Caput XXI
The Marks of the Proud Soul
Odo describes the telltale signs of pride: eagerness to insult but slowness to endure, resistance to counsel, self-promotion, contempt for others, emotional excess, and false humility—contrasting these with the humble who undervalue themselves and are commended by Christ.
By these signs the one whom he has possessed is indeed detected: he always makes that person headlong toward inflicting insults, but sluggish toward enduring them. Hence in a matter he does not willingly desire, he allows himself to be bent by no exhortations. But for what he secretly desires, he seeks through a likeness, so that he is compelled — and he thrusts himself forward, even if no one invites him. He always despises others' works and always admires his own; he believes he alone does everything, and if no one has praised him, he nevertheless proclaims his own praises — either silently to himself, or even aloud through a voice of ostentation. In sadness or in joy he almost always exceeds proper measure — loud in voice, excessive in silence, composed in words and bearing, but scattered in action. He sometimes assumes an appearance of humility, but whether by a nod of the eyes or by his speech, what sort of person he is within becomes known before long — one who often accomplishes great things, if he is permitted to act according to his own judgment. But on the contrary, the humble are always timid and always suspicious of themselves; they have this distinctive trait: they always undervalue their own works. Whence also at the judgment, when he himself as judge has praised them, saying: 'Come, blessed of my Father,' etc.✦
Pride and Humility at the Judgment
At the last judgment the humble, clinging to their habitual humility, will be astonished to hear Christ's praise, while the proud attempt to excuse themselves even under divine rebuke; humility is therefore a shelter against God's wrath and the mark of the elect.
(Matt. XXV:34), still clinging to their habitual humility, they will answer: 'Lord, when did we do these things or those things for you?' (Matt.✦ XXV:37)?✦ The proud, on the other hand, try to excuse themselves even when God himself rebukes them. The humble, then, will hide themselves under humility as if under a shelter, and they principally fight with humility against the divine wrath directed at pride. Just as you guard your eye more carefully against violent blows in your own body, so they, watching over humility within themselves more zealously, always stand in fear among the virtues. Because our Redeemer guides the hearts of the humble, and he himself says to blessed Job that Leviathan is the king of the proud, let each one consider whether he has humility or pride. You will easily discover, as if by a certain sign, under which king he serves, since pride is altogether the most manifest mark of the reprobate, and on the other hand, humility is the mark of the elect. Therefore pride is an abomination; humility is a sacrifice.✦
The Poor in Spirit and the Sacrifice of Humility
Scripture declares that the proud heart is abominable before God, while a broken spirit is God's true sacrifice; the poor in spirit rarely fall into pride's abomination, whereas the rich scarcely ever offer humility's sacrifice.
For of that [pride] it is said: Everyone who exalts his own heart is abominable before God (Deut.✦ 22:5). Of this [humility] indeed: A broken spirit is a sacrifice to God (Ps. 50:19). The poorer in spirit people are, the more rarely they fall into that abomination; but the rich scarcely ever find this sacrifice.
Read the original Latin
His vero indiciis deprehenditur, quem possederit, semper hunc ad inferendas contumelias facit praecipitem, ad sufferendas vero pigrum. Hinc in ea re quam sponte non appetit, nullis exhortationibus flecti patitur. Ad hoc autem quod latenter desiderat quaerit per similitudinem ut cogatur, et ipse se ingerit, si contingat ut a nullo invitetur. Semper aliena opera despicit, semper sua miratur, singulariter se cuncta agere credit, et si nullus collaudaverit, ipse tamen suas laudes aut tacitus, aut etiam per ostentationis vocem clamat. In tristitia vero sive in laetitia pene semper modum excedit, clamosus in voce, in silentio nimius, verbis et habitu compositus, actione dissipatus. Humilitatis speciem interdum assumit; sed vel oculorum nutu, vel sermone, qualis intus sit post paululum innotescit, qui saepe magna gerit, si haec juxta suum arbitrium agere permittatur. At contra humiles semper pavidi, semperque suspecti, hoc habent proprium ut semper opera sua parvipendant. Unde et in judicio cum ipse judex eos laudaverit dicens: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, etc.
(Matth. XXV, 34), ipsi consuetam adhuc humilitatem retinentes respondebunt: Domine, quando ista vel illa fecimus (Matth. XXV, 37)? Cum econtra superbi etiam Deo increpante excusare se nituntur. Humiles itaque cum humilitate, quasi sub quodam tegmine sese abscondent, et a divina nimia adversione contra superbiam principaliter pugnant, et quasi contra vehementes ictus oculum in suo corpore magis custodiunt, dum studiosius in se humilitatem tuentes semper se inter virtutes timent. Quia vero Redemptor noster corda regit humilium, et ipse ad beatum Job dicit, quod Leviathan rex sit superborum, consideret quisque utrum humilitatem an superbiam habeat. Facile veluti quodam indicio reperiet, sub quo rege militat, quoniam omnino manifestissimum signum reproborum superbia est, et econtra humilitas electorum. Itaque superbia abominatio est, humilitas sacrificium.
Nam de illa dicitur: Abominabilis est apud Deum omnis qui exaltat cor suum (Deut. XXII, 5). De ista vero: Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus (Psal. L, 19). Quanto autem quique pauperiores sunt, tanto in illam abominationem rarius incurrunt, at vero istud sacrificium divites vix inveniunt.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.25.34 — Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'
- ↩Matt.25.34 — Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'
- ↩Matt.25.37 — Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?'
- ↩Deut.22.5;Ps.51.19 — A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God. Ps.51.19 — The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and crushed heart, O God, You will not despise.
- ↩Deut.22.5 — A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.
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