Volume II, Treatise III, Chapter XXVIII

How the Partienlar Examen of the Virtue of Humility Ta to be Made

A PARTICULAR examen, as we have observed in its proper place, must be on one thing at a time; because it is more efficacious, than if it included many things at once; and the proper reason why it is called particular, is, because it is intent only upon one thing. Now this practice is of very great importance; and to succeed more easily therein, you. must ordinarily divide the vice or the virtue, which you intend to make the subject of your examen, into several parts. If, then, you will root pride out of your heart, and plant humility in the room of it, consider not the thing in general. For pride and humility being of vast extent, if you propose to yourself in general, to be proud in nothing, and to be humble in all things, it is a purpose of far greater extent, than if you formed two or three other designs together; and so by proposing too much, you will do nothing at all. Descend to particulars; consider wherein you have been used chiefly to fail in humility, and in what you have been touched with pride, and begit in that particular thing to correct yourself. Afterwards, when you have compassed one thing, begin with another, and after that with a third, and so you will by little and little root up the pride you took in things you loved most; and thereby acquire humility. But that you may examine yourself more profitably upon so necessary a virtue, I shall here run over these several points, which may be made the subject of your particular examen.

Let us purpose in the first place to say nothing that may turn to our own praise; for since the desire of being esteemed is so

vol. u. Q natural, and so rooted in our heart, and that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45), we often happen to say things which may directly or indirectly turn to our advantage, without thinking thereof. If, for example, on a person speaking before you of something, in which you participated ever so little, but-which may be to your honour, you should immediately attribute _ all the glory of it to yourself—I was concerned, you will say, in that business; nay, it was through my influence it succeeded so well, and without me it had come to nothing. And as soon as ever you opened your mouth, your hearers judged that, though you had had a greater share in it, yet you would not have said a word, if it had not succeeded. Thus many things drop from our mouths, which we ourselves are not aware of till we have said them; so that it is good to use ourselves to make a particular examen of them, that by taking great care to let nothing of this nature fall from us, we may overcome this ill habit, which is in a manner natural to us.

_For the second subject of our examen, let us take what St. Basil, St. Jerom, St. Austin, and St. Bernard recommend to us, which is, “not to take pleasure in hearing people praise and speak well of us; for it is dangerous to take pleasure therein. St. Ambrose says, that when the devil sees that he cannot effect our ruin by discouraging us, he endeavours to effect it by raising presumption in us—when he has set upon us to no purpose by reproaches and contempt; he causes us to be honoured and praised, that he may this way destroy us.

In the life of St. Pacomius, it is related that when he wished to pray, he was used to go out of his convent, and to retire into a solitary place; and that often at his return, many devils went before him with a great deal of bustle, as when people go before a great prince; and that several of them, who seemed, as it were, to make way for him, cried out aloud,—‘“make way there, for the man of God;” to try ifthey could make him yield to some temptation of vainglory. But the holy man, who knew that all these their stratagems were vain, smiled at them. Do you in like manner, when you shall hear yourself praised, or when any thought of vanity or self-esteem comes into your head; think that you hear the devil speak to you; scorn him accordingly, and you will overcome the temptation.

. To this purpose St. Climachus tells us a very particular story, how the devil discovered to an hermit, the bad thoughts he tormented another hermit with, to the end, that what the one had most hidden in his heart, being told him by the other, he who was tempted, should take the other for a prophet, and a saint; that so the praises which he gave him, might be an occasion of his fall. We may infer from hence, how advantageous the devil must believe it is, for him to instil into us some thought of pride and self-satisfaction; since for that purpose he makes use of so much craft and cunning. It is for this reason, St. Jerom tells us, that, “if we wish to advance towards our native country, we must shut our ears against the destructively melodious voices of the syrens.” —(Epis. 84.) For the sound of our own praise is a music s0 pleasing to our ears, that whatever the poets have invented of the singing of the syrens, comes not near it; but this music at the same time is so dangerous to our soul, that we must stop our ears, if we have not a mind to be destroyed.

