And do not allow, O Lord, that I should ever be subjected to suffering, or temptation, or sorrow beyond my strength; but always give me both relief, O my God, and strength, that I may bear sorrows. For Thou art from the beginning, O Most Merciful, the giver of good things to those who fall down from their hearts to Thy dominion, according to the dignity of faith and works and good hopes, bestowing gifts and all the gifts of Thy Divine and worshipped Spirit, now and ever, and always, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Hymn 16. All the saints, being illumined, are enlightened and see the glory of God, as far as it is possible for human nature to see God.

Look down from on high. O my God, and be pleased with me to appear and converse with the beggar.

Open the heavens and show me Thy light, or rather, open my mind, and now, as once, having entered within me, speak through my unclean tongue and refute the falsehood of those who say that now there is no one who would see God intelligently, and until that time there was none but the apostles. But even they, they say, have not even clearly seen God Thy Father, teaching that He is invisible to all, as well as invisible, and quoting the saying of Thy beloved disciple John, who says that no man has ever seen God (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). Tell me quickly, my Christ, what should I do, so that I do not seem to the foolish a chatterbox?

Write, He said, what I will speak, write and do not be afraid.

I am God before all days, times and years, and even before all ages, before all creatures, visible and intelligible, above the mind and the word, above every concept.

I was one with one alone, and with Me there was nothing not only of the visible, but even of the invisible. Verily, I was before I happened.

I alone am uncreated with the Father and My Spirit, I alone am without beginning from My Father. None of the Angels, nor of the Archangels, nor of the other ranks, has ever seen either My nature, or Me Myself, the Creator in its entirety, as I am, but they see only a ray of glory and a certain outpouring of My light, and they adore it. Like a mirror perceiving the sun's rays, or like crystal pierced by light at noon, so they all perceive the rays of My Divinity. In all, none of the Angels, nor of men, nor of the holy Powers has yet been vouchsafed to see Me. For I am outside of all things, and invisible to all.

However, it is not out of envy, of course, that I do not allow them to see Myself, and I do not hide and do not appear because I am ugly, but because there is as yet no one worthy of My Divinity, and because it is impossible for a creature to be equal to the Creator. And it's not good for them.

But those who see the little reflection of My light mysteriously learn that I truly am, and know that I am the God who produced them, and in amazement and fear they glorify Me and serve Me. For it is impossible for God to produce another nature, equal to the Creator and of the same kind with Him, because it is absolutely impossible for a creature to be of one essence with the Creator. For how can a creature ever be equal to the Uncreated? Thou shalt admit this, and thou shalt not deny that creatures are inferior to Him who always exists, without beginning and uncreated, and are as different from Him as a chariot and a saw are from the craftsman who made them. How, then, can a chariot understand him who made it, or as a saw, tell me, know him who moves it, unless he who made them gives them knowledge and gives them sight, which is impossible for all created beings? Thus, absolutely none of the men or angels received the power to give breath to others or to give them life. But the Lord of all, who alone has power and power, as the source of life, produces animate beings, such as He wills, and, as Artist and Master, grants to each what He wills and wills. To Him be glory and dominion now and forever. Amen.

Hymn 17. The union of the All-Holy Spirit with purified souls takes place with clear feeling, that is, consciousness; and the souls in which these things take place, He makes them like Himself, luminous and light.

The Invisible One is far removed from the visible and from the creatures, Who originally produced them from the perishable, the Incorruptible, and from darkness, the Light.