August 26

The Angelic Hymn

Preparation. - After meditating on the humility of the divine Child, let us study the hymn sung by the angels at His birth. First “Glory to God in the highest”; secondly, “peace on earth to men of good will.” Do we wish to possess interiorly a lasting peace? If so, let us have the most humble sentiments about ourselves, and refer to God by the purity of our intentions the honor of every thing good in us.

I. Glory To God In The Highest

“The heavens,” says David, “show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of His hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night showeth knowledge” (Ps. 18 1, 2); “O Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth!” (Ps. 8. 2.) But more admirable still is it in the Incarnation of the Word, which opens to men new heavens, and introduces us into a supernatural world, where every thing is grand, rich and splendid beyond all expression. But the glory of all these wonders belongs wholly to the Lord, to His infinite perfections and to His boundless excellence. “Glory to God in the highest.” Hence He justly declares: “I will not give My glory to another” (Is. 48. 11), for He resists the proud (1 Pet. 5. 5), who strive to rob Him of it.

Let us congratulate ourselves in being able to glorify God. No other object can equal the nobility of this sublime intention. The angels, the saints, the Mother of God, our Redeemer, and God Himself have no other intention. All the Lord’s favors, without this one, were it even the seraphic dignity, are by far inferior to this inappreciable privilege.

But how are we to glorify God? By means of a profound humility. This virtue, hostile to all vain glory and ostentation, shows us to ourselves as we really are, that is, helpless for doing good, and capable of committing every sin. Far from tolerating in us any esteem for our own persons and any desire of praise, it induces us to give God a pure glory, inspires us to acknowledge His benefits with gratitude, and to refer them to Him as our last end.

Are we accustomed to act in this manner? Do we not take delight in ourselves because of our wit, our talents, our good qualities? Do we not attribute to our own industry, to our wisdom and prudence the good we are doing?

O my God, how often do I seek to gratify my self-love in all I do! How often do I, in practice, prefer my honor to Thine, by desiring human favors, fame and praise, or by attributing to myself what proceeds from Thee, the principle of all light and virtue! Grant me purity of intention, which will induce me to give Thee glory for every thing and to live constantly dependent upon Thee.

II. Peace On Earth To Men Of Good Will

On Christmas night, says St. Bernard, the angels divided things between God and us; to God they gave glory as belonging to Him, and if we give it to Him, peace shall be ours. And, indeed, the true means of enjoying profound peace is to live in harmony with God, by not appropriating to ourselves what belongs to Him, that is His honor.

The proud man, says St. Alphonsus, is blind, a liar and a robber; he is blind, because he walks in the darkness of his own esteem, though he is only a vile and despicable nothingness; he is a liar, who considers himself rich, whilst the Lord declares him to be poor, wretched and destitute (Apoc. 3. 17); he is a robber, for he robs God of His glory, which is God’s own peculiarly and exclusively.

How, then, can the heart of him who is so conceited and puffed up, possess peace, of which God alone is the author and giver. “Who ever resisted Him, and hath peace,” asks holy Job (9. 4)? On the other hand, how contented are those who are perfectly submissive to Him? If we suppress the sensitiveness of self-love, the apprehensions of vanity, the anguish of hypocrisy and of the desire of pleasing others, the cares of ambition and of the pursuit after honors, the gloomy and deadly heart-aches of envy, we shall then have some idea of the interior calm originating from humility.

If we, therefore, wish to enjoy the tranquility promised by the angels to men of good will, let us study ourselves and beware of attributing to ourselves what comes from God. He gives us the use, the usefulness, the merit of His gifts and the happiness proceeding therefrom, but He will not yield to us the honor thereof. What can be more just? What is more advantageous to us? Wherefore, should we, for a little smoke of renown, eulogium or vain complacency, lose at once the divine favors, the peace of our soul and our eternal reward?

O Jesus, O Mary, I am henceforward fully determined to say to myself with St. Catherine of Siena: “No vain-glory for me; but always the real honor and glory of my God.” Grant me the grace unceasingly to repeat both by my conduct and with my words, the beautiful hymn of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will,” that is, to the upright and beloved of the Lord, who faithfully give Him what is due to Him.

