by Boudreaux, Florentin, 1821-1894
This double knowledge of God and of ourselves, of His infinite greatness and of our
infinite baseness, is the foundation of humility. When our souls are fully informed with
this knowledge and as it were permeated by
it, pride has received a severe blow within
us; the ground gives way under it and it
totters to its downfall. This is because pride
takes for granted that we are something, even
independently of God, and here we see that
we are nothing and even less than nothing.
Our reason alone then makes it evident that
pride should have no place within us. Our
eyes are opened, our ideas are corrected;
we see things as they are, and esteem them
as they deserve. Without this light it would
be impossible for us to learn humility ; and
we must be thoroughly enlightened by it, if
we would succeed in our undertaking.
And now we are prepared to proceed in
our study. The knowledge we have acquired will enable us to make the proper
use of the means for acquiring humility
which will be at our disposal. These are indicated by the wise man as above quoted: “endure; ” “in humiliations have patience.”
Humiliation then is the path that leads to
humility; and this path is neither smooth
nor pleasant to walk in. But on the use we
make of such humiliations as fall to our lot,
it depends whether we shall be humble and
meek like the Heart of Jesus and like His
Saints, or revengeful and cruel against the
source of the humiliation and prouder because we have been humbled. Look at the
model before you ; see how Jesus, who was
humble of heart for your sake, bore the insults, the slanders, the glaring injustices, to
say nothing of coldness or indifference or ingratitude, of which He was the object. “ Endure ” as He did ; “ humble thy heart ” as He
did. Be deaf to the clamours of self-love
wounded to the quick and crying out that
you did not merit such treatment; that this
one and that one should have been the last
to inflict it upon you ; that your reputation
is endangered and you must defend it ; that
your position must be maintained and your
authority and credit supported for the good
of others. “Endure; humble thy heart.” Be silent in your own justification, and you
will gradually become humble like the Heart
of Jesus. This fruit is bitter to the taste;
but its effects are most sweet and wholesome.
Our Lord’s reputation was of more importance than yours ; the interests which rested
upon His authority were of greater value
than any which might suffer by your discredit. Yet He was silent and said never a
word. He left His honour in the hands of
His Father. “I seek not my own glory,
there is One that seeks it and judges ” in His
own good time. ( Jn . viii.) He allowed His
light to go out in utter darkness, and His life
in the most dismal disgrace, that He might
enforce by example what He had taught by
word when He said : “ Blessed are ye when
men shall revile you and speak all that is
evil against you.” {Matt, v.)
Besides thus humbling our heart and enduring the humiliations which come from
others, we must likewise endure such as have
their origin in ourselves. Your fortune is
humble, your station not honourable; your
lot in life is cast with those who do not figure in the world ; or you fail in some enterprise; from a higher position, which you
are found unfit to hold, you must descend to
a lower; you are blamed where you anticipated approval; you have, in a word, not
fulfilled the expectations which were formed
of you and which you had formed of yourself. Pride will brood over this as the
greatest of evils; it will be miserable and
inconsolable; surly and full of bitterness.
It covets high stations, splendour and display,
it dreads nothing so much as the reproach
of failure ; and therefore when it is kept in
an inferior sphere or deposed from a higher,
when it has begun to build and been unable
to finish the work, it is in a mortal agony
of vexation and anguish. Humility, on the
contrary, comes down gracefully and gladly
from the station which it occupied with regret ; it is more contented in a lower grade,
because there it finds its own native atmosphere. It is not dejected by want of success, nor abashed by the reproach which it
receives. Its serenity is not disturbed; nor
is its bosom ruffled with agitation. Is it then so very strange that blindness should stumble, weakness fall before it reaches the goal ?
that ignorance should mistake, cowardice
tremble and turn back ? that human nature
should err? that nothing should come to
nothing? We are all that — blindness, ignorance, nothing ; hence we must expect the
natural result of such causes. Are you to
be always in the right ? Is there no one in
the world wiser than you, more enlightened,
more prudent, less liable to err? Why then
must you have an excuse for every fault ? a
reason for every misstep? an argument,
whether true or false, to prove that you were
not in the wrong? Thus, when pride entered into the world, its first manifestation
was an excuse for evil done. Adam was not
to blame, because “ the woman gave him of
the tree; ” Eve pleaded not guilty and threw
the blame on the serpent who deceived her.
Yet both were deeply guilty, and their excuses did not save them from the sentence
of condemnation.
Here then we have another source of humiliation, and therefore other means for acquiring the great virtue of humility. Let us
do what we can to comply with our obligations, not to disappoint the hopes built upon
us ; let not failure be the result of culpable
negligence or sloth. But if, after all our
best endeavours, it should please God not to
crown us with success, let us not repine,
much less accuse others and resort even to
falsehood and slander in our own defence.
We are eating again of the bitter fruit; but
it is gradually transforming our hearts into
a resemblance to the humble Heart of Jesus.
We are making progress in the science of
the Saints; we are laying a solid foundation
for the tower of our perfection.
And now let us see how to deal with success and prosperity in our undertakings. In
this, pride finds its nourishment, its choice
morsels; and the danger to humility is neither
slight nor easy to avoid. Here our self-knowledge and the knowledge of what is due to
God must be our strongest barrier against
the inroads of the enemy. If we can do
anything, it is certainly not by our own virtue or power. “ Without me,” says our Lord, “you can do nothing.” (Jn. xv.)
