More thoughts from observation then and now...

Monday, 6 August 2012 Repost

More on Perfection-some capital sins

Posted by Supertradmum

As per requests from some readers, I am briefly defining some of the sins and then will define some of the virtues from Garrigou-Lagrange.

Anger leads to violence...Bosch

I think most of us understand and have even heart this idea before from Aquinas: St. Thomas observes that the sins of the flesh are more shameful than those of the spirit, for they lower man to the level of the brute; but those of the spirit, such as pride, the only ones that exist in the devil, are more grave for they are more directly opposed to God and turn us more away from Him.(11)


And, this passage is a repetition, just as a reminder. According to St. Gregory and St. Thomas,(12) pride or arrogance is more than a capital sin; it is the root from which proceed especially four capital sins: vanity or vainglory, spiritual sloth or wicked sadness which embitters, envy, and anger. Vanity is the inordinate love of praise and honors. Spiritual sloth saddens the soul at the thought of the labor involved in sanctification, and at the thought of the spiritual good of good works because of the effort and abnegation they require. Envy inclines us to grow sad over another's good, in so far as it appears to oppose our own excellence. Anger, when it is not just indignation but a sin, is an inordinate movement of the soul which inclines us to repulse violently what displeases us; from it arise quarrels, insults, and abusive words. These capital vices, especially spiritual sloth, envy, and anger, engender a wicked sadness that weighs down the soul; they are quite the opposite of spiritual peace and joy, which are the fruits of charity.


Sadly, most people do not even consider some of these sins as sins. Sloth is a very common sin among the laity, causing people not to read, pray or work at their salvation.


Envy is also common and a basis for many of the "Occupy" movements we has seen since last Fall. Most societies are into the "politics of envy", which is easy to understand.


Sadly, however, especially in light of many events lately, anger as a capital sin, has become more and more common. In these times, some people feel like they have a right to be angry express that anger. Discipline with regard to being patient and not insulting seems to have disappeared.

Notice that all of these serious sins stop peace and joy.

I was on a train last week and a young woman across from me was on a cell phone. I could not ignore her conversations, nor could anyone else. She was unhappy about everything. I really felt sorry for her.

She had phoned several people about this and that and all the stories were negative and complaining.
This young woman will never be happy until she realizes that her anger, envy, and pride weigh her down and damage her judgement. She is in a negative spin about the entire world in which she lives. And, she is only about 23. How sad. But, sin has become a habit with her and she has no one to point out to her that her soul is heavy and not experiencing joy, peace and charity. Her words betray a habit of complaining, and we are warned against this time and again in the Scriptures. So many young people have been raised without any moral framework, and we must pray for her and all who have not the will nor the inclination to break out of negativity.

Capital sins are deadly and become habitual easily. If we are sinning in these areas, we must beg God to break through our complacency and show us the remedies. The remedies, beginning with self-knowledge, are repentance and grace to live the life of virtue.
-
One cannot take a shortcut to heaven. One cannot skip stages of spiritual growth. Not to be arcane, Garrigou-Lagrange points out the consequences of the capital sins.

By the consequences of sin are generally understood the remnants of sin (reliquiae peccati), the evil inclinations left, so to speak, in our temperament even after sin has been forgiven, as concupiscence, which is a remnant of original sin, remains after baptism, like a wound in the course of healing. The consequences of the capital sins may also mean the other sins that spring from them. The capital sins are so called because they are like the head or the principle of many others. We are, first of all, inclined toward them, and by them in turn toward sins that are often more serious.

Thus vainglory or vanity engenders disobedience, boasting, hypocrisy, contention through rivalry, discord, love of novelties, and stubbornness. It is a vice that may lead to most lamentable falls and apostasy.

Spiritual sloth, disgust for spiritual things and for the work of sanctification, because of the effort it demands, is a vice directly opposed to the love of God and to the holy joy that results from it. Sloth engenders malice, rancor or bitterness toward our neighbor, pusillanimity in the face of duty to be accomplished, discouragement, spiritual torpor, forgetfulness of the precepts, seeking after forbidden things. Slipping downward on the slope of pride, vain­glory, and spiritual sloth, many have lost their vocation.

In the same way, envy or willful displeasure at the sight of another's good, as if it were an evil for us, engenders hatred, slander, calumny, joy at he misfortune of another, and sadness at his success.

Gluttony and sensuality also produce other vices and may lead to blindness of spirit, to hardness of heart, to attachment to the present life even to the loss of hope of eternal life, and to love of self even to hatred of God, and to final impenitence.

I have highlighted important points here. We need to make hard decisions to break away from sin and most of the capital sins are mortal. A good confessor can help.

To break away from such sins may mean changing one's lifestyle and even dropping some friends who lead one into sin.

May I add that calumny is not the same as slander. Calumny is lying about someone on purpose to cause that person harm. It is malicious. Slander is also malicious, but involves the spreading of perhaps true evil done by another. Gossip is usually involved in slander. A person who judges another and spreads negative information about another is committing slander.

A few others words have been defined in another post. One more is the phrase spiritual torpor. This is not quite the same thing as sloth, but can be connected. Here is a section which may help.

Sloth in general, pigritia, is a voluntary and culpable repugnance to work, to effort, and consequently a tendency to idleness, or at least to negligence, to pusillanimity,(2) which is opposed to generosity or magnanimity.
Sloth is not the languor or torpor in action which comes from poor health; it is an evil disposition of the will and of the sensible appetites, by which one fears and refuses effort, wishes to avoid all trouble, and seeks a dolce farniente. It has often been remarked that the slothful man is a parasite, who lives at the expense of others, as tranquil as a woodchuck when he is undisturbed in his idleness, and ill-humored when an effort is made to oblige him to work. This vice begins with unconcern and negligence in work, and manifests itself by a progressive dislike for all serious, physical and mental labor.
When idleness affects the accomplishment of the religious duties necessary to sanctification, it is called acedia.(3) It is an evil sadness: opposed to spiritual joy, which is the fruit of generosity in the love of God. Acedia is a disgust for spiritual things, a disgust which leads one to perform them negligently, to shorten them, or to omit them under vain pretexts. It is the cause of tepidity.
This sadness, which is radically opposed to that of contrition, depresses the soul and weighs it down because it does not react as it should. Then it reaches a voluntary disgust for spiritual things, because they demand too much effort and self-discipline. Whereas devotion, which is the promptness of the will in the service of God, lifts the soul up, spiritual sloth weighs down and crushes the soul and ends by causing it to find the yoke of the Lord unbearable and to flee the divine light, which reminds it of its duties. St. Augustine says: "Light which is so pleasant to pure eyes, becomes hateful to infirm eyes which can no longer bear it."
This depressing sadness, the result of negligence, and this disgust, which is at least indirectly voluntary, are quite different from the sensible or spiritual aridity which, in divine trials, is accompanied by true contrition for our sins, by fear of offending God, by a keen desire for perfection, by a need of solitude, of recollection, and of the prayer of simple gaze.

