Pride is one of the capital sins. Pope Francis defined it this way: “pride is self-exaltation, conceit, vanity... The proud man is one who thinks he is much more than he really is; one who frets about being recognized as greater than others, always wants to see his own merits recognized, and despises others, deeming them inferior to himself... In fact, within this evil lies the radical sin, the absurd claim to be like God.”
He added that a person “succumbing” to the vice of pride can have these physical characteristics: “the proud man is haughty, he has a ‘stiff neck,’ that is, he has a stiff neck that does not bend. He is a man easily led to scornful judgment: with no reason, he passes irrevocable judgments on others, who seem to him hopelessly inept and incapable. In his haughtiness, he forgets that Jesus assigned us very few moral precepts in the Gospels, but on one of them he was uncompromising: never judge... Salvation comes through humility, the true remedy for every act of pride.”
In one of his prophetic dreams, St. John Bosco saw the devil represented by a fierce bull attacking and killing as many people as he could—but he could not reach those who lied down humbly before God.
Father Alban Butler wrote about St. Anthony of Egypt: “once the saint saw in a vision the whole earth covered so thick with snares, that it seemed scarce possible to set down a foot without falling into them. At this sight he cried out, trembling: ‘Who, O Lord, can escape them all?’ A voice answered him: ‘Humility, O Antony!’”
Pride is the sin of the devil. St. John Climacus stated: “humility is the only virtue no devil can imitate.”
St. Melania the Younger said it this way: “for the devil can copy all our good deeds that we seem to do, yet, in truth, he is conquered by love and by humility. I mean something of this sort: we fast, but he eats nothing at all; we keep vigil, but he never sleeps. Let us thus hate arrogance since it was through this fault that he fell from the heavens and by it he wishes to carry us down with him. Let us also flee the vainglory of this age that fades like a plant’s flower.”
St. Vincent de Paul called humility “the most powerful weapon to conquer the devil.” Why? “He does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”
Humility is the foundation of all other virtues and many saints have offered creative metaphors to describe it. St. John Chrysostom called humility “the mother, root, nurse, foundation, and center of all other virtues.” St. John Vianney said “humility is to the various virtues what the chain is to the rosary; take away the chain and the beads are scattered, remove humility and all virtues vanish.”
St. Francis de Sales called humility and charity “the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them.” St. Pio said something very similar: “humility and charity are the main supports of the whole vast building and all the other virtues depend on them.”
St. Aelred of Rievaulx believed that “the one who loses humility will not be able to preserve chastity of the flesh.”
Our Lady told St. Faustina: “I desire, my dearly beloved daughter, that you practice the three virtues that are dearest to me and most pleasing to God. The first is humility, humility, and once again humility; the second virtue, purity; the third virtue, love of God. As my daughter, you must especially radiate with these virtues.”
The saint wrote, “now I understand why there are so few saints; it is because so few souls are deeply humble.” She believed a person who wants to learn true humility “should reflect upon the passion of Jesus.”
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.”
Humility allows us to experience the providence of God. St. John Eudes said, “the humbler we become, the more will God protect us and convert all things to our welfare.”
Blessed Solanus Casey said, “God’s plans are always for the best, always wonderful. But most especially for the patient and the humble who trust in Him are His plans unfathomably holy and sublime.” Then, he added: “If you can honestly humble yourself, your victory is won.”
