Faith “engenders the fear of God,” and from this fear of God follow repentance and the practice of the virtues, which itself gives birth to spiritual knowledge.
This knowledge, “coming from long experience and practice of the virtues, is pleasant” and gives a man great power. The first and chief basis of spiritual knowledge is a healthy soul, a healthy organ of knowledge.
“Knowledge is the fruit of a healthy soul,” while a healthy soul is the result of long practice of the evangelical virtues. The “healthy of soul” are the perfect, and it is to them that knowledge is given.
St Justin Popovich
