Patristic Quote of the Day

Whoever does not hold fast to this confession as his sure foundation at all times, to the end of his life, makes himself a stranger to God's promises.  That man's profession of faith is recorded in his own handwriting and it will testify against him.  If baptism is the beginning of my life, and the day of my regeneration is the first of days, it is obvious that the words spoken when I received the grace of adoption are more honorable than any spoken since.  How could I be snared by these subtle arguments, and abandon the tradition which led me to the light, and gave me the blessing of divine knowledge?  Through this confession I was made a child of God, I, who was His enemy for so long because of my sins.  May I pass from this life to the Lord with this confession on my lips.  I exhort them to keep the faith inviolate until the day of Christ's coming:  they must not divide the Spirit from the Father and the Son, but must persevere in the profession of faith and in the doxology the teaching they received at their baptism.  -- St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, par. 26.