St. John Climachus says, that when we are praised, we ought to cast our eyes upon our sins, for then we shall find ourselves unworthy of those praises; and so they will serve only to raise in us, greater sentiments of confusion and humility. And to this second practice of not taking pleasure in hearing yourselves praised, you may add another very important one, which is, to take pleasure in hearing.others praised. Whenever, then, the good which you shall hear of your neighbour, excites envy in you; or what you shall hear said of yourself, raises any self-satisfaction i in you, be sure to look upon it as a fault.

The third point of our particular examen, may be, to do nothing to be seen and esteemed by men; and of this our Saviour gives us warning in the gospel, when he says, “take heed that you do not your good works before men, to be seen by them, otherwise you will have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.” —(Mat. vi. 1.) This examen is very useful, and may be divided into several parts;- we may, in the first place, propose to ourselves, not to do things through human respect; afterwards, to do them purely for God’s sake; and then tb do them very well, as doing them really in the presence of God; and, in fine, so to do them, that it may seem, as we have said elsewhere, when speaking of the uprightness and purity of the intention, that all our actions, are only a sequel and effect of @ motion of love which impels us to act.

The fourth point of our examen may be, not to excuse ourselves when we are in fault; for it is pride that makes us, as soon as we have committed one, or as soon as we are reproved for it, stand upon our defence; and it is pride that furnishes us with words, «’even to add excuses to excuses as ta our sins.“—(Ps.. cxl. 4.) In this passage of Job,”if I have covered my sins as a man, and if I hate hidden my iniquity in my bogora,“(Job 31:33), St. Gregory dwells very particularly on the words,” as a man,“saying, that it is the nature of a man to hide and excuse his sin, and that it is a thing which he derives from his first parents. Searce had man sinned, when he went to hide himself behind the trees in para. dise, and when God reproaches him for his disobedience, be immediately lays the fault thereof upon his wife.”The woman,“says he,” whom thou gavest to me for a companion, gave me of the fruit of the tree, and I did eat thereof.“(Gen. üi. 12.) The woman then lays the fault upon the serpent;”the serpent,“says she,”boguiled me, and I did eat.“God examines them upon theis sin, says St. Gregory, that acknowledging and confessing it, they might obtain pardon thereof; but be questions not the serpent thereupon; because he intends not to pardon him. Bat they, instead of humbling themselves, by the acknowledgment of their fault, increase it, by excusing it; for they seem to endeavour in & manner to throw the fault upon God himself.” The wora whom thon bast given me,“says one,”made me sin;“which was as much as to say, that if God had not given her for a companion to him, it would not have happened.” The serpent which thou hast created,“says the other,”has deceived mae;“as if she would also say, that she had not sinned, if God had not created that serpent, and placed it in the garden. They let themselves be persuaded, says St. Gregory, that they shoald be like unto God, and seeing that they could not make themselves like unto him by participation of the divinity, they endeavoured to make him like themselves, by the participation of their fault; and thus intending to excuse it, they aggravate it. Now, all men being descended from them, they all feel this faute of their forefathers; and hence it is, that as soon as ever they are reproved for a fault, they immediately seek a thousand excuses to hide it; nay, often not content with excusing themselves, they attach the blame to their neighbour. A body writer compares those, who are always excusing therselves, when they are reproved, to a hedge-bog, which as soon as one goes to touch it, turns itself into the form of a bowl, and thrusts out its prickles on all sides, so that you cannot touch it, without picking yourself;” you cannot see its body, without first seeing • your own blood.” Even so it is with those, says he, who excuse themselves; if you think of touching them ever so little, or of telling them any fault they have committed, they bristle up and defend themselves, like the bedge-hog, and sometimes do, as it were, prick you, by telling you, that you yourself have also need of being corrected; sometimes by shewing you, that there is a rule which forbids the reproving your brother; and sometimes,.in fine, by observing that others commit greater faults, and have nothing at.all said of them. All this proceeds only from an excess of pride; for we would fain hide from the eyes of men, whatever is defective in us; and we are less concerned for having committed faults, than for having them discovered, and the good opinion lessened, which people had of us; and this is the reason why we hide them with so great care, and excuse them with so much artifice and obstinacy. Nay, we-sometimes meet with persons, who are so far from having the spirit of mortification, that when you say not.one word to them of their faults, they anticipate all-you can say, and prevent beforehand, whatever youcan accuse them of. They will tell you, if they have done such or such a thing, it is for such and such a reason; they are never, upon any occasion, at a loss for an excuse; but what is it that disquiets, and makes them thus uneasy? It.is pride indeed that torments them; it is that disquiets them, before you speak to them; and makes them defend themselves before you attack them. It.is fit, that they who find themselves subject to this temper, should be very intent in examining themselves hereupon, till they have overcome the desire they have to hide their faults; and are become so much masters of themselves, as to be glad, that since they have committed them, others should believe them, and that they should make satisfaction for what:they ought to believe themselves; that so they may be in a.manner punished for them. I will yet go farther, and say, that when you are reproved even for a thing which you have not done, it is always.good not.to excuse yourself; for when ‘your superior wishes to find the truth, he will know how to do it, and it may be, he even knows it already, but intends to try your humility, and see how you will receive a reproof.

