Inasmuch as thou, impelled, according to the word of the Lord, by the desire to test the divine life-giving Scriptures, and to be consecrated into their mysteries infallibly, hast often asked of us for the infallible words and written canons, for the benefit of thyself, and perhaps also of others, as thou sayest: then we, if not before, then now have deemed it necessary, with God's help, to fulfill thy laudable desire, forgetting out of love for you and for your benefit, about our fellow pupil — sloth, and imitating you in your zeal for good and your tireless diligence, our spiritual and most beloved child, and above all fearing God's condemnation, which threatens everyone who hides his talent, and at the same time wishing to fulfill the commandment of our fathers, which our fathers and spiritual teachers have taught us, so that we may entrust to other God-loving people what we have learned from them. And may God, the Father of love, and of all good things in general, the all-bountiful Giver, Who gave the word even to the foolish beasts, grant to us, who are slow and dumb, a useful word for the opening of our mouths, for the benefit of those who hear, and to you and to those who come, according to His word, may He put an ear to hear these things wisely and prudently, and as it is pleasing to Him, to live unswervingly according to this: for without Him, as it is written, we cannot do anything useful and salvific (John 15:5), and: "Unless the Lord buildeth a house, he laboureth in vain to build it" (Psalm 126:1).

3) The program of the instruction to be given.

Inasmuch as every deed is directed by the goal, and our aim is to express to the best of our ability all that can contribute to your success, and with thee that according to what is said, he will direct his life exactly: then first of all it is necessary to understand what in the fullness of the economy of Christ, looking at the fullness of the economy of Christ, we can faithfully lay the foundation for the edifice of life, and to complete its building, and in due time, or as God wills, who is fitting to lay shelter upon it, — all by the architectonism of the Spirit (paraphrase: for the speech is dark).

4) The main beginning of the instruction.

The basic principle of our instruction with God's help is briefly combined in the following proposition: we must strive in every possible way and with all our might to live according to the law of all the God-created commandments of the Saviour; — so that through their observance we may ascend again to that spiritually perfect and grace-filled imagination and re-creation, which in the beginning was given to us, in the holy font, or, — if it pleases you to define this gift in this way — so that, putting aside the old Adam with his deeds and lusts, we may put on the new and spiritual, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most divine Paul says: "My child, by whom the sick are formed, until Christ is imagined in you (Gal. 4:19); and: "If you are baptized into Christ, you will put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27).

5) The glory of the grace of holy baptism, and what darkens it, and what restores it.

What kind of grace is this, and how we are vouchsafed it, what darkens it and what purifies it, St. Chrysostom, who shines more than any gold in soul and word, will explain to you, saying: "Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image (2 Cor. 3, 18). This was clearer to the faithful of the times of the Apostles, when the gifts of miracles were at work; however, whoever has the eyes of faith, even now it is not difficult for him to understand this. At the same time as we are baptized, our soul, cleansed by the Spirit, becomes brighter than the sun; and we are not only able to look at the glory of God, but we ourselves receive from it a certain radiance. As pure silver, lying against the sun's rays, emits rays not only from its own nature, but also from the splendor of the sun: so the soul, purified by the Spirit of God and made more brilliant than silver, receives into itself a ray of the glory of God, and reflects from itself a ray of the same glory. For this reason the Apostle says: beholding the glory of the Lord, in the same image we are transformed from glory to glory, that is, from the glory of the Spirit into our glory, which dwells in us, and moreover into such glory as is proper to be from the Spirit of the Lord."

After a while he continues: "Do you want me to show you this more clearly and sensitively on the Apostles? Think of Paul, whose garments also had a wonderful effect; remember Peter, whose shadow revealed miraculous power. If they did not bear within themselves the image of the King of Heaven and their splendor were not unapproachable, then their garments and shadows would not reveal such power: for the garment of the King is terrible even for robbers. Do you want to see how their inner light penetrates through their bodies? "Looking upon Stephen, says the Book of Acts, seeing his face as the face of an angel" (6:15). But this is nothing in comparison with the glory that shone within him. For what Moses then had on his face, they bore in their souls. And much more: for what was with Moses was more sensual, and this is spiritual. And just as bodies that have the ability to receive and reflect light, being illuminated by self-luminous bodies, and the light reflected in them themselves pour out on other bodies nearest to them, so it is with the faithful. And for this reason those who experience these things renounce earthly things, and think only of heavenly things. "But alas! it is fitting for us to groan bitterly at this; that when we are vouchsafed nobility, we do not even understand what is said about it, because we soon lose it and deviate to the sensual. This ineffable and terrible glory is in us for one or two days, and then we extinguish it, bringing a storm of worldly affairs and repelling its rays with the density of their clouds" (Discourse 7 on the 2nd Epistle to Corinth).

