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the sole bestower of Christian perfection, not accruing from imitation or understanding, but by revelation and the grace of the Spirit.

Therefore Macarius the Great says, having Symeon, who is most pleasant to hear among interpreters, bearing witness with and speaking in agreement with him: «The divine apostle Paul has revealed most accurately and most clearly to every soul the complete mystery of Christianity, which is the illumination of the heavenly light in revelation and power of the Spirit, lest anyone, thinking that the illumination of the Spirit is only through the knowledge of thoughts, should be in danger, through ignorance and indolence, of failing to attain the perfect mystery of grace. For this reason also he brought forward the example of the glory of the Spirit that surrounded the face of Moses as an acknowledged demonstration ("for if," he says, "that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious"), (p. 174) saying 'done away' because the glory surrounded the mortal body of Moses; but he showed that that immortal glory of the Spirit in revelation now shines without being done away upon the immortal face of the inner man for those who are worthy. For he says: "But we all, that is, those born of the Spirit through perfect faith, with unveiled face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord"; with unveiled face, that is, of the soul, for whenever anyone turns to the Lord, 'the veil,' he says, 'is taken away', 'Now the Lord is that Spirit'. Therefore, through these things he has clearly shown that a veil of darkness has been cast over the soul, which from the transgression of Adam found an opportunity to enter into humanity, but now, from the illumination of the Spirit, this is taken away from the souls of those who are truly faithful and worthy, for which cause the coming of Christ also took place».

Do you see, brother, how those sensible illuminations in the old [covenant] prefigured the illumination of the Spirit in the souls of those who believe in Christ in deed and in truth? Therefore, those who speak of those sensible and symbolic things ought through them to be led to the faith and seeking of this. But these men hasten in every way to call to unbelief even believers, and if possible even those who have manifestly been blessed with grace and have acquired an unforgettable knowledge of it, attempting rashly and senselessly to re-teach those who have been taught the ineffable things by God and by His mystical manifestation and energy, not even being shamed by the great Paul, who says that «the spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one, for he has the mind of Christ; For who has known the mind of the Lord, (p. 176) that he may instruct him?» that is, will make the things of the Spirit believable by examining them with reasonings? For he who trusts in his own reasonings and the discussions arising from them cannot know or believe at all the things of the spiritual man, thinking that all truth is found by divisions and syllogisms and analyses; for such a man is natural, and «the natural man,» he says, «does not receive the things of the Spirit,» nor can he; so then, how can one who neither knows nor believes make things known and believable to others by instruction? Therefore, if anyone teaches about watchfulness without hesychia and watchfulness of the mind and the experience of the things spiritually and ineffably accomplished in it, adhering to his own reasonings and seeking to show through reason the good that is beyond reason, he is clearly carried away to the extreme of folly and has truly been made a fool in his wisdom, because he foolishly supposed he could contemplate with natural knowledge the things that are beyond nature and the depths of God, which are known only to the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit, which are known only to the spiritual and those who have the mind of Christ, and to investigate and demonstrate them with natural intellect and carnal philosophy; and in addition to his foolishness, he will also be found a fighter against God,

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χριστιανούς τελειότητος παρεκτικός μονώτατος, οὐκ ἀπό μιμήσεως ἤ φρονήσεως προσγινομένης, ἀλλ᾿ ἀποκαλύψει καί χάριτι τοῦ Πνεύματος.

∆ιό φησιν ὁ μέγας Μακάριος, συνεπιμαρτυροῦντά τε καί συμφθεγγόμενον ἔχων Συμεώνην τόν ἀκούειν ἥδιστον ἐν ἑρμηνεῦσιν˙ «Ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος Παῦλος ἀκριβέστερόν τε καί τηλαυγέστερον τό ἐντελές τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ μυστήριον ἑκάστῃ ψυχῇ δεδήλωκεν, ὅπερ ἐστίν ἡ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου φωτός ἐν ἀποκαλύψει καί δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος ἔλλαμψις, ἵνα μή τις, τόν διά γνώσεως νοημάτων φωτισμόν μόνον τοῦ Πνεύματος εἶναι νομίσας κινδυνεύσῃ δι᾿ ἄγνοιάν τε καί ρᾳθυμίαν τοῦ τελείου τῆς χάριτος ἀποτυχεῖν μυστηρίου. ∆ιά τοῦτο καί τό ὑπόδειγμα τῆς τῷ προσώπῳ Μωϋσέως περικειμένης τοῦ Πνεύματος δόξης εἰς παράστασιν ὡμολογημένης προήνεγκεν (" εἰ γάρ τό καταργούμενον, φησί, διά δόξης, πολλῶν μᾶλλον τό μένον ἐν δόξῃ" ), (σελ. 174) καταργούμενον εἰρηκώς διά τό θνητῷ σώματι Μωϋσέως περικεῖσθαι τήν δόξαν˙ ἔδειξε δέ τήν ἀθάνατον ἐκείνην τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐν ἀποκαλύψει δόξαν νῦν ἐν τῷ ἀθανάτῳ τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου προσώπῳ τοῖς ἀξίοις ἀκαταργήτως ἐλλάμπεσθαι. Φησί γοῦν˙ "ἡμεῖς δέ πάντες, τουτέστιν οἱ κατά τελείαν πίστιν ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος γεννηθέντες, ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τήν δόξαν Κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα, τήν αὐτήν εἰκόνα μεταμορφούμενοι ἀπό δόξης εἰς δόξαν, καθάπερ ἀπό Κυρίου Πνεύματος"˙ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ, τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς δηλαδή, καί γάρ ἡνίκ᾿ ἄν ἐπιστρέψῃ τις πρός Κύριον, "περιαιρεῖται, φησί, τό κάλυμμα", "ὁ δέ Κύριος τό Πνεῦμά ἐστι". Φανερῶς οὖν διά τούτων ἔδειξε κάλυμμα σκότους ἐπιβεβλῆσθαι τήν ψυχήν, ὅπερ ἀπό τῆς τοῦ Ἀδάμ παραβάσεως χώραν ἔσχεν εἰς τήν ἀνθρωπότητα παραδύναι, νυνί δέ, ἀπό τῆς ἐλλάμψεως τοῦ Πνεύματος, περιαιρεῖσθαι τοῦτο τῶν πιστῶν τε καί ἀξίων τῷ ὄντι ψυχῶν, δι᾿ ἥν αἰτίαν καί ἡ ἔλευσις ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γεγένηται».

