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How is it that you are not seen by us, but you see us all? But not all whom you see, do you also know, my God, but only those who love you do you know with love and in a special way you reveal yourself to them; a sun hidden from all mortal nature you rise among your own, you are seen by them, and in you they rise who before were darkened, fornicators, adulterers and profligates, sinners, tax collectors. Repenting, they become sons of your divine light; and light surely begets light, so they too become light, children of God, as it is written, and gods by grace. All who will guard well your divine commandments, all who will deny the vain and deceitful world, all who will hate parents and brothers without hate, considering them strangers, sojourners in life, all who will become naked of wealth and possessions and will deny all attachment to them, all who the empty glory, the praises of men, will loathe from their soul for the sake of the glory above, (62) all who have completely cut off their own will and have become like innocent sheep to their shepherds, all who are dead in the body to every evil deed have become so by sweating in the labors of the virtues and living by the will of the pilot alone, being made dead by obedience, and made alive again, all who in the fear of God and remembrance of death weep every night and day and mentally fall at the feet of the Master begging for mercy and forgiveness of failings; these come into the possession of the good through all the practice of good things, mourning every day and knocking persistently they draw down mercy. These with frequent prayers, and with unutterable groanings and with streams of tears cleanse their soul; and seeing it being cleansed, such people receive a fire of longing and a fire of desire, to behold it perfectly cleansed. But since they are unable to find an end to the light, the purification remains incomplete for such people; for as much as I, wretched one, may be purified and brightened, and as much as the Spirit who cleanses me may be seen, it always seems to me a beginning both of purification and of vision. For in an indefinite abyss, in an immeasurable height who will be able to find a middle or an end? I know that it is much, but the quantity I do not know; I desire more and I always groan, because what has been given is little, even if I consider it much, compared to what is suspected to be far from me, which seeing, I desire, and I seem to have nothing,

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πῶς οὐχ ὁρᾶσαι παρ᾿ ἡμῶν, ἡμᾶς ὁρᾷς δέ πάντας; Ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί πάντας, οὕς ὁρᾷς, καί γινώσκεις, Θεέ μου, ἀλλά τούς ἀγαπῶντάς σε μόνους φιλῶν γινώσκεις καί κατ᾿ ἐξαίρετον αὐτοῖς σεαυτόν ἐμφανίζεις˙ ἥλιος κεκρυμμένος ὤν πάσῃ βροτείᾳ φύσει ἐξανατέλλεις ἐν τοῖς σοῖς, ὁρᾶσαι παρ᾿ ἐκείνων, καί ἀνατέλλουσιν ἐν σοί οἱ πρίν ἐσκοτισμένοι πόρνοι, μοιχοί καί ἄσωτοι, ἁμαρτωλοί, τελῶναι. Μετανοοῦντες γίνονται υἱοί φωτός σου θείου˙ τό φῶς δέ φῶς πάντως γεννᾷ, φῶς οὖν καὐτοί τελοῦσι, τέκνα Θεοῦ, ὡς γέγραπται, θεοί τε κατά χάριν. Ὅσοι καλῶς φυλάξουσι τάς θείας ἐντολά σους, ὅσοι κόσμον ἀρνήσονται τόν μάταιον καί πλάνον, ὅσοι γονεῖς καί ἀδελφούς μισήσουσιν ἀμίσως, ὡς ξένους ἡγησάμενοι τῷ βίῳ παροδίτας, ὅσοι γυμνοί γενήσονται πλούτου τε καί χρημάτων καί τήν προσπάθειαν αὐτῶν ἀρνήσονται εἰς ἅπαν, ὅσοι τήν δόξαν τήν κενήν, ἀνθρώπων τούς ἐπαίνους, ἀπό ψυχῆς βδελύξονται διά τήν τῶν ἄνω δόξαν, (62) ὅσοι θέλημα ἴδιον ἐξέκοψαν τελείως καί ὡς ἄκακα πρόβατα ἐγένοντο τοῖς ποιμέσιν, ὅσοι νεκροί τῷ σώματι πρός πᾶσαν κακήν πρᾶξιν γεγόνασιν ἱδρώσαντες εἰς ἀρετῶν τούς πόνους καί μόνῳ τῷ θελήματι ζῶντες τοῦ κυβερνήτου, ὑπακοῇ νεκρούμενοι, ζωούμενοί τε αὖθις, ὅσοι τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί μνήμῃ τοῦ θανάτου καθ᾿ ἑκάστην δακρύουσι νύκτα τε καί ἡμέραν καί νοερῶς προσπίπτουσι τοῖς ποσί τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἔλεος ἐξαιτούμενοι καί ἄφεσιν σφαλμάτων˙ οὗτοι ἐν ἕξει γίνονται τοῦ καλοῦ διά πάσης τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν καλῶν θρηνοῦντες καθ᾿ ἑκάστην καί ἐπιμόνως κρούοντες ἔλεος ἐπισπῶνται. Οὗτοι δεήσεσι συχναῖς, φωναῖς τε ἀλαλήλοις καί τῶν δακρύων ταῖς ῥοαῖς ψυχήν ἐκκαθαίρουσι˙ καθαιρομένην δέ αὐτήν βλέποντες οἱ τοιοῦτοι πῦρ πόθου προσλαμβάνονται καί πῦρ ἐπιθυμίας, τοῦ τέλεον θεάσασθαι ταύτην ἐκκαθαρθεῖσαν. Ἐπεί δέ τέλος τοῦ φωτός εὑρεῖν ἀδυνατοῦσιν, ἀτέλεστος ἡ κάθαρσις ὑπάρχει τοῖς τοιούτοις˙ ὅσον γάρ καθαρθήσομαι καί λαμπρυνθῶ, ὁ τάλας, ὅσον δ᾿ ἄν καί ὀφθήσεται τό καθαῖρόν με Πνεῦμα, ἀρχή μοι πάντοτε δοκεῖ καί καθαρμοῦ καί θέας. Ἐν ἀορίστῳ γάρ βυθῷ, ἐν ἀμετρήτῳ ὕψει τίς ἐφευρεῖν δυνήσεται μεσότητα ἤ τέλος; Οἶδα, ὅτι πολύ ἐστι, τό δέ ποσόν οὐκ οἶδα˙ ἐπιθυμῶ τοῦ πλείονος καί πάντοτε στενάζω, ὅτι ὀλίγον τό δοθέν, εἰ καί πολύ ἡγοῦμαι, πρός τό ὑπονοούμενον μακρόθεν μου τυγχάνειν, ὅπερ ὁρῶν ἐπιθυμῶ, καί δοκῶ μηδέν ἔχειν,