Sloth by Bosch

Torpor is a state which must be broken to grow and move away from sin. It can be depression from sinning.


One last long quotation, which will bring hope follows here:



Happily, contrary to what is true of the virtues, these vices or defects are not connected. One may have some without the others; several indeed are contradictory: for example, one cannot be avaricious and prodigal at one and the same time.

But we have to practice numerous virtues, forty or more, if we count all the virtues annexed to the principal ones. With the exception of justice, each stands like a summit between two contrary vices: the one by excess, such as temerity; the other by defect, such as cowardice.
Moreover, certain defects resemble certain virtues: for instance, pride is in some ways similar to magnanimity. It is important to have discretion or Christian prudence to discern clearly the virtue from the defect which in certain respects resembles it. Otherwise, false notes may be struck on the keyboard of the virtues: for example, pusillanimity may be confounded with humility, severity with justice, weakness with mercy.


This is why we cannot grow on our own. We must be in relationships. This is God's plan for us.


to be continued...

What Is Patience?

So many people in America, myself included, have grown up with instant satisfaction in some many physical ways. We turn on the air-conditioning, or heat or humidifier and our environment becomes as comfortable as we desire.

We buy food of any variety and quality, ready-cooked, or almost cooked, even delivered to our door.

We save coupons, get coupons in our e-mail, and have coupons on our smart phones to buy any amount of things whether necessary or not.

We drive where and when we want to do so, with or without whom we want to be with at any given time.

We communicate on the Net, on our phones, but less and less over coffee or drinks.

We are the fast living, fast moving people of progress and daily new items are invented to tease us into more and more comfort with less and less work.

I remember when remote controlled Venetian Blinds became popular. I knew something was terribly wrong then. Or, when the automatic lights which go on when one enters a room, perfectly tuned to one's mood or needs require no effort but settings, I suspected we had fallen from grace.

Working with one's hands has become less and less a desire or a need. But, using one's hands brings patience, and a relationship with things, with nature, which is a good.

Most of my friends hire gardeners to mow lawns, trim hedges and bushes and shovel the snow in the winter. Most people I know have every possible gadget one can imagine in their living rooms and kitchens.

When I told someone I never used a microwave until I moved into their house this past summer, she was shocked. And, I also had to share that I never used a crockpot.

I always made things the "long way".

Several friends have brought up the fact that they lack patience. I am not surprised. We are so use to having everything the way we want it NOW, that patience seems no longer necessary-except in one area of our lives-relationships.

However, more and more people cannot communicate, do not talk things out in their families, do not share either difficulties or joys. Talking about serious things must be avoided at all costs, even the cost of family unity and love.

Discussing and working out problems among people takes time and effort, plus patience.

So, the next question was, well, what is patience anyway?

The dictionaries give us these definitions:

1.
the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2.
an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay:
to have patience with a slow learner.
3.
quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence:
to work with patience.

But, patience is really humility. If one is humble, one can be uncomfortable, provoked without an angry response, enduring pain, irritation and so on.

The proud want everything "just so" and as they like it--and do not tolerate any inconveniences.

I learned humility waiting for Maltese buses.

I learned humility in Montessori training.

I learned humility by watching a long-suffering wife, who is a close friend and very old, and a saint.

But, mostly, I remind myself, when I begin to feel impatient that I am not God, I am not in control of life or other people or events. God is .

Learning patience comes with self-knowledge.

I do not get angry when driving and see mistakes of others. I have learned that road rage is pride.

Pride makes one critical of others to the point where one expects something from the other person, something the other person may not be able to effect.

Many people get impatient with phone trees on calls. This development is part of our lives, Patience is learning that we cannot change somethings to what they were in the past-like desiring good customer service from humans and not machines.

Part of learning patience is flexibility and not rigidity towards life. Those who want to be in control of every aspect of life will not only fail at becoming patient, but fail to learn to love.

People are "messy" and different and strange. Some humans guard themselves against the mess by purposefully isolating themselves from people, or by surrounding themselves with clones.

One does not learn patience in a vacuum, or in a group which seems homogeneous. 

Daily, I witness more and more anger among people-in shops, on the roads, in families. This anger reveals not only a lack of patience, but deep-seated pride. The meek are not valued anymore.

But, they will inherit the earth. And, what does that mean?

Why will the meek inherit the earth? What does it mean to inherit and what is meant by the earth?

Meekness or humility creates freedom in the soul. One become free to give up certain annoyances, and irritations. This freedom allows one to see things from different perspectives and not merely one's own.

For example, some people complain about the time they must wait in the doctor's office, an event which has sadly become more and more common.

I see waiting as an opportunity to either read an interesting book or even to pray silently.

To be able to use time which seems to be wasted is a gift from patience and from humility.

Why should my time be more valuable than someone else's time?

Meekness implies a gentleness and not an aggressivity towards others. Meekness implies that one knows how to suffer and in silence.

The meek will inherit, will be given something passed down to them, earned not by grace, but freely.

One does not earn an inheritance. One is given an inheritance as a gift. One does not deserve to inherit anything.

But, God promises us that the meek, the gentle, the humble, will be given.....what?

The earth...

Not heaven, the earth...the poor in spirit get heaven, while the meek are given the earth.

This means that those who are meek, are gentle, and humble are given the gift of loving what is around them now, at this present moment.

When Christ states this, He indicates that a peace and joy may be found now, on this earth, despite irritations, annoyances, misfortunes.

Lately, some difficult things have happened in my life. I am dealing with some difficult situations. I could get annoyed, or irritated. Or, I can learn to be gentle, humble, meek and accept these situations which are out of my control as part of God's plan for my life which I do not understand.

