Now I am reading a book that I have in Slavic, Russian and other languages, which contains “a collection of sayings of the holy desert dwellers of Egypt.” These sayings are priceless pearls! A diver descends into the deep sea to get an expensive pearl - and the Holy Fathers retired into the deep deserts, delved deep into themselves there, found various priceless spiritual pearls: Christ-like humility, infantile simplicity and gentleness, angelic dispassion, spiritual reasoning and wisdom - in a word to say, they found the Gospel.

Today I read that saying of the Great Sisoy, which I always especially liked, was always especially close to my heart. A certain monk told him: “I am in constant remembrance of God.” The Monk Sisoes answered him: “This is not great: it will be great when you consider yourself worse than all creation.”

A high occupation is the constant remembrance of God! But this height is very dangerous when the ladder to it is not based on the solid stone of humility.

Look, how Scripture agrees with the Fathers! Scripture says: “You do not favor burnt offerings... the sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. God will not despise a contrite and humble heart.” Sacrifice and human burnt offerings themselves must be based on a feeling of spiritual poverty, on a feeling of repentance. Without this they are rejected by God.