40. It may be said that humility is the most efficacious remedy for all evil and a most potent antidote to preserve the soul from that death and guilt which leads to everlasting perdition. And yet it is this virtue which we neglect most of all.
O my soul, God, Who Himself desires thine eternal salvation, desires also that thou shouldst acquire it through humility; "And humility goeth before glory"; [Prov. xv, 33] therefore bow down and adore His sovereign Will. When we say the "Our Father," let us meditate upon that petition, in which we ask that the Will of God may be done, and let us apply that prayer to our own needs: O my God, since Thou desirest that I should be humble, "Thy Will be done." Thy Will is done in Heaven by all those blessed Spirits who worship Thee with profound humility; may Thy Will be done by me also! "Thy Will be done on earth, as it is Heaven." And in the same way let us apply the last petition to ourselves also, saying: "And deliver us from evil," praying God to deliver us and preserve us from pride, which is the worst of all evils, if indeed it may not be called the greatest of all sins; for St. Augustine, inquiring into which sin King David desired most to be delivered from when he said, " I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin," [Ps. xviii, 14] answers that this sin was pride, for pride is the greatest of all sins, because it is the chief of all sins and the cause and origin of them all: "This I take to be pride, which is the chief and cause of every sin." [Enarr. in Ps. xviii]
41. We may say that one of the principal causes of our lack of humility is that we forget too readily the sins we have committed. We only think of our sins when we are preparing for Confession, and even then we only think of our sins in order to sum up their kind and number, in order to make a valid Confession, but we hardly ever stop to consider their gravity, enormity and malice. And even if we do bestow some slight thought on them, it is only in order to flatter ourselves that our sorrow is sufficient for the validity of our Confession, and what is still more amazing is that we are hardly out of the Confessional when the remembrance of all our sins vanishes, and even the greatest sinner lives in a state of absolute peace, as if he had always led the most innocent of lives. O miserable state! We always retain a vivid remembrance of those insults which we receive from our fellow-men, thereby fostering our resentment; but we do not bear in remembrance those insults which we have offered to God, thereby becoming humble and exhorting ourselves to repentance. What wonder that we do not become humble if we remain oblivious to these urgent motives for humility!
Let us remember our sins, not in order that they should make us over-scrupulous, but so as to live in due humility. It is for that same reason that Jeremias the prophet said that he who does not do penance does not practice humility, because "There is none that saith: What have I done?" [Jer. viii, 6] If we thought well over this, "What have I done?" what have I done in sinning? what have I done in offending God? our hearts would certainly be far more contrite and humble. But few think of this.
We call upon the heavens to be astonished at us: "Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this." [Jer. ii, 12] If a nobleman is insulted in some public resort by a low-born menial, the offense is considered great, and an adequate punishment is demanded for such an outrage; and yet it is only a man who has been insulted by another man, a worm that is offended by another worm, nothingness offended by nothingness. But that this worm, this nothingness, should insult the Divine majesty of God apparently causes no dismay. "Be astonished, O ye heavens," but at least let us be ashamed and humble ourselves for our insensate hardness of heart.
42. There are two special virtues which the Son of God wished to teach us, and recommended us most earnestly to practice------humility and brotherly love; and it is precisely against these two virtues that the devil wages war the most. But it is enough that he should succeed in conquering humility for love to be overcome at the same time, because, as St. Augustine says: "You cannot attain to charity except through humility." [Enarr. in Ps. cxxx, et serm. 10 de Verb. Dom.]
Pride is always ready to take offense; and with this disposition to resent slights and injuries how is it possible to live in charity? When we find two persons who are prone to disagree, and to whom reconciliation is difficult, we cannot be far wrong in concluding that both are full of pride. Therefore it is obvious that charity cannot exist without humility.
It is for this reason that St. Paul, after having exhorted Christians to brotherly love, advises them at the same time to be humble: "But in humility let each esteem others better than themselves," [Phil. ii, 3] for well he knew that brotherly love cannot endure without humility; for where pride exists there will also arise contentions, quarreling and strife: "Among the proud there are always contentions." [Prov. xiii, 10]
Let us accept the apostolic admonition, and do not let us blame others for their pride when they cause us displeasure, but rather blame ourselves for not knowing how to bear that displeasure with humility. Let us begin by acquiring that patient humility ourselves which we desire so much to see in others, remembering that it is not through the patience and humility of others that we shall be saved but by our own.
43. It is difficult for those who possess riches or learning to be humble, because these two gifts are apt to cause vanity in those who possess them. It is far better therefore to be less rich and less learned and to be humble, than to possess great riches or great learning and to be proud.
