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SECTION I
General Remedies We have already called the deadly
or capital sins the sources of all iniquity. They are
the roots of the mighty tree of vice, and if we can
destroy them the trunk and branches must soon decay.
With them, therefore, we shall begin, following the
example of Cassian and other spiritual writers, who
were so firmly convinced that if they could only rout
these enemies the defeat of the others would be an
easy task. St. Thomas gives us a profound reason
for this. All sin, he says, proceeds from self-love,
for we never commit sin without coveting some
gratification for self. From self-love spring those
three branches of sin mentioned by St. John: "the
concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the
eyes, and the pride of life" (1Jn. 2:16), which are
love of pleasure, love of riches, and love of honors.
Three of the deadly sins, lust, gluttony, and sloth,
spring from love of pleasure, pride springs from love
of honors, and covetousness from love of riches. The
remaining two, anger and envy, serve all these
unlawful loves. Anger is aroused by any obstacle
which prevents us from attaining what we desire, and
envy is excited when we behold anyone possessing what
our self-love claims. These are the three roots of
the seven deadly sins, and consequently of all the
others. Let these chiefs be destroyed and the whole
army will soon be routed. Hence we must vigorously
attack these mighty giants who dispute our entrance
to the promised land. The first and most
formidable of these enemies is pride, that inordinate
desire of our own excellence, which spiritual writers
universally regard as the father and king of all the
other vices. Hence Tobias, among the numerous good
counsels which he gave his son, particularly warns
him against pride: "Never suffer pride to reign in
thy mind or in thy words, for from it all perdition
took its beginning." (Job. 4:14). Whenever,
therefore, you are attacked by this vice, which may
justly be called a pestilence, defend yourself with
the following considerations: First reflect on the
terrible punishment which the angels brought upon
themselves by one sin of pride. They were instantly
cast from Heaven into the lowest depths of Hell.
Consider how this fall transformed Lucifer, the
prince of the angelic hosts, and the bright and
beautiful star surpassing in splendor the sun itself.
In one moment he lost all his glory, and became not
only a demon but the chief of demons. If pure spirits
received such punishment, what can you expect, who
are but dust and ashes? God is ever the same, and
there is no distinction of persons before His
justice. Pride is as odious to Him in a man as in
an angel, while humility is equally pleasing to Him
in both. Hence St. Augustine says, "Humility makes
men angels, and pride makes angels devils." And St.
Bernard tells us, "Pride precipitates man from the
highest elevation to the lowest abyss, but humility
raises him from the lowest abyss to the highest
elevation. Through pride the angels fell from Heaven
to Hell, and through humility man is raised from
earth to Heaven." After this, reflect on that
astonishing example of humility given us by the Son
of God, who for love of us took upon Himself a nature
so infinitely beneath His own, and "became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil.
2:8). Let the example of your God teach you, O man,
to be obedient. Learn, O dust, to humble yourself.
Learn, O clay, to appreciate your baseness. Learn
from your God, O Christian, to be "meek and humble of
heart." (Matt. 11:29). If you disdain to walk in the
footsteps of men, will you refuse to follow your God,
who died not only to redeem us but to teach us
humility? Look upon yourself and you will find
sufficient motives for humility. Consider what you
were before your birth, what you are since your
birth, and what you will be after death. Before your
birth you were, for a time, an unformed mass; now a
fair but false exterior covers what is doomed to
corruption; and in a little while you will be the
food of worms. Upon what do you pride yourself, O
man, whose birth is ignominy, whose life is misery,
whose end is corruption? If you are proud of your
riches and worldly position, remember that a few
years more and death will make us all equal. We are
all equal at birth with regard to our natural
condition; and as to the necessity of dying, we shall
all be equal at death, with this important exception:
that those who possessed most during life will have
most to account for in the day of reckoning.
"Examine," says St. Chrysostom, "the graves of the
rich and powerful of this world, and find, if you
can, some trace of the luxury in which they lived, of
the pleasures they so eagerly sought and so
abundantly enjoyed. What remains of their magnificent
retinues and costly adornments? What remains of those
ingenious devices destined to gratify their senses
and banish the weariness of life? What has become of
that brilliant society by which they were surrounded1
Where are the numerous attendants who awaited their
commands? Nothing remains of their sumptuous
banquets. The sounds of laughter and mirth are no
longer heard; a somber silence reigns in these homes
of the dead. But draw nearer and see what remains of
their earthly tenements, their bodies which they
loved too much. Naught but dust and ashes, worms and
corruption." This is the inevitable fate of the
human body, however tenderly and delicately nurtured.
