Chapter 30. Remedies against Pride

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” (J Jn. 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.

| et these chiefs be destroyed and the whole army will soon ve routed. Hence we must vigorously attack these mighty >.ants who dispute our entrance to the promised land. The first and most formidable of these enemies is pride, hat inordinate desire of our own excellence, which :piritual writers universally regard as the father and king of ill the other vices. Hence Tobias, among the numerous zood counsels which he gave his son, particularly warns iim 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 Drought upon themselves by one sin of pride. They were inpeanitly 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 brillant society by which they were surrounded? 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 modies which they loved too much. Naught but dust and ashes, worms and corruption.”

This is the inevitable fate of the human body, however ‘enderly and delicately nurtured. Ah! Would to God that che 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.” (1 Cor. 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 ac- | count 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 ; pleasing to God; but because we do not know ourselves are inflated with pride and therefore hateful in His sight. he time will come when we shall be odious to God and to urselves—to God because of our crimes, and to ourselves cause of the punishment they will bring upon us. Our ‘ide pleases the devil only; for as it was pride which sanged him from a pure and beautiful angel into a spirit of alice and deformity, he rejoices to find this evil reducing hers to his unhappy state. Another consideration which will help you acquire umility is the thought of the little you have done purely for od. How many vices assume the mask of virtue! How freuently vainglory spoils our best works! How many times ptions which shine with dazzling splendor before men ve no beauty before God! The judgments of God are ifferent from those of men. A humble sinner is less diseasing in His sight than a proud just man, if one who is roud can be called just. Nevertheless, though you have performed good works, 0 not forget your evil deeds, which probably far exceed jour works of virtue, and which may be so full of faults and > negligently performed that you have more reason to ask > be forgiven for them than to hope for reward. Hence St. pregory says: ‘Alas for the most virtuous life, if God judge | without mercy, for those things upon which we rely most hay be the cause of the greatest confusion to us. Our bad tions are purely evil, but our good actions are seldom en- ‘rely good, but are frequently mixed with much that is imerfect. Your works, therefore, ought to be a subject of fear ather than confidence, after the example of holy Job, who ays, ‘I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not pare 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 ir 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, anc 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 neighbo: rather than those with which you think yourself endowed You will thus keep yourself in sentiments of humility, anc increase in your soul a desire for perfection. But if you keey your eyes fixed on the virtues, real or imaginary, which you possess, and regard in others only their failings, you wil naturally prefer yourself to them, and thus you will becom Satisfied with your condition and cease to make any effort | advance.

if you find yourself inclined to take pride in a good acai, carefully watch the feelings of your heart, bearing in tnd that this satisfaction and vainglory will destroy all the erit of your labor. Attribute no good to yourself, but refer erything to God. Repress all suggestions of pride with the -autiful words of the great Apostle: ‘What hast thou that ou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost ou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” (J Cor. 4:7). (hen your good works are practices of supererogation or prfection, unless your position requires you to give an exaple, do not let your right hand know what your left hand yes, for vainglory is more easily excited by good works p in public.

When you feel sentiments of vanity or pride rising in your eart, hasten to apply a remedy immediately. One that is ‘ost efficacious consists in recalling to mind all your sins, articularly the most shameful. Like a wise physician, you ‘ill thus counteract the effect of one poison by another. Imate the peacock, and when you feel yourself inflated with ride turn your eyes upon your greatest deformity, and your anity will soon fall to the ground. The greater your posion the greater should be your humility, for there is not uch merit in being humble in poverty and obscurity. If bu know how to preserve humility in the midst of honors d dignities you will acquire real merit and virtue, for mility in the midst of greatness is the grandest accomniment of honors, the dignity of dignities, without which ere is no true excellence. If you sincerely desire to acire humility you must courageously enter the path of umiliation, for if you will not endure humiliations you will ever become humble. Though many are humbled without iminishing their pride, humiliation, as St. Bernard tells us, nevertheless the path to humility, as patience is the path ) peace, and study to learning. Be not satisfied, therefore, with humbly obeying God, but be subject to all creatures for love of Him. (Cf. J Pet. 2:13).

In another place St. Bernard speaks of three kinds of feai with which he would have us guard our hearts. “Fear,” he says, “when you are in possession of grace, lest you may dc something unworthy of it; fear when you have lost grace because you are deprived of a strong protection; and fea when you have recovered grace, lest you should again loss it.” Thus you will never trust to your own strength; the fea: of God which will fill your heart will save you fron presumption.

Be patient in bearing persecution, for the patient en durance of affronts is the touchstone of true humility. Neve despise the poor and abject, for their misery should move u to compassion rather than contempt. Be not too eager fo rich apparel, for humility is incompatible with a love of dis play. One who is too solicitous about his dress is a slave t the opinions of men, for he certainly would not expend si much labor upon it if he thought he would not be observed Beware, however, of going to the other extreme and dress ing in a manner unsuited to your position. While claimin to despise the approbation or notice of the world, many sec retly strive for it by their singularity and exaggerate simplicity. Finally, do not disdain humble and obscur employments. Only the proud seek to avoid these, for th man of true humility deems nothing in the world beneat him.