Mark the Ascetic - On the Spiritual Law 5-9

5. May He who inaugurates every good thing inaugurate all that you undertake, so that it may be done with His blessing.
6. When reading the Holy Scriptures, he who is humble and engaged in spiritual work will apply everything to himself and not to someone else.
7. Call upon God to open the eyes of your heart, so that you may see the value of prayer and of spiritual reading when understood and applied.
8. If a man has some spiritual gift and feels compassion for those who do not have it, he preserves the gift because of his compassion. But a boastful man will lose it through succumbing to the temptations of boastfulness.
9. The mouth of a humble man speaks the truth; but he who speaks against the truth is like the servant who struck the Lord on the face (cf Mark 14:65).