“In the writings of the Fathers of old, this relationship is compared to a marriage, with the bishop considered to be the groom, and the flock – his bride.  And just as the husband loves his wife to such an extent that he leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and becomes intimately close to her, a bishop in the same manner must come to love his flock.  And just as a wife obeys her husband, so the flock should obey their bishop. “
(St Tikhon of Moscow, 1998 homily in San Francisco)