The teacher

Abbot George of Gregoriou Monastery on Mt. Athos in Eros of Repentance, pp. 18-19

The holy elders instruct the younger men not by calling them to imitate their virtues, but by showing them how much they feel thenselves to be sinners and unworthy. Athonites do not pretend to be good...A charecteristic of the monk who lives in repentance is his attribution of every good thing to God...Those who possess the spirit of repentance and humility will normally withdraw from giving advice.

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

Amma Syncletica:

12. She also said, "It is dangerous for anyone to teach who has not first been trained in the practical life. For if someone who owns a ruined house receives guests there, he does them harm because of the dilapidation of his dwelling. It is the same in the case of someone who has not first built an interior dwelling; he causes loss to those who come. By words one may convert them to salvation, but by evil behaviour, one injures them."

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 be patient, gentle and humble as far as possible; he must be tested and without partisanship, full of concern and a lover of souls.

©1999 by Deb Platt