become ‘a nothing’

The paradoxical phenomenon of monasticism is not easily understood, not even by all monks. A true monk puts himself below every creature, verifying Christ’s words: ‘If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all,’ and ‘He that serves is greater than he that sits at meat.’ Who of the children of this age would be so foolish as to desire to put himself lower than all and become ‘a nothing’?

Monasticism: The All-Embracing Gift of the Holy Spirit