> [[bc-td-02|← Previous]] | [[bc-twelve-degrees-toc|TOC]] | [[bc-td-04|Next →]] # Part I — The Twelve Degrees of Humility ## Chapter I — The Search for Truth Christ the Goal and the Road I propose to speak of the degrees of humility, as St. Benedict sets them before us, as not only to be enumerated but to be attained. And I will first indicate, to the best of my ability, the goal that may be reached by their means, so that when you have heard the result of its attainment, the toil involved in the ascent may be less severely felt. So let our Lord set before us the difficulties that we shall encounter, and the reward that we shall receive for our toilsome journey. _I am,_ saith He, _The Way and the Truth and the Life._ (1) He calls humility 'the way' because it leads to the truth. In the former lies the labour, in the latter is the reward. But, you may ask, how am I to know that He was here speaking of humility, since He says without further explanation, _I am the Way?_ Listen to His more explicit statement, _Learn_ _of me because I am meek and humble of heart._ (2) In this He exhibits Himself as a type of humility, a model of meekness. If you imitate Him, you are not walking in darkness, but you will have the light of life. What is the light of life, unless it be the truth, which lightens every man that comes into the world, and shows us wherein true life consists? 1\. St. John XIV. 6. 2\. St. Matt. XI. 29. For this reason, to those words of His _I am the Way and the Truth,_ He added _and the Life,_ as though He meant to say, I am the way because I lead to the truth, I am the truth because I promise life, I am myself the life which I give. _For this,_ saith He, _is life eternal,_ _that they may know thee the true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent._ (1) But admitting this, you may still say, I recognize humility as the way; I long for truth as the reward; but what if the toil of the journey be so great that I am unable to reach the desired goal? To this He replies, _I am the life,_ that is the provision for the journey by which you will be supported on the way. So He exclaims to the wanderers and to those who do not know the road, _I am the way,_ to the doubters and disbelievers, _I am the truth,_ to those who have begun the ascent and are getting tired, _I am the life._I think that it has been made sufficiently clear by the passage quoted from the Gospel that the reward of humility is the apprehension of the truth. And take another passage, _I praise_ _thee, Father of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things_ (2) (that undoubtedly means 'secret truths') _from the wise and prudent_ (that is from the proud) _and_ _hast revealed them unto babes_ (that is to the humble). 1\. St. John XVII. 2\. St. Matt. XI. 25. This affords further evidence that the truth which is withheld from the proud, is disclosed to the humble. And the following may be taken as the definition of humility. It is the virtue which enables a man to see himself in his true colours and thereby to discover his worthlessness. And this is the characteristic virtue of those _who are disposed in their_ _hearts to ascend by steps_ (1) from virtue to virtue, until they reach the summit of humility; where, standing on Sion as on a watch-tower, they may survey the truth. _For,_ saith the Psalmist, _the law-giver shall give a blessing._ (2) He then who gave the law will also provide the blessing that is to say, he who has prescribed humility will conduct us to the truth. And who is this lawgiver but the kind and righteous Lord who has given a law to those who fail in the way? And surely those who have forsaken the truth have failed on the way. But are they on that account forsaken by the kind Lord? Nay, but it is for these very persons that the kind and righteous Lord prescribes the path of humility, by their return to which they may discover the truth. 1\. Ps. LXXXIV. 5 (LXXXIII. 6, Vulg.). The text is a correct rendering of the Vulgate _'ascensiones in corde suo_ _disposuit'_ and closely follows the Septuagint, but differs considerably from the Hebrew, the Revised Version of which is 'in whose heart are the highways [to Zion]'. 2\. Ps. LXXXIII. 