4.  But, it is alleged, these practices were not observed in the time of the great Gregory.  My rejoinder is that even the Litanies The Ben. note observes that in this passage Litanies do not mean processions or supplications, but penitential prayers.  The intercessory prayers which occur in the liturgy of St. Basil, as in the introductory part of other Greek liturgies, are not confined to quotations from Scripture. which you now use were not used in his time.  I do not say this to find fault with you; for my prayer would be that every one of you should live in tears and continual penitence.  We, for our part, are always offering supplication for our sins, but we propitiate our God not as you do, in the words of mere man, but in the oracles of the Spirit.  And what evidence have you that this custom was not followed in the time of the great Gregory?  You have kept none of his customs up to the present time. This reproach appears to be in contradiction with the statement in De Spiritu Sancto, § 74 (page 47), that the Church of Neocæsarea had rigidly preserved the traditions of Gregory.  The Ben. note would remove the discrepancy by confining the rigid conservatism to matters of importance.  In these the Neocæsareans would tolerate no change, and allowed no monasteries and no enrichment of their liturgies with new rites.  “Litanies,” however, are regarded as comparatively unimportant innovations.  The note concludes:  Neque enim secum ipse pugnat Basilius, cum Neocæsarienses laudat in libro De Spiritu Sancto, quod Gregorii instituta arctissime teneant. hic autem vituperat quod ea omnino reliquerint.  Illic enim respicit ad exteriora instituta, hic autem ad virtutum exemplar, convicii et iracundiæ fugam, odium juris jurandi et mendacii.  Gregory did not cover his head at prayer.  How could he?  He was a true disciple of the Apostle who says, “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.” 1 Cor. xi. 4.  And “a man indeed ought not to cover his head forasmuch as he is the image of God.” 1 Cor. xi. 7.  Oaths were shunned by Gregory, that pure soul, worthy of the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, content with yea and nay, in accordance with the commandment of the Lord Who said, “I say unto you swear not at all.” Matt. v. 34.  Gregory could not bear to call his brother a fool, cf. Matt. v. 22. for he stood in awe of the threat of the Lord.  Passion, wrath, and bitterness never proceeded out of his mouth.  Railing he hated, because it leads not to the kingdom of heaven.  Envy and arrogance had been shut out of that guiltless soul.  He would never have stood at the altar before being reconciled to his brother.  A lie, or any word designed to slander any one, he abominated, as one who knew that lies come from the devil, and that the Lord will destroy all that utter a lie. Ps. v. 6, LXX.  If you have none of these things, and are clear of all, then are you verily disciples of the disciple of the Lord; if not, beware lest, in your disputes about the mode of singing psalms, you are straining at the gnat and setting at naught the greatest of the commandments.