Study and Liberation

Αὓτη λογιωτάτη γέγονεν, ἤ και τὸν θεῖον Λόγον φιλήσασα τὰς νύκτας εἰς ἡμέρας ἀνέστρεψεν δαψιλῶς ἐλαίῳ ταύτας καταλάμπουσα, πᾶν σύγγραμμα τῶν ἀρχαίων ὑπομνηματιστῶν διελθοῦσα· ἐν οἶς Ὠριγένους μυριάδας τριακοσίας, Γρηγορίου καὶ Πιερίου καὶ Στεφάνου, καὶ Βασιλείου, καὶ ἑτέρων τινῶν σπουδαιοτάτων μυριάδας εἴκοσι πέντε· οὐχ ἁπλῶς, οὐδὲ ὡς ἔτυχεν παρελθοῦσα ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ πεπονημένως, ἕκαστον βιβλίον ἕβδομον ἤ ὄγδοον διελθοῦσα· Διὸ καὶ ἠδυνήθη ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως ἐλευθερωθεῖσα πτερωθῆναι πρῶτον τᾑ χάριτι τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἶτα καὶ τῇ δυνάμει τῶν λογίων τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐλπίσι χρησταῖς ἑαυτὴν ὅρνιν ἐργασαμένη πνευματίκὴν, καὶ διαπεράσασα τὸν τούτου τοῦ βίου ζόφον ἀνέπτη πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν. Ἡ Προς Λαυσον Ἱστορια, Παλλαδιος

Being very intelligent and loving the Divine Word Silvania turned night to day by abundantly helping herself to the fruit of every writing of the ancient commentators, including three million lines of Origen and of Gregory, Stephen, Pierius, Basil and of the other zealous writers two and half million lines. Not once, nor lightly did she read them, but each book she laboriously went through seven or eight times. Thus she was able to to be liberated from falsely named knowledge and to fly on wings, by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit; and so wrought into a spiritual bird by fair hope she passed from the darkness of this life to Christ. Lausiac History, Palladius of Galatia