Elder Sofian: The Humble Person is Like a Tree
The more the saints drew near to God, the more sinful they saw themselves.
The same thing happens to a humble person as it does to a tree. When trees bear much fruit, the fruit bends the branches and pulls them down, but he who cannot bear fruit grows taller and stands upright. It is the same with the soul: when it humbles itself, it bears fruit. The more fruit it bears, the more it humbles itself. Therefore, the more the saints drew near to God, the more sinful they saw themselves.
From:
Părintele Sofian Boghiu, Smerenia şi dragostea, însemnele trăirii ortodoxe, pref. de prof. acad. Virgil Cândea; ed. îngrijită şi postf. de protosinghel Teofan Popescu, ed. a 4-a, reviz. şi adăug (Iaşi: Doxologia, 2022), p. 47.