There are some types of trees which never produce any fruit as long as their branches are upright, but if stones are placed on the branches they stay upright, but if stones are hung on the branches they bend down and begin to produce fruit. It is the same with the soul. When it is humbled it starts to produce fruit, and the more fruit it produces the lower it becomes. So too with the saints. The closer they get to God, the more they reckon themselves to be sinners.
