Volume II, Treatise III, Chapter XII

Of What Importance Is It to Practise the Knowledge of Ourselves

From all that we have said, it may be inferred how important it is, to practise the knowledge of ourselves. Thales, one of those whom ancient Greece called the seven wise men, being asked, which of all the natural sciences was the hardest to be acquired? answered; it was that of one’s self, because self-love continually obstructs that knowledge. Hence came that so famous saying among the ancients, “know thyself.” And another philosopher meant the same thing, when intending to give a short lesson of wisdom, he was wont to say, “live at home.” But laying aside the instructions which the pagan philosophers have given upon this subject, let us come to those which have been left us by the Christian philosophers, who are much better masters than the others in this matter.—St. Austin and St. Bernard say, that the knowledge of one’s self is the most sublime and useful of all sciences that have ever yet been discovered. Men, says St. Austin, esteem very much sciences which treat of the heavens and the earth—which point out the motion of the heavenly bodies, the course of the planets, their influences and virtues; but self-knowledge is a more sublime and useful science. The other sciences puff us up, and destroy us, as St. Paul says, but this humbles and edifies us. The spiritual ‘directors therefore very much recommend this exercise whilst we are at prayer, and blame as an abuse, what some persons do, who passing slightly over their faults, which are painful to look upon, spend a good deal of time upon some pious meditation, in which they feel comfort and delight. They are ashamed of being so disagreeable to themselves, and imitate an ugly woman, who dares not look at herself in the glass. ‘“But if thou didst but behold, O man, what thou art,” says St. Bernard, speaking asin the person of God, “thou wouldst be disagreeable to thyself, and pleasing to me: but because thou seest not thyself, thou art agreeable to thyself and displeasing tome. The time will come when thou shalt neither please thyself or me; thou shalt not please me, because thou hast sinned; thou shalt not please thyself, because thou shalt be the cause of thy eternal destruction.’’—(Bern. de inter. dom.) St. Gregory, speaking of this, says, that there are some people who think themselves holy as soon as they begin to serve God, and to do some virtuous actions; and they are so intent in looking upon the good they do, that they entirely lose sight of the sins they have committed: nay, and sometimes they see not even those which they do commit. But the elect, and such as are truly good, do the contrary; for, abounding in virtue and good works, they look only on what is evil in them, and have their eyes continually on their own faults and imperfections. It is easy to see the consequence, which this different manner of viewing one’s self brings with it; for it happens from thence, that some, whilst they humble themselves at the sight of their faults, preserve the virtues which they have, and others whilst they glory in the good they perceive in themselves, lose both it and themselves also by their pride. Thus some make so good use of what ill they have in them, that they profit thereby; and others make ‘such bad use of the good they have, that it turns to their disadvantage. What happens in eating, is a representation of what we say. How goed soever the food may be, it will do harm, if one eats thereof to excess; and on the contrary, however dangerous some poisons are, they may serve for aremedy and antidote, when they are well prepared and taken as they ought. When the devil, as the same saint says, raises vanity in you, in representing to you your good works; set the remembrance of your sins against that temptation. Thus the apostle used to do, when fearing lest the great revelations and miracles which God had wrought by him, should cause too much vanity in him; “he called to mind his having been a blasphemer, his having persecuted and injured the servants of Jesus Christ,” (Tim. i. 13), and said, “Iam not worthy to be called an apostle, because I have persecuted the church of God.’’ (1 Corinthians 15:9) Against such attacks, there is no better counter-battery and counter-mine than to call to mind our past sins.

St. Jerom, writing upon these words of the archangel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel, “hear, O son of man, what I will say unto thee,” says; that the ancient prophets, Daniel, Ezechiel, and the rest, seemed to be already angels by the sublimity of their com tinual revelations. For fear therefore they might be puffed up more than they ought, by forgetting their condition, and believing themselves altogether of an angelical nature, the angel sent from God, set before their eyes their miserable and frail original, by calling them, “sons of men;” in order that considering they were but weak and miserable men, like others, they should humblethemselves under the knowledge of what they were.} We have a great many examples, both in ecclesiastical and profane history, of several saints, great persons, kings, popes, and emperors, who used some such means to defend themselves from the attacks of vanity; and. who kept a person on purpose near them, to put them in mind from time to time, “that they were but men.”