8, Vulg. V. LXX. He allows them an opportunity of regaining salvation because He is kind, yet not without the discipline of law because He is righteous. In His kindness He will not permit their ruin, in His righteousness He cannot omit their punishment. ## Chapter II — The Ladder of Humility, Foreshadowed by That Which Jacob Saw in His Vision. The Refreshment Provided by Christ -- Humility, Love, and Contemplation -- of Which Love Is the Central Course, as on Solomon's Table St. Benedict enumerates twelve degrees in this law by which the return to truth is made; so that as access to Christ is gained when the Ten Commandments and the two-fold circumcision (1) -- which together make up the number of twelve -- have been passed, truth may likewise be attained by passing through these twelve degrees. And what can be the significance of the fact that the Lord appeared leaning over that ladder which was shown to Jacob as a symbol of humility, but that the recognition of truth begins when the height of humility is reached? For then the Lord, whose eyes, as He is the embodiment of truth, could neither deceive nor be deceived, was looking down from the top of that ladder over the sons of men to discover whether there is anyone who understands orseeks after God. 1\. There is patristic and scholastic authority for the expression _gemina circumcisio_. And does He not seem to you to cry aloud from on high and to say to those who seek Him (for He knows who are His) _Come over to me ye who desire me, and be filled with_ _fruits,_ (1) and also, _Come unto me ye who labour and are burdened and I will refresh_ _you?_ (2) But what refreshments is this that Truth promises to those who attempt and gives to those who attain? Is it perchance love? Then this it is at which, as St. Benedict says, the monk who has passed through all the degrees of humility will ere long arrive. Truly love is delightful and pleasant food, supplying, as it does, rest to the weary, strength to the weak, and joy to the sorrowful. It in fact renders the yoke of truth easy and its burden light. Love is good food, (3) which, as the central dish on Solomon's dinner table, by the aroma of various virtues as by the fragrance of different condiments, refreshes those who are hungry and delights those who give the refreshment. (4) 1\. Ecclus. XXIV. 26. 2\. St. Matt. XI. 28. 3\. The reference is to Cant. III. 9, 10, which stands in the Vulgate _Ferculum fecit sibi Rex Solomon de lignis_ _Libani... media caritate constravit, propter filias Jerusalem_, and is correctly rendered in the Douai version 'King Solomon made him a litter of the wood of Libanus the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem.' The word _ferculum_ has, however, two senses, (1) a 'litter ', (2) a 'dinner tray.' 4\. _'esurientes reficit, jocundat reficientes.'_ The sense of these words is somewhat obscure. We should have expected the passive refectos with the meaning 'refreshes those who are hungry, and pleases them as they are refreshed.' But the active participle does not admit such a rendering, and can refer only to those who give the refreshment.' For on it are set out peace, patience, kindness, forbearance, joy in the Holy Ghost; (1) and if there are any other products of truth or of wisdom, they too are there. Humility also has her dishes on the same tray, namely, the bread of affliction and the wine of remorse. These are the things which Truth offers in the first place to beginners, for to them it is said, Rise after ye have sat down, ye who eat the bread of sorrow. (2) There also contemplation has its solid food, made of the fat essence of the corn, and the wine that maketh glad the heart of man. To this food Truth invites those who have accomplished their course, saying: _Eat, my friends, and drink and be inebriated, my dearly-beloved._ (3) _The midst,_ saith he, _he covered with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem_ (4) that is to say, for the sake of the immature souls which, while they are as yet unable to receive solid food, must meanwhile be fed with the milk of love instead of with bread, and with oil instead of with wine. 1\. Rom. XIV. 17. 2\. The reference is to Ps. CXXVII. 2. 3\. Cant. V. 1. The same verse is quoted in the treatise _De diligendo Deo_, cap. XI, 31, 33. 'Hear the Bridegroom in the Canticle inviting to three stages of this progress. Eat, he saith, O friends and drink! yea be inebriated, O beloved. Those still labouring in the body, He summoned to food; those who, having laid down the body, are at rest; He inviteth to drink; those who resume.the body, He impels to inebriation; andthese He calls beloved, as most full of love.' 4\. Cant. III. 10. And love is rightly called the central course, because beginners are unable, through their timidity, to take advantage of its sweetness, while to those who have arrived at maturity it is an insufficient substitute for the deeper delight of full vision. The first still require to be cleansed, by a very bitter dose of fear, from the pestilent poison of fleshly lust, and have not yet discovered the sweetness of milk. The latter have already turned away from milk and are revelling in the delight derived from their entrance into glory. Those only in the middle who are on the journey have found some delicious little morsels of love, with which, owing to their weak digestion, they so far have to be content. So the first course is humility, purifying by its bitterness, the second is love, comforting by its sweetness, the third is full vision, secure in its strength. _Alas for me, Lord God of_ _righteousness how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy servant, how long_ _wilt thou feed me with the bread of tears and give me tears for my drink?