Being humble

(Quotations from Orthodox anthology)

Saying of the Desert Fathers, The Alphbetical Collection, translated by Sr. Benedicta Ward:

Amma Syncletica:

11. ...She also said, Choose the meekness of Moses and you will find your heart which is a rock changed into a spring of water.

21. She also said, "Just as a treasure that is exposed loses its value, so a virtue which is known vanishes; just as wax melts when it is near fire, so the soul is destroyed by praise and loses all the results of its labor."

26. She also said, "Just as one cannot build a ship unless one has some nails, so it is impossible to be saved without humility."

Amma Theodora:

The same Amma said that a teacher ought to be a stranger to the desire for domination, vain-glory, and pride; one should not be able to fool him by flattery, nor blind him by gifts, nor conquer him by the stomach, nor dominate him by anger; but he should bepatient, gentle and humble as far as possible; he must be tested and without partisanship, full of concern and a lover of souls.

She also said that neither asceticism, nor vigils nor any kind of suffering are able to save, only true humility can do that. There was an anchorite (hermit) who was able to banish demons; and he asked them:

Hermit:: What make you go away? Is it fasting?
The demons:: We do not eat or drink.
Hermit:: Is it vigils?
The demons:: We do not sleep.
Hermit:: Is it separation from the world?
The demons:: We live in the deserts.
Hermit:: What power sends you away then?
The demons:: Nothing can overcome us, but only humility.

Do you see how humility is victorious over the demons.?

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