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spirit; and to another, faith in the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healings, and so on. To which he adds, But all these things are worked by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as he wills. And he wills what is clearly expedient for each, for the fulfillment of the dispassionate desire of those who seek divine things. For he who seeks divine things dispassionately will certainly receive what he seeks. But he who asks with some passion, as one who asks wrongly, will fail to obtain what he seeks. For he says: You ask, and you do not receive, because you ask wrongly.

Therefore, neither does the grace of the Holy Spirit work wisdom in the saints without the mind that receives it; nor knowledge, without the faculty receptive of reason; nor faith, without the assurance according to mind and reason of things to come and for now unknown to all; nor gifts of healing, without natural philanthropy; nor any other of the remaining gifts, without the receptive state and capacity of each one; nor again will a man acquire one of the enumerated things by natural power, without the divine power that bestows them.

And all the saints clearly show this, seeking after the revelations of divine things the reasons for what was revealed. For Abraham, having received the promise of the inheritance of the land shown to him, when God said to him, I am God, who brought you out of the country of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it, was not content with receiving what he had come out of the land of the Chaldeans seeking; but he searched, desiring to learn also the manner of the inheritance, saying to God, Lord Master, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And Moses, having received the power of signs and wonders, sought to be taught also the ways and the reasons by which the proof of the given signs was to be demonstrated. And he set among them, says the great David, the words of his signs, and of his wonders, in the land of Ham. And again, the great David, crying to God, says of himself: Uncover my eyes, and I will understand the wondrous things from your law. And: Your law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths. And Daniel the great man of desires, seeking the reasons for the divine visions, for which he spent three weeks of days without food, hears an angel saying to an Angel [Al. to another angel], (608) Make that man understand the vision; And Zechariah the great Prophet, throughout his whole prophecy, at each vision introduces the angel speaking in him, both showing the visions, and teaching the reasons of the visions, saying: And the angel that spoke in me showed me; and I said to the angel that spoke in me, Lord, what are these things?

And it is clear from this, that all the saints both received revelations from the Spirit, and sought for the reasons of what was revealed to be revealed; and that the grace of the Spirit in no way abolishes the power of nature, but rather, having been abolished by the use of unnatural ways, it made it active again by the use of natural ways, leading it to the understanding of divine things.

For the Holy Spirit seeks in us the knowledge of things that are, and searches; but it does not seek what is sought for itself; because it is God, and beyond all knowledge; but for us who are in need of knowledge. Just as, of course, the Word becomes flesh; not for himself, but accomplishing for us the mystery through the incarnation. For as without flesh intellectually ensouled the Word did not work in a manner befitting God the things according to the nature of the flesh; so neither does the Holy Spirit work in the saints the knowledge of the mysteries without the power that according to nature seeks and searches for knowledge. Whether therefore the saints were seeking or seeking out, whether they were searching or searching out, they had the grace of the Spirit moving their intellectual and rational power toward the seeking and searching for the salvation of their souls; and without the Spirit they perceived nothing at all that was spiritual;

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πνεῦμα· ἑτέρῳ δέ, πίστις ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ Πνεύματι· ἄλλῳ δέ, χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, καί τά ἑξῆς. Οἷς ἐπάγει, Πάντα δέ ἐνεργεῖ τόν ἕν καί τό αὐτό Πνεῦμα, διαιροῦν ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ καθώς βούλεται. Βούλεται δέ τό ἑκάστῳ δηλονότι συμφέρον, εἰς πληροφορίαν τῆς ἀπαθοῦς τῶν ἐπιζητούντων τά θεῖα ἐφέσεως. Ὁ γάρ ἀπαθῶς τά θεῖα ζητῶν, πάντως λήψεται τό ζητούμενον. Ὁ δέ μετά τινος πάθους αἰτῶν, ὡς κακῶς ζητῶν, ἀποτεύξεται τοῦ ζητουμένου. Φησί γάρ· Αἰτεῖσθε, καί οὐ λαμβάνετε, διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε.

Οὐκοῦν οὔτε ἡ χάρις τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐνεργεῖ σοφίαν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις, χωρίς τοῦ ταύτην δεχομένου νοός· οὔτε γνῶσιν, χωρίς τῆς δεκτικῆς τοῦ λόγου δυνάμεως· οὔτε πίστιν, ἄνευ τῆς κατά νοῦν καί λόγον τῶν μελλόντων καί πᾶσι τέως ἀδήλων πληροφορίας· οὔτε ἰαμάτων χαρίσματα, δίχα τῆς κατά φύσιν φιλανθρωπίας· οὔτε τι ἕτερον τῶν λοιπῶν χαρισμάτων, χωρίς τῆς ἑκάστου δεκτικῆς ἕξεώς τε καί δυνάμεως· οὔτε μήν πάλιν ἕν τῶν ἀπηριθμημένων ἄνθρωπος κτήσεται κατά δύναμιν φυσικήν, δίχα τῆς χορηγούσης ταῦτα θείας δυνάμεως.

