De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae
The Three Foods of the Spiritual Journey
The soul's threefold nourishment is described: the bitter bread of purgative humility, the sweet feast of love, and the solid strength of contemplation.
The first food, then, is that of humility — purgative, with its bitterness; the second is that of love — consoling, with its sweetness; the third is that of contemplation — solid, with its strength.
A Cry from the Depths of Dryness
The soul laments its spiritual aridity, crying out to God with the psalmist's words about being fed with bread of tears.
Woe is me, Lord God of hosts — how long will you be angry with your servant's prayer? You feed me with bread of tears, and you give me tears to drink.✦
Longing for the Feast of Love
The soul yearns to be invited to the middle feast of love, where it may exchange bitterness for the joy of sincerity and truth before God.
Who will invite me to that middle and sweet feast of love, where the just banquet in the sight of God and delight in joy — so that, no longer speaking in the bitterness of my soul, I may say to God: Do not condemn me, but feasting on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, I may joyfully sing in the ways of the Lord, because great is the glory of the Lord?✦✦
The Way of Humility Leads to Grace
The way of humility is affirmed as the good path through which truth is sought, love is gained, Christ is known as the fulfillment of the law, and grace is given to the humble.
Still, the way of humility is a good way: through it truth is sought, love is gained, and the treasures of wisdom are shared. In the end, just as Christ is the fulfillment of the law, so the perfection of humility is the knowledge of truth.✦ When Christ came, he brought grace. Truth, once it is known, gives love; but it reveals itself to the humble. Therefore it is to the humble that grace is given.
Read the original Latin
Primus ergo cibus est humilitatis, purgatorius cum amaritudine; secundus caritatis, consolatorius cum dulcedine; tertius contemplationis, solidus cum fortitudine. Ei mihi, Domine Deus virtutum, quousque irasceris super orationem servi tui, cibabis me pane lacrimarum, et potum dabis mihi in lacrimis? Quis me invitabit ad illud vel medium ac dulce caritatis convivium, ubi iusti epulantur in conspectu Dei, et delectantur in laetitia, ut iam non loquens in amaritudine animae meae, dicam Deo: Noli me condemnare, sed epulando in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis, laetus cantem in viis Domini, quoniam magna est gloria Domini?
Bona tamen via humilitatis, qua veritas inquiritur, caritas acquiritur, generationes sapientiae participantur. Denique sicut finis legis Christus, sic perfecto humilitatis cognitio veritatis. Christus, cum venit, attulit gratiam. Veritas quibus innotuerit, dat caritatem; innotescit autem humilibus: humilibus ergo dat gratiam.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.79.5-Ps.79.6 — How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Ps.79.6 — Pour out your wrath upon the nations that do not know you, and upon the kingdoms that do not call upon your name.
- ↩1Cor.5.8 — So let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
- ↩Ps.137.5 — If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.
- ↩Rom.10.4 — For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
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