A friend of
mine – said Monsignor Paul standing on the bridge and leaning a little toward
a brook full of goldfish – got into his head in the college that the first
mortal sin was pride, and from then on he did everything not to be proud. He
did not get much success initially, because when he got up in the morning, his first
thought was: "Well, after all, I am a priest of the one holy catholic and
apostolic Church, so in the end it’s us who say the right things and not these Pentecostals,
not to mention the mullahs or others"- that friend of mine was not good at
religions.
- I
remember - continued Monsignor Paul – that he met me once and asked for confession,
but this I refused. He was distraught. He told me - "I need to do something
terrible and become the biggest sinner, but it's probably still pride, only the
other way around."
- Typical -
said Father Hyacinth - it was probably a Franciscan friar, they are poor at ethics.
– You told him, of course, to stop dealing with himself and his virtues, and the
problem would disappear.
- I advised
him a different thing - said Monsignor Paul quietly - I asked him to bend, and
then ...
Everyone
smiled.
- But it
was not as effective as I had thought it would be- said Monsignor Paul - my
friend told me: "From childhood, I had such a fear: I was afraid that an
invisible spirit would kick me in the ass for all my sins, especially the sin
of pride. But it is probably also pride, to have such sophisticated fears."