On Humility
Oct. 10
The twelfth degree of humility is that a monk not only have humility in his heart but also by his very appearance make it always manifest to those who see him. That is to say that whether he is at the Work of God, in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road, in the fields or anywhere else, and whether sitting, walking or standing, he should always have his head bowed and his eyes toward the ground. Feeling the guilt of his sins at every moment, he should consider himself already present at the dread Judgment and constantly say in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said with his eyes fixed on the earth: “Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up my eyes to heaven”; and again with the Prophet: “I am bowed down and humbled everywhere.” Having climbed all these steps of humility, therefore, the monk will presently come to that perfect love of God which casts out fear. And all those precepts which formerly he had not observed without fear, he will now begin to keep by reason of that love, without any effort, as though naturally and by habit. No longer will his motive be the fear of hell, but rather the love of Christ, good habit and delight in the virtues which the Lord will deign to show forth by the Holy Spirit in His servant now cleansed from vice and sin.
Reflection
This twelfth degree of humility can surprise us because it declares that we shall ‘soon’ arrive at the love of God when all that we say or do will no longer be out of fear but out of love.
But the road is long, as we have been warned, and it is up to us to try and pursue the path of love tirelessly. Unfortunately, we do not know how to love either God or ourselves. Nevertheless, we can rely on the Holy Spirit Who will lead us at every step, even when we stumble a thousand times. And in the end, what we used to find arduous and severe in the beginning will become light as we make our way even now along our path in life. Set free from fear and purified of vice we will humbly rejoice, saved at last from ourselves.