I live with more discomfort than most Americans could tolerate. I am not in control of so many things because I am poor, The poor become humble, if they let go of anger and frustration, through patience.

One of my favorite characters in fiction is Joe Gargery in Great Expectations. He is the opposite of the proud, wasteful Pip, who has to learn humility the hard way. Joe had married a shrew, and yet, when she is beaten by an intruder and needs care, he cares for her tenderly. Joe teaches Pip patiently, and bears with Pip's rejection, when this young man no longer wants to associate with the "lowly" blacksmith. But, when Pip needs rescuing, it is Joe who comes to aid and take care of him.

Why Joe is "saintly" is that he is humble. He has unique self-knowledge and is comfortable with who he is. He is long-suffering and finally rewarded with a good wife and Pip's deep respect, as it is fiction, as Oscar Wilde notes in The Importance of Being Earnest, "The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means."

Joe images patience because he is true to his good self. He sacrifices for others and does not place himself first. 

To learn patience, one must be willing to take second, or third, or the last place.

Putting God Into A Box

Returning to the idea of discernment as understood by St. Ignatius, an idea which I covered in some posts earlier this year and last month, I want to emphasize a few points which may help some readers avoid the deadly fall into deceit when the times of tribulation come upon us.

One falls into deceit when one does not know one's self, and when one does not have a relationship with God. For St. Ignatius, one's relationship with God was a constant, something which "happened" all day, in every circumstance.

If one is talking with a friend, God is there in the conversation, When one is shopping, God is there with one, and when one is walking in the sunshine, God walks with one.

There is never, for the Catholic who is in sanctifying grace, a time when God is not in relationship.

For those who have been in love, we understand this permeation of love in all things, at all times.

God is conscious of us all the time. If He was not, we would not exist. In prayer, we attempt to become conscious of God, Who is with us all the time.

But, too many Catholics want to put God in a box. They do not want God to be in their living rooms, sitting by them at the computer, in the midst of a conversation.  The God-in-a-box is a safe God, a God controlled by one's own will.

Sometimes people remember their "conversion" or "reversion" experience as if that was the only time God was with them in some way.

It is good to remember important encounters with God, such as our First Communion Day, or the day one got married, or made a vow to a religious order and so on.

But, those peak moments do not define one's relationship with God.

God in one's life is not now and then, but always, all the time, everywhere.

God may be most obvious in suffering. Lately, I have encountered much I suffering and have tried to find God in that suffering.

Of course, I do find God in the suffering--the God of the Passion.

Every Friday, as part of my prayers for the Auxilium Christianorum, I pray the Litany of Humility.

Now, when one prays this, one must expect God to answer this litany. God takes us seriously when we pray.

Let me remind you of this litany. And, let me give you real examples of how God answers this, the God Who encounters us in ordinary as well as extraordinary events of our days.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. Then, one loses a job, and loses status, becoming an invisible 

From the desire of being loved...Then, one is passed over by another, when one wants to be especially loved 
From the desire of being extolled ...Then, no one notices one's gifts or achievements
From the desire of being honored ...Ditto, and one is ignored even in small successes
From the desire of being praised ...Deeds are done unnoticed
From the desire of being preferred to others...One's friends have no time for one's company
From the desire of being consulted ...One is either told things one already knows, or one is not consulted when one has more knowledge
From the desire of being approved ...Then, one is actually not approved of, but finds only distrust and disdain from others; the following are the tests of saints...to no longer fear even betrayal or mistrust, or being unloved....because in holiness, they have found freedom...
From the fear of being humiliated ...Christ let Himself be put in a manger
From the fear of being despised...Christ allowed Himself to be hated by His Own People
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...Christ was slapped and spit upon
From the fear of being calumniated ...Christ was accused of false teaching
From the fear of being forgotten ...The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests....
From the fear of being ridiculed ..."If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross."
From the fear of being wronged ...Judas, a friend, betrayed Christ
From the fear of being suspected ..."Is not this the carpenter's Son?"

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...Finally, one takes joy in this...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...Finally, one only wants to be hidden in God
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...One sits with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...One comes to understand the truth of being lowly
That others may be preferred to me in everything...and, one rejoices in letting others be recognized over one
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…seeing that God has called one to be a little one, and not a great saint....

When one is able to fulfill the graces of this litany, a person would be completely free. God would not longer be in a box, but one would walk and talk and sleep in God constantly.

If a Catholic does not want to become truly humble, he or she should not say this prayer.

God answers this prayer and He is no longer in the box of one's own making.

Sometimes, God will take a person to the edge of Gethsemane and make one wait until one is strong enough spiritually to enter into the Garden. One can see the darkness, but not understand, until He allows one into the place of His Own suffering.

Then, and only then, does the Catholic become authentic. Until one really accepts suffering with Christ in His Passion, all is pretense and play.

Three times Christ asked Peter is he loved Him, because of the three denials of Peter.

Not only was Christ showing Peter how to forgive, but the necessity of being open to the daily encounter with God. 

It is too easy to betray God. It is too easy to put Him into a box.

Like St. Ignatius, one has to come to the knowledge that God is with us, all around us, in every circumstance, constantly.

In this realization, we come to knowledge of the self, and knowledge of God.

The more one knows one's self and knows God, the greater is one's capacity to love.

We meet Christ at Mass Who has allowed us to put Him in a box, the tabernacle.  Christ Present in the Host has become the Vulnerable God, the Hidden God in the Host. One thinks that one can manipulate this Small God. 

Those who have put God in a box cannot appreciate either spiritually or spiritually the great freedom which Christ has given us in the Eucharist.

We consume God. We become one with Him as He becomes one with us. We become the box, the tabernacle of God. We hold Him either in love and awe, or even in a darkness. For those who receive Him unworthily, (and only God can make us worthy), the Body of Christ is again, as during the Passion, put into the cell of satan, the prison of one's own making.

Christ has made Himself accessible to us in the Host. He is the God of Bethlehem's manger, the God of the prison of the Sanhedrin, the God on the Cross...

The sacrilege of receiving Christ when in serious sin is a mocking of the Passion of Christ, and a denial of His suffering.

Either one allows God to purify the body, soul, imagination, memory and will, in order to become a holy receptacle, or one mocks God by imprisoning Him in one's own self-centeredness and sin.

One loses the chance to become more like Christ, and in the narcissism of sin, one wants to make Christ into one's own image and likeness.

