Epistles

Be diligent with unceasing prayer. Entreat for wisdom greater than you have, be watchful and keep the spirit from slumbering. Speak to each individually after the manner of God. Bear the sicknesses of all as a perfect athlete.[*](No other translation is possible: athlete was, both then and later, a favourite name for Christians who strove to excel in virtue, especially in ascetic practices.) Where the toil is greatest, is the gain great.

If you love good disciples, it is no credit to you;[*](The need of caring for the weaker brethren) rather bring to subjection by your gentleness the more troublesome. Not all wounds are healed by the same plaster. Relieve convulsions by fomentations.