Sermo 23 recensio excerpta

The man of God always makes progress in each of the good things—toward humility, toward kindness, toward patience. And the foundation of all these is trust in God. For those who do not have such a foundation are like those building a house without a foundation. Just as those around the Maccabees, having performed great feats of valor, subdued their enemies in the bodily war, let us take this as an example for ourselves in the war "against the spiritual forces of evil," so that the true warriors of Christ are noble and magnanimous. Just as the visible world is governed by grace and justice—by grace in the abundance of fruits, by justice in famine and plague—so too the soul that wishes to inherit the higher world of divinity is governed in manifold ways by grace, and at one time rejoices in the gladness of the spirit, at another is given over to temptations and afflictions of the evil spirit, so that, thus tempered, it may be proven worthy. For just as in life there is not always abundance—for if there were always ease and luxury, they would have kicked against God; for "Israel ate and grew fat, and the beloved kicked"—so too, if the soul always dwelt in the ease of the spirit, it would no longer know itself and would be ignorant of the path of "righteousness," and would advance only in arrogance, as the apostle says, recounting afflictions for benefit: "A thorn was given to me in the flesh," he says, "so that I might not become arrogant." You see that for such a holy man, afflictions were for his benefit.

Just as the form of flax, the more it is beaten, becomes finer and more serviceable, so the God-loving soul, entering into many trials and afflictions and enduring them, becomes more serviceable and purer for the spiritual work, and finally is deemed worthy to inherit the heavenly chorus of the saints. For as the soul endures and is patient, the portion of evil is gradually diminished. Just as if someone were traveling a long road carrying a sack full of sand, and had a very fine hole at the bottom, as he walks the sand flows out and the load lightens, until all the sand is emptied, so the sin dwelling within is gradually lessened for the one who clings to God. Just as an infant is useless for the works of the world—for it can neither build cities nor plant nor do anything else—so souls that have not been tested in various afflictions are still infants, not yet useful for the kingdom, as it is said: "But if you are without discipline," "then you are bastards and not sons." See how great a benefit afflictions are to a person, provided that one prepares oneself to bear them eagerly and nobly.

For if in this life one cannot pass through to high offices and great advancements unless one has first undergone much training and has distinguished oneself in labors and in wars, having demonstrated victory in experience and bearing trophies against adversaries, how much more so in the case of the heavenly and true King is no one deemed worthy of the heavenly gifts of the Spirit unless one has first been trained in the practice of the holy commandments, and thus receives a heavenly weapon (grace itself) and contends against the spirits of wickedness. For the more one advances in the spiritual contest, the more one receives the edge of the spiritual mysteries and the hidden treasures of wisdom, and the more one increases in grace, the more one advances in knowing the thoughts of evil.