Only humilty and love can save one from this putting God into a box.

Once one understands and experiences love, the box of one's own self becomes a little place of heaven, the cell of contentment and peace.

But, this takes courage. 

Be a tabernacle, not a prison. Let God out of the box of selfishness, malice, mistrust, fear...let Him meet you in freedom.

He is always with us, always, desiring us to meet Him in freedom, humility and love.

All barriers, all boundaries melt away, and one becomes alive trusting in God.

Life becomes exciting and new, and one learns to live outside the box of conformity, false comfort, and selfishness.

Let God out of the box of your own making. Let Him lead you into freedom.

BTW, during the Protestant Revolt in England, the Protestants made fun of the True Presence, by referring to the Eucharist as the Jack-in-the-Box, a reference to an earlier myth that a local saint in Princes Risborough captured the devil and put him into a boot. This horrible disrespect and blasphemy of the Protestants towards the Eucharist displayed itself in the mockery of the Consecrated Hosts in many places, including the documented throwing of the Hosts on the ground at Fountains Abbey and the visitators forcing the horses to trample Christ.

They put Christ in the box of their own power, imaginations, hatred...

Those men crucified Him again and again and again...

The tabernacles of England were emptied for a long time because people wanted to put God into a box of their own making.

God is more than we know...

Framing Prayer 5 Brother Lawrence

The advantage of starting with Brother Lawrence is that his manner of approaching God in prayer remains one of the clearest and simplest for lay people to adopt.

He had set hours of prayer, but he learned from the Holy Spirit to live in the Presence of God constantly, humbling recognizing that without grace he was not capable of doing this.

Brother Lawrence provides real guidelines for the layperson who lives in a busy times.



Remember that Brother Lawrence lived the life of a busy lay brother, taking care of the business of the monastery, meeting people in the world daily, working with his hands, and so on.

Here is a selection from his Second Letter:

My most usual method is this simple attention, and such a general passionate regard to GOD; to whom I find myself often attached with greater sweetness and delight than that of an infant at the mother’s breast: so that if I dare use the expression, I should choose to call this state the bosom of GOD, for the inexpressible sweetness which I taste and experience there. If sometimes my thoughts wander from it by necessity or infirmity, I am presently recalled by inward motions, so charming and delicious that I am ashamed to mention them. I desire your reverence to reflect rather upon my great wretchedness, of which you are fully informed, than upon the great favours which GOD does me, all unworthy and ungrateful as I am. As for my set hours of prayer, they are only a continuation of the same exercise. Sometimes I consider myself there, as a stone before a carver, whereof he is to make a statue: presenting myself thus before GOD, I desire Him to make His perfect image in my soul, and render me entirely like Himself.

 At other times, when I apply myself to prayer, I feel all my spirit and all my soul lift itself up without any care or effort of mine; and it continues as it were suspended and firmly fixed in GOD, as in its centre and place of rest. I know that some charge this state with inactivity, delusion, and self-love: I confess that it is a holy inactivity, and would be a happy self-love, if the soul in that state were capable of it; because in effect, while she is in this repose, she cannot be disturbed by such acts as she was formerly accustomed to, and which were then her support, but would now rather hinder than assist her. Yet I cannot bear that this should be called delusion; because the soul which thus enjoys GOD desires herein nothing but Him. If this be delusion in me, it belongs to GOD to remedy it. Let Him do what He pleases with me: I desire only Him, and to be wholly devoted to Him. You will, however, oblige me in sending me your opinion, to which I always pay a great deference, for I have a singular esteem for your reverence, and am yours in our Lord.  

And from his Sixth Letter:

I cannot imagine how religious persons can live satisfied without the practice of the presence of GOD. For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of centre of my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable. This exercise does not much fatigue the body: it is, however, proper to deprive it sometimes, nay often, of many little pleasures which are innocent and lawful: for GOD will not permit that a soul which desires to be devoted entirely to Him should take other pleasures than with Him; that is more than reasonable. I do not say that therefore we must put any violent constraint upon ourselves. No, we must serve GOD in a holy freedom, we must do our business faithfully, without trouble or disquiet; recalling our mind to GOD mildly and with tranquillity, as often as we find it wandering from Him. It is, however, necessary to put our whole trust in GOD, laying aside all other cares, and even some particular forms of devotion, though very good in themselves, yet such as one often engages in unreasonably: because those devotions are only means to attain to the end; so when by this exercise of the presence of GOD we are with Him who is our end, it is then useless to return to the means; but we may continue with Him our commerce of love, persevering in His holy presence: one while by an act of praise, of adoration, or of desire; one while by an act of resignation, or thanksgiving; and in all the manner which our spirit can invent. Be not discouraged by the repugnance which you may find in it from nature; you must do yourself violence. At the first, one often thinks it lost time; but you must go on, and resolve to persevere in it to death, notwithstanding all the difficulties that may occur.

Obviously, the bent towards self-denial provides one of the underlying means of concentration in Brother Lawrence. This need for mortification remains a missing part of so many Tertiaries' lives. The problem in America is that too many orders have adopted middle-class values, values which demean mortification as a good. The practicing of the Presence of God must be seen in context. The other great asset to practicing God's Presence would be the virtue of humility. clearly seen in the life of this humble lay brother.

Th simplicity of Brother Lawrence's approach is that he totally realizes that without God's grace, he would not grow in holiness. Trust in God forms the pillar of his practicing the Presence of God. He noted a bare tree trunk with one small leaf. This image represented his life-a life totally reliant on grace.

This habit of mind can be acquired by lay people easily. One turns to God during the day at all times, and puts one's trust in Divine Providence, relying on God's Presence.

If you feel an attraction to Brother Lawrence's words, please purchase the little book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. I still have a 1963 edition.

The Last Post on Trusting vs.Triumphalism IV

Humility and the ability to be objective rather than subjective, form the pillars of trusting in Divine Providence, and avoiding a triumphalist position.-

Again, one can turn to Garrigou-Lagrange for insights into this dynamic.

The great Dominican notes that one cannot replace hope with presumption.

If there is one thing that is dependent on Providence, it is the hour of our death." Be ye also ready, " says our Lord, "for at what hour you think not the Son of man will come" (Luke 12: 40). The same is true of the manner of our death and the circumstances surrounding it. It is all completely unknown to us; it rests upon Providence, in which we must put all our trust, while preparing ourselves to die well by a better life.

