Humility
Christ is Risen! In Truth He is Risen!
“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
(Mt. 18:4)
“How is it that the Saints never recognize their saintliness? Simply put: they see themselves in comparison to God. The sinfulness they see in themselves is the truth, because before God, who is infinitely holy, infinitely perfect, they cannot escape the reality of their unholiness and imperfection. … Along with their repentance and contrition there is an indescribable joy, peace, gentleness, and love.” Thirty Steps to Heaven
My resources for this two podcast will be:
- The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John Climacus
- Thirty Steps to Heaven, The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life, Archmandrite Vassilious Papavassilios
- Abba Dorotheos, Discourses and Sayings
Abba Dorotheos, Discourses and Sayings
“One of the fathers used to say, ‘Before anything else we need humility: being ready to listen whenever a word is spoken to us, and to say, ‘I submit’, because through humility every device of the enemy, every kind of obstacle, is destroyed.’ … The holy man wishes to show us that neither the fear of God, nor faith, nor self-control, nor anyone of the other virtues can set us right without humility.”
Being ready to listen – to obey – which was part of our last podcast. Humility and Obedience work hand in hand. We cannot practice one without the other.
St John Climacus
“Humility is not merely one of the virtues–it is the virtue that makes all others possible and that purifies our wills and motives…
If pride turned some of the angels into demons, then humility can doubtless make angels out of demons. So take heart, all you sinners.”
I do take heart! But what a struggle it has been for me, a first born baby boomer to understand what it means to be truly humble.
“There is a difference between being humble, striving for humility, and praising the humble.”
Certainly I have no trouble praising the humble!
Perhaps I am off base here, but I would say most of us are in the ‘striving to be humble’ category. We manage to be humble part of the time, but not all of the time.
“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Mt. 23:12
Let’s look at some concrete examples and helpful hints about the nature of humility:
- Humility is constant forgetfulness of one’s achievements… In theory I would like to be living this, but wanting recognition is so ingrained in me. I have even managed to get recognition in a humble way, but that is not humility. We are fulfilling God’s plan for us through acquiring humility, which is victory over our passions vs. worldly success.
- The admission that in all the world, one is the least important and is also the greatest sinner…. I could not possibly be as bad as so and so that I just judged or gossiped about – oops! I failed again miserably to be humble and non-judgmental!
- It is the mind’s awareness that one is weak and helpless…. How many of us want to be weak and helpless? Yet, when we are at our weakest points in life, is that not when we have the most profound sense that God is truly with us, carrying us through our struggles?
- It is to forestall one’s neighbor at a contentious moment and to be the first to end a quarrel… When I feel hurt, wronged or that I am right, I have to fight to lower myself to the ground – hummus – the earth from which the word humility is derived.
- The acknowledgment of divine grace and divine mercy… We give acknowledgment to God first. He is the source of everything good. The Jesus Prayer helps me with this one.
- The disposition of a contrite soul… seeing how my actions and thoughts effect or hurt others. Acknowledging my state of sin helps me to be contrite.
- The abdication of one’s will… practicing being non-judgmental and obedient helps with this one.
“Humility is a grace in the soul and with a name known only to those who have experienced it.”
Grace does come to my soul when I manage to be humble – Glory to God! Thank you St. John!
“The monk got up and on the wall of his cell he wrote in sequence the names of the major virtues: perfect love, angelic humility, pure prayer, unassailable chastity, and others of a similar kind. The result was that whenever vainglorious thoughts began to puff him up, he would say: “Come let us go to be judged.” Going to the wall he read the names they there and would cry out to himself: “When you have every one of these virtues within you, then you will have an accurate sense of how far from God you still are.”
Here are some more helpful hints about humility, especially in prayer:
Thirty Steps to Heaven, the Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life
“This is why, in the services of the church, our prayers are always simple, modest, and spiritual in nature: we ask for mercy, forgiveness, guidance, deliverance, and salvation.”
Prayer is the means God gave us to be in communication with Him – to give ourselves to Him in prayer. Prayer is meant to be our offering to God – no strings attached! We cannot judge God if He does not answer us right away – He knows what is best for us and when to answer our prayers.
“We do not ask for wealth, success, the fulfillment of our wishes and ambitions. If we pray for the latter things, we are not really praying at all, at least not to the true God. Instead we are praying to the god of our imagination and ego–the god who gives me exactly what I want or may give me what I want if I do certain things to appease him. Those who truly know God do not pray that way.”
This form of prayer is taking from God and quite pagan.
St John Climacus
“Who, or what, begets humility?” is God himself.
“And if I am moved to tears, it is because I acknowledge that I am what I am only because of His love, compassion, and holiness, and not by any virtue of my own.”
This is the quote I feel has the deepest meaning for me and captures the essence of humility. I have nothing to do with who I am except that I have lovingly turned my will towards God.
Abba Dorotheos, Discourses and Sayings
“This seems a strange thing, for humility alone is the opposite to vainglory, and it is from this, I suppose, that it guards a man… Humility is a great thing (as we keep on saying) and it is powerful to bring down grace to the soul.”
“Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” James 4:6
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” James 4:10
Let us strive brothers and sisters in the Lord to humble ourselves and be obedient to our Lord who humbled Himself for our sakes and was obedient unto death– and we will feel the grace of the Resurrection even more deeply this Pascal season.
Christ is Risen! In Truth He is Risen!
Veronica Hughes
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