5.4

Now therefore, beloved, I beg you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ not to neglect your own life. Do not let this brief span of time ruin for you the time without end; do not let the skin of corruptible flesh obscure the kingdom of ineffable light; and do not let the deadly place of condemnation destroy your seats among the angels. Truly, my children, my soul is troubled by a vision, and my spirit stands in fear, because we are all as though submerged in a whirlpool and stand like people drunk on new wine, while our own will pulls each of us this way and that. We are subjected to its rule, unwilling to lift our eyes to seek the glory of heaven and the radiant work of all the saints by following in their footsteps.

Know, then, that whether the holy angels of heaven, or thrones, or dominions, or cherubim, or seraphim, or the sun, or the moon, or the stars, or patriarchs, or prophets, or apostles, or the devil, or Satan, or evil spirits, or rulers of this air—or, to say no more, whether male or female—at the beginning of their creation they all come from one, except only the perfect and blessed Trinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But because of the good in certain movements, it became necessary for God to call them by these names; and according to their efforts, He assigned surpassing glory and dignity to those who advanced further.