Who can grant us the spirit of illumination or discernment?

Abba Moses says, “For it is no ordinary virtue nor one which can be freely gained by merely human efforts, unless they are aided by the Divine blessing, for we read that this is also reckoned among the noblest gifts of the Spirit by the Apostle: ‘To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit,’ and shortly after, ‘to another the discerning of spirits’ … You see then that the gift of discretion is no earthly thing and no slight matter, but the greatest prize of divine grace. And unless a monk has pursued it with all zeal, and secured a power of discerning with unerring judgment the spirits that rise up in him, he is sure to go wrong, as if in the darkness of night and dense blackness, and not merely to fall down dangerous pits and precipices, but also to make frequent mistakes in matters that are plain and straightforward.”⁷⁶⁵

St. Augustine says, “O Light, which Tobias saw (see Tob. 2–4), with his eyes closed, as he taught his son the way of life … which Isaac saw (Gen. 27:4), when his fleshly eyes were overburdened and closed with old age, and it was granted him, not, indeed, to bless his sons because he recognized them, but, rather, to recognize them as he blessed them; which Jacob saw, when he, also blind because of great age, sent forth rays of light from his glowing heart upon the tribes of people yet to come, as prefigured in his sons.”⁷⁶⁶

“That which You said in the beginning of the creation, ‘Let there be light, and there was light’ — say this now also, so that my eyes may be enlightened by the true light, and that I may distinguish it from other light. Without You, how can I distinguish light from darkness, and darkness from light? … Yes, away from Your light, truth escapes from me, error approaches me and arrogance fills me … Confusion becomes discernment, ignorance becomes knowledge and blindness becomes sight.”⁷⁶⁷