Looked at from the point of view of divine justice, what a vast difference there is between the death of the just and that of the sinner! In the Apocalypse (20: 6, 14) the death of the sinner is called a "second death, " for he is already spiritually dead to the life of grace, and if the soul departs from the body in this condition it will be deprived of that supernatural life forever. May God preserve us from that second death. The unrepentant sinner, says St. Catherine, [140] is about to die in his injustice, and appear before the supreme Judge with the light of faith extinguished in him, which he received burning in holy baptism (but which he has blown out with the wind of pride) and with the vanity of his heart, with which he sets his sails unfurled to all the winds of flattery. Thus did he hasten down the stream of the delights and dignities of the world at his own will, giving in to the seductions of his weak flesh and the temptations of the devil.

We cannot be sure of our own salvation, which is why we pray in the Hail Mary daily for the gift of final perseverance.  This is a special grace, not the same graces as we receive daily. Too many people have a foot in two camps-one, the camp of wanting status and comfort; and two, the camp of God's Will.

Only when one is firmly planted in the Will of God through humility and trust can one begin to grow. In the long perfection series, over and over, I have pointed to the fact that one cannot grow in holiness if one is not orthodox, believing in the doctrines of the Church.

Recently, the great heresies of relativism, (people stating that all religions are the same and will get one to heaven), and universalism, (that all people go to heaven, and no one goes to hell), have been reiterated to me by Catholic church-going people.

Garrigou-Lagrange appeals to St. Catherine of Siena:

If the sinner will only disburden his conscience by a sincere confession, making acts of faith, of confidence in God, and contrition, at the last moment the divine mercy will enter in to temper justice and will save him. By reason of God's mercy every man may cling to hope at death if he so wills, if he offers no resistance. Remorse will then give place to repentance.

Otherwise the soul succumbs to remorse and abandons itself to despair, a sin far more heinous than any of the preceding, as in that neither infirmity nor the allurements of sensuality can excuse, a sin by which the sinner esteems his wickedness as outweighing God's divine mercy. And once in this despair, the soul no longer grieves over sin as an offense against God, it grieves only over its own miserable condition, a grief very different from that which characterizes attrition or contrition.

Blessed is the sinner who like the good thief then repents, reflecting that, as St. Catherine says, [142] "the divine mercy is greater without comparison than all the sins which any creature can commit."

Happier still is the just soul that throughout life has given due thought to the loving fulfilment of duty and, after the merits won and the struggle sustained here on earth, yearns for death in order to enjoy the vision of God, even as St. Paul desired "to be dissolved and to be with Christ" (Phil. 1: 23).

Being honest with one's self, states St. Augustine, is the key to holiness. St. Teresa of Avila repeats this call to know one's self, one's sins. This knowledge will keep us from triumphalism.

Let me end with these words of Garrigou-Lagrange and St. Catherine of Siena.

As a rule a great peace fills the soul of the just in their last agony, a peace the more profound the greater their perfection; and this is often most true of those who during life have had the greatest dread of the divine justice. For them death is peaceful because their enemies have been vanquished during life. [143] Sensuality has been reduced to subjection under the curb of reason. Virtue triumphs over nature, overcoming the natural fear of death through the longing to attain their final end, the sovereign good. Being conformed to justice during life, conscience continues tranquil, though the devil seeks to trouble and alarm it.

At that moment, it is true, the value of this present time of trial, which is the price of virtue, will be more clearly seen, and the just soul will reproach itself for not having made better use of its time. But the sorrow it then experiences will not overwhelm it; it will be profitable in inducing the soul to recollect itself and place itself in the presence of the precious blood of our Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In the passage from time to eternity there is thus an admirable blending of God's mercy and justice. In his dying moments the just man anticipates the bliss prepared for him; he has a foretaste of his destiny which may sometimes be seen reflected in his countenance.

A Few Important Points from Rodriguez

How do we know we have the virtue of humility or any virtues?

In a superb chapter in Vol. II of Rodriguez, on pp. 184-186, the good priest shares several good points on signs as to whether we have acquired the virtue of humility. I sincerely hope that people can make the connections between these points and the looming time of tribulation.

First of all, is the virtue comes easily, it is truly a habit. If one must strive to be humble, and work on the thoughts which precede a humble action, one has not yet made this virtue a habit.

Perfection of humility just happens after the time of purgation. When one is purified, God gives grace for the virtues to be released and one can work on these, in order to form a habit.

Second, Rodriguez states that even when one is asleep, and has troubling temptations, thoughts, or images which are sinful or could lead to sin, in the dream itself, one reacts in fighting these and feels the discomfort of impending sign. That one can get upset in a nasty dream is a clear sign that one has made humility habitual. Again, if one is dreaming and in a situation of persecution and one is reacting with peace, calm, reticence in speech and such, one is making humility habitual.

Third, in acts of virtue, even in the actions of the virtue of humility, one feels a pleasure, a delight in these being performed. For example,  if one is treated with contempt, one feels a soft, quiet joy in this happening. If this reaction happens consistently, one is mastering the virtue of humility.

Rodriguez quotes St. Dorotheus, "The ancient fathers held for a constant maxim, that what the mind does not joyfully embrace cannot be of any continuance."

How true. One can have moments of breakthrough with regard to the virtue of humility, such as a moment of joy when one is accused of something one did not do, but it is only in the day-by-day living of this habit which shows that one has come into a deep state of humility.

As to prayer, contemplation, (not meditation, which is different, and see past blogs on this), becomes natural to the soul which is humble. When contemplation, as Rodriguez notes, "comes from the bottom of one's heart" and not from effort, one has been humbled.

Fourth, if one takes delight in obeying the laws of God, both natural and revealed, one is walking in humility.

Rodriguez quotes Psalm 1: 2-3. And, prosperity does not mean that one will have a materially comfortable life on earth, but will see the fruit of a life of virtue in heaven.

Psalm 1:2-3New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The Battle of Arrogance vs. Humility-A Won Virtue

Welcome to the new world of Sodom and Gomorrah. Never before have the sins of abortion and ssm been made into laws. Even the Greeks and Romans, known for pederasty and using boys in the army as substitutes for prostitutes, as women were thought to weaken men's ability to fight, even those nations did not make homosexual sin law.

