Letter 985

To Timothy the Monk. Just as those who go into the bath strip themselves of every covering, so too those who approach the ascetic life must, when they have been stripped bare of all material things of this life, come to be within the divine polity that accords with [the ascetic] philosophy [politeuma: the commonwealth or way of life of the monastic discipline].

Ὥσπερ οἱ εἰσπορευόμενοι εἰς τὸ λουτρὸν γυμνοῦνται παντὸς περιβλήματος, οὕτω δεῖ καὶ τοὺς τῇ ἀσκητικῇ προσερχομένους ζωῇ πάσης ὕλης βιωτικῆς γυμνωθέντας ἔνδε γενέσθαι τοῦ κατὰ φιλοσοφίαν θείου πολιτεύματος.