of condiments and wine, and care in the use of foods that arouse the passions and lend a foothold to the devil. Moderation and balance are always to be observed: the reins of the chariot must be neither too tight nor too loose. Basil's doctrine here is Neoplatonic and Alexandrian. The purpose of the work is to show the apatheia (dispassion) necessary for the virgin and the dangers that oppose perfect apatheia. Basil's aim is to distinguish from the virginity (asceticism) of the body and true virginity, that of the soul and its desires. The main virtue in virginity is the acquisition of purity of the heart.

PDF has Tesseract OCR layer for French, Latin, Greek, and Slovak Fraktur.