Salesian Literature

Chapter 6:  Humility makes us love our own abjection

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I proceed further, Philothea, and I advise you that in all circumstances and everywhere you must love your own abjection.  But you say to me: What does it mean: love your own abjection?  In Latin, abjection means humility and humility means abjection so that when Our Lady says in her sacred canticle, because he has regarded the humility of his servant, all generations shall call her blessed (Lk. 1:48), she means that Our Lord has graciously looked upon her abjection, littleness, and lowliness to heap upon her graces and favours.  All the same, there is difference between the virtue of humility and abjection.  For abjection is the littleness, lowliness and meanness which is in us without our thinking of it.  But the true virtue of humility is the real knowledge and voluntary recognition of our abjection.

 

The highest point of humility consists not only in the voluntary acknowledgement of our abjection but in loving it and taking pleasure in it.  This is not due to any lack of courage and generosity.  Rather, it is to exalt the divine Majesty and to esteem our neighbour all the more in comparison with ourselves.  To this, I exhort you, and for abetter understanding, know that among the evils we suffer some are abject and others honourable.  Many adapt themselves to the honourable but scarcely anyone to the abject.  You see a devout hermit in rags and shivering from cold.  Everyone honours his torn habit and has compassion for his suffering.  But if a poor artisan, a poor nobleman, a poor young lady is in the same state, people despise and mock them and thus their poverty is abject.  A religious receives a harsh rebuke from the superior or a child from its father.  All call this mortification, obedience, wisdom.  Let a gentleman or a lady suffer the same treatment from someone, it will be termed cowardice and lack of spirit though accepted for the love of God.  This also is another abject evil.  A person has an ulcer on his arm and another on his face.  The former has only the evil, the latter besides the evil has also contempt, disdain and abjection.  Now I say that we are not only to love the evil by the virtue of patience but we are also to cherish the abjection by the virtue of humility.

 

Moreover, there are some virtues that are abject and some honourable” patience, gentleness, simplicity and humility itself are virtues which worldly people hold as mean and abject while they appreciate very much prudence, courage and generosity.  Even among acts of one and the same virtue there are some which are held in contempt and others in honour.  To give alms and to forgive insults are both acts of charity.  The first is honoured by everyone but the second is despised by the world.  A young man or a young lady who will not fall in with the disorders of a dissolute group in order to speak, play, dance, drink and dress like the rest, will be ridiculed and criticized by others.  Their modesty will be called wither fanaticism or pretence: to love this is to love abjection.  There is another type of abjection: when going to visit the sick, if I am sent to the most wretched, it will be an abjection for me in the eyes of the world; I will, therefore, love it.  If I am sent to important persons, it is an abjection according to the spirit for there is not much merit or virtue in this.  So I will this abjection.  By falling in the middle of the street, besides the hurt, we incur shame; we must love this abjection.

 

There are even faults in which there is no evil at all except the abjection.  Humility does not require that we should commit them purposely but it does require that we do not worry about them when we have committed them: such are certain follies, incivilities  and lapses which we ought to avoid before they are committed in order to keep civility and prudence.  We must also accept cheerfully the abjection which comes to us from them, when they have been committed and so practise humility.  I say further that if I am led by anger or dissipation to say indecent words by which God and neighbour are offended, I will repent sincerely and will be extremely sorry for the offence.  I will try to make reparation for it in the best way possible.  At the same time, I will not fail to love the abjection and contempt incurred by me.  If one could be separated from the other, I would earnestly reject sin and would humbly keep the abjection.

 

Although we love the abjection resulting from an evil, we should not fail to set right the evil which is the cause of it by suitable and lawful means, especially so when the evil is serious.  If I have some ugly infection on the face, I will try to get healed without doing anything to make others forget the abjection I received from it.  If I have made a mistake which offends no one, I will not excuse myself for it since it is still a defect even if it is not lasting.  So I can only excuse myself for the abjection which it brings me and this humility does not permit.  However, if by inadvertence or foolishness I offended or scandalized someone, I will repair the offence by some genuine apology in so far as the evil is lasting and charity obliges me to get rid of it.  After all, it happens sometimes that charity demands that we remedy the abjection for the sake of our neighbour to whom our good name is necessary.  In such cases in removing our abjection from the eyes of our neighbour to prevent him from being scandalized we should embrace and hide it in our hearts so that he is edified.

 

You wish to know, Philothea, which are the best abjections.  I tell you plainly that the abjections most profitable to us and pleasing to God are those which happen to us by unforeseen events or by our condition in life.  For we have not chosen these but received them such as God sent them to us whose choice is always better than our own.  If they are to be chosen, then the greatest are the best.  Those which are most contrary to our inclinations provided they correspond to our vocation are considered to be the greatest.  To say it once and for all, our choice and election mars and lessens almost all our virtues.  Who will give us the grace to be able to say with the great King: I chose to be abject in the house of God rather than dwell in the tabernacle of sinners (Ps. 83:11).  No one can do it, dear Philothea, except he who in order to exalt us lived and died in such a way that he was the reproach of men and an abjection among the people (Ps. 21:7).

 

I have told you many things which will appear quite hard to you when you consider them.  But, believe me, they will be sweeter than sugar and honey when you practise them.

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