THE HEXAEMERON:
Meditations of St. Basil The Great
THE THIRD DAY
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its king, whose seed is in itself according to its kind," and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.
"Let
the earth bring forth the fruit tree yielding fruit." Immediately
the tops of the mountains were covered with foliage; paradises were artfully
laid out, an infinitude of plants embellished the banks of the rivers.
Some were for the adornment of man's table; some to nourish animals with
their fruits and their leaves; some to provide medicinal help by giving
us their sap, their juice, their chips, their bark or their fruit. In
a word, the experiences of ages profiting from every chance has not been
able to discover anything useful, which the penetrating foresight of the
Creator did not first perceive and call into existence.
Therefore, when we see the trees in our gardens, or those of the forest, those which love the water or the land, those which bear flowers, or those which do not flower, I should like to see you recognizing grandeur even in small objects, adding incessantly to your admiration of, and redoubling your love for the Creator. Ask yourself why He has made some trees evergreen and other deciduous, why among the first, some lose their leaves and others always keep them. Thus the olive and the pine shed their leaves although they renew them insensibly and never appear to be despoiled of their verdure. The palm tree, on the contrary, from its birth to its death is always adorned with same foliage. "Let the earth bring forth. . ." This short command was in a moment a vast nature, an elaborate system. Swifter than thought it produced the countless qualities of plants. It is this command which, still at this day, is imposed on the earth, and in the course of each year displays all the strength of its power to produce herbs, seeds and trees. Like tops, which after the first impulse, continue their evolutions, turning upon themselves when once fixed in their center; thus nature, receiving the impulse of this first command, follows without interruption the course of ages, until the consummation of all things. Let us all hasten to attain to it, full of fruit and of good works; and thus, planted in the house of the Lord we shall flourish in the court of our God, in our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Selected Readings from the Hexaemeron