De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae
The Trinity's Work in the Soul's Ascent
The Trinity cooperates distinctly yet undividedly in the soul's three steps of humility, with the Son, Spirit, and Father each working in turn.
Here a certain wonderful and, though divided, undivided working of the Trinity shines through to me — if in any way that ineffable distinction of persons cooperating with one another can be grasped by a person sitting in darkness. In the first grade, indeed, the Son is seen to work; in the second, the Holy Spirit; in the third, the Father.123
The Son's Work: Humility in the First Step
The Son works in the first step by teaching and modeling humility, as shown in Christ's washing of the disciples' feet.
Do you want to hear about the Son's work? "If I," he said, "your Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, how much more ought you to wash one another's feet?"✦ The Master, who was truth itself, was handing on to the disciples a model of humility, by which truth might first become known to them in the first step.
The Holy Spirit's Work: Love in the Second Step
The Holy Spirit pours out love so that those humbled by the Son may advance to the second step through compassion for their neighbor.
Consider also the work of the Holy Spirit: love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.✦ Love, to be sure, is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and it is by this gift that those who, under the discipline of the Son, have already advanced through humility all the way to the first step of truth, may arrive at the second step through compassion for their neighbor, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The Father's Work: Revelation to the Lowly
The Father reveals truth not to the wise but to the humble, as shown in Christ's words to Simon Peter and in thanksgiving for hiding mysteries from the proud.
Listen also to what is said about the Father: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven"; and that other word: "The Father will make your truth known to his children"; and: "I give you thanks, Father, for you have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little ones."✦✦
The Trinitarian Pattern of Spiritual Formation
The Son humbles disciples, the Spirit comforts friends, and the Father exalts sons, yet all three Persons share in the one work of Truth across the three steps.
You see that those whom the Son first humbled by his word and example, upon whom the Spirit then poured out love, the Father at last received in glory? The Son makes disciples, the Paraclete comforts friends, the Father exalts sons. Because not only the Son is called Truth, but the Father and the Holy Spirit are also truly called Truth, it is clear that these three — with the distinct property of each Person preserved — are what the one and same Truth works in the three steps. First, he instructs as a teacher; second, he comforts as a friend or brother; third, he binds close as a father binds his sons.
Read the original Latin
Interlucet hic mihi mira quaedam ac divisa individuae Trinitatis operatio, si quo modo tamen ab homine sedente in tenebris ineffabilis illa possit capi cooperantium sibi personarum divisio, In primo siquidem gradu Filius, in secundo Spiritus Sanctus, in tertio Pater operari videtur.
Vis audire Filii operationem? Si ego, inquit, lavi vos pedes Dominus et magister, quanto magis et vos debetis alter alterius lavare pedes? Tradebat discipulis humilitatis formam veritatis Magister, qua in primo gradu primum eis veritas innotesceret. Attende et opus Spiritum Sancti: Caritas diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum qui datus est nobis. Caritas quippe donum Spiritus Sancti est, qua fit, ut qui sub disciplina Filii per humilitatem ad primum usque gradum veritatis iam profecerunt, ad secundum per compassionem proximi, sub magisterio Spiritus Sancti perveniant. Audi et de Patre: Beatus es, Simon Bariona, quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, se Pater meus qui in caelis est; et illud: Pater filiis notam faciet veritatem tuam; et: Confiteor tibi, Pater, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et revelasti ea parvulis.
Vides quia quos verbo et exemplo prius Filius humiliavit, super quos deinde Spiritus caritatem effudit, hos tandem in gloria Pater recepit? Filius facit discipulos, Paraclitus consolatur amicos, Pater exaltat filios. Quia vero non solum Filius, sed et Pater et Spiritus Sanctus veraciter Veritas appellantur, constat quos una eademque Veritas, servata proprietate personarum, tria haec in tribus gradibus operatur. Primo scilicet instruit, ut magister; secundo consolatur, ut amicus vel frater; tertio adstringit, ut filios pater.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.13.14 — If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
- ↩Rom.5.5 — And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- ↩Matt.16.17 — But Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
- ↩Matt.11.25;Luke.10.21 — At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to infants.'" Use "for" to strengthen the prayer's causal movement and reduce repetition with v.26. Luke.10.21 — In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will before you."
Notes
- 1 ↩The conditional clause 'si quo modo tamen' is syntactically complex; 'tamen' qualifies the possibility concessively — 'if in any way at all' — acknowledging the difficulty of grasping the mystery from within human darkness.
- 2 ↩The paradox 'ac divisa individuae' captures the Trinitarian mystery: the operation is divided among the persons yet belongs to the indivisible Trinity.
- 3 ↩Gradus here means a step or stage in the ascent of truth, as outlined in the preceding chapter (GradH.1.20.4).
De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae (On the Steps of Humility and Pride) companion
Humility is climbed one day at a time
Take the next step each morning with a free daily devotional in Chosen Portion.
Bernard frames humility as a ladder climbed by small repeated acts; Chosen Portion turns that into practice with one daily devotional step at a time.
- A daily 10-minute portion focused on one virtue at a time
- Re-take the 12-step self-check monthly and see real movement
- Historic texts like Bernard's, one readable portion per day