Ah! Would to God that the evil ended here! But more
terrible still is all that follows death: the dread
tribunal of God's justice; the sentence passed upon
the guilty; the weeping and gnashing of teeth; the
tortures of the worm that never dies; and the fire
which will never be extinguished. Consider also
the danger of vainglory, the daughter of pride, which
as St. Bernard says, enters lightly but wounds
deeply. Therefore, when men praise you, think whether
you really possess the qualities for which they
commend you. If you do not, you have no reason to be
proud. But if you have justly merited their praise,
remember the gifts of God, and say with the Apostle,
"By the grace of God I am what I am." (1Cor. 15:10).
Humble yourself, then, when you hear the song of
praise, and refer all to the glory of God. Thus you
will render yourself not unworthy of what He bestows
upon you. For it is incontestable that the respect
men pay you, and the good for which they honor you,
are due to God. You rob Him, therefore, of all the
merit which you appropriate to yourself. Can any
servant be more unfaithful than one who steals his
master's glory? Consider, moreover, how unreasonable
it is to rate your merit by the inconstant opinion of
men who today are for you, and tomorrow against you;
who today honor you, and tomorrow revile you. If your
merit rests upon so slight a foundation, at one time
you will be great, at another base, and again nothing
at all, according to the capricious variations of the
minds of men. Oh, no; do not rely upon the vain
commendations of others, but upon what you really
know of yourself. Though men extol you to the skies,
listen to the warnings of your conscience and accept
the testimony of this intimate friend rather than the
blind opinion of those who can judge you only from a
distance and by what they hear. Make no account of
the judgments of men, but commit your glory to the
care of God, whose wisdom will preserve it for you
and whose fidelity will restore it to you in the
sight of angels and men. Be mindful also, O
ambitious man, of the dangers to which you expose
yourself by seeking to command others, How can you
command when you have not yet learned to obey? How
can you take upon yourself the care of others when
you can hardly account for yourself? Consider what a
risk you incur by adding to your own sins those of
persons subject to your authority. Holy Scripture
tells us that they who govern will be severely
judged, and that the mighty shall be mightily
tormented. (Cf. Wis. 6:6). Who can express the cares
and troubles of one who is placed over many? We read
of a certain king who, on the day of his coronation,
took the crown in his hands, and, gazing upon it,
exclaimed, "O crown richer in thorns than in
happiness, did one truly know thee he would not stoop
to pick thee up even if he found thee lying at his
feet." Again, O proud man, I would ask you to
remember that your pride is displeasing to all � to
God, who resists the proud and gives His grace to the
humble (Cf. James 4:6); to the humble, who hold in
horror all that savors of arrogance; and to the proud
themselves, who naturally hate all who claim to be
greater than they. Nor will you be pleasing to
yourself. For if it ever be given to you in this
world to enter into yourself and recognize the vanity
and folly of your life, you will certainly be ashamed
of your littleness. And if you do not correct it
here, still less satisfaction will it afford you in
the next world, where it will bring upon you eternal
torments. St. Bernard tells us that if we truly
knew our hearts we would be displeasing to ourselves,
which alone would make us pleasing to God; but
because we do not know ourselves we are inflated with
pride and therefore hateful in His sight. The time
will come when 'we shall be odious to God and to
ourselves � to God because of our crimes, and to
ourselves because of the punishment they will bring
upon us. Our pride pleases the devil only; for as it
was pride which changed him from a pure and beautiful
angel into a spirit of malice and deformity, he
rejoices to find this evil reducing others to his
unhappy state. Another consideration which will help you acquire
humility is the thought of the little you have done
purely for God. How many vices assume the mask of
virtue! How frequently vainglory spoils our best
works! How many times actions which shine with
dazzling splendor before men have no beauty before
God! The judgments of God are different from those of
men. A humble sinner is less displeasing in His sight
than a proud just man, if one who is proud can be
called just. Nevertheless, though you have performed good works,
do not forget your evil deeds, which probably far
exceed your works of virtue, and which may be so full
of faults and so negligently performed that you have
more reason to ask to be forgiven for them than to
hope for reward. Hence St. Gregory says: "Alas for
the most virtuous life, if God judge it without
mercy, for those things upon which we rely most may
be the cause of the greatest confusion to us. Our bad
actions are purely evil, but our good actions are
seldom entirely good, but are frequently mixed with
much that is imperfect. Your works, therefore, ought
to be a subject of fear rather than confidence, after
the example of holy Job, who says, 'I feared all my
