Letter 110: We will reach the summit of humility — for I would define this not as a descent but as an ascent — if we quench the...

Isidore of PelusiumAndrew, Monk of Constantinople|c. 393 AD|Isidore of Pelusium
monasticism

Crato. That he who has promised spiritual effort, must willingly embrace all its difficulties. He who wishes to undertake spiritual effort and desires salvation readily embraces all its difficulties, whatever and how many they are. He who thinks he acts in a way contrary to his dignity in performing spiritual effort or in the acts of service it involves is endued with exterior pride, which it is not possible to discard – unless he keeps in mind his body, from where it has come into existence and where again it is dissolved.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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