On Humility

[thesmellypocket 1841]

ON HUMILITY

"Humility is the root of all other virtues...By pride, Angels become beasts. By humility, men are raised above the Angels."-Bl. Pius of Sutica, The Canonist Commentary on Sacred Scripture.

 

I.Importance of this Virtue. Ill Effects of Pride.

 

"Owyn obeyed the command of God..."-Gospel 5:3.

 

Humility was called by Blessed Pius "the root of all virtues." Its importance is clear from the Holy Scriptures as well as from practical experience. For example, in the Book of Scattering, we are told that it is what separates Exalted Owyn from Harren. "[Harren] did not pray", we are told, "but considered the greatness of his conquest." (Gospel 3:55.) By contrast, Owyn was overcome by the spirit of prayer. (4:20) Owyn and Harren completed the same outward action of fasting and going to the Grotto of Gamesh, but whilst Owyn did it with a sense of humility, Harren was full of pride. Hence it is why the Prophet rebukes us: "Before the mountain, the ant and the auroch are equally small." (Virtue 7:7.) We are amiss if we think we can 'impress' God with any exterior action, He who can do all things by Fiat! If a man should conquer the whole earth in pride, it would be infinitely less worthy a gift to Him than a little child who offers a pin in humility. God, who is above all space and time, cannot be awed by our magnitude, but stoops down to our littleness. The perfection of holiness, then, does not consist in enlarging oneself to rise by stairs of greatness to the Throne of the Holy One, but in staying small: no, growing more and more little, day by day; acknowledging our nothingness and poverty so that He can fill us with His light. Nor does perfection consist in outward actions or great feats of asceticism, but rather inward humility. One day, on the feast of SS. Jude and Kristoff, Bl. Pius was seen feasting with his brethren abundantly. Someone was scandalised at this apparent lack of holiness from Priests: he had heard the Fraternity were holy men, and yet they feast rather than fast? But Pius said: "My son, understand that it is better to drink wine with humility, than water with pride."

 

Humility is called therefore the root of all other virtues, because God is the source of all other virtues; and pride the root of all other sins. Therefore it is impossible to advance in any virtue without first realising one's own littleness and powerlessness to attain perfection in any virtue with the God who is the sole dispenser thereof. Pride has three chief symptoms: 1)A contempt for superiors, 2)A hatred of equals, and 3)A disdain for inferiors. Any one of these three daughters of pride are enough to wreak destruction to one's soul, let alone the sum of them. If any man, therefore, asks me, what is the most important virtue to perfect, I shall say these three: Humility, Humility and Humility.

 

II.Misconceptions About this Virtue. Analogies in Nature.

 

"I am your Father, and the Father of all things."-Virtue 1:6. 

It is necessary to refute certain false humilities which plague this realm. 

 

A great deceit which has ensnared many souls is the belief that humility is based on a lie, a lie to oneself. But humility is truth, since we know that to proclaim lies to be truth is the tactic of the evil one (Auspice 1:29), whereas God desires that all men might know the truth. This false conception of humility essentially consists in beating oneself down, and deluding oneself, not, as outward pride does, in an inflatory way which puffs a man up above his ability, but believing that one has no ability at all. For example, it would involve a beautiful woman trying to convince herself that really, she is ugly, or a clever man trying to convince himself that he is of low intelligence, or a man of good humour convincing himself that no one could possibly find him funny. This is a great weapon of the evil one, for this is not true humility. Humility cannot be based on a lie; humility is truth and thus cannot be incompatible with reality. I mean that, a beautiful woman convincing herself she is ugly would be a false humility essentially rooted in a lie, which would serve only to destroy her happiness and in fact may be the cause of great pride, because on some level she will know it a lie, and thus be ever insecure about herself. She would hence ever be pre-occupied with thinking of herself - a strange form of egotism rooted in a false sense of humility. Humility does mean recognising our weaknesses, but it does not mean denying our strengths.

 

What is the true form of humility that has been delivered unto us? It consists largely in this recognition: "I am Eternal, you are transient." (Virtue 7:5) Or, from our perspective: He is eternal, and I am transient. There is no pride in a beautiful woman recognising her own beauty, an intelligent man recognising his own intelligence, or an humorous man knowing his ability to make men laugh. Humility is exercised when we realise that we do not, in an absolute sense, possess any of these qualities, but rather they are a gift to us. To be prideful is to glory in these gifts as if we possessed them independently; humility is a recognition of our weaknesses but also the knowledge that even the good qualities we do possess are gifts from above, unearned and gratuitous. That is why it is necessary for us to sing the praises of God, thanking Him for all the gifts He has given us. Do you think God has any need of your praise? Of course not: but you do. (Ven. Humbert of St. Jude, Maxims.) 

 

My elder Sister Therese (God rest her soul), who was among the holiest monastics, used to explain humility using the book of nature. For God often uses nature to speak to us, as He Himself did to Horen: "I created the metals of the earth, etc." (Virtue 2:4.) Hence our Creator has left buried in nature treasures of secrets which can teach us all about His goodness. You will indulge if these analogies seem a little "girly", but they are quite brilliant. 

 

The first analogy she used was that of a little flower. A flower, however little, is beautiful. But she does not boast of her own beauty, because she owes her goodness entirely to the liberality of the sun. If the sun ceased to shine upon her, if she were to turn her petals in on themselves and stay out of the sun's light, she would die. Hence she spreads out her little petals and sings a hymn to the liberality of the sun who nourishes her, and to whom she owes everything. So it is with the soul and God. The soul possesses no goodness of its own, but as, by the liberality of God, she is filled and nourished, she ought not to be possessed by a false modesty in denying His filling and nourishing of her, but acknowledge Him as the Filler and Nourisher. Nor does the flower care whether she is great or small, or whether other flowers are greater and more beautiful than her. For indeed, if every flower wished to be a beautiful red rose, wouldn't nature lose its wonderful diversity? She is content therefore in being merely a daffodil if this is what God wills. Hence humility does not beget insecurity and anxiety, but contentment, peace and confidence in God. 

