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†He prays for those who have been deemed worthy, that they might receive an increase in their spiritual stature through the supply of the Spirit, saying: For this reason, since I heard of your faith and the love which you have for all the saints, I do not cease praying for you and asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the wealth of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe; then he speaks about the manner of partaking of the Spirit: according to the working of his power, which he worked in Christ, when he raised 8,1.59 him from the dead. He speaks clearly about participation in the Spirit and of its working towards those who partake, so that, he says, you too may receive its fullness in the same way; then, descending a little in the epistle, he prays for something greater for them, seeking a more perfect power of the Spirit to come upon them:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named; that he may grant you, according to the wealth of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love; that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And already in another epistle he discusses the same things with his disciples, revealing to them the treasure of the Spirit and exhorting them to partake: For, he says, desire the spiritual gifts; and yet I show you a more excellent way. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy and know the mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing; and if I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body to be burned, but do not have 8,1.60 love, I gain nothing. And what is the profit of love, and what are its fruits, and from what things it keeps away the one who has it, and what things it provides, he makes clear in these words: Love is not jealous, is not boastful, is not puffed up, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own things, <is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong,> does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things; love never fails. Very wisely and precisely, "Love," he says, "never fails." And what is this? If someone should attain the other gifts which the Spirit provides (I mean tongues of angels and prophecy and knowledge and gifts of healing), but has not yet been purely delivered from the passions that trouble him within by the love of the Spirit, nor has received the perfect medicine of salvation in his soul, he still stands in fear of falling, not having the love that establishes and makes firm in the stance of virtue. Therefore, do not, having supposed on account of the rich and abundant grace of the Spirit that you need nothing further for perfection, remain in its gifts; but when the wealth of that 8,1.61 gift comes to you, then become poor in spirit, always being wary and expecting love in the soul like a kind of foundation for the treasure of grace, and struggling against every passion, until you arrive at the ultimate goal of piety, to which the apostle himself arrived and leads up his disciples by both prayer and teaching, showing to those who love the Lord the transformation and grace to what is better that comes through love, saying: For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation; and as many as

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†κατηξιωμένοις ἐπεύχεται τῆς νοητῆς ἡλικίας λαβεῖν αὐτοὺς αὔξησιν διὰ τῆς ἐπιχορηγίας τοῦ πνεύματος λέγων· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀκούσας τὴν καθ' ὑμᾶς πίστιν καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχετε εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους οὐ παύομαι προσευχόμενος ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ αἰτούμενος, ἵνα ὁ θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης, δῴη ὑμῖν πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως ἐν ἐπιγνώσει αὐτοῦ, πεφωτισμένους τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς καρ δίας ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ εἰδέναι ὑμᾶς τίς ἐστιν ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς κλήσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ τίς ὁ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τῆς κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ τί τὸ ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς πιστεύοντας· εἶτά φησι περὶ τοῦ τρό που τῆς μεταλήψεως τοῦ πνεύματος· Κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἐνήργησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ, ἐγείρας 8,1.59 αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν. καθαρῶς περὶ τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος λέγει μετουσίας καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου πρὸς τοὺς μεταλαμβάνον τας ἐνεργείας, ὅπως ἄν, φησίν, καὶ ὑμεῖς τὸν αὐτὸν δέξησθε τρόπον τὴν ἐκείνου πληροφορίαν· εἶτα ὀλίγον ὑποκαταβὰς τῆς ἐπιστολῆς μεῖζόν τι αὐτοῖς ἐπεύχεται, τελειοτέραν ζητῶν ἐλθεῖν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος δύναμιν·

Τούτου χάριν κάμπτω τὰ γόνατά μου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀνομάζεται· ἵνα δῴη ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστὸν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐρριζωμένους καὶ τεθεμελιωμένους· ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε κατα λαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς ἁγίοις, τί τὸ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ βάθος καὶ ὕψος, γνῶναί τε τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ ἐπιστολῇ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τοῖς μαθηταῖς διαλέγεται τὸν τοῦ πνεύματος θησαυρὸν αὐτοῖς ἀποκαλύπτων καὶ παρακαλῶν μετασχεῖν· Ζηλοῦτε γάρ φησιν τὰ πνευματικὰ χαρίσματα· καὶ ἔτι καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ὁδὸν ὑμῖν δείκνυμι. ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον. καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν τὴν πίστιν ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάνειν, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐθέν εἰμι· καὶ ἐὰν ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου καὶ ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου ἵνα καυθήσωμαι, ἀγάπην 8,1.60 δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι. τί δὲ τὸ κέρδος τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ ποῖα τὰ ταύτης βλαστήματα, τίνων τε ἀφίστησι τὸν ἔχοντα αὐτὴν καὶ τίνα παρέχει, σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις δηλοῖ· Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ ζηλοῖ, οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, <οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογί ζεται τὸ κακόν,> οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ἐλπίζει, πάντα ὑπομένει· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε ἐκπίπτει. πάνυ σοφῶς καὶ ἀκριβῶς Οὐδέποτε, φησίν, ἐκπίπτει ἡ ἀγάπη. τί δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν; κἂν τῶν ἄλλων τις τύχῃ χαρισμάτων, ὧν τὸ πνεῦμα παρέχει (γλώσσας λέγω ἀγγέλων καὶ προφητείαν καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων), μηδέπω δὲ λυτρωθῇ καθαρῶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἔνδον ἐνοχλούντων παθῶν τῇ τοῦ πνεύ ματος ἀγάπῃ μηδὲ τὸ τέλειον τῆς σωτηρίας ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ δέξηται φάρμακον, ἐν φόβῳ καθέστηκεν ἔτι τῆς πτώσεως, τὴν στηρίζουσαν καὶ βεβαιοῦσαν ἐν τῇ τῆς ἀρετῆς στάσει μὴ ἔχων ἀγάπην. Μὴ οὖν οἰηθεὶς διὰ τὴν πλουσίαν καὶ ἄφθονον τοῦ πνεύματος χάριν μηδενὸς ἔτι δεῖσθαι πρὸς τὴν τελείωσιν ἐναπομείνῃς τοῖς ἐκείνου δωρήμασιν· ἀλλ' ὅταν ἔλθῃ πρὸς 8,1.61 σὲ τῆς δωρεᾶς ἐκείνης ὁ πλοῦτος, τότε γίνου τῷ φρονήματι πένης, ὑποπτήσσων ἀεὶ καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ὥσπερ τινὰ κρηπῖδα τοῦ τῆς χάριτος θησαυροῦ προσδοκῶν τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ἀγωνιζόμενος πάθος, μέχρις <ἂν> ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀφίκῃ σκοποῦ, ἐφ' ὃν αὐτός τε ἔφθασεν ὁ ἀπόστο λος καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς ἀνάγει δι' εὐχῆς τε καὶ διδαχῆς ὑποδεικνὺς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν κύριον, τὴν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβολήν τε καὶ χάριν λέγων· Οὔτε γὰρ περιτομή τί ἐστιν οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, ἀλλὰ κτίσις καινή· καὶ ὅσοι τῷ