Catechumens: You have probably also grown used to my rather constant refrain of the words of holy St. Seraphim – ‘save yourself, and thousands around you will be saved’. Again, though, I’ve had recent cause to remind you, not to correct but to protect you. We must each seek first our own salvation, if we are to have anything to give to others. It’s like avoiding waste or luxury, so we have something to give to the poor. We must pursue theosis before all else. Before mission. Before comfort. And we must sometimes endure difficulty, solitude or desertion; we must sometimes take pains. “Save me by any means,” we pray. That is our great work of mission. We can give out of our poverty, only by the richness of union with Christ, but it is all idle talk if we step off the path to guide others, and lose our own way. This is the humility that robs us, of which the Holy Apostle warns the Church at Colossi; it is not yet the humility of Christ. – Catechetical Letter 2/1/2006