Nevertheless, many who are now Saints in Heaven were both rich and learned when they were on earth; but they are Saints because they were humble; and both riches and learning must be regarded as vanity, and not esteemed except in so far as they can help us to gain eternal happiness. This is the way of the truly humble; he does not esteem himself for his possessions or for his knowledge, but regards these all as nothing, because he regards himself also as nothingness.
"Set not your heart upon them." [Ps. lxi, 11] This is not a counsel but a precept; and God, through His prophet, wishes to instruct us: If you are rich in possessions or in knowledge, be nevertheless poor of heart, that is to say, be humble. This is difficult, it is true; but to overcome the difficulty increases the merit of the virtue. There is no great merit in being humble when our condition is lowly, but there is great merit in being humble when we are surrounded by the incentives to pride, which are riches and learning. St. Bernard says: "It is no great thing for a man to be humble in abjection, but for one who is honored humility is altogether a great and rare virtue." [Horn. iv super "Missus est"] It is a beautiful sight for men and for Angels to see a rich man who is modest and apparently forgetful of his wealth, and a wise man who seems unaware of his great knowledge.44. Although sin is in itself a great evil-----in fact the greatest of all evils-----still under a certain form it can prove a food to us if we know how to avail ourselves of it as a means of exercising humility. How many great sinners have become great Saints without having done anything more than keep their sins constantly before their eyes, and humble themselves in shame and confusion before God and their fellowmen!
Those words: "Against Thee only have I sinned," which David carried in his heart, contributed more than anything else to make him a Saint. And the angelic St. Thomas in explaining the verse of St. Paul to the Romans: [Romans viii, 28] "This is the good that profits them that love God, for when they fall from the love of God by sin they then return to Him more humble and more cautious." [3 par, qu. lxxxix, art. 2 ad 1]
It is in this that the good and wisdom of God is most admirably set forth, that He offers us a means of sanctifying ourselves through our very miseries, and we shall never be able to make the excuse that we could not become Saints because we committed grave sin, when those very sins might have been the means of sanctifying us by urging us to a deeper humility. How great is God's mercy in thus giving me the means of sanctifying myself only by remembering that I have sinned and by meditating in the light of holy faith upon what it means to be a sinner!
St. Mary Magdalen did not become holy so much by the tears she shed as by the humility of her heart. Her sanctification began when she first began to be humble in the knowledge of herself and of God. "She knew." [Luke vii, 37]
She advanced in sanctity as she advanced in humility, for when she did not dare to appear before Jesus Christ she remained behind Him, "and standing behind," [Luke vii, 38] and she completed her career of sanctity by her humility, for, as St. Gregory says, she did nothing all the rest of her life but meditate upon the great evil she had committed in sinning. "She considered what she had done." [Hom. 20 in Evang.]
45.
When we feel ashamed and disturbed at having fallen into sin, this is but
a temptation of the devil, who tries to make use of our distress to draw
us perhaps into some graver sin.
The
sorrow we feel at having offended God does not distress the soul, but rather
leaves it
calm and serene, because it
is a sorrow united to humility, which brings grace with it; but to be distressed
and overwhelmed by sadness-----either from the shame we feel at having
committed some disgraceful action, or from a sudden recognition of our
liability to fall just when we thought ourselves stronger and more faithful
than ever-----is simply pride, which is born of an excessive self-love.
We have too good an opinion of ourselves, and this is the reason why we
are disturbed when we see our reputation injured by others or diminished
by our own actions. If I reflect well whenever I am distressed about my
own faults, I shall find that my distress is only due to pride, which persuades
me by the subtle artifice of self-love that I am better than the just themselves,
of whom it is written: " A just man shall fall seven times." [Prov. xxiv,
16]
He who is humble, even though
he fall through frailty, soon repents with sorrow, and implores the Divine
assistance to help him to amend; nor is he astonished at having fallen,
because he knows that of himself he is only capable of evil, and would
do far worse if God did not protect Him with His grace. After having sinned
it is good to humble oneself before God, and without losing courage to
remain in humility so as not to fall again, and to say with David: "I have
been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly; quicken Thou me according to Thy word."
[Ps. cxviii, 107] But to afflict ourselves without measure, and to give
way to a certain pusillanimous melancholy, which brings us to the verge
of despair, is a temptation of pride, insinuated by the devil, of whom
it is written, he is king "over all the children of pride."
