Humility
“He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” — St. Luke 14:11
SIXTEENTH DAY.
When you see one who desires honors and flees abjection, and who when meeting persecution or contempt is troubled and complains, be assured that even should he work miracles, he is far from perfection, his virtue is without foundation. — St. Thomas Aquinas.
This saint abhorred honors and praise. Clement IV offered him the Archbishopric of Naples. He not only refused, but obtained the favor from the same Pontiff that he would never offer him any other dignity. It was through pure obedience that he took the degree of Doctor. He rejoiced when in college that one, whose master he might have been, but who had been given to him as a teacher, called him the dumb ox, attributing his silence to ignorance and want of talent. One day, while reading publicly during dinner, he was ordered to pronounce a word in a different manner. He repeated the immediately as he was told, though he was sure it was wrong. “It matters little,” he said afterwards to one of his companions, “to make a syllable long or short; but it is of extreme importance to be humble and obedient.”
Prayer.
Lord, grant that I may be afflicted and that I may suffer when I receive marks of esteem and respect, when I am praised, or when I am preferred to others. I deserve to be despised, to be hated by all creatures, because I am a great sinner. Alas! I have scarcely done anything but offend Thee all my life.