Welcoming Brothers

Ὁ αὐτος εἶπεν περι τῆς ὑποδοχῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ὅτι δεῖ ἐρχομενος τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς προσκυνεῐν· οὐ γὰρ αὐτοὺς, ἀλλὰ τὸν Θεὸν προσκυνοῦμεν. Εἰδες γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, εἰδες Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου· καὶ τοῦτο, φησὶ, παρὰ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ παρειλήφαμεν. Καὶ ὅτε δέχεσθε, πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν παραβιάζεσθε· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ Λὼτ μεμαθήκαμεν παραβιασαμένου τούς ἀγγέλους.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Apollo spoke about the reception of brothers, that it was necessary to prostrate oneself before the brothers who came, for it is not before them but before God that one prostrates oneself. ' For seeing your brother,' he said, 'You see the Lord your God, and this we receive from Abraham. And when you have received them drive them into seclusion, for this we have learned from the angels prevailing over Lot.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia