HUMILITY

This will be the last monthly bulletin I write to you, and I have a secret desire to devote it to the virtue
which today risks most easily being forgotten: humility.
I believe that the spirit guiding many of today's reformists is in opposition to this fundamental virtue
of evangelical spirituality. Modern ideas of obedience, of community life, of the apostolate, of sanctity itself,
give pride of place to personal vocation, to charismas, to the dignity of the human person demanding respect
for personal ideas, personal inclinations. How can this thinking be reconciled with humility? "The humble
soul,” says our Venerable Fr. Francois Libermann, "obeys meekly, willingly, and without arguing, because it
has no attachment to its own will. Humility is the mother of regularity, the support of brotherly unity, and the
surest guarantee of subordination" (Direct. spiritual, p.220).
Our Lord clearly taught us the same doctrine. Discite a me quia mitis sum et humilis corde (Mt
11:29). Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart Omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur: et qui se
humiliat exaltabitur (Lk 18:14). "....every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted''
And there are so many texts one could quote from the Apostles, especially the one from St Paul, in
Philippians (chap. 2), where he speaks of Our Lord's example: Semetipsum exinanivit humiliavit semetipsum
factus obediens propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum ["…(he)emptied himself he humbled himself, becoming
obedient for which cause, God also hath exalted him...."] This is also the lesson taught by the Blessed Virgin
Mary when she sings of God's goodness towards her: Respexit humilitatem ancillae suae All the saints have
given a living example of this virtue, which is the sine qua non for God's presence in the soul. St Thomas
Aquinas says of it that indirectly it is the chief among virtues, in that it removes obstacles by banishing pride,
and thus renders man docile and open to the influence of God, who resists the proud and gives grace to the
humble (Summa Theologica, IIa IIae, Q.161, A.5).
It is clear, then, that any reform, any aggiornamento, which did not tend towards greater humility,
towards a great denial of our own will and our self-love, any reform which would destroy the virtue of
obedience, and so destroy ipso facto the spirit of community and the spirit of prayer, would contribute to the
destruction of all religious societies, founded as they are upon the quest for holiness, which is the
indispensable condition for an effective apostolate. That is the authentic spirit of our Venerable Father, simple
and lucid like the Gospel itself.
How fruitful would be a general Chapter which insisted strongly on these virtues, and so rediscovered
the wellsprings of our Congregation's original fervor. It would suffice to quote the fundamental passages from
our Venerable Father on these matters to bring us back to the true paths of holiness and of the authentic
apostolate. Let us beware of allowing ourselves to be led astray by these modern tendencies which "contest''
even the most legitimate authority, which abhor any hierarchy, and which are instinctively opposed to a faith
which depends entirely upon authority. All that is the work of the evil Spirit, not of the Holy Ghost.
It is very useful for us missionaries to remind ourselves that the virtue of humility is the secret of a
true apostolate, for the humble missionary sees and judges all things according to the spirit of faith, and from
the perspective of God. Before the workings of God's grace, he knows his proper station, which is that of an
instrument, a minister. He sees every human being in terms of his relationship with the Spirit of God, with the
grace of Our Lord, and so he remains patient, understanding and merciful with hearts that seem closed to
grace, while none the less persevering in action, and remaining ever optimistic both in success and, even, in
failure.
The humble apostle will discover, as though by a supernatural instinct the apostolic ways and methods
which carry within themselves the grace of the Holy Ghost. He will avoid everything that makes too much of
human activity, and throws the spotlight on the instrument at the expense of the one, true Apostle. He will be
given more to prayer than to discussion, more to the practice of virtue than to giving learned lectures about it.
"Endeavor, therefore, to ground yourselves firmly in this beautiful and important virtue. If you have it,
all the others will come easily to you...." (Direct. spirituel, p.221).

Monthly bulletin, May-June,1968.

Lettres Pastorales Écrits (pp.287-289)