Βλέπεις, ἀδελφέ, πῶς τόν ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν ἔργῳ καί ἀληθείᾳ πιστευόντων εἰς Χριστόν φωτισμόν τοῦ Πνεύματος οἱ ἐν τῷ παλαιῷ προϋπέγραψαν αἰσθητοί ἐκεῖνοι φωτισμοί; Τούς οὖν αἰσθητούς καί συμβολικούς ἐκείνους λέγοντας ἐχρῆν δι᾿ ἐκείνων πρός τήν τούτου πίστιν τε καί ζήτησιν ἐνάγεσθαι. Οὗτοι δέ καί τούς πιστεύοντας, μᾶλλον δέ εἰ δυνατόν καί τούς τῆς χάριτος ἐμφανῶς εὐμοιρηκότας καί ἄληστον τήν ἐπί ταύτῃ γνῶσιν ἐσχηκότας, πρός ἀπιστίαν ἐκκαλέσασθαι πάντα τρόπον σπεύδουσι, μεταδιδάσκειν τολμηρῶς καί ἀνοήτως ἐγχειροῦντες τούς ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ καί τῆς αὐτοῦ μυστικῆς ἐμφανείας τε καί ἐνεργείας τά ἀπόρρητα δεδιδαγμένους, οὐδ᾿ ὑπό τοῦ μεγάλου Παύλου ἐντρεπόμενοι, ὅς φησιν ὅτι «ὁ μέν πνευματικός ἀνακρίνει πάντα, αὐτός δέ ὑπ᾿ οὐδενός ἀνακρίνεται, νοῦν γάρ ἔχει Χριστοῦ˙ τίς δέ ἔγνω νοῦν Κυρίου, (σελ. 176) ὅς συμβιβάσει αὐτόν» τουτέστι πιστά ποιήσει, λογισμοῖς ἀνακρίνων, τά τοῦ Πνεύματος; Καί γάρ οὐδέ γνῶναι ὅλως ἤ πιστεῦσαι δύναται τά τοῦ πνευματικοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁ τοῖς οἰκείοις λογισμοῖς καί ταῖς δι᾿ αὐτῶν συζητήσεσι πιστεύων, διαιρέσεσί τε καί συλλογισμοῖς καί ἀναλύσεσι πᾶσαν ἀλήθειαν εὑρίσκεσθαι οἰόμενος˙ ψυχικός γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τοιοῦτος, «ὁ δέ ψυχικός», φησίν, «οὐ δέχεται τά τοῦ Πνεύματος», οὐδέ δύναται˙ ὁ γοῦν μή γινώσκων μηδέ πιστεύων, πῶς τοῖς ἄλλοις συμβιβάσας γνωστά τε καί πιστά ποιήσειε; ∆ιά τοῦτο εἴ τις ἄνευ ἡσυχίας τε καί νήψεως τῆς κατά νοῦν καί τῆς ἐν αὐτῇ πνευματικῶς καί ἀπορρήτως τελουμένων πείρας περί νήψεως διδάσκει, στοιχῶν τοῖς οἰκείοις διαλογισμοῖς καί διά λόγου δεῖξαι ζητῶν τό ὑπέρ λόγον ἀγαθόν, εἰς ἔσχατον ἀπονοίας δῆλός ἐστι κατενεχθείς καί τήν σοφίαν ὄντως μωρανθείς, ὅτι ἀφρόνως ὑπενόησε φυσικῇ γνώσει τά ὑπέρ φύσιν κατοπτεῦσαι καί τά βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἅ γνωστά μόνῳ τῷ Πνεύματι, καί τά χαρίσματα τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἅ γνωστά μόνοις τοῖς πνευματικοῖς καί νῦν ἔχουσι Χριστοῦ, φυσικῇ διανοίᾳ καί σαρκικῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ ἐρευνῆσαί τε καί δεῖξαι˙ πρός δέ τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ, καί θεομάχος εὑρεθήσεται,