_ (1) Who will call me even so far as to that delightful company of love, where the righteous feast in the sight of God, (2) and revel in the fulness of their joy; where I need no longer speak in the bitterness of my heart, but may say to God 'condemn me not', if while I feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth, I sing joyously in the paths of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord? Yet good also is the path of humility, for by it truth is sought, love is reached, and a share of the fruits of wisdom is obtained. As in a way Christ is the end of the law, so is He the perfection of humility, and the final apprehension of truth. Christ when He came brought grace. Truth gives grace to those to whom it has become known. But as it is by the humble that it is known, it is to them that it gives grace. 1\. Ps. LXXX (Vulg. LXXIX) 5. 2\. Love is throughout this treatise, as in the latter part of that 'On loving God,' the rendering of caritas, whereas in the former part of that treatise St. Bernard uses the word amor. ## Chapter III — The Process by Which the Road of Humility Leads to the Attainment of Truth. The Three Degrees of Truth. The Teaching of Christ About These. Discussion of the Difficulty Involved in the Statement That He Learned Compassion Through Suffering I have stated, as well as I can do so, the blessings to be gained by passing upwards through the degrees of humility. I will now, to the best of my ability, explain the process by which these lead to the promised prize the attainment of truth. But as the recognition of truth is gradual, I will, if I can do so, indicate its three degrees, in order to make it more clear to which of these the twelfth degree of humility leads. (1) We (2) seek for truth in ourselves; in our neighbours, and in its essential nature. We find it first in ourselves by severe self scrutiny, then in our neighbours by compassionate indulgence, and, finally, in its essential nature by that direct vision which belongs to thepure in heart. Observe both the number and the sequence. To begin with, let Him who is the Truth teach you that you must search for truth in those around you before you look for it in its intrinsic purity. You will afterwards learn why you must search for it in yourself before you do so in your neighbours. Thus in the enumeration of the Beatitudes in His Sermon He placed 'the merciful' before 'the pure in heart'. For the merciful quickly discover truth in their neighbours when they extend their sympathy to them, and so kindly identify themselves with them that they feel their good and evil characteristics as if they were their own. 1\. The highest degree of humility -- in which the eyes are kept steadily downward must be reached before the search for truth in its lowest degree -- knowledge of ourselves -- can be commenced. 2\. The first main division of this part of the treatise begins here and this should really be the commencement of a new chapter. But for convenience of reference, I have here, followed the Benedictine division. They are weak with those that are weak, with those who are offended they burn. They have made it their habit to _rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep._ (1) When their spiritual vision has been made clear and acute by this brotherly love, they delight to gaze on truth for its own sake, and in their affection for it they are indulgent towards errors which are not their own. But how can those who, so far from thus associating themselves with their brethren, insult them in their sorrow and deride them in their joy, possibly discern truth in their neighbours, seeing that they cannot enter into the feelings of others about things of which they have no personal experience? Well, indeed, does the common saying fit them 'a healthy man has no idea of the feelings of one who is ill, nor does a well-fed man realize what a hungry man suffers.' A sick man feels for the sick and a hungry man for the hungry, with familiarity the greater as his own condition approaches theirs. For as pure truth can be' discerned only by one whose heart is pure, so can the sorrow of a brother be most truly felt by one whose heart is sad. But if your heart is to be saddened by the sorrows of others, you must recognize your own evil state, which you may see reproduced in your neighbour, and may thus know how to help him. 1\. Rom. XII. 15. And in this you have the example of our Saviour, who was willing to suffer that He might know how to sympathize, to accept sorrow that He might thus learn to pity. For, as it is written of Him, _He learned obedience by the things which He suffered_, (1) so may He have suffered that He might learn compassion. This, however, does not mean that He, whose compassion was eternal in its origin and its duration, had not hitherto