After Christmas had passed, St. Basil took his staff and began to visit all the villages, in order to see who would celebrate his memory with a pure heart. He visited various cities, but none of the doors that he knocked on opened, because everyone assumed he was a beggar. Thus he left saddened, not because he himself was in need, but because he was hurt by the heartlessness that these people would show to the poor.
He passed by the cemeteries as well, where he noticed the collapsed monuments, the shattered and overturned gravestones, which had been utterly abandoned. As a Saint, he heard the deceased saying: “When we were on the earth, we worked, we suffered, and we left children and grandchildren behind in order for them to light us a candle every now and then, to say a prayer for us; but we don’t even see a priest, or kolyva, or incense. It’s as if we left no one behind”. St. Basil was hurt on account of man’s plight, and he proceeded alone through the icy snow. On New Year’s Eve, he arrived at a village, which happened to be the poorest one in the area. He found a bucket in front of the house. He tapped it with his staff and yelled: “Have mercy on a beggar, and may your kindness be for the souls of your deceased…” The dogs lunged at him, but as they came near him, they began wagging their tails, and lay down at his feet playfully and happily. The door opened and a young man named John, a shepherd, a completely innocent and unlearned soul said: “Come! Come inside. Happy New Year!”
