Letter 509

To Theodosius the Reader [lector, a minor clerical office]. Just as a piece of wood already dried up from want of water, once it has shared in water, sprouts again, so too a soul deadened through sin, if it repents and propitiates its own Master, is washed clean of its defilements; and having partaken of spiritual grace and having watered the mind with rich drops, it puts forth the fruits of all righteousness.

Ὥσπερ τὸ ἤδη ξηραγθὲν ἐξ ἀνυδρίας ξύλον, ὕδατι κοινωνῆσαν ἐκβλαστάνει, οὕτω καὶ ψυχὴ διὰ ἁμαρτίας νενεκρωμένη, εἰ μετανοήσῃ, καὶ ἐξιλεώσηται τὸν οἰκεῖον Δεσπότην, ἐκπλύνεται τῶν ῥύπων, καὶ χάριτος πνευματικῆς μεταλαβοῦσα, καὶ ποτισθεῖσα τὸν νοῦν ταῖς πλουσίαις σταγόσι, καρποὺς προβάλλει πάσης δικαιοσύνης.