I am curious. Why do you find it fascinating, FK? The Holy Spirit approaches us in humilty. Christ, in dying on the Cross, gave us the supreme example of humilty (in fact there is an icon called exactly that which is particularly appropriate right about now)
Shouldn't one of God's holy priests approach us in the same way? I am happy to have had the opportunity to demonstrate one of the Mysteries of The Church (my favorite after the Eucharist) to you and perhaps dispel what might have been a misconception.
I suppose that I am fascinated because it did sound so humble. This is in contradiction to many ideas I have heard on this thread, of course in my "humble" opinion. :) For example, I do not see humility in the idea that God chooses His elect based on His foreknowledge of our decisions for Him. I also do not see humility in elevating the Magesterium over and above scripture. (I am not accusing you of any of this.) In fact, many, many times I have felt closer to you all than I have to the Catholic view. That's interesting to me because before this thread I knew virtually nothing about Orthodoxy. :)