When St. Francis of Borgia was yet a secular, he was told by a holy man, that if he wished to make good progress in the service of God, he must let no day pass without reflecting upon something which might/excite in him shame and a contempt of himself.—He embraced this counsel with so much fervour, that after he had given himself to mental prayer, he never failed to employ the first two hours thereof to know and despise himself, and to turn whatever he heard, read, or saw, to his own confusion. Besides this, he practised another devotion, which was, that every morning when he rose, the first thing he did was to fall down on his knees and kiss the ground three times, to remind himself, that he was but dust and ashes, and that he should again return to dust and ashes. And the great and many examples which he has left us of humility and sanctity, shew plainly what fruit he reaped from these exercises of piety. Let us take the same counsel, and let no day pass, without employing one part of our prayer in the consideration of something which may move us to a contempt of ourselves; and never leave off, till it sinks thoroughly and very deeply into our soul, and till the continual view of our misery and meanness, shall have covered us all over with holy shame and confusion before God. We have great need thus to exercise ourselves; for we are naturally so full of pride, and so inclined to the desire of being esteemed, that if we take not care to humble ourselves continually, by the consideration of our weakness, we shall always be exalted above ourselves, being like unto cork, which still lifts itself above the water, if you keep it not under by main force. We must, therefore, always keep down this swelling, which the good opinion of ourselves raises in our heart; and looking upon our weakness and faults, as the peacock does upon its feet, beat down that vanity which self-complacency raises in us. Let us remember the parable of the fig tree planted in a vineyard; the master of the vineyard would have it cut down, because in three years’ time it bore no fruit; but the dresser of the vineyard said to him, “my Lord, pray let it alone for one year more, till I shall dig about it and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well: but if not, then after that if you please I shall cut it down.” —( (Luke 13:8)) Do you likewise dig well the earth about the dry and fruitless plant of your souls; spread about it the dung of your sins and miseries, and so it will bring forth the fruit of humility and righteousness.

But to encourage us farther in this exercise, and to hinder our taking occasion to leave it off upon ill-grounded apprehensions, it is good to remark here two things. The first is, that we must not imagine that it is an exercise for new beginners only, for it suits those equally well who are already most advanced in the way of perfection, since we see that the saints and apostles themselves have practised it. The second is, that we must not fancy to ourselves that it is a sad and melancholy business which fills the mind with disquiet and trouble. On the contrary, it brings with it a great deal of tranquillity and delight, in spite of all the weaknesses and faults it makes us discover in ourselves, and of the sense it gives us, that we deserve to be contemned and abhorred by all the world. For when this sense arises from true humility, the pain that it gives us is so pleasing that we would not be without it. And as to certain vexations we sometimes have at the view of our faults and misery, they proceed from the temptation of the devil, who would thereby make us, on the one hand, believe that we are very humble, and on the other, make us despair of the mercy of God, and discourage us from his service. If indeed we were to dwell wholly upon the sense of our weakness and infirmity, there would be reason to sink under our sorrow, and to lose all courage; but we must no stop there, we must forthwith pass on to the con- ‘sideration of God’s infinite goodness and mercy, of the love he bears us, of what he has suffered for us, and therein place all our confidence. Thus what serves to deject us when we look upon ourselves, serves to raise us up again when we look upon God. In ourselves we see nothing but subject of tears and apprehension, in God we see nothing but subject of joy and confidence, which, notwithstanding the excess of our weakness and multitude of our faults, will not permit us to fear that be will abandon us. Because the greatness of his bounty and mercy which we look upon surpasses infinitely that of our misery and sins. Thus, by a profound consideration of these two things, we come to see at the same time that we ought not to lay any more stress upon ourselves than upon weak reeds, and that we must fix our confidence in God alone, according to the words of Daniel:—“For we do not present our supplications before thee, confiding in our own righteousness, but in thy great mercies.” (Daniel 9:18)

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