[Job xli, 25]
46. However upright we may be, we must never be scandalized nor amazed at the conduct of evil-doers, nor consider ourselves better than they, because we do not know what is ordained for them or for us in the supreme dispositions of God, "Who doth great things and unsearchable and wonderful things without number." [Job v, 9]
When Zaccheus thought only of usury and oppressing the poor, when Magdalen
filled Jerusalem with scandal, when Paul cursed and persecuted the Christian
religion, who would have imagined that they would ever have become Saints?
And on the other hand, who would have believed that Solomon, the oracle
of Divine wisdom, would die in the midst of wantonness and idols? That
Judas, one of the Apostles, would betray his Divine Master and then give
himself up to despair? Or that many holy men advanced in sanctity would
have become apostates? These are examples which should make us tremble
when we reflect upon the unfathomable mystery of the judgment and mercy
of God: "One He putteth down, and another He lifteth up." [Ps. lxxiv, 8]
"He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble."
[Luke i, 52]
Thoughts and Sentiments on Humility Part 7
Every Saint can in a moment become a sinner if he is vain of his sanctity; and a sinner can as quickly become a Saint if he is contrite and humbles himself for his sin. How many there are who in the fervor of their prayer "mount up to the heavens" and soon afterwards, at the slightest occasion of sin, they "go down to the depths"! [Ps. cvi, 26] How many there are too who, given up to vanity and stained with the deepest sins, are suddenly changed by having their eyes opened to the knowledge of the truth and who thus attain to Christian perfection! Indeed the high counsels of God are to be adored and not scrutinized, for "The Lord humbleth and exalteth; He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up the poor from the dung-hill. [1 Kings ii, 7, 8]
47. Who knows if the one I judge and speak ill of may not be dearer to God than I am? Whether another whom I esteem but little and despise for his physical or moral defects be not destined to be very happy with God for all eternity? Who knows whether I may not be condemned to the pains of Hell for all eternity? With this uncertainty how can I then presume to consider myself better than any other?
No one is worth more than what he is worth in the eyes of God, and how can 1 know whether I am an object of hatred or of love to God? "And yet man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred." [Ecclus ix, 1] How do I know if God will fashion a vessel of honor or of dishonor from the clay of which I am made? "For who distinguisheth thee?" [1 Cor. iv, 7] "But what is the use of these vessels? the Potter is the judge." [Wisd. xv, 7]
When I read of St. Paul, the herald of the Holy Ghost and great doctor of the Gentiles, who said of himself that he lived in fear of falling into sin and becoming a castaway after having converted so many thousands of souls to God: "Lest perhaps when I have preached to others I myself may become a castaway;" [1 Cor. ix, 27] ah, if St. Paul himself, who was rapt unto the third heaven and could say that "Christ lived in him," "and I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me," [Gal. ii, 20] should thus fear, what shall I say of myself, who am so contemptible? At the day of judgment how many shall we see on the right hand of God whom we looked upon as castaways! and how many shall we see on His left whom we believed to be amongst His elect!
It would be well for us, however, when we make comparisons between ourselves and others, to say what Juda said of Thamar, "She is juster than I," and in some circumstance or other this will always prove to be true. St. Thomas taught that a man may truthfully say and believe that he is worse than others, partly on account of the hidden defects which he knows that he possesses, and partly on account of the gifts of God that are hidden in others. [xxii, qu. 161, art. 6 ad 2]
48. Who can assure me that before long I shall not fall into some mortal sin? And having once fallen, who can assure me that I may not die in sin, and thus be condemned to eternal punishment? As long as I live in this world I cannot be sure of anything. I must hope to save my soul, but I must also fear to lose it. O my soul, I do not in tend to depress thee; no, nor do I wish to fill thee with pusillanimous despair by these thoughts. I only desire thee to be humble. And how much reason hast thou to humble thyself in this uncertainty, not knowing what manner of death shall be thine, nor what shall be thy lot for all eternity? It is only by the measure of thy humility that thou canst hope to please God and save thyself, because it is certain that God will "save the humble people," [Ps. xvii, 28] "and He will save the humble of spirit." [Ps. xxxiii, 19]
There are some who think that to meditate on the mystery of predestination is likely to fill us with despair; but it appears to me, as it also did to St. Augustine, that this thought is a most efficacious means of practicing humility, [Lib. de Praedest. et Grat.] because when I meditate upon my eternal salvation I see that it does not depend upon the power of my own free-will, but only upon the Divine mercy. Not trusting to myself, but placing all my hope in God, I must say with the wise Judith: "And therefore let us humble our souls before Him, and continuing in a humble spirit in His service, ask the Lord that He would show His mercy to us." [Jud. viii, 16, 17]
49. It is a special gift of God to know how to govern the tongue, as the preacher says in his Proverbs: "It is the Lord who governs the tongue"; [Prov. xvi, 1] and when God wishes to confer this gift of His upon anyone, He does so by means of humility. And the Savior teaches us in St. Matthew xii, 34: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Therefore, if the heart is well-regulated by humility, the tongue will be well-regulated also.
