Balancing Wisdom and Purity: The Dual Pillars of True Devotion
Answer: For the true devotee, both literacy and the purity of faith and soul are important, though their roles are different and complementary. Literacy is seen as a necessary tool for accessing knowledge, enabling one to read books written by holy men and to embrace the centuries-old experience of Christian enlightenment.
As stated in one source: "For our enlightenment the holy fathers worked, the most worthy of our ancestors worked, and many continue to work today, and we are given, brethren, a readiness: how can we not hasten to reap the fruits of such long and venerable labors, how can we not rejoice in the increase of literacy, book learning, and education when all past Christianity teaches us and sets an example?" (source: link txt)However, true spirituality and devotion primarily depend on the purity of heart and soul, which is the foundation for closeness to Divine Holiness. This is affirmed by the following statement: "This shows us that only those with pure souls are close to the Divine Holiness, and it is to them that the Mother of God shows special favor. For the Lord in the holy Gospel also says: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God' (Matt. 5:8). Purity of heart is that imperishable adornment of a person by which he becomes like God; it draws its strength from love for God and for one’s neighbor." (source: link txt)Thus, literacy plays an important role as a means of spreading and deepening knowledge of the faith; however, without the purity of soul and heart, this knowledge may not yield complete spiritual fruit. The devotee should strive to develop the mind through education in order to correctly understand sacred texts, yet the greatest value remains in the inner purity that allows one to truly approach the Divine.Supporting citation(s): "For our enlightenment the holy fathers worked, the most worthy of our ancestors worked, and many continue to work today, and we are given, brethren, a readiness: how can we not hasten to reap the fruits of such long and venerable labors, how can we not rejoice in the increase of literacy, book learning, and education when all past Christianity teaches us and sets an example?" (source: link txt)"This shows us that only those with pure souls are close to the Divine Holiness, and it is to them that the Mother of God shows special favor. For the Lord in the holy Gospel also says: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God' (Matt. 5:8). Purity of heart is that imperishable adornment of a person by which he becomes like God; it draws its strength from love for God and for one’s neighbor." (source: link txt)