Church Fathers V3 - Fr George Grube - Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox ...

Devil for his sins because the Devil never asked to be forgiven.” Those of
us looking for loopholes (at the time we all thought we were the world’s greatest
sinners - a form of extreme pride) were gravely disappointed. The priest had
answered the question in a flash and there was no wiggle room left for us
seeking shortcuts in our moral lives. To this day, some fifty years later, I
remember this answer because it was short, to the point and yet theologically -
right on target.
The Devil is the “Father of Pride”. He fell because he thought the world was all
about him. And when he fell, he was incapable of recognizing that his sin was
totally his fault, and his only! Adding to his great sin, he then refused to
acknowledge any culpability for his actions. We know that Holy Scripture says,
“Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16). All serious sins contain pride at
their core. Pride warps the conscience and allows us to set ourselves as demigods.
Pride allows us to center all things on ourselves. We begin to think that
we are the center of the universe and all that is done, or said, is relative to our
particular well-being and comfort. Pride forgets everyone else and we begin to
think that, in this complicated cosmos, only we matter! That is why, even when
we think we are pious or holy, we must continually guard against thinking that it
is through our own efforts that we are so, and give all glory to God alone for this
great gift. God is the center of the universe - to think that He is not and that we
are the reason the sun rises and sets, is the great sin of pride - and the
beginning of our own personal fall!
WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS:
++++++++++
+ Imitate the donkey in his love for his master.
- St. John Chrysostom
+ A holy bishop told a monk that even when his spiritual children kiss his hand,
he imagines himself under their feet.
- A Desert Father
+ “Humility, my child, is always to feel yourself sinful and worse than all
other people”, an elder explained. “This is great and difficult feat. But you can
accomplish it by applying yourself with unceasing labor.”
- A Desert Father
+ If you ask me about the most important things in religion, I will answer that the
first, second and third things are humility.
- St. Augustine
+ Act as if you are a sojourner in any new experience, and wherever you are,
understand that your words may not have an impact. Then you will be at peace.
- A Desert Father
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