[54]

The eyes of the blind were opened, the deaf and the mute were loosed; He who raised Himself up from the sea rebuked the waves, and they fell silent. To the head of the chosen little flock He rebuked the lack of understanding the mystery; whereby [Peter] turned and submitted, pleading that his feet and head be cleansed. To this He said: "There is no need for the head to be washed with water, for it is already washed; it is your feet that require cleansing, to be joined in holiness unto the Head." Unto the ranks of His disciples, what He previously taught in word, today in deed He showed forth in Himself the supreme humility: ministering unto the earthborn, He who is invisible to the fiery [angels]; rendering service unto His servants, He who is worshipped by the Seraphim. "If I, the Lord of all beings," He said, "and the Teacher of all, have washed the feet of you, the disciples and servants, from the ancient defilements, do you also in like nature show the same humility to one another—for the downfall of the proud and the uplifting of your fallen nature." You who cleansed [them] in the basin with pure hands, [washing] their feet, and taught humility...