St. Alphonsus de Liguori wrote, “no one can please God without being humble, for he cannot bear the proud. He has promised to hear those who pray to him; but if a proud man prays to him, the Lord hears him not; to the humble, on the contrary, he dispenses his graces: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6)”
謙卑征服魔鬼
驕傲是七宗罪之一。教宗方濟各說：「驕傲是自我抬高、自負、虛榮…。驕傲的人認為自己遠比實際的要偉大；他渴望被認為比他人更卓越，總是希望自己的優點得到認可，並藐視他人，認為他們低於自己…。事實上，在這種邪惡中隱藏著根本性的罪，這是一種荒謬的聲稱：想要像天主一樣…。這裡有一長串症狀，揭示了一個人如何屈服於驕傲的罪惡。這是一種有明顯外在表現的邪惡：驕傲的人傲慢自大，他有「硬脖子」，即他有一個不屈的脖子。他很容易對他人做出輕蔑的評判：毫無理由地對他人做出不可改變的判斷，認為他人毫無希望且無能。在他的傲慢中，雖然耶穌在福音中很少給我們道德誡命，但他忘記了有一條是毫不妥協的：絕不評判他人…。救恩來自謙卑，這是真正治癒每一個驕傲行為的良藥。」
Alban Butler 神父寫到關於埃及聖安當的事跡：「聖人曾在異象中看到整個大地覆蓋著如此密集的陷阱，幾乎無法放下一隻腳而不掉入其中。看到這一幕，他顫抖地喊道：『主啊，誰能逃避這些陷阱呢？』 一個聲音回答他：『謙卑，吁，安當！』」
在聖若望·鮑思高的一個預言夢中，他看到魔鬼化身為一頭兇猛的獅子，正在攻擊並殺害盡可能多的人，但那些謙卑地伏在天主面前的人，魔鬼卻無法觸及他們。
驕傲是魔鬼的罪過。聖若望·克利馬古指出：「謙卑是唯一魔鬼無法模仿的美德。」聖幼梅肋尼亞寫道：「魔鬼可以模仿我們所有看似做出的善行，但實際上，卻被愛和謙卑所征服。我指的是這樣的情況：我們禁食，但魔鬼根本不吃任何東西；我們守夜，但魔鬼從不睡覺。因此，我們應當厭惡驕傲，因為正是因為這罪，魔鬼從天堂墜落，而也希望通過驕傲將我們與魔鬼一起帶入深淵。我們也應當避開這個時代的虛榮，因為虛榮像植物的花朵一樣凋謝。」聖雲先說：「征服魔鬼的最強大武器是謙卑。因為魔鬼根本不知道甚麼是謙卑，也不知道如何防禦謙卑。」
謙卑是所有其他德行的基礎。聖若望·金口說：「謙卑是所有其他德行的母親、根源、養育者、基礎和核心。」 聖若翰·維雅納說：「謙卑對各種德行的作用就像鏈子連接玫瑰念珠的作用；取走了鏈子，珠子就會散開，失去了謙卑，所有的德行都會散落。」聖方濟·沙雷說：「謙卑和仁愛是兩根主弦：一是最低的；另一是最高的；其他所有德行都依賴着。」聖畢奧也有類似的說法：「謙卑和仁愛是整個龐大建築的主要支柱，所有其他德行都依賴於謙卑和仁愛。」聖艾爾雷德說：「失去謙卑的人將無法保持肉體的貞潔。」
1937年12月8日，聖母對聖傅天娜說：「我親愛的女兒，我希望你能實踐三個我最珍愛、並且最令天主喜悅的德行。第一個是謙卑、謙卑、還是謙卑；第二個德行是純潔；第三個德行是愛天主。作為我的女兒，你必須特別彰顯這些德行。」聖人寫道：「現在我明白為什麼聖人這麼少了；那是因為如此少的靈魂真正深具謙卑。」「誰若想學習真正的謙卑，就應該默想耶穌的苦難。」聖多瑪斯·阿奎納說：「如果你尋求謙卑的榜樣，請看被釘十字架上的那一位，因為天主願意接受般雀比拉多的審判並且處死。」
謙卑使我們能夠體驗到天主的眷顧。聖若翰·尤德斯說：「我們越謙卑，天主就會越保護我們，並將一切轉成我們的福祉。」真福凱西說：「天主的計劃總是最好的，總是奇妙的。但對於那些耐心且謙卑地信靠祂的人而言，祂的計劃是無法測度的神聖和崇高。」凱西神父補充說：「如果你能誠實地謙卑自己，你就已經獲得了勝利。」
聖亞豐索寫道：「沒有人能不謙卑而取悅天主，因為祂不能忍受驕傲的人。祂曾應許聆聽那些向祂祈禱的人；但如果驕傲的人向祂祈禱，天主是不聽的；相反地，祂會將恩寵賜予謙卑的人：『天主拒絕驕傲人，卻賞賜恩寵於謙遜人。』（雅各伯書 4:6）」
Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here.