Dorothée de Gaza
v. 505-v. 565 6th century
Concrete humility: drawing near to God by drawing near to others.
Who was Dorothée de Gaza?
A sixth-century monk near Gaza, formed in the school of the great recluses Barsanuphius and John, placed in charge of the infirmary before founding his own monastery. His Instructions, given to his brothers in a plain, concrete voice, have crossed fifteen centuries without aging a day.
In their own words
Picture a circle whose centre is God, and whose radii are the lives of human beings. The closer they come to God, the closer they come to one another; and the closer they come to one another, the closer they come to God.
Whoever accuses himself, wherever he goes, whatever happens to him, finds rest.
When God created man, he sowed in him something divine, like a spark that gives light and warmth: the conscience.