At some time, St. Anthony the Great thought to himself “I
wonder with whose spiritual achievements my spiritual life can be compared
with”. God, however, in order to humble this thought revealed to him in a dream
that superior to him was a shoe-maker who had a store in the back streets of
Alexandria. Once it was daybreak, the saint took his staff and headed off to
the city. He wanted to meet in person this famed shoe-maker and see his
virtues. With great difficulty he discovered his store, sat down at the counter
and began asking about his life. The man was simple and didn’t even occur to
him who this elderly monk was that had come so unexpectedly into his store
querying him. The man, while continuing to work and without taking his eyes off
the shoes he was working on replied gently; “Elder, I don’t know if I have ever
done anything good. Every morning after waking up, I pray and then I start
work. First, I think to myself how every person in this city, from the smallest
to the greatest will be saved, and only I will be condemned due to my countless
transgressions. And in the evening when I go to sleep I have the same thoughts.
The Elder rose with wonder and embraced and kissed him and said emotively: “You,
my brother, like a good merchant, have gained the priceless pearl without toil.
I have grown old in the desert, sweated and toiled but have not reached your
level of humility.”
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