Letter 52

To Aurelianus, illustris [a Roman court rank], a former pagan [literally "from among the Greeks"]. You are not walking in a manner worthy of the dignity of the Gospel. [...] the way of eternal life, not taking into your mind that a little while hence there will be a judgment of the deeds each person has lived out, a judgment that holds inexorable rebukes proportioned to desert. It is necessary, then—and do not in any way take offense at hearing these things—to turn to the opposite course, choosing rather what is holy instead of what is unholy, and to banish the wicked inclinations that come from habit.

Οὐκ ἀξίαν τῆς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου εὐπρεπείας βαδίζεις. Ἀ τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, μὴ λαμβάνων κατὰ νοῦν· ὡς ὀλίγον ὕστερον κρίσις ἔσται τῶν ἑκάστῳ βεβιωμένων, ἀπαραιτήτους ἔχουσα τὰς πρὸς ἀξίαν ἐπιτιμήσεις. Δεῖ τοίνυν, καὶ μηδαμῶς ἀπεχθάνου ταῦτα ἀκούων, τὴν ἐναντίαν ἐλθεῖν, ἐκλεξάμενον μᾶλλον ἀντὶ τῶν οὐχ ὁσίων τὰ ὅσια, καὶ ἐξορίσαι τὰς κατὰ συνήθειαν πονηρὰς προθυμίας.