 

It is certain that God grants greater gifts to some men then to others. For example, the Saints received extraordinary graces and were given power to do extraordinary things, but we, by contrast, appear rather mediocre. But when, God willing, we reach our Heavenly Home, we shall sing without envy, for our delight shall be merely participating in that orchestra of praise. You may be only tiny and altogether less brilliant in the garden than the gorgeous roses that awe. But that smallness is a gift of its own, for the humble soul rejoices in the gifts given to others, and so we shall find equal joy in the gifts of a Saint Julia, as if we ourselves had received them. My Sister said before her death: "Saint Julia, If I were Queen of Mankind, and you Therese, I should wish to be Therese, that I could see you Queen of Men." Moreover, we can rejoice in our smallness because we know not that, if we were given greater gifts, for example, if we were given greater intelligence, it would be the cause of vanity and pride. Therefore we can thank the Good God in giving us weaknesses to keep us humble. 

 

Pride is the root (And perhaps my Sister would not have agreed) of the modern, hateful and revolutionary spirit that hates Monarchy and Aristocracy. "How can anyone possess by inheritance?" We hear. "What did they do to deserve their position?" But we know that the Lord is sweet to all and desires the good of all; and therefore if it were for our benefit that we be in a higher place, He would have given it. Hence the virtues of humility and fidelity are related: "Aspire not to greatness among men, but to My glory." (Virtue 6:8.) Hence humility is the root of contentment and hapiness, whereas pride begets envy.

 

The second analogy we can use is that of standing in the sun. According to the so-called wisdom of atheistic thinkers, if we have the sun that is above us, we should develop an inferiority complex, which is when we develop an insecurity and personal sense of inadequacy, and then have to over-compensate for this. But when the sun is above us, we cast no shadow. But if we place the sun behind us, then we have a massive shadow. We think how big we are, we appear so tall and so magnificent. Why? Because we have placed the rays of truth, we have placed God, behind our back. But when the sun is above us, there is no falsity. We see ourselves as we truly are. 

 

Those who possess false humility can often succumb to a very dangerous form of pride. For they reckon themselves so bad, that they place their finite badness above the infinite goodness of God. The Church has us pray: "Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be cleansed, Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow." (Miserere.) Humility, then, is like a pattern-wielded sword. Iron is too soft and bends; steel too brittle and breaks. Therefore the two must be combined to create the ultimate sword. The iron is confidence in God, and the steel is self-recognition of nothingness. Without either the sword is deficient, without either the soul is in danger. Confidence alone becomes presumption, and self-recognition alone despair. We cannot place our badness above God's ability to heal us. Therefore any type of humility which leads to despair is false, because humility should raise the soul to God and leads us to, recognising our utter weakness, place ourselves in His arms. The fruit of humility should be confidence and trust in divine mercy.

 

III.Prayer for Humility.

 

"You shall not judge your own virtue, be it great or small, for all fall short of Me."-Virtue 7:8.

 

When receiving any gift or ability, we should always attribute it to God. And when we perceive any fault in others, however grievous, we should attribute our lack of fault to the goodness of God. This is what Ven. Humbert of St. Jude meant when, upon seeing a criminal go up to the scaffold, he said: "Thank God I have not done worse."

 

This little tract is an exploration of this virtue in my own way, and I do not claim it to be exhaustive. I submit it all for the consideration of Holy Church. I remain your humble servant,

 

-Edmund Brunswick Olivier von Manstein, Armiger. 

 

P.S. Absent-minded as I am, I forgot to add that humility is important to faith. Faith aids humility, and humility begets faith. For humility recognises that we are not the centre of our own existence, but that Someone else is. In this way, it also inflames charity, because we seek the love of God in the other. 

 

Below I attach a prayer for humility. The words are inadequate to express the whole truth of it, but they may be useful and I know even the attempt is pleasing to God.

 

"Lord, Thou art eternal; I am transient. 

 

Thou art infinity; I am finity.

 

Thou art utter goodness; I am lowly wretchedness.

 

Thou art wholly complete; I am utterly impoverished. 

 

Thou art the generous Almsgiver; I am the poor beggar.

 

Thou art the skilful Physician; and I am he who is sick.

 

Without me, Thou art complete, without Thee, I am nothing. 

 

Grant me the grace, O Lord, to know myself as I truly am, and keep me from vanity and pride. Make me entirely conscious of my own smallness in the sight of Thy divine majesty. And if I should attempt ,at any time ,to raise myself above another, I beseech Thee to send a humiliation to put me down; if I should seek anything that is above me, bring me down to earth. I plunge myself, on the wings of confidence and love, into the unfathomable depths of Thy infinite goodness, imploring Thee to grant me this virtue by the intercession of SS. Edmund and Catherine. 

 

And now that soon I am to consummate my knightly vocation, I ask Thee, Lord, that Saint Catherine might knight me, not with the sceptre of worldly honour, but with the pattern-wielded sword of confident humility, that I love Thee age unto age, Amen."

 

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by thesmellypocket

[Guzr 2049]

"What a beautifully written document. This is going in the gardens of the Beauterre." Said Knight-Captain Edwin de Sarkozy before moving to scribe a copy.