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August 25

Humility Of The Incarnate Word

Preparation. - Nothing is better adapted to render us humble than the examples of our divine Model. Wherefore we shall consider, first, how far our divine Saviour abased Himself, and secondly, how much we should humble ourselves after His example. We shall then resolve daily to combat our desire of esteem, and calmly accept contradiction and confusion, in order to please Him who, for our sake, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil. 2. 7).

I. How Far The Divine Word Abased Himself

The eternal Word could have assumed the angelic nature and appeared on earth as an angel sent from heaven. This would already have been an incomprehensible humiliation - the divine Creator to become a creature, the Infinite to lower Himself down to the finite! That He who is immense and boundless should circumscribe Himself in a limited being, were it even in a seraph, how inconceivable the abasement!

What ought we to say on seeing Him become man? Man is less than the angel, and has been so deeply degraded by sin. Nevertheless the only-begotten Son of God does not hesitate to assume our nature, and, although He could have come into the world as a perfect man, like Adam in the earthly paradise, He chose rather to pass through man’s different ages, not even excepting childhood; this seems to be the fullness of abjection for Him.

But even this was not enough. He could have made His appearance on earth as the child of a king, of a queen in the midst of a splendid court and the rejoicings of the whole kingdom. But no, He is born of a poor, unknown Virgin, near an obscure town, in an abandoned grotto, in the deep silence of the night. What a prodigy of humility!

But this is not all; He could have assumed only the nobler part of our nature, the soul; but why clothe Himself with our vile clay, our body? Why glory in this by dictating to St. John these astonishing words: “And the Word was made flesh” (John 1. 14)? It is because He wished to humble Himself to the lowest depths: “He emptied Himself.” There is nothing more despicable than nothingness; and yet the Incarnate Word descended still lower, and how? By assuming the appearance of a sinner, by becoming a curse for our sake, that is, by embracing all the maledictions and punishments deserved by sinful mankind. “He was made a curse for us” (Gal. 3. 13). O profound abasement, that should forever cure our pride!

In fact, how can we, at the sight of a God taking the lowest place among us, still pretend to rise above others, to glory in our talents, good qualities and virtues, as if the honor of a disciple of Jesus did not consist in becoming with Him the most humble and the last of all? O Incarnate Word, enable me to understand this wholesome doctrine and to put it into practice.

II. We Ought To Humble Ourselves, Like Jesus

Adam and Eve prevaricated in the hope of becoming as gods, as Satan had falsely promised them. Their pride caused our ruin. To redeem us, the eternal Word wished to humble Himself by descending to the abyss into which we were plunged. As a charitable physician, He put on our humiliations, sanctified and deified them, and made of them a remedy for us, bitter indeed, but sweetened by His loving example, for He was the first to take it by becoming man, by His birth in a stable, His flight into Egypt, and by laboring like a poor workman in the house of Nazareth.

As much as Jesus abased Himself, so much also we ought to abase ourselves with Him. He clothed Himself with the weakness of childhood, to teach us not to disdain the evangelical Childhood. For in the spiritual life we are always as mere children; we always need to be instructed, led, directed and strengthened by grace, and by the means the Catholic Church offers to all. Humility should cause us always to live like children, that is, in the spirit of obedience, submission and mistrust of self, that is befitting children. We ought to banish from our heart and our conduct resistance to superiors, attachment to our own views, boasting, conceit, presumption, envy, malice and all the inclination opposed to Him who said: “Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 18. 3).

Let us examine whether our sentiments are those of the humble. Are we docile, condescending, quick to forgive, slow in feeling offended, in getting angry? Do we shun the faults opposed to Christian childhood, such as, duplicity, insubordination, sensitiveness, harshness, ambitious views?

O Jesus, if the very apostles, the princes of Thy Church, had to be children by their humility, how much more are we bound to be humble, who are obliged to obey them! Wherefore grant me, first, the light I need to know and despise myself; and secondly, the courage to recite the Gloria Patri every time men apply a remedy to my pride, and thus render me like unto Thee and Thy holy Mother, the most humble of creatures.

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August 13

On Humility

Preparation. - Humility being specially proposed this month to our attention, we shall see, first, the motives we have for esteeming ourselves the least of all, and secondly, before whom we should specially humble ourselves; and then we shall examine whether we are fond of a hidden life, and we shall take these words of St. Paul as our spiritual nosegay: “Let us not be made desirous of vain-glory” (Gal. 5. 26).

