I have an amazing little booklet available I wanted to offer to my readers for purchase which would make especially great reading for Great Lent. Recently I was commissioned to translate some beneficial writings of Righteous Alexei Mechev, but it didn't fall through and I was left with a bunch of booklets I would like to now sell instead of counting my losses. Please order today!

 Click Here For More Information and How To Order

Pages

September 6, 2010

Saint Basil On Human Trafficking


By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Christianity has uprooted many barbaric customs from the society of man. But some of those customs - praiseworthy from the pagan point of view, but shameful from the Christian point of view - are, even to the present day, like hidden corruption oozing from a supposedly healed wound. One of these customs is the unlawful kidnapping of maidens.

St. Basil wrote powerfully to one of his priests, after one such incident: "Do all in your power to find and rescue this maiden. Then, return her to her parents and excommunicate the perpetrator. Also suspend those who abetted him - including their entire households - from participation in Services for three years. Likewise, suspend everyone in the village to which the maiden was taken, where she was hidden or perhaps kept by force - so that all will know that a kidnapper should be driven away from them like a serpent or some other wild beast or common enemy, and that the abused should be protected."

Read more on Human Trafficking here and here.

Become a Patreon or Paypal Supporter

Recurring Gifts