Humility
“He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” — St. Luke 14:11
EIGHTEENTH DAY.
He who is truly humble can never persuade himself that any one can do him wrong. What a thought! — that He Who is our Creator bears with so many injuries from His creatures, and we are wounded by a word! It matters little if we are esteemed or not, whether good or evil is said of us. Honors should be to us a greater affliction than injuries or insult. — St. Teresa.
When St. Francis of Sales saw that some were afflicted because he had been calumniated, he said: “Let them alone. It is a cross of words, a breath of air, the remembrance of which should perish with its sound. One must be very delicate to be unable to suffer the bite of a fly. What wrong can they do us by having an evil opinion of us, when we should have the same opinion of ourselves?”
Prayer.
How can any one wrong me, O my God — I who have offended Thee, and who have so often deserved hell? I am a monster of ingratitude against whom all creatures should arise to avenge the outrages I have committed against Thee.