of the mysteries of the spirit and of spiritual advancements happening in the soul, and often thinking he has finished, he often has to begin again. For if in this life in worldly wisdom it is so—I mean of primary teachers, then grammarians, then rhetoricians, again sophists, finally philosophers—and when someone has gone through all the teachers, finishing one and beginning another, then he begins to plead cases before rulers, then after gaining approval over time he himself in due course becomes a ruler, and then again he takes an assessor for himself, lest justice escape him. If, therefore, in this world such subtlety of wisdom and advancement exists, how much more the ineffable and 127 infinite wisdom of God and the way of Christianity have a certain great subtlety and many advancements. And as one progresses, he receives the beginning of other things, he enters more deeply into the mysteries of the spirit and the hidden treasures of wisdom, and the more he grows and progresses in grace and is enriched in the knowledge of God, the more he also recognizes the "thoughts" and schemes of evil, as the apostle says: "for we are not ignorant of his thoughts." Therefore, since such a great hope is set before us and so many spiritual goods have been prepared for those willing to struggle in truth, let us too give ourselves with all our strength to pleasing God, so that, having obtained the spiritual gifts and having progressed in the wisdom of God and having overcome every temptation and affliction through the grace of Christ and having been deemed perfectly worthy of sanctification, we may become worthy of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

πνεύματος μυστηρίων καὶ προκοπῶν πνευματικῶν ἐν ψυχῇ γινομένων, καὶ πολλάκις νομίσας τελέσαι πολλάκις καὶ ἄρξασθαι ἔχει. εἰ γὰρ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ ἐν τῇ κοσμικῇ σοφίᾳ ἐστίλέγω δὴ χαμαιδιδασκάλων εἶτα γραμματικῶν εἶτα ῥητόρων πάλιν σοφιστῶν τέλος φιλοσόφωνκαὶ ἐπάν τις πάντας τοὺς διδασκάλους διέλθοι ἓν τελειῶν καὶ ἑτέρου ἀρχόμενος, τότε δίκας λέγειν ἐπ' ἀρχόντων ἄρχεται εἶτα χρόνοις ἐπευδοκιμήσας γίνεται κατὰ καιροὺς καὶ αὐτὸς ἄρχων, καὶ τότε πάλιν συγκάθεδρον ἑαυτῷ λαμβάνει μήτι αὐτὸν τοῦ δικαίου παρέλθοι. εἰ οὖν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ τοσαύτη σοφίας λεπτότης καὶ προκοπὴ τυγχάνει, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἡ ἄρρητος καὶ 127 ἄπειρος τοῦ θεοῦ σοφία καὶ ἡ ὁδὸς τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ πολλήν τινα λεπτότητα καὶ πολλὰς προκοπὰς ἔχει. καὶ ὅσῳ τις προκόπτει, ἀρχὴν λαμβάνει ἑτέρων πραγμάτων, τῶν τοῦ πνεύματος μυστηρίων καὶ τῶν τῆς σοφίας ἀποκρύφων θησαυρῶν ἐνδότερον γίνεται, καὶ ὅσῳ ἐν τῇ χάριτι αὔξει καὶ προκόπτει καὶ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ γνώσει πλουτεῖ, τοσούτῳ καὶ τὰ τῆς κακίας «νοήματα» καὶ πανουργεύματα ἐπιγινώσκει, ὥς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος· «οὐ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα ἀγνοοῦμεν». τηλικαύτης τοίνυν προκειμένης ἡμῖν ἐλπίδος καὶ τοσούτων πνευματικῶν ἀγαθῶν τοῖς ἐν ἀληθείᾳ βουλομένοις ἀγωνίζεσθαι ἡτοιμασμένων καὶ ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοὺς ὅλῃ δυνάμει ἀποδῶμεν εἰς τὴν πρὸς θεὸν εὐαρέστησιν, ἵνα τῶν πνευματικῶν χαρισμάτων τυχόντες καὶ ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ προκόψαντες καὶ πάντα πειρασμὸν καὶ θλῖψιν διὰ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπερβάντες καὶ τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ τελείως καταξιωθέντες τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ἄξιοι γενώμεθα ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.