I. Why We Should Take The Last Place

How we should be filled with humility and gratitude, when we consider the countless favors bestowed on us! So many gifts, lights, special helps and means of salvation are at our disposal! Meditations, Masses, Communions, pious readings, edifying examples, all concur in leading us to virtue. And yet, where is our progress? If an unbeliever had received one-half of the graces conferred on us, would he not already have become a great saint? How well calculated is such a thought to humbles us, who are so full of defects and so wanting in virtue!

But what do I say? O my God, I know beyond all possibility of doubt, that I have committed many sins and that I am very guilty in Thy presence. On the other hand, I know not how far my neighbor is responsible in Thy sight. He may have had fewer helps, and more occasions and enticements to sin, and committed fewer sins than I. And even did I know that he is a great criminal, I may, in one sense, believe myself the most miserable of sinners, on account of the special assistance given me and the monstrous pride that domineers over me.

As the Angelic Doctor teaches, a sin is so much the more heinous as the ingratitude of the sinner is more heinous in the sight of the Lord. A single sin of mine may be heavier before God than the crimes of a great criminal, who has received fewer graces. And, O Lord, has not my life been a tissue of voluntary faults, and are not even my good works often full of self-love and numberless imperfections? how great the punishments I deserve both in this life and in the next! I will, in future, go down in spirit to the lowest depths of hell, and place myself below the very demons and the vilest reprobates, for there the saints placed themselves, mindful of their want of fidelity.

O my God, had I, like so many others, been born of parents bearing a hatred of religion, had my passions been as violent as those of so many public sinners, would I not have become even more wicked than they? How this thoughts compel me to place myself beneath every one! Grant me a sincere love of abjection and a desire to be ignored, forgotten, and despised among creatures, so that I may live constantly and solely in Thy sight, O my sweetest, most holy and most amiable Creator!

II. Towards Whom We Should Especially Practice Humility

It behooves us especially to practice this virtue in our relations with God and with our neighbor. Who can find it difficult to lower and abase himself in the presence of the infinite grandeur and the sovereign majesty of the thrice holy God, before whom the angels veil their faces to acknowledge their powerlessness to praise Him worthily? Every thing should cover us with confusion in the sight of the King of kings; He is the eternal and necessary Being, and we are nothingness. He is wisdom, power, infinite riches, to whom every thing belongs and is due; and we are but mere ignorance, weakness and poverty, unable of ourselves to get rid of our misery. “Can man be justified compared with God? ... The stars are not pure in His sight; how much less man that is rottenness, and the son of man who is a worm?” (Job 25. 4-6). Should not such thoughts make us docile and dependent in all things on the dominion of God and the guidance of His Providence?

They should also fill us with respect and deference towards our brethren, who are the living temples of the Holy Ghost. In fact, it would ill become us, were we to acknowledge ourselves vile and abject during prayer, and then, at other times, to domineer over our fellow-men, to speak haughtily to them, to reproach them with their defects, to make them feel our superiority over them in smartness, talents, good qualities and virtue! This would be the case, were we to fail to practice humility in our relations with our neighbor.

Let us examine whether we are always kind and considerate towards others, as are all who possess a heart humble, forgetful of self and devoted to their brethren. Are we constantly disposed to rejoice sincerely at the happiness and success of others, to bear without bitterness contradiction, disdain, rebuffs, and want of due regard? Do we not speak sharply to our subordinates, and reprove them harshly?

O Jesus, give me sentiments conformable to those of Thy Sacred Heart, sentiments of esteem, charity and condescension towards every one. Through Mary’s intercession, who was the most humble of creatures, grant me, first, humility of mind, that I may learn to know my nothingness, my ignorance, my corruption and the malice of my sins; and secondly, humility of heart, which may inspire me with a wholesome hatred of self, patience in confusion, derision, coldness and the most keenly felt affronts.

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August 9

Jesus, Model Of Humility

Preparation. - That we may be encouraged to practice humility, we shall see, first, how easy our Saviour made it by His example, and secondly, how many lights He gives us to enable us to acquire it. Let us accustom ourselves to begin every mediation by acts of profound self-abasement, in union with Jesus, who, for our salvation, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil. 2. 7).