He who is humble of heart has but a poor opinion of himself and a good opinion of others; hence it is that he never praises himself or blames others. The humble man speaks but little, and weighs and measures his words so as not to say more than truth and modesty require, and, as his heart is free from vanity, so is his speech. We argue therefore that there can be little or no humility in our hearts when there is little or no circumspection in our speech. "Their heart is vain," says the prophet, and this is the reason why he also adds: "Their throat is an open sepulcher." [Ps. v, 10, 11] We speak of those things that fill the heart, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," [Luke vi, 45] and our speech will determine whether truth or vanity predominates in our hearts. It is well to ask God to curb our tongue, but let us also ask Him to give humility to our heart, for this alone will be a most powerful curb.
Thoughts and Sentiments on Humility Part 8
50. Humility is charitable, interpreting all things for the best and pitying and excusing the faults of others as much as possible. For this reason St. Peter, wishing to exhort us to love and have compassion upon our fellow-creatures, also exhorts us at the same time to be humble: "Having compassion one of another, being lovers of the brotherhood-----humble," [1 Pet. iii, 8] for there can be no charity without humility, and therefore to censure and criticize too readily the actions of our neighbors and to judge and speak ill of them are vices which are directly opposed to the virtue of humility. Who has given me the power to judge my brethren? When I thus constitute myself their judge and in the tribunal of my thoughts condemn first one and then another, I am usurping an authority I do not possess and which belongs to God alone: "For God is Judge." [Ps. xlix, 6] And if this is not pride, what is pride? In punishment of such arrogance God often permits us to fall into the very faults that we have condemned in others, and it is well for us to remember the teaching of St. Paul: "Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thyself." [Rom. ii, 1] There is always some pharisaical pride in the heart of him who judges and speaks evil of others, because in belittling others he exalts himself. It is in vain that we try ahd cover our evil-speaking under ,the veil of some good motive; it must always be the result of pride which is quick to find out the weaknesses of others while remaining blind to its own.
If we are guilty of pride let us try and amend and not flatter ourselves that we possess the smallest degree of humility, until by our good resolutions carefully carried out we have mortified our evil tendency to speak ill of our neighbor. Let us hearken to the Holy Ghost: "Where pride is there also shall be reproach, but where humility is there also is wisdom." [Prov. xi, 2]
The
proud man is scornful and arrogant in his speech; and the humble alone
knows how to speak well and wisely. If there is humility in the heart it
will be manifested in the speech, because "A good man out of the good treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is good." [Luke vi,
45]
51. But in order to acquire humility, it is necessary also to be prudent in not speaking well of oneself. "Let. another praise thee," says the inspired word, "and not thy own mouth, a stranger and not thy own lips." [Prov. xxvii, 11]
It is very easy for us to fall into this fault of praising ourselves "Until it becomes a habit, and with this habit so opposed to humility how can we be humble?
What good qualities have we of our own for which we can praise ourselves? All the good that is in us comes from God, and to Him alone we must give praise and honor. When, therefore, we praise ourselves we are usurping glory which is due to God alone. Even though in praising ourselves we sometimes refer all to the honor of God, it matters little; when there is no absolute necessity it is better to abstain from self-praise, for although we refer all to the glory of God with our lips, our ingenious and subtle self-love cannot fail to appropriate it secretly. And even speaking depreciatingly of ourselves there may lurk some hypocritical pride in our words, such as was mentioned by the sage of old when he said: "There is one that humbleth himself wickedly, and his interior is full of deceit." [Ecclus xix, 23]
Therefore we can never watch over ourselves enough, because there is nothing that teaches us so well to know the pride of our heart as our words, with which we either reveal or hide the depravity of our affections. And this is the characteristic of the proud, according to St. Bernard: "One who boastfully proclaims what he is, or lies about what he is not." [Epist. lxxxvii]
Let us bear in heart and mind this precious advice given by Tobias to his son: "Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind or in thy words." [Tob. iv, 14] The words of a proud man are nauseous, whether he speaks of himself or others, and they are hated both by God and man: therefore we should detest this vice, not only from the Christian but also from the human standpoint.
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