Correction can ask something difficult of both people involved. The person speaking must seek the other’s good; the person corrected must be willing to be set right. St. Basil places those responsibilities together in Letter 22, §3. Reading them together prevents us from using his counsel as a weapon against someone else.
Basil tells the person shown to be wrong to receive correction willingly, “recognizing his own gain in being set right.” The benefit is amendment of the fault. In the surrounding sentences, the one correcting must act with tenderness, in the fear of God, and with the purpose of turning the sinner back (§3). Harshness and the desire to win are outside the purpose Basil names.
The letter does not require us to pronounce every accusation true. Basil also discusses what to do when a charge appears groundless: rather than contradicting the accuser openly, someone who doubts it should speak with the accuser privately, either to persuade him or to be persuaded. His instructions arise within communal ascetic discipline, so we should not turn their procedural details into a universal policy. The narrower point is that receiving correction willingly and caring whether an accusation is true belong together (§3).
The scriptural comparison begins with James 1:19–25. James calls for readiness to listen, restraint in anger, meek reception of the implanted word, and action that follows what has been heard. His concern is that hearing should bear fruit. Matthew 18:15–17 likewise describes correction aimed at gaining a brother, while Galatians 6:1–2 requires gentleness and watchfulness in the one seeking restoration.
Basil goes on to join repentance to its fruits and to forgiveness of the person who repents. An apology without amendment does not exhaust his counsel. In Orthodox life, repentance includes the Church’s sacrament of penance, rather than becoming only a private effort at self-improvement. A correction may help us recognize what needs repentance; it does not itself replace sacramental confession and absolution (OCA, Penance).
The response follows what these sources actually ask: hear patiently, examine the correction honestly, and willingly amend a fault shown to be real. If you are the person speaking, bring the same tenderness you would need when being corrected. Where a charge seems groundless, Basil’s letter allows it to be examined privately rather than contested in public. The shared purpose is a person being helped toward repentance and a community being built up in love (§§1, 3; Ephesians 4:25–32).
For prayer, use the Lord’s Prayer that Christ gives in Matthew 6:9–13.
Sources and edition notes
- St. Basil the Great, Letter 22. Blomfield Jackson, NPNF, second series, vol. 8 (1895). Printed pp. 128–129.
- OCA, Penance. Eastern Orthodox doctrinal and pastoral context
New Testament references were checked in NKJV. Scripture is referenced and paraphrased; no verbatim Bible excerpt is supplied.