Nor indeed shall a bishop excuse himself on account of inexperience, as though he were unable to teach for the reason that a sufficient and eloquent discourse does not avail him: since no other doctrine of the priest ought there to be than his life, and hearers can profit well enough if they hear preached to them simply that which they see done spiritually by their teachers, as the Apostle says: Though unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge (II Cor. 11:6). Whence it is given to understand that the teacher of the Church ought not to boast in a display of carefully wrought speech, lest he seem to wish not to build up the Church of God, but rather to show how great is his erudition. Let him therefore place his whole confidence in preaching not in the splendor of words, but in the power of works;
let him not be delighted by the voices of the people acclaiming him, but by their weeping; nor let him strive to await applause from the people, but groaning. Let the ecclesiastical teacher labor especially at this, that those who hear him may be made better by sound discourses, not favorers through vain flattery. Let him first himself pour forth the tears which he wishes to be poured forth by his hearers, and so kindle them by the compunction of his own heart. The discourse of a bishop ought to be so simple and plain—even if less Latinate, yet disciplined and grave—that by its very intelligibility it may exclude none, however unskilled, but may sink down into the heart of all who hear with a certain delight.