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Longer Rules

St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925

Rule 30: With What State of Mind the Superiors Should Care for the Brethren

Let not the Superior be elated by his high office, lest he lose the blessedness promised to humility, or even, being puffed up, fall into the condemnation of the devil.¹ But let him be persuaded of this, that the care of many entails the service of many. So just as he that renders service to a number of wounded, wiping away the discharge from each separate wound and applying remedies according to the special needs of the case in front of him, takes his service as an opportunity not of pride but rather of humiliation, anxiety and struggle; such feelings and anxieties to an even greater degree ought he to have who has been entrusted with the task of healing the sicknesses of the brotherhood, since he is the servant of all and will have to give account for all. For in this way the aim will be fulfilled which the Lord had in mind when He said: “If any man among you would be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.”²

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