"Those who have not been called to such task should not seek it superficially, those who instead have undertaken it without due reflection should feel a dutiful trepidation rise in their soul". This is one of the warnings contained in "perhaps the most organised text" by Gregory the Great: the "Pastoral Rule", written in the first few years of his Papacy, in which the Saint outlines "the figure of the ideal bishop, the master and guide of his flock". According to Saint Gregory, the bishop said Benedict XVI during today’s audience "is first and foremost the epitome of the preacher", and as such "he must be first and foremost an example for the others, so that his behaviour may be a point of reference for everyone". In addition, for "an effective pastoral work", the bishop must "know the recipients of and adjust his work to everyone’s situation". This "great Pontiff", in particular, "insists on the Pastor’s duty to acknowledge, every day, his own meanness, so that pride will not frustrate the good he has done". Indeed, the final section of the Rule is focussed on humbleness: "When one is pleased of having achieved many virtues it reads , one should reflect on one’s deficiencies and humiliate oneself: instead of looking at the good one has done, one should consider the good that one has failed to do".
