Dec 29, 2006 11:40 pm
The mark of Christianity
This is the mark of Christianity — however much a man toils, and however many righteousnesses he performs, to feel that he has done nothing, and in fasting to say, `This is not fasting,’ and in praying, `This is not prayer,’ and in perseverance at prayer, `I have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning to practice and to take pains’; and even if he is righteous before God, he should say, `I am not righteous, not I; I do not take pains, but only make a beginning every day.’
– St. Macarius the Great