Salesian Literature

Conference 4B  :  On the Spirit of Humility

What it is to do all things in a spirit of Humility as the Constitutions prescribe.

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In order to understand this, you must know that as there is a difference between pride itself, the habit of pride, and the spirit of pride.  (For if you commit one act of pride, that is pride; if you commit such acts continually, on every occasion, that is the habit of pride; if you take pleasure in these acts, and seek for the occasions of committing them, that is the spirit of pride); so in the same way there is a difference between humility, the habit of humility, and the spirit of humility. It is humility to perform some act in order to humiliate ourselves; the habit of it is the performance of such acts frequently, and whenever the occasions present themselves; but the spirit of humility is taking pleasure in humiliation, is seeking in all things for abjection and contempt. It is, in fact, making it our chief aim to humble and abase ourselves in all that we do, say, or desire, and taking a real delight in meeting with opportunities of self-humiliation, loving the very thought of it.  That is what is meant by doing all things in a spirit of humility, or, in other words, the seeking humility and abjection in all things.

 

It is a good practice of humility[1] not to study the actions of others save to find out their virtues, for as to their imperfections, as long as we are not in charge of them we must never turn either our eyes or our consideration in that direction. Whatever we may see our neighbour do, we must always interpret his conduct in the best manner possible. In doubtful matters, we must persuade ourselves that what we noticed was not wrong, but that it was our own imperfection which made us think it was in order to avoid rash judgments of the actions of others, which is a most dangerous evil, and one which we ought to have in the highest aversion. As regards things which are undoubtedly wrong, we must be full of compassion, and humble ourselves for our neighbours' faults as for our own[2], praying to God for their amendment with the same fervour as we should use if we were subject to the same faults.

 

"But what can we do," you say, "to acquire such a spirit of humility as you have described?”  well, like all the other virtues, it can only be acquired by repeated acts.

 

Humility makes us annihilate ourselves in all things which are not necessary for our advancement in grace, such, for instance, as a gift of expression, gracefulness of manners, great talent for business matters, a capable mind, eloquence, and so on, for in all these outward matters we ought to desire that others should do better than we do.

 

 

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[1] You ask if you are wanting in humility, when you laugh at the faults the sisters acknowledge, or the mistakes made by the reader during meals. No, not at all, my dear daughter, for laughter is a passion which is stirred without our consent, and which it is not in our power to prevent, especially when we are moved to laughter on unforeseen occasions. That is why Our Lord could not laugh, for nothing was unforeseen to Him who knew all things before they happened, but He could smile, when He saw good. Fools laugh on all occasions because things take them by surprise; but wise men are not so prone to laughter, because they make more use of reflection, which enables us to foresee what is likely to happen. This being the case, it is not contrary to humility to laugh, provided that we do not go further, dwelling too much in our own mind or talking with some other person on the subject which moved us to laughter. This we must not do, especially when some imperfection of our neighbour is the cause of our amusement. That would be quite in­consistent with the question which you asked about the way to conceive or to maintain a good opinion of our neighbour, since that can only he done by fidelity in studying his virtues and refusing to dwell upon his imperfections. (Addition.)

[2] The example of St. Joseph is admirable on this subject. He saw that Our Lady was with child, and knew not how; yet he would not for a moment judge her, he left the judgment to God. (Addition.)

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