Letter 833: God's judgment is certain, and no amount of cleverness or delay can avoid it.

To Kas, the councillor [politeuomenos, a man of curial rank] It is better to keep the soul's beauty whole and unharmed; but if this is hard to preserve, then let the injury be received in some small and easily-healed things, and not in matters of vital importance. For do not, just because you hear that repentance has been granted, advance fearlessly toward sinning, as if you were certain to be healed; but know, first, that many did not even have an opportunity for repentance, being called to account for the very offenses themselves; and next, that repentance is accustomed to heal the passions only over a long time. For there is need of labors, and of fasting and of keeping vigil, and of almsgiving, and of prayers, and of all such things, so that the wounds already suffered may be healed. Third, one must consider that, even if it is healed, the scar reproves the passion. For a whole body and a healed one are not the same thing; nor is an unrent garment the same as one that has been torn through, even if by some art it should seem to have been brought to a state where it is not easily detected. And if the soul should even be restored to its former beauty, it is not restored simply, as I said, but with countless labors and lamentations and punishments, which the soul that has sinned brings upon itself. [The letter's closing sentence is repeated in the manuscript: "And even if the soul should be restored to its former beauty, yet it is not restored lightly, as I said, but with innumerable labors, and with mournings and torments, which the soul that has fallen into sin brings upon itself."]

Ἄμεινον μὲν ἔχειν τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς κάλλος ἀκέραιον καὶ ἀπαθές · εἰ δὲ τοῦτο φυλαχθῆναι δύσκολον, κἂν ἐν μικροῖς τισι καὶ εὐϊάτοις, καὶ μὴ ἐν τοῖς καιρίοις δέχεσθαι τὴν βλάβην. Μὴ γὰρ δὴ ἐπειδὴ ἀκούεις μετάνοιαν δεδοδθαι, ἀδεῶς ἐπὶ τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν χώρει. ὡς πάντως ἰαθησόμενος, ἀλλ’ ἴσθι, ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν πολλοὶ οὐδὲ μετανοίας ἔσχον καιρόν, ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς πλημμελήμασι δίκην ἀπαιτηθέντες, ἔπειτα δὲ ὅτι ἡ μετάνοια πολλῷ τῷ χρόνῳ θεραπεύειν εἴωθε τὰ πάθη. Καὶ γὰρ πόνων χρεία, καὶ νηστείας καὶ ἀγρυπνίας, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνης, καὶ εὐχῶν, καὶ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων. τῶν, ἵνα θεραπευθῇ τὰ προλαβόντα τραύματα. Τρί- τον ἐννοεῖν χρή, ὅτι κᾂν θεραπευθῇ, ἡ οὐλὴ ἐλέγχει τὸ πάθος. Οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν σῶμα ἀκέραιον καὶ τεθε- ραπευμένον· οὐδὲ ταὐτὸν ἱμάτιον ἀῤῥαγὲς καὶ διεῤ- ῥηγμένον, κᾂν δοκῇ τέχνῃ τινὶ εἰς τὸ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ἐλέγχεσθαι ἦχθαι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀποκα- τασταίη κάλλος, οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ὡς ἔφην, ἀποκαθίστα- ται, ἀλλὰ μετὰ μυρίων πόνων καὶ θρήνων, καὶ τι- μωριῶν, ὧν ἑαυτῇ ἐπιφέρει ἡ ἁμαρτήσασα ψυχή. Ἀτὲ καὶ εἴταμ ἐν πριστανὴν pulchritudinem ἀσσερατουρ, νον ταμεν λεβιτερ, ut dixi, ἀσσεριτουρ, σεδ ϲομμ ιννουμεριϲ λοβοριβυϲ, ετ λυϲτιβυϲ αϲ τορμεντιϲ ≪υε ανιμα εϲ, ≪υε ιν ποϲϲα- tum prolapsa est, sibiipsi accersit.