Part ten, Chapter V: "he Hath Regarded the Humility: Of his Handmaid"

"he Hath Regarded the Humility

Of his Handmaid"

IN ORDER to understand this verse appropriately, we must consider it in relation to the preceding verse from which it springs: "My spirit bath rejoiced in God my Saviour, for He bath regarded the humility of His handmaid; behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." This verse contains two principal truths, the first of which is expressed in these words: "He bath regarded the humility of His handmaid." What is this humility of which the Blessed Virgin speaks here? The holy Doctors are divided in their opinions about it. Some of them say that among all the virtues, humility is the only one which never perceives or becomes aware of itself, for he who believes himself to be humble is really proud. Therefore, when the Blessed Virgin says that God has regarded her humility, she is speaking not of the virtue of humility but of her lowliness and abjection.

Other authorities maintain that humility in a soul consists, not in being ignorant of the graces that God has bestowed upon it and the virtues that He has granted, but in returning His gifts and keeping for oneself only nothingness and sin; and that the Holy Spirit, speaking through the mouth of the Blessed Virgin, wishes to teach us that among all the virtues He beheld in her, He loved her humility and approved of it most of all, because the Blessed Virgin had humbled herself beneath all things, and this humility persuaded His divine Majesty to elevate her above all creatures by making her the Mother of the Creator. "0 true humility," exclaims St. Augustine, "which gave birth to God for the sake of men, and granted life to mortals! The humility of Mary is the heavenly ladder on which God descended to earth. For what is the meaning of respexit, if not approbavit, 'He bath approved?' There are many who appear humble in the eyes of men, but their humility is not beheld by God. For i f they were truly humble, they would not find pleasure in the praises

of men, and their spirits would not rejoice in the eulogies of this world, but in God." (1)

"There are two kinds of humility," says St. Bernard. "The first is the daughter of truth; it i s cold and without warmth. The second is the daughter of charity, and it inflames us. The first consists of knowledge and the second of love. Through the first we realize that we are nothing, and we learn this humility from ourselves and from our own wretchedness and weakness. Through the second we trample underfoot the glory of the world; and this humility we learn from Him Who annihilated Himself and fled when they sought Him out to offer Him the glory of royalty; but when they hunted Him down to crucify and plunge Him into the depths of opprobrium and ignominy instead of fleeing He voluntarily offered Himself." (2)

The Blessed Virgin possessed in a sovereign degree these two kinds of humility, especially the second; and St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Albert the Great, (3) St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas and several other writers all maintain that the words which the Holy Spirit uttered through the mouth of the most humble Virgin, Respexit humilitatem, mean true humility.

If you ask why God regarded the humility of the most glorious Virgin rather than her shining purity or other virtues, seeing that she possessed them ail in the highest degree, Albert the Great' will reply, together with St. Augustine, that God preferred to look down upon her humility because i t was more pleasing to Him than her purity. "Virginity is highly praiseworthy," says St, Bernard, "but humility is necessary. The former is counselled; the latter is commanded. You can be saved without virginity, but there is not salvation without humility. Without humility, I dare say that the virginity of Mary would not have been at all pleasing to God. If Mary had not been humble, the Holy Spirit would not have descended upon her; and if He had not descended upon her, she would not have become the Mother of God. She pleased God with her virginity but she conceived the Son of God through her humility. Hence it must be inferred that it was her humility which rendered her virginity pleasing to His divine Majesty." (4)

0 holy humility, thou hast given us a God-Man and a Mother of God, and consequently thou art the source of all the graces, favors, blessings, privileges and treasures that we possess on earth and hope to possess one (1). Serm. 2 de Assumpt. (2). Serm. 42 Super Cant. (3). Serm. 2 de Nat. Dom. (4). Homil. I super missus est.

day in heaven. Thou art the destroyer of all evil and the source of all good. Oh, how we should esteem, love and desire this holy virtue! With what fervor we ought to implore it of God! Oh, with what ardor should we seek and embrace all the means necessary to acquire it! Whoever has no humility has nothing; and whoever does possess it has all the other virtues. Hence it seems, to quote the Holy Spirit speaking through the mouth of Holy Church, that the Eternal Father sent His Only-begotten Son into the world to become incarnate and to be crucified only that He might teach us humility through His example. It is what Holy Mother Church proclaims in this prayer on Palm Sunday: "Almighty and eternal God, who didst cause our Saviour to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross that all mankind may imitate the example of his humility, mercifully grant that treasuring the lessons of his patience we may deserve to have fellowship in his resurrection." "What the devil has destroyed through pride," says one of the holy Fathers, "the Saviour has reestablished through humility." (5)

0 Jesus, King of the humble, grant us the grace, we beseech Thee, to learn well the divine Lemon which Thou hast taught by these holy words: "Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart." (6)

0 Mary, Queen of the humble, it is thy privilege to crush the head of the serpent, which i s pride and arrogance. Crush it completely, then, in our hearts, and make us partakers of thy holy humility, that we may sing with thee for all eternity, Respect humilitatem ancillae suae, rendering thanks to the Most Blessed Trinity for having been so well pleased with thy humility that It deemed thee worthy, because of it, to become the Mother of the Saviour of the world, and to cooperate with Him in the salvation of all mankind. (5). Caesarius Arelat. Homil. 18. (6). Matt. 11, 29. 291-