I. Jesus Rendered Humility Easy To Us

Whilst the angel and man, in their rebellion, exclaim in their pride, “I shall be like unto the Most High,” the eternal Word, on the contrary said: “I will descend from the highest heaven even unto nothingness, and become like unto the least of mortals, like the vilest slave.” And, in fat, what slave was ever born in a stable, and was ever loaded with insults and disgrace, like Jesus Christ? Hence the prophet makes Him say: “I am a worm and not a man” (Is. 14. 4).

Pride, says St. Augustine, was the disease that consumed mankind, a disease so much the more incurable, because it affected man spiritually and appeared not repulsive to those infected with it. Its most effective remedy is humiliation, a remedy most repugnant to our fallen nature. What course did our heavenly Physician follow? To encourage us to accept it, He first took the remedy Himself, but in so a great a dose, as to deprive us of any pretext for refusing to take ourselves the diminutive dose He offers us.

Moreover, if we esteem and love our Redeemer, we shall feel honored in resembling Him, in wearing the livery of His humiliations. For, how can we adore Christ’s grandeurs and refuse, at the same time, to venerate, love and embrace His abasement? Is it not a glory for a man to humble himself with his God? Why then should we esteem it a disgrace?

O Jesus, I acknowledge that, when humbled, I am disturbed, irritated, sad and cast down. The mere dread of being put to shame, causes me to lose all peace of mind. I am hardly able to bear being forgotten, put aside, made little of, and seeing others esteemed. Ever eager for praise, I have a horror of corrections and kind admonitions, and I shudder at the very shadow of contempt. How far, then, am I from following the steps of a God, who sought abjection during His whole life and even whilst dying on the cross. O Jesus, I am resolved calmly to accept this day whatever may wound my vanity, my sensitiveness and self-love. Enable me to profit by these precious occasions to conquer my pride and presumption.

II. The Lights Jesus Gives Us To Acquire Humility

When we consider the doctrine and example of the Incarnate Wisdom, nothing will appear to us more debasing than pride. “This vice,” says St. Augustine, “is the origin, end and cause of all sins.” It is a disgusting ulcer that infects our mind, spoils our heart and our most brilliant qualities. It begets, develops, and maintains all our defects in their revolt against God, and makes us like unto Satan himself. Who would not be horrified at such a monster? The hatred or aversion of this vise is the beginning of the virtue of humility.

That we may make progress therein, let us often by the light of Christ's teaching, consider the malice of our sins, the deformity of our faults, our propensity to evil, our powerlessness to do good, and even to wish, desire and think of it. Is not this enough to inspire us with the greatest mistrust of ourselves? How can we attribute to ourselves the execution of a good work , if we cannot even conceive the idea of it without the divine assistance!

Do we not, moreover, see how much help we need to keep in the sate of grace? And how much more helps are required to enable us to attain perfection! It is God who preserves us in faith, in hope, in the supernatural life; He inspires us with holy thoughts, pious emotions, and with desires of solitude, silence and mental prayer. He gives us His angels as protectors, His Mother is our nurse, and Jesus is our support, our unspeakable food. Do we need more and greater benefits? And, nevertheless, where is our progress, where are our virtues? How many faults do we not commit? How many imperfections mar our conduct! This very consideration filled the saints with confusion. They considered themselves as great criminals, because they had failed to correspond perfectly to the divine calls.

O Jesus, I abase myself most profoundly in Thy adorable presence, acknowledging my ingratitude and want of fidelity. Do not suffer me always to rob Thee of the glory due Thee, and to be a slave of vanity, presumption, self-love and selfishness. Stifle in me all self-esteem, self-complacency and eagerness for praise. Through the intercession of the most humble of creatures, Thy holy Mother, make my heart like unto Thine, by granting me a deep, sincere and constant humility.

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August 7

Humility, The Gate Of Heaven

Preparation. - Having meditated on the beatific vision and love, we shall now consider how we may attain them by means of humility, for this virtue is, first, one of the conditions of eternal salvation, and secondly, the greatest proof of real perfections. We shall, therefore, resolve to practice it by often contemplating Him who says to all: “Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart” (Mat. 11. 29).