At this time in history, we are witnessing the worst evils ever committed by governments. Those of us who know the history of Western and Eastern Civilization, know that the four sins which cry out to God for vengeance were never enshrined in law. Never. So, how does the Catholic react? Become holy, very holy and prepare for martyrdom, as you most likely will face it in one way or another, having to face the arrogance of evil.

Now, we see the arrogance of humans living and making laws outside of both natural law and revealed law.

The only thing which can counteract these growing legal evils is prayer from the humble. One reason why I am emphasizing humility is that this virtue must be learned now in order to combat this legal arrogance, and in order to follow God in horribly difficult times.

Today, on the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, I shall quote Fr. Rodriquez on her struggle for the balance between trusting in Providence and the sin of presumption. Here is a section from his text, in Volume II:

“For when, to discourage her, he (the devil) endeavored to make her believe that all her life had been only a deception, she too courage at the consideration of the mercy of God, and expressed herself thus: 'I confess, O my Creator, that a my life has been nothing but darkness, but I will hide myself in the wounds of Jesus crucified; and I will bathed myself in his blood, which will wash off all my sins; and I will rejoice in my Creator and my God'” “Thou shalt wash me , O Lord, and I shall become whiter than snow.” (Ps.i.9) On the other hand, if the devil by a contrary temptation tried to puff her up with pride, by representing to her that she was already perfect, and that she had no further need to bewail her sins, or to be afflicted; she most profoundly humbled herself, and thus reasoned with herself:'What! Unhappy creature that I am!--St. John the Baptist never sinned, he nevertheless failed not to do severe penance; what must I do, who have committed so many sins and never acknowledged and bewailed them as I ought?

The devil, continues Rodriguez, would end up leaving her, as he could not make her sin either in despair or in pride. Once the devil knows he cannot win this game of under-confidence or over-confidence, he must stop these types of attacks.

Now, why am I writing so much on humility now? Martyrs, either green or red, are not made in a day. The rode to martyrdom follows a plan created by God, one which involves the acceptance of suffering without complaint.

Americans and the English have become masters of complaint. Americans have high expectation, or just expectations, and the English seem to like to complain. I once heard four people in England at coffee after Mass sharing tales of their holidays in Teneriffe, the Canary Islands and other exotic places, but the entire conversation involved constant complaining. I had to get up and leave the table because the negativity was so embedded in their characters that I could not change the subject or interject some positive comments. The habit of complaining reflects a serious lack of humility. Even little exasperation during the days, which cause one to say something small or just sigh reveal a lack of humility. With humility comes patience. And patience brings courage.

One recalls St. Thomas More's comment on seeing the great Carthusian martyrs from the Charterhouse going off to their horrible deaths of being dragged on wooden sledges through the dirty streets of London, to being drawn and quartered, singing like men on their way to a wedding. St. Thomas noted that if he had been on his knees more, praying and doing mortification, instead of enjoying the comforts of Court, he would have been more ready for martyrdom.

Do you, dear Readers, think that you will all of the sudden become holy enough to withstand pain and not fall into despair or pride when facing ridicule, the loss of all income, complete marginalization in our societies, and then imprisonment with humility and equanimity when you are not preparing yourselves now?

Rarely are there, but there are a few, “last minute martyrs”, such as the one centurion who made up the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, when one left the ice and perished in a warm bath, leaving God for a short comfort. We are not called to be that fortieth martyr, but one of the thirty-nine, who stripped and laid on the ice in pain until they died. Because God chastens me, I eat less meat than most people and eat only two meals a day because of poverty. I own practically nothing, and God decides my mortification, mostly. So, I am blessed by Him Who knows how weak I am.

What are you willing to give up now, in the name of Christ, for mortification and for the saving of souls? I have given up desserts, wine, beer and cordials of all kinds. I have given up careers and status. I have given up chocolate, and eating snacks between meals.

This is all preparation for dying, as dying to self allow one to grow in freedom. Many Catholics will be lost in the coming weeks, months and years. Ask God to show you the least imperfections in your souls, minds, imaginations, wills. Fr. Rodriguez, like Garrigou-Lagrange is aware of that predominant fault which keeps us from perfection.

What will happen when your bishop and the majority of priests in your diocese apostatize, either over ssm or giving Communion to those in adultery? What will you do? Will you conform with the majority, or stand firm in the knowledge of God's Will as found in natural and revealed laws?

The truth is that self-knowledge, states Father Rodriguez, brings courage. Many sins come from the pit of fear, which too many people carry around. A small example: I set up this chapel after all the people who were supposed to come through the house for repairs, surveys, and such had done their jobs. Except for the termite inspector, I thought I was free of visitors for a month until I leave, now three weeks.

Today, I was told that two more repairmen are coming in. I know one is a low-church protestant, as low-church as one can get and still be Christian, and he will be offended by the icons. I thought for a minute about taking these and the two remaining statues out of the room, but I heard a strong voice say, “This is a test. If you are ashamed of Me here, what will you do when a real trial comes to you? ” Obviously, Christ does not care about offending others who have left the path of truth. We have the one, true religion and can be strong in our defense of even icons and statues. The Church teaches the truth in wholeness, not in parts, and we cannot choose what to dispose of and what not to. God ordains dulia.

A small test, when most people would be concerned about being offensive, God is telling me clearly not to worry about that, but to be strong in the Truth of the beauty of Catholic worship, of dulia as well as latria. The chapel stays put until I leave in three weeks.

Where does this courage come from in my heart? From being no one, nothing, for being a weak vessel, a frail person of Faith. As Father Rodriguez writes, to look at our weakness is actually inverted pride, as one must keep one's eyes on Christ.

If we look at Christ, we have courage in His grace, not our own strength. Rodriguez quotes Psalms 22, 26 and 27, among others, for the proper perspective.

Because of the intensity of pain I am experiencing, plus the other difficulties, I trust that God will have compassion on me in my weaknesses. Indeed, Fr. Rodriguez stresses that the more we admit our frailties, the more God has mercy on us.

He notes that if we are saying, “Why have I not such and such a thing? Why am I treated so ill?” that these questions reveal that one is lacking in self-knowledge. Years ago, a spiritual director told me to stop asking “why” questions, that these were a complete waste of time. I did stop. Now, I say, “God show me my sins, even the hidden sins, so that I can love you more and more.”