In another place he says: "The bodies of those who please God will be clothed with such glory as cannot even be seen with these (real) eyes. God was pleased to give some of this sign and unclear traces in both the Old and New Testaments. There the face of Moses was so sown with glory that it was unapproachable to the eyes of Israel; and in the New the face of Christ shone even more brightly."

Have you now listened to the words of the Spirit? Have you understood the power of the sacrament? Have you come to know what are the illnesses of our perfect from the holy font of spiritual regeneration? What are its fruits, fullness and victorious honors? And to what extent is it in our power to multiply or diminish this prenatural grace, that is, to manifest or eclipse? It is overshadowed by the storm of worldly cares and the darkness of the passions born from them, which, like a whirlwind or a wild stream, attacking us and drowning the soul, do not allow it to rest or gaze upon what is truly good and blessed, for which it was created, but all of it, beaten and tormented by the waves and smoke of sensual sweets, darken and plunge into obscenity. And it manifests the opposite of this, that which departs from the God-created commandments, and for those who walk not in the flesh, but in the Spirit: for, it is said, "Walk in the Spirit, and do not commit the lusts of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16), is beneficial to the soul and salvific, raising them, as by a ladder, to the very summit of perfection, to the very last of its degrees, to love, which is God.

6) In holy baptism we do not receive divine grace; but when we close it with passions, then we again purify it by fulfilling the commandments.

In the divine couches, i.e. in the sacred font, we accept the completely perfect divine grace. If, after somehow, through the abuse of temporal things, and through great concern for the affairs of life, we close it with the darkness of passions, then even after this, through repentance and the fulfillment of the God-effective commandments, we can again accept and again acquire its prenatural brightness, and see its clearest manifestation. Its manifestation is revealed to the extent of everyone's zeal to be faithful to the faith, but most of all through the help and goodwill of the Lord Jesus Christ, as St. Mark says: "Christ, as perfect God, gave perfect to those who were baptized the grace of the Holy Spirit, which receives no addition from us, but only reveals itself and manifests itself in us according to the fulfillment of the commandments, and gives us the application of faith, until we attain all to the union of faith, according to the measure of the stature of the fulfillment of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Wherefore, if we offer anything after we are reborn in Him, it was already hidden in us by Him and from Him."

7) He who lives according to God must go through all the commandments, but devote most of his work to the first of them, as the progenitors of the rest.

Since, therefore, as we have said, the beginning and root of all our proper action is in order to live according to the saving commandments, there is a limit and fruit (which is hoped for from this) in order to rise again to the perfect grace of the Holy Spirit, which was given to us in the beginning through baptism, which is still in us (for the gifts of God are unrepentant, as the Apostle says, Rom. 11, 29), but is encumbered with passions, and is revealed only through the fulfillment of the God-giving commandments: then we must strive in every possible way, through the all-powerful fulfillment of all such commandments, to purify the grace of the Spirit that exists in us, to bring it into manifestation and to see it most clearly. "A lamp unto my feet," saith the blessed David unto God, "Thy law, and a light unto my paths" (Psalm 118:5); and: the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 18:9); and, "Unto all Thy commandments are directed" (Psalm 118:128). He who reclined on the Lord's face says: "Thou shalt keep His commandments, He abides in Him, and He in Him" (1 John 3:24); and: "His commandments are not heavy" (1 John 5:3). And the Lord Himself teaches: "If you have My commandments, and keep them, you will love Me: but if you love Me, you will be loved by My Father: and I will love him, and I will appear to him Myself" (John 14:21); and, "If any man love me, he shall keep my word: and my Father shall love him, and we shall come unto him, and make our abode with him" (ibid., v. 23); and, Thou shalt not love Me, He keepeth not My words (v. 24).