Volume II, Treatise III, Chapter XIV

The Steps We Must Ascend By, in Order to Attain the Second Degree of Humility

Smxce this second degree of humility, is the most difficult in the practice of this virtue, I shall divide it, as some holy writers do, into four other degrees or steps, so that by little and little, step by step, we may ascend to the highest perfection of humility that this ‘degree reaches to. The first step therefore is, not to seek the glory and esteem of the world, but, on the contrary, to shun it very carefully. Whole volumes are full of examples left us by the saints, who were so far from seeking this esteem, that they avoided worldly honours, and whatever could gain them any reputation -before men, as & most dangerous rock. Was not Jesus Christ himself the first who did this? For knowing that after the famous miracle of the five loaves, the people would carry him away and make him king, he retired into the mountain; to teach us by his own example, to shun honours, though he had no cause to fear, had he been exalted to the highest station. It was from the same motive, that his having manifested his glory to three of his disciples in transfiguration, he forbid them ever to speak of it, till after his resurrection; and it was for this reason also, that in giving sight to the blind, and in working so many other miracles, he recommended secrecy to those whom he had cured. His intention was to teach us to shun the esteem and praise of men, which might render us vain and be the cause of our ruin.

The registers of the order of St. Francis tell us that a holy religious called brother Giles, having heard of the fall of father Elias, who had been general of the order, and who then stood

excommunicated for adhering to the emperor Frederick II., an enemy of the Church, threw himself upon the ground, and lay there a long time clinging to it with all his force. On being asked why he did so? He answered, that as Elias fell for having been too much elevated, he wished, if it were possible, to lower himself to the very centre of the earth. Gerson makes an ingenious application of the fable of Anteus to the subject we speak of. The poets feign that Anteus was a giant and son of the earth, who having been thrice thrown down to the ground, whilst he wrestled with Hercules, regained additional strength every time he touched the earth. Hercules perceiving this, raised him up from thence, and squeezed him to death in his arms. This is, says he, a figure of what the devil does when he fights with us; he endeavours to lift us up very high by means of the esteem and praise of men, that so he may the more easily overcome us. Hence, whoever is truly humble, continually lies low in the knowledge of himself, and is afraid of nothing more than of being exalted.

The second step, says St. Anselm, “is to suffer contempt with patience,” that is to say, if it happens that you receive any slight or affront, you must bear it with meekness; for I do not now require of you to desire injuries, to seek them industriously, or to receive them joyfully; that would be yet too much, and very difficult for you to undertake. I only desire, that whenever you receive contempt, you will bear it patiently, according to the words of the wise man: “Take well all that shall happen to you; how great pain soever it may cost you, bear it with patience and humility.” (Ecclesiastes 2:4) This is a very proper means to acquire and preserve humility; for as the honour and esteem of the world tend to make us proud and vain; so whatever turns to our contempt, is an occasion of making us humble, and fortifies and advances us in the practice of humility. St. Laurence Justinian compared humility to a river, which has a great deal of water in winter, and scarce any at all in summer; and indeed, humility usually decreases in prosperity, and increases in adversity.

If we think proper to embrace them, we have, every day, opportunities of practising humility. That which is pleasing to others shall go forward, says Thomas 4 Kempis; that which is pleasing to thee shall not succeed. Others shall be heard, and what you say shall not be regarded; every thing shall be granted to others, and nothing to you; others shall be respected, and you slighted; in fine, others shall be employed in business, and you accounted as fit for nothing. At this nature will sometimes repine, and it will be no small matter if you bear it in silence. Let every one then examine himself; let him run over the different occasions which

daily happen, and see how he behaves himself therein. How do you feel, when you are commanded imperiously to do a thing? How do you take the reproof and advice which is given you? What are your feelings when you think that your superior treats you with little confidence, and shews himself too reserved to you? Of so many occasions which daily occur, whatever humiliation offers itself to you, take it, says St. Dorotheus, as a proper remedy to cure your pride; pray for him Who gives it you, as for the physician of your soul; and assure yourself, that you have not humility when you take these things otherwise.

The third step by which you must ascend, is, not to be affected or touched with the praise and esteem of men: and this is harder to practise than the other. ‘‘For though it be easy,” says St. Austin, ‘‘ to be indifferent as to the commendations we are deprived of, yet it is hard to be insensible to those given us.”—(Epis. lxiv.) St. Gregory treats this matter exceeding well, and applying thereto these words of Job, “if I beheld the sun in its splendour, and the moon in its brightness, and my heart was secretly overjoyed,” (Job 31:26,27), says, that by looking upon the sun and moon with pleasure when they shine, may be understood, looking with pleasure and delight, upon the glory and reputation, which we have acquired in the world; and that Job would teach us thereby, that he felt no vanity from the esteem and praise of men. There is this difference, continues he, between the proud and the humble; the proud are always overjoyed with the praises given them, and even with false praises; for they care not what they are in themselves and in the sight of God, but only what they are in the opinion of men; therefore, when they see themselves esteemed according to their desire, they are transported with joy and vanity, as having obtained all they expected. But the man of a truly-humble heart, as soon as he sees himself praised and esteemed, reflects and covers himself with confusion; according to the words of the royal prophet, ‘“‘ When I was exalted, I humbled myself, and was troubled.”—(Ps. Ixxxvii. 16). “Nor is it without reason that he is troubled,” as the same St. Austin continues, “for he trembles when he reflects that if the things he is praised for are counterfeit, he may be the more severely punished by Almighty God; and if they are true, he may lose the recompense he was to expect, and “tnay one day hear these words;” (Psal. Ixxxvii. 16); ‘ thou hast received thy good things in this life;” (Luke 16:25); thou hast had the reward of your good works. So that the praise which gives occasion to the proud, to become more vain and haughty, causes the humble, to humble themselves still more. And it is this, says St. Gregory, that the wise man teaches us, when he says, “As the silver is tried in the crucible, and the gold in the furnace; 80 is a man by the mouth that praises him.”—-(Proverbs 27:21) When the gold and silver are good, the fire refines them; when they _are good for nothing, it consumes them. Praise, says the wise ‘man, works the same effect upon man; if he be puffed up with the honour given, he is not gold and silver of a good alloy; because he cannot bear the crucible of the tongue. Bat if he humbles himself when he is praised, he is very fine gold; because the fire of praise ‘destroys him not, but on the contrary purifies and refines him the more. Make use thereof of this mark which the Holy Ghost gives thee, to know whether or not thou dost advance in humility, see whether thou art troubled or joyful at being praised, and thereby thou wilt know, whether thy humility is true or false.

We read of St. Francis of Borgia, that nothing gave him so much pain, as when he saw that he was honoured as a saint; and being one day asked why he troubled himself so much for a thing he had no handin? He answered, that being so unlike to what he was believed to be, he feared that he should be called to a more severe account by God. And this altogether agrees with the passage of St. Gregory, which we just now quoted.

Let us, therefore, be so established in the knowledge of ourselves, that the wind of man’s praise and applause, may not raise us from the earth, and make us lose the sight of our misery. But on the contrary, let us then humble ourselves the more, and be clothed with new confusion, seeing that the praise given us is undeserved, and that we are not masters of the good qualities ascribed to us; and that in fine, we are not the persons we are taken for, nor such as we ought to be.

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