I. Humility, A Condition Of Salvation

One day the disciples asked our divine Saviour: “Who thinkest Thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus calling unto Him a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 18. 1-4). From these words let us draw two conclusions: first, humility is necessary for salvation, that is, the humility which induces us to obey God and His Church, and renders us docile to the divine dispositions; and secondly, the better we practice it, the greater we shall be in the realms of bliss.

Hence how constantly and ardently the saints strove to know themselves, to dispose themselves in order to practice this virtue. The apostles considered themselves as”the offscouring of this world” (1 Cor. 4. 13). St. Dominic attributed to his sins all the calamities of his time. When St. Teresa was in a town where people disdained her, she was wont to say: “Here people know and receive me as I deserve.” St. Paul of the Cross sincerely considered himself as the infection, pest and scandal of his Institute.

But whence did these Christian heroes derive such humble sentiments of themselves? From their knowledge of self and of the greatness of God, which they acquired with the light of grace, and which entirely accords with truth. But if, without our Creator and Redeemer we are nothing, what good can we effect without Him, and of what evil are we not capable, if deprived of His assistance? The answer to these questions lays down the principle of salvation and perfection. The more we conform our conduct to it, the more worthy we become of endless bliss, for our Saviour says that “of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 19. 14).

My most loving Redeemer, grant me the grace, first, to rest my predestination on the base of a sincere, generous and practical humility; and secondly, to endeavor daily, for Thy sake, to delight in an obscure, ignored and forgotten life, and peacefully to bear abjection and contempt. And this will dispose me very well to deserve Thy favors and to profit by Thy benefits.

II. Humility A Proof Of Holiness

St. Bernard calls humility the foundation of all virtues. An edifice without a solid foundation, is always insecure. He that builds on a rock, says our Lord, will be able to resist the rains, the winds, persecutions and temptations; but he who builds on sand, risks sooner or later to see his edifice completely destroyed (Mat. 7. 24). According to Richard of St. Victor, the truly humble man builds upon the rock of truth by the knowledge of his nothingness; the proud man, on the contrary, builds upon the moving sand of lying or of self-ignorance. Therefore there is no solid virtue without humility.

Nor is any virtue durable without it, for, according to St. Bernard, humility is the guardian of all the virtues. Hence he who amasses merits without referring them to the glory of God, casts dust to the wind of vanity which disperses it, and is even guilty of sin before the supreme Judge, observes St. Gregory. Since the lack of humility nullifies all merit, it follows that this virtue preserves for us that which opens to us the gate of heaven.

According to St. Joseph Calasanctius, humility is the measure of our holiness, for, says he, “if you wish to be holy, be humble; if you wish to be very holy, be very humble.” It is for this reason that the servants of God and directors of conscience are wont to try the virtue of souls by humiliations. True humility, in fact, is the most solid proof that a priest, a religious, a Christian is animates with the spirit of God, which is a spirit of truth, self-denial, obedience and unreserved submission to the divine pleasure.

Wherefore he who unceasingly strives to despise himself and esteem God alone, to mistrust himself and trust in Jesus and Mary, will, in a short time, reach the highest perfection, without danger of going astray, for this exercise will enable him to shun the dangers of the world, to allow himself to be directed, to pray without ceasing, peacefully to accept contradictions and humiliations, as if deserved on account of his faults, and finally to consecrate himself entirely to the service of God and his neighbor without the least selfishness.

O Jesus, O Mary, indicate to me in my weak nature the vices I should combat, the faults I should correct and the wounds I should heal. Enable me to strive without interruption to despise myself, in order to esteem Thy grandeurs, to deny myself in all things that I may always accomplish Thy ever holy and ever amiable desires.

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July 17

Mary’s Humility

Preparation. - The privilege of celebrating the feast of Mary’s humility on this day is granted to certain institutes. Wherefore we shall see, first, what humble sentiments Mary had of herself, and secondly, how she acted in consequence. St. Bernard admonishes us to strive to imitate the humility of the Queen of saints, and that if we constantly practice this virtue in our relations with God and our neighbor, it will suffice to sanctify us.

