Whenever the perception of the revelation of a mystery descends into the intellects of the saints, this is also from the angels. When it is permitted by God, a mystery is revealed from a higher angelic order to a lower one [even unto the lowest]; and in the same manner, when it is permitted by the Divine nod that a mystery should come even to human…

Ezekiel was caught away supranaturally by the action of revelation, and he came to Jerusalem; and in a divine revelation he was a beholder the renewal that was to come. It is likewise with purity of soul. Some, going by the well-trodden road of the law through keeping the commandments in a life of many labours, enter into purity of soul by sweat and…

Whenever [those who are lazy] pray to Him, He does not quickly hearken to them, but waits until they grow weary and have learned in no uncertain manner that these things befell them because of their slothfulness and negligence.… Even if this was said of others also, nonetheless it is written especially about those who have abandoned the way of the Lord.

For what reason did wrath and death come upon the house of the priest Eli, the righteous elder who was eminent for forty years in his priesthood? Was it not because of the iniquity of his sons [Hophni] and [Phinehas]? For neither did he sin, nor did they with his assent, but it was because he did not have the zeal to demand from them the Lord's…

The honour belonging to rational nature is the discernment that tells good from evil, and those who have destroyed it are justly compared to "mindless cattle," which have no rational and discerning faculty.

But now, when He has poured out his grace upon the world through His own Coming, He has descended not in an earthquake, not in a fire, not in a terrible and mighty sound, but "as the rain upon a fleece, and rain-drops that fall upon the earth" softly, and He was seen conversing with us after another fashion. This came to pass when, as though in a…

The intellect especially strays when the eyes wander and the belly is at ease.… If you patiently endure in the desert, you will not be tempted, for there you will see no women, nor [will you encounter] anything harmful to your mode of life, nor will you hear unseemly cries. "And what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Geon?"…

Some of his [humanity's] petitions God grants him promptly (I mean those without which no one can be saved), but some He withholds from him. And on certain occasions He restrains and dispels from him the scorching assault of the enemy, while on others, He permits him to be tempted, that this trial may become to him a cause for drawing near to God (as I…

Prayer offered up at night possesses a great power, more so than the prayer of the daytime. Therefore all the righteous prayed during the night, while combating the heaviness of the body and the sweetness of sleep and repelling corporeal nature. And this the prophet also says, "I toiled in my groaning; every night I will wash my bed, with tears will I…

Ye offer [your own wills] as whole burnt offerings unto idols; and unto the wretched thoughts, that ye reckon in yourselves as gods, ye daily sacrifice your free will, a thing more precious than all incense, which ye ought rather to consecrate unto Me by your good works and your purity of conscience.

Therefore, beloved, have in your mind God's providence (which from the beginning until now is dispensed with foreknowledge) as some excellent medicine for weakened eyes, and keep its recollection with you at all times. Ponder, consider, and be taught by these things, that you may learn to hold the remembrance of the greatness of God's honour in your soul,…

Our intellect is not brought into submission unless our body is subject to it. The kingship of the intellect is the crucifixion of the body. The intellect is not subject to God unless the free will is subject to reason. It is hard to convey anything sublime to one who is still a beginner, and an infant in stature. "Woe to thee, O city, when thy king is a…