Father Adolphe Tanqueray defined the sin of pride as “an inordinate love of self, which causes us to consider ourselves, explicitly or implicitly, as our first beginning and last end.”
He explained: “At times we forget that God is the source of these gifts, and we attribute them to ourselves. This constitutes a disorder, for it denies, at least implicitly, that God is our first principle. In like manner we are tempted to act for self, or to gain the esteem of others, instead of acting for God, and of referring to him all the honour. This is again a disorder, for it denies, at least in the same implicit manner, that God is our last end. Such is the twofold disorder found in this vice.”
He said many people “recognize in theory that God is their first principle, but in practice they esteem themselves beyond measure, as if they were the source of the qualities they possess.”
In like manner, many people behave in practice as if they consider themselves as their own last end: “They want to be praised, to be complimented upon their good works, as if they were themselves the principal authors, and as if they were responsible only to themselves... They are prompted by egotism, they act for their own ends, caring little for the glory of God, and still less for the welfare of their neighbour... There are devout persons who, without going so far seek self in piety: they complain of God when he does not flood them with consolations; they pine with grief when in the midst of dryness, and thus form the false idea that the aim of piety is the enjoyment of consolations, forgetting that the glory of God must be the supreme end of all our actions, above all, of prayer and spiritual exercises.”
A prideful person exaggerates his own qualities, examines the defects of others with a magnifying glass, and turns a blind eye to his own defects. Jesus said, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Mt 7:3)
According to Father Tanqueray, pride gives birth to presumption, ambition, and vainglory. “Presumption consists in an inordinate desire and hope whereby we want to do things which are beyond our strength,” he wrote; “ambition is the inordinate love of honours, of dignities, of authority over others,” and “vanity is an inordinate love for the esteem of others.”
The inordinate desire to receive praise from others can destroy the value of our good works. Jesus warns us: “beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 6:1)
St. Faustina described a priest at Mass that she believed thought so much of himself, he could not make much difference for the souls of others: “God’s grace takes flight; he relies on trifling external things, which have no importance in the eyes of God; and, being proud, he fritters away his time, wearing himself out to no purpose.”
Father Tanqueray said the great remedy against pride is “the acknowledgment of the fact that God is the author of all good, and that therefore to him alone belongs all honour and glory. Of ourselves we are but nothingness and sin, and hence merit nothing but forgetfulness and contempt.”
The author of the spiritual classic, Unseen Warfare, wrote, “understand your worthlessness and keep in your mind the fact that by yourself you are unable to do anything which would make you worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Hear the testimony of the wise fathers. Peter of Damascus reassures us saying, ‘there is nothing better than to understand your own feeble nature and ignorance, and there is nothing worse than not to be conscious of them.’ St. Maximus the Confessor teaches us, ‘the foundation of each virtue is the understanding of the weakness of human nature.’ St. John Chrysostom tells us, ‘only the one who thinks of himself as being nothing, really understands himself.’”
Our Lady instructed St. Faustina: “The soul’s true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in his presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing, because the Lord is great, but he is well-pleased only with the humble; he always opposes the proud.”
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上主反對驕傲的人
Adolphe Tanqueray神父定義驕傲的罪為「一種過度的自愛，使我們明顯或內心認為自己是我們自己的原始和終結。」 他進一步解釋說：「有時我們忘記了天主是這些恩賜的來源，並將其歸功於自己。這構成了一種混亂，因為這否認了天主是我們首要的誡命，至少在內心深處是這樣想。同樣地，我們會被誘惑為了自己而做事，或為了贏得他人的尊重，而不是為天主和將所有的榮耀歸於祂。這又是一種混亂，因為它同樣至少在內心否認了天主是我們的終結。這便是這個罪中存在的雙重混亂。」
Tanqueray神父指出：「許多人在理論上承認天主是我們首要的誡命，但在實踐中，他們過分地看重自己，彷彿他們擁有的品格的來源都是他們自己。」同樣地，許多人在行為上表現得彷彿自己是自己終結：「他們渴望被讚賞，渴望因他們的善行而受到稱讚，彷彿他們自己就是主要的作者，並且只對自己負責… 。他們受到自我主義的驅使，為了自己的目的行事，對天主的榮耀不甚關心，更少關心鄰人的福祉…。有些虔誠的人，雖然不至於如此，但他們在虔誠中尋求自我：當天主沒有賜予他們滿滿的安慰時，他們抱怨；當他們處於枯燥無味的境地時，他們陷入憂傷，從而形成了錯誤的觀念，認為虔誠的目的是享受安慰，而忘記了天主的榮耀必須是我們所有行為的最高目的，尤其是在祈禱和神修活動中。」
驕傲的人喜歡誇大自己的優點，用放大鏡檢視別人的缺點，卻對自己的缺點視而不見。耶穌說：「為什麼你只看見你兄弟眼中的木屑，而對自己眼中的大樑竟不理會呢？」（瑪7:3）
根據Tanqueray神父的說法，驕傲所生的主要缺點是自負、野心和虛榮。「自負是指一種無節制的欲望和希望，想要做超過自己能力的事情。」「野心是無節制的對榮譽、尊位和權力的喜愛。」「虛榮是無節制的對被人讚美的喜愛。」
無節制地渴望他人的讚美會破壞我們善行的價值。耶穌告誡我們說：「你們應當心，不要在人前行你們的仁義，為叫他們看；若是這樣，你們在天父之前，就沒有賞報了。」（瑪6:1）
聖女傅天娜寫道：「在彌撒聖祭中，我了解到某位神父在靈魂上並沒有多大的果效，因為他只想着自己，因此他是孤獨的。天主的恩寵便遠離他；他依賴一些在天主眼中毫無重要性的外在小事；由於他的驕傲，他白白浪費了時間，徒勞無功。」
Tanqueray神父說，對抗驕傲的最佳補救方法是「承認天主是所有善的源頭，因此一切榮譽和光榮都屬於祂。就我們自己而言，我們只是虛無和罪惡，因此只配得到遺忘和蔑視。」
靈修經典《看不見的戰爭》(Unseen Warfare)的作者寫道：「了解自己的微不足道，並牢記你自己無法做出任何使你配得上天國的事。聽聽具智慧的教父們的見證。大馬士革的伯多祿安慰我們說：『沒有比了解自己的脆弱和無知更好的了，而沒有比毫無意識到自己的脆弱和無知更糟的了。』聖瑪西默教導我們：『每種德行的基礎是理解人性的脆弱。』金口聖若望告訴我們：『只有認為自己一無所有的人，才能真正了解自己。』」
聖母教導聖女傅天娜說：「靈魂的真正偉大在於愛天主和在祂面前謙卑，完全忘記自己，相信自己是微不足道的，因為天主是偉大的，但祂只喜悅謙卑的人，祂總是反對驕傲的人。」
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