works, knowing that thou didst not spare the
offender. '" (Job 9:28). SECTION II
Particular Remedies
Since humility comes from a knowledge of ourselves,
pride necessarily springs from ignorance of
ourselves. Whoever, therefore, seriously desires to
acquire humility must earnestly labor to know
himself. How, in fact, can he be otherwise than
humbled who, looking into his heart with the light of
truth, finds himself filled with sins; defiled with
the stains of sinful pleasures; the sport of a
thousand errors, fears, and caprices; the victim of
innumerable anxieties and petty cares; oppressed by
the weight of a mortal body; so forward in evil and
so backward in good? Study yourself, then, with
serious attention, and you will find in yourself
nothing of which to be proud. But there are some who, though humbled at the sight
of their failings, are nevertheless excited to pride
when they examine the lives of others whom they
consider less virtuous than themselves. Those who
yield to this illusion ought to reflect, though they
may excel their neighbors in some virtues, that in
others they are inferior to them. Beware, then, lest
you esteem yourself and despise your neighbor because
you are more abstemious and industrious, when he is
probably much more humble, more patient, and more
charitable than you. Let your principal labor,
therefore, be to discover what you lack, and not what
you possess. Study the virtues which adorn the
soul of your neighbor rather than those with which
you think yourself endowed. You will thus keep
yourself in sentiments of humility, and increase in
your soul a desire for perfection. But if you keep
your eyes fixed on the virtues, real or imaginary,
which you possess, and regard in others only their
failings, you will naturally prefer yourself to them,
and thus you will become satisfied with your
condition and cease to make any efforts to advance.
If you find yourself inclined to take pride in a good
action, carefully watch the feelings of your heart,
bearing in mind that this satisfaction and vainglory
will destroy all the merit of your labor. Attribute
no good to yourself, but refer everything to God.
Repress all suggestions of pride with the beautiful
words of the great Apostle: "What hast thou that thou
hast not received? And if thou hast received, why
dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?"
(1Cor. 4:7). When your good works are practices of
supererogation or perfection, unless your position
requires you to give an example, do not let your
right hand know what your left hand does, for
vainglory is more easily excited by good works done
in public. When you feel sentiments of vanity or
pride rising in your heart, hasten to apply a remedy
immediately. One that is most efficacious consists in
recalling to mind all your sins, particularly the
most shameful. Like a wise physician, you will thus
counteract the effect of one poison by another.
Imitate the peacock, and when you feel yourself
inflated with pride turn your eyes upon your greatest
deformity, and your vanity will soon fall to the
ground. The greater your position the greater should
be your humility, for there is not much merit in
being humble in poverty and obscurity. If you know
how to preserve humility in the midst of honors and
dignities you will acquire real merit and virtue, for
humility in the midst of greatness is the grandest
accompaniment of honors, the dignity of dignities,
without which there is no true excellence. If you
sincerely desire to acquire humility you must
courageously enter the path of humiliation, for if
you will not endure humiliations you will never
become humble. Though many are humbled without
diminishing their pride, humiliation, as St. Bernard
tells us, is nevertheless the path to humility, as
patience is the path to peace, and study to learning.
Be not satisfied, therefore, with humbly obeying God,
but be subject to all creatures for love of Him. (Cf.
1Pet. 2:13). In another place St. Bernard speaks
of three kinds of fear with which he would have us
guard our hearts. "Fear," he says, "when you are in
possession of grace, lest you may do something
unworthy of it; fear when you have lost grace,
because you are deprived of a strong protection; and
fear when you have recovered grace, lest you should
again lose it." Thus you will never trust to your own
strength; the fear of God which will fill your heart
will save you from presumption. Be patient in bearing persecution, for the patient
endurance of affronts is the touchstone of true
humility. Never despise the poor and abject, for
their misery should move us to compassion rather than
contempt. Be not too eager for rich apparel, for
humility is incompatible with a love of display. One
who is too solicitous about his dress is a slave to
the opinions of men, for he certainly would not
expend so much labor upon it if he thought he would
not be observed. Beware, however, of going to the
other extreme and dressing in a manner unsuited to
your position. While claiming to despise the
approbation or notice of the world, many secretly
strive for it by their singularity and exaggerated
simplicity. Finally, do not disdain humble and
obscure employments. Only the proud seek to avoid
these, for the man of true humility deems nothing in
the world beneath him.
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