I. Humble Sentiments Of The Mother Of God

“Humility is truth,” says St. Teresa. Hence Mary did not believe herself a sinner, for she was certain that she had never offended God. Nor did she refuse to acknowledge the graces with which she was enriched; for her Magnificat shows it, since she therein gives glory to God for the great things He had wrought in her. How then could she have lowly sentiments of herself? In this wise; the powerful light with which the Holy Ghost illumined her, enabled her to understand, beyond all expression, the infinite greatness of God and the unfathomable abyss of her own nothingness.

As a drop of water disappears in the ocean, and an atom in endless space, thus did Mary disappear in her own eyes, when comparing herself to the majesty and holiness of the Almighty, who created the universe. The outcome of this was a total forgetfulness of herself and her merit, which caused her to refer to the most High all the good that adorned her soul. Convinced of her unworthiness and weakness without grace, she was always before her Lord as a mere beggar magnificently clad, who so much the more felt her own indigence; wherefore she humbled herself in proportion to the gifts, sublime virtues and most rare privileges embellishing her interior, wherein God dwelt. Esteeming herself the least among creatures, as was revealed to St. Mechtildis, she humbles herself and placed herself in spirit below every one.

How different are these sentiments from ours! We entertain so high an opinion of ourselves, of our qualities, talents, and apparent virtues. The least remark, the slightest reprimand disturbs and irritates us, so irreproachable do we esteem ourselves! Whence come our pretensions, unless from the too exalted opinion we have of ourselves? We imagine we are somebody, but reason and faith tells us we are nothing, and even less than nothing, for we are sinners.

O Queen of humility, help me to know God and to know myself. Strip me of the deceits of pride, and clothe me with the light of truth, that I may clearly perceive my nothingness, my ignorance, my helplessness and my indigence, through the mercy of thy divine Son. Enable me to strive interiorly to despise myself, to esteem others, to have unceasing recourse to thee, and to submit in all things to whatever God pleases.

II. How Mary Practiced Humility

Let us first consider this most faithful Virgin in the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Word. She is disturbed, not by the humiliation as other creatures are, but by the praises bestowed on her by the heavenly messenger. As ambassador of Him who is Truth itself, Gabriel speaks in the name of his Master, and yet, through holy fears and holy anguish, the most humble Virgin “was troubled at his saying” (Luke 1. 29).

After having conceived the Word made flesh, the God who “emptied Himself,” she started for Hebron, with the intention of abasing herself and serving her cousin, though inferior to herself. Such is the first effect of humility, which causes us to love subjection even towards those who owe us respect. It would have been but little for so humble a Virgin to have called herself the Creator’s handmaid, did she not also become the servant of all creatures.

And how carefully she concealed the graces, gifts and privileges with which she was enriched! Content with being seen by God only, she spent her life in forgetfulness and abjection. “Nowhere do we read,” says St. Alphonsus, “that she appeared in Jerusalem when her Son entered it in triumph; but she feared not to follow Him to Calvary, and thus to make herself known as the Mother of Him, who had been condemned to an infamous death.” Did she not share in the outrages, derision and sarcasms with which Jesus was loaded? Far from shrinking from humiliation, she courageously exposes herself to the insults of the rabble, to the mockery of the pharisees, to the ill-treatment of the soldiers and executioners. O prodigy of humility! The Queen of saints considers it her duty to accompany to capital punishment Him who the princes of her nation call a seducer, a blasphemer, a magician, as one possessed of a devil; she finds delight in being disdained, insulted and reviled with Him and like HIm.

O how well calculated is her conduct to confound our pride, our vanity! Often we desire to be humbled; but is it not on account of the honors that so frequently accompany sincere humility, and not because of the desire of humiliations by which it is formed and preserved in us? Let us earnestly beseech the queen of this virtue to obtain for us the courage to embrace that which humbles us. Let us even recite the Gloria Patri, when some one applies a stinging remedy to the ulcer of our pride and self-love.

O most humble of creatures, notwithstanding my numerous sins, I am so full of vanity and self-love. Thou, on the contrary, most innocent, seekest only contempt and confusion. Deign, O Mother, to obtain for me, first, the love of a hidden, ignored and forgotten life; and secondly, the strength to keep an humble silence, when I am reproved, contradicted, repulsed, vilified, ridiculed and derided.