And, here is the key to courage, which comes from self-knowledge. Let me use Rodriguez' own words.

“For if you had but humility, and knew well the deceitfulness of your own heart,you would not be uneasy or lose courage. But, on the contrary, you would wonder that there happens no worse to you, and that you fall not oftener.; and you would not cease praising and blessing God who upholds you with his hand, and saves you from the disorders you would infallibly fall into without him.”

St. Francis Borgia, a favorite of Fr. Rodriguez, noted to a wealthy friend who knew him when he was wealthy and comfortable, that he needed to take more care of himself. Francis answered that he had a harbinger who went before him to take care of all his needs. His friend asked him who this was. The saints answered that it was the knowledge of himself, and the thought of the pains of hell, so that whatever place he found himself in, including bad lodgings, he knew he was being treated better than he deserved.

This is not poetry or merely edifying stories from the life of a saint, but a reality for all of us.

One more story from Fr. Rodriguez for today—a holy Dominican told St. Margaret that he had begged the ancient Desert Fathers to show him how they became so holy. One night, in a dream, he saw a book with golden letters and a voice told him to “arise, and read”. He rose immediately and read these words. “The perfection of the ancient fathers consisted in loving God, in despising themselves and in neither judging or contemning any body”. Then, the vision disappeared.

It is hard not to judge, but when one sees one's own horrid sins, one stops judging others. It is hard to despise one's self, but when one sees one's sins and the enormity of the insult these give to God, one can hate one's self. It is hard to love God, but ask Him for this love, and He will give it to you.

Recently, God told me I would be punished for a sin which was hidden, but came to light. I did not want to look at this sin, nor consider punishment. But, today, when I could hardly walk or dress, and when I could not bend over to pick something which had fallen on the floor, or I could not finish ironing because of pain, I knew that God had chosen a punishment which would mean I cannot function daily as I would wish to do. I am grateful for this punishment, as it is better than purgatory. I can actually thank God for the pain in three-quarters of my back and for the inconvenience of not being able to bend over. I am weak, but He is strong. Two big prayers were answered today, concerning some things, and a small one. This answering of prayers on a day when I could hardly function is not an accident. God is showing me that He is in control, not me, that He is taking care of me in the way that He decides. My will no longer belongs to me, but to Him.

We are all in boot camp, but the war is about the start. Cooperate with suffering. Beg for those graces so that you can learn to be humble. Learn to rely completely on God, on Divine Providence, even to death. That is our call in this generation.

False Humility

Reading daily now in Fr. Rodriguez' book, I am in the section in Volume II on humility.

One of the thought of his which struck me as applicable to the Synod, which I shall attempt to highlight this week here.

An anecdote illustrating false humility seems to apply to those who want to change the rules regarding marriage, sacramental theology and grace at the Synod.

Plato invited the scruffy and dirty Diogenes to a lavish dinner at his house. Plato decorated the dining hall with beautiful, woven tapestries as a backdrop to his dinner. When Diogenes entered the hall, he pulled violently each tapestry off the walls and trampled on them with his filthy feet. Diogenes then  exclaimed that he had destroyed the pride of Plato. Nonplussed, Plato replied that it was the pride of Diogenes which which was manifested in these actions, not humility.

True humility cannot be seen in rebellions, revolutions, or reforms such as those of Luther or Calvin. What we are seeing in the Middle East, with the destruction of the beginnings of art and architecture from ancient times is not a humility but the violent pride of the iconoclast.

Iconoclasm reared its ugly head in the Byzantine revolt against images in the reign of Leo III the Isaurian in the 8th Century, among others. Both the Muslims and the Protestants destroyed priceless art depicting Christ, Mary and the saints from the earliest day of the Islamic conquests up through the Protestant Revolt.

Iconoclasts thinks violently-wanting to get rid of rules and cultures, usually based on ideologies of purity, which deny the Incarnation of Christ and the redemption of nature through the Passion and Resurrection of the Saviour. 

The word iconoclasm is from the Greek, eikonoklasmos, meaning "image-breaking". One has to remember that monks were killed in the Byzantine iconoclast revolt, and monasteries, as well as churches, ruined.

The Council of Trent repeated the decision of Second Nicea in stating clearly that images were not only allowed, but encouraged in worship.

The twenty-fifth session of the Council of Trent (Dec., 1543) repeats faithfully the principles of Nicaea II:

[The holy Synod commands] that images of Christ, the Virgin Mother of God, and other saints are to be held and kept especially in churches, that due honour and reverence (debitum honorem et venerationem) are to be paid to them, not that any divinity or power is thought to be in them for the sake of which they may be worshipped, or that anything can be asked of them, or that any trust may be put in images, as was done by the heathen who put their trust in their idols [Psalm 134:15 sqq.], but because the honour shown to them is referred to the prototypes which they represent, so that bykissing, uncovering to, kneeling before images we adore Christ and honour the saints whose likeness they bear (Denzinger, no. 986). Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07664a.htm

Thomas Aquinas and others clarified dulia from latria. Dulia is honor to the saints. Latria is worship due only to God.

Now, I am getting to the Synod, which has seen many clerics opposing the long teaching on non-Communion for those in adultery, in irregular marriages. The problem is that these men are iconoclasts, wanting to change not only the teaching of the Church, but the culture of the West, by undermining the long, sacred teaching on marriage.

Iconoclasts do not care about anything but their own violent ideologies of a false purity and a false simplicity.  We saw what iconoclasts did in the reckovation of beautiful churches during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s.

Real simplicity has nothing to do with whitewashed buildings or the lack of statues. The Zen philosophy is not that of the Catholic Church, which for centuries was the greatest patron of art in the world. The Catholic Church supported beauty not only in art an architecture, but in music. The famous cathedrals in Europe give testimony to this love of beauty, which adore and praises God, Who is Beauty.

What those clerics in the Synod who want to supposedly "simplify" the rules regarding marriage and Communion have missed in their twisted ideologies of tolerance and even greed, is the center point of worship, which is that God deserves worthy worship, not unworthy worship. The ideal of worthy worship has been lost in the modern world which allows Eucharistic Ministers to wear "booty-yoga pants" and shorts at Sunday Mass. We have lost entirely the sense of what it means to worship God as He not only deserves to be worshipped, but as He demands to be worshipped, as God.