To prevent our imagination from indulging too freely in proud thoughts, wherein it often strays, is, in the fifth place, another examen of a very useful kind. For sometimes our fancy exalts us to the first and most important employments; sometimes it sends us into our own country to -preach with wonderful success; sometimes we.imagine we teach in the public schools, and defend our conclusions with general applause; and a thousand such things as these come into our head. Now, since all this springs from inward pride, which, being unable to contain itself, breaks out into these extravagant thoughts, you must take no less care in suppressing them, than in rejecting those against purity, charity, or any other Christian or religious duty.

The sixth subject of this particular examen, may be, to look on ourselves as inferior to every one, according to what our rule enjoins, which prescribes the exciting ourselves to humility, by preferring our brethren to ourselves, by imagining them, as if they were indeed, our superiors; and by respecting them outwardly with a religious frankness and simplicity, as far as the condition of each of them can well permit. For though there ought to be an exterior difference between persons, according to the difference of their condition, yet as to what concerns interior humility, our holy founder, who called our Society the least of all orders, will also have every one of us look upon himself as the least of all his brethren, and this is founded upon the sentiment of the apostle, “who will have every one through humility believe others to be above’ him.” (Philippians 2:3) This examen will be very profitable, provided we do not rest in the sole.speculation thereof, but endeavour really to behave towards our brethren, with the same humility and respect, as if they were all our superiors. For if we did look upon them really as such, we should be very far from speaking to them with so much sharpness and roughness as we do—we should forbear saying any thing to them, which might displease and mortify them—we should not judge of their conduct with such freedom and rashness; and we should not be so easily offended, at their language or behaviour to us. In the examen therefore which we shall make, we ought to observe all these things, and correct them, as so many faults.

For the seventh point of this particular examen, we may make a resolution to bear quietly all occasions of humiliation, which may be offered us. You have been used, for example, to be offended when a sharp word is said to you—when you are haughtily or imperiously commanded to do anything, and when you think that you are not regarded so much as others. Let then the subject of your examen be, a resolution to bear quietly all things of this kind, and all others which may tend to a contempt of you; and be persuaded that you cannot make a more proper and profitable examen than this, to acquire the virtue of humility; for besides its being a very wise precaution, against whatever may happen to you at all times, it is also a very efficacious way to raise you by degrees to the summit of virtue and perfection. Yon may then propose to yourself in your examen first, to bear with patience all these things; afterwards to bear them easily and without repugnance; and lastly, to receive them with joy, and to be glad at being despised; wherein, as we have already said, consists the perfection of humility.

In the last place we may employ our particular examen in making both interior and exterior acts of humility; obliging ourselves to form so many in the morning, and so many in the evening; beginning at first with a few, but increasing every day the number, till we have acquired a perfect habit of humility. What I now say of this virtue, may be easily applied to all other virtues; and thus the address and care which we shall use in dividing our enemies, and falling upon them separately, will make ua get a ’ speedier and easier victory.

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