Father Ambrose [of Optina] also spoke of humility: ‘One visitor came to the Superior, Father Archimandrite Moses, but, not finding him at home, went to his natural brother, Father Abbot Anthony. During the conversation the guest asked the Father Abbot: “Tell me Batiushka, what is your rule?”
Father Anthony answered: “I have had many rules – I lived in the desert and in monasteries, and there were different rules. But now I have only the rule of the publican:
‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”
‘A man only has to humble himself,’said the Elder, ‘and that humility immediately sets him at the doorway of the Kingdom of Heaven… Discernment,’ said the elder, ‘cannot be achieved without love, and humility, and humility and love cannot be achieved without obedience.’
~Father Sergius Chetverikov
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