Letter 633

To Theoctistus the Referendarius. [a court official who relayed petitions and replies between the emperor and petitioners] Concerning the false prophet Luke writes, "Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand." [Acts 13:11, the blinding of the magician Elymas by Paul] You too, then, consider, lest along with giving way to anger you also come to share in that darkness and in the mist over the mind, and you have need to go searching about for willing teachers, men who might lead you by the hand out of the wrathful disposition toward gentleness and toward long-suffering, the very things that give light to the mind.

Περὶ τοῦ ψευδοπροφήτου Λουκᾶς γράφει, «Παραχρῆμα δὲ ἐπέπεσεν ἀχλύς, καὶ σκότος· καὶ περιάγων ἐζήτει χειραγωγούς.» Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν σκόπει, μὴ ἅμα τοῦ θυμοῦσθαι μεταλαγχάνῃ τοῦ σκότου, καὶ τῆς κατὰ νοῦν ἀχλύος, καὶ χρεία σοι περιζητεῖν τοὺς θέλους διδασκάλους, τοὺς χειραγωγήσαντάς σε ἐκ τοῦ θυμώδους τρόπου, πρὸς τὴν πραότητα, καὶ τὴν μακροθυμίαν, ἅπερ φωτίζει τὸν νοῦν.