Those cardinals and bishops who push for the unworthy reception of Communion by those in mortal sin have forgotten that one must prepare to receive Christ, that one is not altogether ever worthy, but one must not be in serious sin, and, in fact, as those of you who read the blog know, one cannot receive grace is one is in mortal sin.

Iconoclasts are not picky about what they destroy. They destroy everything in their wake to make a point of ideology. I actually fear for the souls of iconoclasts who want to seemly level the playing field for those in serious sin to receive Communion, destroyed even the semblance of worthy worship of God.

Yes, none of us are truly worthy, but venial sins and imperfections do not keep us from receiving Christ in the Eucharist, and we can receive grace upon grace from receiving Christ in humility.

The main sin of the iconoclast, as Plato noted, is pride. These iconoclasts believe that they have a new insight, a new truth which transcends that of the Catholic Church.  Diogenes was a nihilist, not merely content to be a prophetic voice against the rich, but actually hating most people and things.

This type of hate is not the holy self-hatred of humility, which is self-knowledge of one's sins before God. This type of hatred scorns any mention of sin. Diogenes publicly sinned against nature, proclaiming himself above natural law as well as the laws of Athens. Cynicism is a sin, a sin of negativity, pride in one's own feelings of superiority and not humility.

Integrity only comes from humility, not cynicism or atheism. God has created us to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and this fact has been forgotten by the rebellious clerics in the Synod, who seek the very thing even Diogenes would criticize them for,....seeking the approval of men. Those clerics, who sadly may be found in every Western country, including the States, draw attention to themselves in their prideful disobedience.

I shall continue a look at the heresies, some of which I already defined on this blog, under the tag
synod".

The normal way to sanctity...passive purgation and humility, again

Continuing with this section from Garrigou-Lagrange's Three Ages of the Interior Life, one sees the same progression into the life of the virtues as noted by many saints and the Doctors of the Church.

THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THIS PURIFICATION

The positive effects of the dark night of the soul consist chiefly in a great increase in the virtues of the elevated part of the soul, principally in humility, piety, and the theological virtues. These higher virtues come forth greatly purified from all human alloy, in the sense that their formal supernatural motive is brought into strong relief above every secondary or accessory motive which sometimes leads man to practice them in too human a manner. (5) At this stage especially the formal motive of each of the three theological virtues stands out with increasing clearness: namely, the first revealing truth, the motive of faith; helpful omnipotence, the motive of hope; the divine goodness infinitely more lovable in itself than every created gift, the motive of charity.

All the virtues given in baptism and the gifts given in confirmation come alive at this point. 

But there is first a similar purification of humility. Humility is commonly said to be the fundamental virtue which removes pride, the source of every sin. St. Augustine and St. Thomas for this reason compare it to the excavation that must be dug for the construction of a building, an excavation that needs to be so much deeper as the building is to be higher. Consequently, to deepen humility it does not suffice to scratch the soil a little, it is not sufficient that we ourselves dig, as we do in a thorough examination of conscience. To drive out pride, the Lord Himself must intervene through the special inspirations of the gifts of knowledge and understanding. He then shows the soul the hitherto unsuspected degree of its profound indigence and wretchedness and throws light on the hidden folds of conscience in which lie the seeds of death. Thus a ray of sunlight shining into a dark room shows all the dust, held in suspension in the air and previously imperceptible. Under the purifying divine light, as under a powerful projector, the soul sees in itself a multitude of defects it had never noticed; confounded by the sight, it cannot bear this light. It sees at times that by its repeated sins it has placed itself in a miserable state, a state of abjection. St. Paul, strongly tempted, felt his frailty keenly. Blessed Angela of Foligno seemed to herself an abyss of sin and wished to declare her state to everyone. St. Benedict Joseph Labre one day began his confession by saying: "Have pity on me, Father, I am a great sinner." The confessor, finding nothing seriously reprehensible in his accusation, said to him: "I see that you do not know how to go to confession." He then questioned the saint on the grossest sins, but obtained such humble answers so full of the spirit of faith, that he understood that his penitent, who confessed in this manner, was a saint.

Such is indeed the purification of humility, which is no longer only exterior, no longer the pouting or sad humility of one who holds aloof because people do not approve of him. It becomes true humility of heart, which loves to be nothing that God may be all; it bows profoundly before the infinite majesty of the Most High and before what is divine in every creature.

It is hard for most of us to face real sin, even how much venial sin offends God. 

This true humility then reveals to us the profound meaning of Christ's words: "Without Me you can do nothing." It enables us to understand far better what St. Paul says: "What hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (6) The soul then recognizes experimentally that by its natural powers alone it is absolutely incapable of the least salutary and meritorious supernatural act. It sees the grandeur of the doctrine of the Church which teaches, against semi-Pelagianism, that the beginning of salvation, the beginning of salutary good will, can come only from grace, and that man needs a special gift to persevere to the end. The soul thus purified sees why, according to St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and their disciples, grace is efficacious of itself; far from being rendered efficacious by our good consent, it is grace that gives rise to our consent, it is truly "God who worketh in you, both to will an to accomplish," as St. Paul says.(7) In this period of painful purification, at grips with strong temptations to discouragement, the soul indeed needs to believe in this divine efficacy of grace, which lifts up the weak man, makes him fulfill the precepts, and transforms him.(8)

When one does not see progress, one can get discouraged, but then, God is asking for complete trust in Divine Providence. Complete. God gives us the grace to say yes to purification.

Thus humility grows, according to the seven degrees enumerated by St. Anselm: "(1) to acknowledge ourselves contemptible; (2) to grieve on account of this; (3) to admit that we are so; (4) to wish our neighbor to believe it; (5) to endure with patience people saying it; (6) to be willing to be treated as a person worthy of contempt; (7) to love to be treated in this way," 

One begs God for these degrees--begs. Amen. Read, again this litany...

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

(9) and, like St. Francis of Assisi, to find a holy joy in this treatment. This is, in fact, heroic humility. Such virtue presupposes a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost and the passive purification of the spirit. Besides, it is clearly in the normal way of sanctity; full Christian perfection cannot exist without it. As a matter of fact, all the saints possessed great humility; it presupposes the contemplation of two great truths: we have been created out of nothing by God, who freely preserves us in existence; and without the help of His grace we could not perform any salutary and meritorious act.

That is clear and if it is not, go back to the Dark Night series...

to be continued...