In a post in the recent past, I mentioned that the remedy for the sin of pride was to remember who we really are in the sight of God.
Garrigou-Lagrange notes that there are 40 virtues needs to combat the deadly sins. Humility and a servant's heart cannot come first, but only after a purification. The Dominican states this:
| But to reach this humility of mind and heart, a profound purification is needed. That which we impose on ourselves is not sufficient; there must be a passive purification by the light of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which causes the bandage of pride to fall away, opens our eyes, shows us the depth of frailty and wretchedness that exists in us, the utility of adversity and. humiliation, and finally makes us say to the Lord: "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy justifications." (29) "It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradictions, and to allow people to think ill of us. . . . These are often helps to humility, and rid us of vainglory." (30) It is in adversity that we can learn what we really are and what great need we have of God's help: "What doth he know, that hath not been tried?" (31) After this purification, pride and its effects will gradually be felt less. A person, instead of letting himself fall into jealousy toward those who have more natural or supernatural qualities, tells himself then that, as St. Paul remarks, the hand ought not be jealous of the eye, but, on the contrary, it should be happy because it benefits from what the eye sees. The same is true in the mystical body of Christ; far from becoming jealous, souls ought to enjoy in a holy manner the qualities they find in their neighbor. Though they do not possess them themselves, they benefit by them. They should rejoice over everything that cooperates in the glory of God and the good of souls. When this is the case, the bandage of pride falls away and the soul's gaze recovers its simplicity and penetration, which make it enter little by little into the inner life of God. Here is a key to all of this. If we fight purification and do not let God try us, He will not abandon us, but come again and again with sufferings until we are purified. He is faithful, if we truly want to become saints. If we fight purification, this level will be prolonged. Too many people seek healing without repentance. The two must go together. Garrigou-Lagrange continues, quoting St Catherine of Siena, who I have quoted here before. She notes that pride leads to self-deception and a lack of knowledge of spiritual things. She also reminds us that pride leads directly to disobedience. The remedy for pride is suffering and purification. One must ask for this and mean it. Out of this comes humility and patience, self-knowledge and an obedient spirit. So, the remedy for pride is the dying to self, and how many virtues will come of this out of the 40? The most important are the Cardinal Virtues mentioned before, but again stressed here. These are prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. These are remedies for pride. Patience, humility, long-suffering, kindness, love of neighbor, generosity or largesse, and gratitude can spring out of this purification. If one avoids it, one will not see God. There are a few innocence souls who reach heaven without great purification, but these are few. May I end this post with a quotation from Homer, the great Greek poet: "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant." To be continued... |
