Volume II, Treatise III, Chapter II

That Humility Is the Foundation of All Other Virtues

Sr. Cyprian says, that “humility is the foundation of sanetity;” St. Jerom, that “it is the first Christian virtue;” St. Bernard calls it ‘“‘the foundation and preservation of the virtues;” and all three, in fine, agree that it is the basis of the rest. St. Gregory at one time calls it “the mistress and mother;” at another, the spring and root of all other virtues.” This metaphor of the root agrees exactly with it, and explains very well the properties and conditions thereof; for first, in the words of St. Gregory, just as a flower draws all its freshness and beauty from the root, and quickly fades as soon as it is plucked; even so, if any virtue whatsoever be but separated from the root of humility, it withers presently, and is quite lost. Again—as the root lies deep under ground, and is trodden under foot, and has ordinarily neither beauty nor smell, yet is nevertheless the principle, both of the plant’s life and nourishment; so, humility makes man who is humble, love to lie hid, as it were, under ground, and to be trod upon and despised. It shuns noise and splendour, and seeks only the obscurity of retirement; and nevertheless it is it which preserves in itself all the other virtues, and makes them daily grow more and more. Lastly, as a tree must take deep root, in order to bear well, and to live long; and the deeper the root, the longer the tree lives, and the more fruit it bears, according to the words of Isaias, ‘it shall shoot its root downwards, and bear fruit upwards,” (4 Kings xix. 30); so in order that other virtues should thrive and fructify in our hearts, it is necessary that humility be deeply rooted there, and the deeper the root is, the more will these virtues increase, and the stronger will they grow. I shall conclude, then, with asserting, as I did in the beginning, that humility, according to the doctrine of all the holy fathers, is the source, foundation, and root of all virtues: “‘as pride is the beginning and origin of all sins,’’ (Ecclesiastes 10:15), according to the words of the wise man.

But some perhaps may say, how can humility be the foundation of all other virtues, and of the whole spiritual edifice, since it is certain that faith is the foundation thereof; and that according to the words of the apostle, “none can lay any other foundation than that already laid, which is Jesus Christ”? (1 Corinthians 3:11) St. Thomas answers this objection very well. Two things, says he, are requisite to lay the foundation of a house well; first, the ground must be dug, every thing light and-sandy must be thrown out, and persons must continue to sink, till the ground is felt firm enough to ’ build upon. In the second place, after having cleared away the sand, and sunk deep, they must lay the first stone, which, together with the other stones laid in the same line, makes the principal foundation of the building. Here, continues the saint, we have a representation of what humility and faith do in the spiritual building. Humility opens the ground, digs the foundation, and throws out all the sand, that is to say, the weakness of human strength. For you must not build upon your own strength, which is but a quick-sand, and which you must remove, by having a diffidence in yourself, and by digging always till you find sure and solid ground to lay the first stone, ‘and that stone is Jesus Christ,” (1 Corinthians 10)

4,) who is the chief foundation of all the building. But because in order to lay this foundation well, we must first of all dig with humility; it is for this reason that humility is called the foundation of this edifice. Now, if humility opens the ground well, if it penetrates into the knowledge of our own nothingness, if it throws out all the quicksand in us, I mean, all the confidence we have in ourselves—if it does this, in order to lay there the foundation-stone, Jesus Christ, the building reared thereon shall never be shaken, neither shall the wind or the rain be ever able to overthrow it, because the foundations thereof are solid. But if we build without humility, all the edifice will quickly fall to the ground, ‘because it was built on sand.

All virtues which are not founded upon humility are not real virtues; they are virtues only in appearance. St. Austin, speaking of those of the ancient Romans and philosophers, asserts, that they ‘were not real virtues; not only because they were not animated by charity, which gives spirit and life to all other virtues, but because they had not the foundation of humility. For in fortitude, justice, ‘temperance, and all their acts of virtue, these persons sought only worldly esteem and reputation, so that their virtues were rather the ghosts: or phantoms of virtues than real ones. Treating likewise particularly of those of the ancient Romans, he says, that as they were virtues only in appearance, so God rewarded them with the good things of this world only, which also are only apparent goods. If therefore you desire, that real virtues should raise up a spiritual edifice in your souls, endeavour first of all to lay a solid foundation of humility. “You aspire,” says St. Austin, “to great things, begin with little ones; you desire to erect a very high building, think first of the foundation of humility. The foundations are always sunk proportionably to the intended weight of the building; and the higher one intends it, the deeper must the foundations thereof be laid.”—(Serm. x. de verb. Dom.) The height must answer to the depth, so that you cannot raise the edifice of evangelical perfection which you intend to build, but proportionably to the depth of humility you shall give to the foundations. It is related of St. Thomas of Aquin, that speaking of humility, he was wont to say, that if a man, who loves to be honoured, who shuns contempt, and who bears it with chagrin, does ever so many good works, yet he is far from perfection, because all his virtue has no foundation.

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