From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Apollonios the Deacon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: A brief note reminding a deacon that serving others is a form of honor, not degradation — following the pattern of Christ who came not to be served but to serve.
Service is not degradation, Apollonios. Christ himself said he came not to be served but to serve, and he washed the feet of his disciples — feet, the lowest part, the dirtiest part — not as a humiliation but as a demonstration of something.
What he demonstrated was this: the one who is truly great is not diminished by serving others. He shows in the act of service what greatness actually is. The dignity does not depend on being served. It depends on the quality of the person doing the serving.
You serve others as a deacon, Apollonios. You are doing what the Lord himself did. There is no more honorable thing you could be doing.
Context:A brief note reminding a deacon that serving others is a form of honor, not degradation — following the pattern of Christ who came not to be served but to serve.
Service is not degradation, Apollonios. Christ himself said he came not to be served but to serve, and he washed the feet of his disciples — feet, the lowest part, the dirtiest part — not as a humiliation but as a demonstration of something.
What he demonstrated was this: the one who is truly great is not diminished by serving others. He shows in the act of service what greatness actually is. The dignity does not depend on being served. It depends on the quality of the person doing the serving.
You serve others as a deacon, Apollonios. You are doing what the Lord himself did. There is no more honorable thing you could be doing.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.