Part ten, Chapter X: "he Hath Scattered the Proud in the Conceit: Of Their Heart"

"he Hath Scattered the Proud in the Conceit

Of Their Heart"

Aside from the effects of divine Might as indicated in the preceding pages, here is yet another of the greatest importance, proclaimed in the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: "He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts." What does that mean, and who are the proud? The holy Fathers explain this text in various ways. Some of them say that they are the rebellious angels whom God drove out of heaven and cast into bell for their pride. Others understand them to mean Pharao, Sennacherib, Nabuchodonosor, Antiochus and other enemies of the people of Israel. St. Cyril and St. Augustine explain them with reference to the demons that our Lord drove out of the bodies and souls of men when lie came into the world. St. Augustine writes further that we may also infer these proud to mean the Jews who scorned the humble coming of our Saviour, for which they were rebuked.

Hugh of Saint Victor and Dionysius the Carthusian say that these words designate all men dominated by pride, while Cardinal Hugues declared that these proud are the heretics whose minds are divided and at variance because Of the diversity of their thoughts and errors. There are still others who assure us that these prouds are sinners in general who rebel against the divine will.

Finally, certain holy Doctors write that we must apply these words to the emperors, kings, princes, philosophers and all the tyrants who have opposed the proclamation of the holy Gospel, personages whom God has exterminated and cast into hell fire. These also include all men, who will persecute the Church until the coming of the antichrist, for the majority of the words of the Magnificat are prophecies expressed in the past tense, dispersit superbos, as if those things were already fulfilled, in order to show that they will just as certainly take place as if they had already happened.

Let us now examine the meaning of the words: "In the conceit of his heart." St. Augustine explains them in this way: "He hath destroyed

the proud by a secret and profound resolution of His divine will. For it was by a profound determination that God was made man, and the innocent suffered in order to redeem the guilty; a most secret resolution of which the devil could not have had knowledge." (1)

But because the Greek reads thus: "In conceit of their heart," other Doctors are led to offer this explanation: "He has destroyed and exterminated those whose hearts were filled with high esteem for themselves;" or else: "He has scattered the thoughts and resolutions that the proud were meditating in their hearts," in conformity with these words of the prophet Isaias: "Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated." (2)

Here is another most important secret which the Blessed Virgin reveals to us in the words "He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart." They mean, according to the opinion of prominent writers, that not only does Pod disperse and annihilate the evil thoughts and pernicious designs contrived against Him and His friends by the wicked, but also that He converts all their pretentions into their own confusion, the glory of His divine Majesty and the increased holiness and eternal happiness of those who serve Him. Furthermore, He opposes them with their own weapons, Mente cordis sui, striking back at them with the very same arrows launched by their malice against Him and His children: "The arrows of children are their wounds." (3) He makes use of their designs to fulfil His own. He causes the evil intentions of their impious minds to be turned to their own perdition and the advantage of His servants. God converts the obstacles which the wicked place in the path of the works of His glory into very powerful means employed to give them more firmness, perfection and brilliance.

Did not Satan's malice toward the first man lead to his own confusion while proving advantageous not only to man but to all posterity? God brought forth such immense good from the evil into which the temptation of the devil caused Adam to fall that Holy Mother Church sings: "0 happy fault, that merited such and so great a Redeemer." Did not the accursed envy and bad will of the brothers of Joseph serve divine Providence as a means of exalting him even to the extent of sharing the royal throne of Egypt, and of earning for him the extraordinary title of the God of Pharao? Of what advantage to Pharao's successor was his hardness and cruelty against the chosen people except to drown him with his whole army in the depths of the Red Sea, and to manifest still more strikingly God's protection of His own children? (1). In Magnif. (2). Isa. 8, 10. (3). Ps. 63, 8.

What was the intention of the perfidious enemies of Christ Rod the evil spirits in treating the Son of God so ignominiously and cruelly as they did, if not to make His name infamous and hateful throughout the world? As we read: "Let his name be remembered no more." (4) Thus they strove to thwart all His designs and nullify the great work that He had undertaken for the redemption of the world. Yet God employed their abominable hatred to fulfil the determination of His infinite bounty with regard to the human race.

What was the intention of the tyrants in slaughtering so many thousands of holy martyrs, i f not to ruin and completely exterminate the Christian religion? And yet, did not Divine Might use this means to render its establishment more solid, holy, extensive and glorious?

Finally, we may truthfully apply to all who persecute and oppose the servants of God what St. Augustine said of the godless Herod who slaughtered so many innocents in the attempt to destroy Him Who came to save the world: "Behold a wonderful thing, that the hatred and cruelty of this impious enemy of God and men was much more profitable to these blessed infants than all the friendship that he could ever have shown them and all the favors he could ever have bestowed on them." (5)

Thus does the all-powerful arm of the Incarnate Word overthrow the undertakings of the proud in the devising of their hearts: "He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart." It is through the humility of thy virginal Heart, 0 Queen of Heaven, that all these great things arc accomplished, since thy marvellous humility drew the divine Word from the bosom of His Father and clothed Him with flesh in thine own virginal bosom. We also look to thee to crush the head of the serpent, that is, to stamp out pride and arrogance. We may indeed say to thee, therefore: "Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honour of our people, for thou hast done manfully." (6)

This first phrase, "Thou art the glory of Jerusalem," is the voice of the angels, whose downfall has been atoned through thy intercession. The second, "Thou art the joy of Israel," is the voice of men, whose sadness has been changed into joy through thy mediation. The third, "Thou art the honor of our people," is the voice of women whose shame has been blotted out by the blessed Fruit of thy womb. The fourth, "Thou hast done manfully," is the voice of the holy souls who (4). Jer. 11, 19. (5). Serm. 10. de Sanctis. (6). Judith 15, 10-11.

were imprisoned in Limbo and set free from captivity by thy beloved Son, the Redeemer of the world.

0 most holy and desirable humility of Mary, thou art the source of all blessings. 0 hateful pride, thou art the cause of all the evils of earth and hell. "Every proud man is an abomination to the Lord," (7) says the Holy Spirit; not only is the proud and arrogant man abominable in the sight of God, but "he is abomination itself." 0 Queen of the humble, efface from our hearts whatever is contrary to humility, and make this holy virtue reign within us for the glory of thy Beloved Son. (7). Prov. 16, 5 313-