On humility by St. Ephraim the Syrian

Humility is so powerful that even the all-conquering God did not conquer without it.  Humility was even able to bear the burden of a stiff-necked nation in the desert.  Moses, the humblest of men, was given charge of the nation that was the most stubborn of all men.  God, Who needed nothing to save His people, later found Himself in need of the humility of Moses just to abide the grumbling and complaining of His critics.  Only humility could tolerate the perversity of a nation that dismissed signs in Egypt as well as wonders in the desert.  Whenever pride caused divisions in the nation, the prayer of humility healed their divisions.  Now, if the humility of a tongue-tied man endured six hundred thousand, how much more does His humility endure, Who granted speech to the tongue-tied!  For the humility of Moses is a mere shadow of the humility of our Lord.  St. Ephraim the Syrian