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Pentecost Tuesday

Petitions To The Holy Ghost

Preparation. - "How much more will your Father from heaven," says our Saviour, "give the good Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke 11. 13). this good spirit consists, first in being humble and dependent on the Holy Ghost, and secondly, in living pure and detached. Let us with earnestness and perseverance ask for this good spirit, with the conviction that it will be given to us, according to our divine Master's promise.

I. The Humble Man Possesses A Good Spirit.

Left to himself, man remains in the state of a corrupt nature into which he fell through original sin, and is powerless to extricate himself therefrom. As much as it is impossible to rise bodily to heaven without outward help, so also our soul cannot of herself perform a supernatural act or rise above her nature without the assistance of divine grace. It behooves us, then , to acknowledge that, of ourselves, we can do nothing for our salvation, and cannot even have a good thought or a good desire (2 Cor. 3. 5). He who is intimately convinced of this and acts accordingly, possesses a good spirit, a spirit of humility prompting us to abase ourselves profoundly before the divine Majesty, esteeming ourselves as the very last in virtue and merit.

The first and principal effect of this humility is a total dependence on God. Faith teaches that I can do nothing in the supernatural order; and that I must rise to this order, that I may be saved; it behooves men then to have recourse to God, the sole author of grace; to make progress on the road to heaven I must depend on His light and His concurrence. As a tender infant cannot take a step without holding its mother's hand, hence we can do nothing without our heavenly Father ; we cannot even reach the road of virtue, "for," says St. Paul, "it is God who worketh in you both to will and to accomplish" (Phil. 2. 13).

To act according to this truth, or to pray without ceasing for the divine assistance, is the good spirit, the spirit of Him who said: "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom o heaven" (Mat. 18. 3). To be like little children, is to feel our helplessness to do good, to rely wholly on God, to implore Him constantly to enlighten, direct and support us, to accomplish Christ's precept: "It behooveth always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18. 1).

O my god, would that I had hitherto had these dispositions, instead of that fatal presumption which induced me to face danger relying on my own strength only. How could I so often venture to neglect prayer, spiritual reading, holy Communion and other pious exercises, as if they were unnecessary for my spiritual life? Enable me, O Lord, to understand that pride is the beginning of all evil, as humility is the origin of all good. Help me to acquire humility, so that it may inspire me with self-watchfulness, salutary fear, diffidence in my weakness and continual prayer; and may it teach me always to submit to the guidance of the Holy Ghost in all things and at all times.

II. Detachment Proceeds From A Good Spirit.

The souls that strive to purify and detach themselves also possess a good spirit. The spiritual defilements are much deeper than the material, which are easily removed with water, whilst a deluge of human blood could not obliterate the stain of sin, which can be effaced only by the blood of a God applied to our soul by the Spirit of sanctification. And even after we have been washed in the sacrament of penance, how much does there not remain to be expiated either in this life or in the next! And then how much darkness, weakness and inclination to evil do not our sins leave in us even after our forgiveness! Hence David ceased not praying: "Lord, cleanse me more and more from my sin."

The external world itself, according to St. Leo, causes us to contract many stains by debasing our affections down to earthly and transitory vanities. May we not also be likened to sinks of corruption? Whence are our passions always on the alert, our pride, our sensuality, self-love, which swarm with ever restless perverse inclinations? And that concupiscence incessantly cropping out and tending to infect our whole being? How can we, without divine grace, remain pure and detached amid so many vices and fatal inclinations? Let us often say with the Church: "Holy Spirit, wash what is unclean," and with the psalmist, "O God, create a clean heart in me," a heart disengaged not only from every fault, but also from every attachment foreign to the supreme and eternal Good; "and renew a right spirit within my bowels" (Ps. 50. 12), the spirit Thou gavest me at baptism, and which I lost through malice; the spirit which seeks holiness in all things, and has no other ambition than to love and possess Thee, my last End and my eternal Bliss!

O Jesus, who searches all the recesses of the heart, make known to me which fault, which defect, which attachment or inclination is the most hurtful to my spiritual progress, and give me the strength to correct it. Through the prayers of the Immaculate Virgin, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, grant that I may often this day repeat to Thee: "Lord, create a pure heart in me; and renew in my interior the spirit of innocence and uprightness."

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