Καί δηλοῦσι τοῦτο σαφῶς πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι, μετά τάς ἀποκαλύψεις τῶν θείων ζητοῦντες τῶν ἀποκαλυφθέντων τούς λόγους. Ἀβράαμ γάρ λαβών τήν ἐπαγγελίαν τῆς κληρονομίας τῆς δειχθείσης αὐτῷ γῆς, φάσκοντος πρός αὐτόν τοῦ Θεοῦ· Ἐγώ ὁ Θεός, ὁ ἐξαγαγών σε ἐκ χώρας Χαλδαίων, ὥστε δοῦναί σοι τήν γῆν ταύτην κληρονομῆσαι αὐτήν οὐκ ἠρκέσθη λαβών ὅπερ ἐκζητῶν ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ γῆς Χαλδαίων· ἀλλ᾿ ἠρεύνησε μαθεῖν ποθῶν καί τόν τρόπον τῆς κληρονομίας, λέγων πρός τόν Θεόν· ∆έσποτα Κύριε, κατά τί γνώσομαι ὅτι κληρονομήσω αὐτήν; Καί Μωϋσῆς λαβών τῶν σημείων καί τῶν τεράτων τήν δύναμιν, ἐζήτει καί τούς τρόπους διδαχθῆναι καί τούς λόγους, καθ᾿ οὕς ἔδει τῶν δοθέντων σημείων ἀποδειχθῆναι τήν πίστωσιν. Καί ἔθετο ἐν αὐτοῖς, φησίν ὁ μέγας ∆αβίδ, τούς λόγους τῶν σημείων αὐτοῦ, καί τῶν τεράτων αὐτοῦ, ἐν γῇ Χάμ. Καί πάλιν αὐτός περί ἑαυτοῦ φησι πρός τόν Θεόν βοῶν ὁ μέγας ∆αβίδ· Ἀποκάλυψον τούς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καί κατανοήσω τά θαυμάσιά σου ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σου. Καί· Λύχνος τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου, καί φῶς ταῖς τρίβοις μου. Καί ∆ανιήλ ὁ μέγας ἀνήρ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν, τῶν θείων ὁράσεων, ὑπέρ ὧν τρεῖς ἑβδομάδας ἡμερῶν ἐτέλεσεν ἄσιτος, τούς λόγους ἐκζητῶν, ἀκούει ἀγγέλου πρός Ἄγγελον [Al. πρός ἄλλον ἄγγελον] λέγοντος, (608) Συνέτισον ἐκεῖνον τήν ὅρασιν· Καί Ζαχαρίας ὁ μέγας Προφήτης, δι᾿ ὅλης τῆς αὐτοῦ προφητείας, καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ὅρασιν τόν ἐν αὐτῷ λαλοῦντα ἄγγελον εἰσάγει, δεικνύοντά τε τάς ὁράσεις, καί διδάσκοντα τούς τῶν ὁράσεων λόγους, φάσκων· Καί ἔδειξέ μοι ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοί· καί εἶπα τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῷ λαλοῦντι ἐν ἐμοί, Κύριε, τί ἐστι ταῦτα;

Καί δῆλον ἐντεῦθεν, ὅτι πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι καί ἐδέχοντο ὑπό τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀποκαλύψεις, καί ἐζήτουν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι τῶν ἀποκαλυφθέντων τούς λόγους· καί ὅτι τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡ χάρις οὐδαμῶς τῆς φύσεως καταργεῖ τήν δύναμιν, ἀλλά μᾶλλον καταργηθεῖσαν τῇ χρήσει τῶν παρά φύσιν τρόπων, ἐνεργόν ἐποίει πάλιν τῇ χρήσει τῶν κατά φύσιν, πρός τήν τῶν θείων κατανόησιν εἰσάγουσα.

Ζητεῖ γάρ ἐν ἡμῖν τήν τῶν ὄντων γνῶσιν τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, καί ἐρευνᾷ· ἀλλ᾿ οὐχ ἑαυτῷ ζητεῖ τό ζητούμενον· ὅτι Θεός, καί πάσης ἐπέκεινα γνώσεως· ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν τοῖς δεομένοις τῆς γνώσεως. Ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καί ὁ Λόγος γίνεται σάρξ· οὐχ ἑαυτῷ, ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν τό διά τῆς σαρκώσεως ἐξανύων μυστήριον. Ὡς γάρ χωρίς σαρκός νοερῶς ἐμψυχωμένης οὐκ ἐνήργει θεοπρεπῶς τά κατά φύσιν τῆς σαρκός ὁ Λόγος· οὕτως οὐδέ τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐνεργεῖ τάς γνώσεις τῶν μυστηρίων χωρίς τῆς κατά φύσιν ζητούσης τε καί ἐρευνώσης τήν γνῶσιν δυνάμεως. Εἶτε οὖν ἐζήτουν ἤ ἐξεζήτουν, εἴτε ἠρεύνων ἤ ἐξηρεύνων οἱ ἅγιοι, τήν χάριν εἶχον τοῦ Πνεύματος κινοῦσαν αὐτῶν τήν νοεράν καί λογικήν δύναμιν πρός ζήτησιν καί ἔρευναν τῆς τῶν ψυχῶν σωτηρίας· καί χωρίς τοῦ Πνεύματος οὐδέν παντελῶς ἐθεώρουν πνευματικόν·