Grace And Sickness

Ἐλπίσατε ἐπ' αὐτὸν, πᾶσα συναγωγὴ λαῶν, εκχέατε ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Ἀμήχανόν ἐστὶ χωρητικοὺς ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι τῆς θείας χάριτος μὴ τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας πάθη προκατασχόντα τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἐξελάσαντας. Εἶδον ἰατροὺς ἐγὼ μὴ πρότερον διδόντας τὰ σωτήρια φάρμακα, πρὶν ἐμετοῖς ἀποκενῶσαι τὴν νοσοποιὸν ὕλην, ἣν ἐκ πονηρᾶς διαίτης ἑαυτοῖς οἱ ἀκόλαστοι ἐναπέθεντο. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγγεῖον προκατειλημμένον ὑπό τινος δυσώδους ὑγροῦ, μὴ ἐκπλυνθὲν, οὐ μὴ δέξηται τοῦ μύρου τὴν ἐπιῥῥοήν. Δεῖ τοίνυν ἐκχυθῆναι τὰ προϋ πάρχοντα, ἵνα δυνηθῇ χωρηθῆναι τὰ ἐπαγόμενα. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΞΑ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29 477

'Hope in Him all the gathering of the peoples, pour out your hearts before Him.' 1 It is not possible that we receive Divine grace unless the wicked passions which occupy our souls are expelled. I have known physicians who before they would apply salutary medicines, would evacuate by vomiting the morbid material, which the sick, overcome by the evil of intemperance, had brought on themselves. Even in a vase that smells strongly of liquor, no perfume is poured unless it is washed out. These things, then, must be emptied of what they contain, that they be able to receive the things to come. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 32 1 Ps 61.9