known pity, but that what He knew in His nature in an eternal, He learned by experience in a temporal, sphere. But you may find it difficult to accept my statement that Christ who is the Divine wisdom 'learned compassion', as though it were possible for Him through whom all things were made, ever to have been ignorant of anything; especially in view of the fact that the passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews which I have adduced in support of my argument, may be understood in a different sense, which would not involve us in this difficulty. For, on this interpretation, the words 'He learned' would refer, not to His ownPerson, but to His body which is the Church. In that case the meaning of the sentence, _And He learned obedience by the things that He suffered would be that He learned_ _obedience_ in His body through what He personally suffered. 1\. Heb. V. 8. For what was the meaning of that death, that cross, those insults, spittings and stripes, all of which Christ who is our head endured, unless that they afford to us who are His body, convincing evidence of His Obedience? For Christ, saith Paul, became _obedient to his_ _Father, even unto death._ (1) And what was the need for such obedience? Let the Apostle Peter give the answer: _Christ suffered for us leaving to you an example that you should_ _follow his steps,_ (2) that is that you shall imitate His obedience. So from His sufferings we learn how much we who are mere men, must be prepared to endure for the sake of obedience, in the exercise of which He, who is also God, did not hesitate to die. And this, you may say, is the sense in which it is not unreasonable to allege that Christ learned obedience or compassion, or anything else during His earthly life, although you at the same time believe that it was not possible for Him to acquire while on earth any knowledge which He did not previously possess in His divine Person. Thus He might Himself both learn and teach pity and obedience, since the head and the body is one Christ. 1\. Phil. II. 2\. 1 Pet. II. 21. I do not deny that this verse may reasonably be thus understood. But the former interpretation seems to be supported by another passage in the same Epistle, in which it is said _For nowhere doth he take hold of the angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh_ _hold, wherefore it behoved him in all things to be like unto his brethren, that he might_ _become merciful._ (1) I think that these words have so close a reference to His Person, that they cannot be altogether applicable to His body. It is at any, rate said of the word of God that He 'took', that is He incorporated into His own personality, not 'angels' but 'the seed of Abraham.' For the passage reads not 'the word was made an angel' but _the Word was_ _made flesh,_ (2) and that from the flesh of Abraham, in accordance with the promise made to him. _Whereupon_, that is by reason of this assumption of the seed, _he ought in all things_ _to be like unto his brethren_, that is to say, it was right and necessary that He should be, as we are, susceptible to suffering and should share with us every kind of misfortune with the exception of sin. If you ask 'Wherefore this necessity?' the answer is _that He may_ _become merciful_. And, you may say, why may not this be properly understood as referring to His body? But listen to the words which so closely follow these. _For in that_ _wherein he himself hath suffered and been tempted; he is able to succour them also that_ _are tempted._ (3) 1\. Heb. II. 16 sqq. 2\. John I. 14. 3\. Heb. II. 18. And for these words I can see no better meaning than that He was pleased thus to sufferand to be tempted and to associate Himself with all human misery except sin which is what being 'like unto his brethren in all things' means. in order that He might learn by personal experience to pity and to feel for those who similarly suffer and are tempted. I do not say that this experience added to His knowledge, but that it brought Him closer to us, so that the weak sons of Adam whom He has not disdained to make His own and to call His brethren, need not hesitate to bring their infirmities to Him, who, recognizing what He has Himself endured, as God is able and as their neighbour is desirous to provide the remedy. For this reason Isaiah calls Him _a man of sorrows and acquainted_ _with infirmity_, (1) and the Apostle says, _We have not a High Priest who cannot have_ _compassion on our infirmities_. (2) And to show how He can have such compassion the writer adds, _but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin_. For surely the blessed God, while in that form in which He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, was beyond doubt incapable of suffering before He had emptied Himself,' and taken the form of a slave; and as He had no experience of sorrow or of subjection, He had no opportunity of practising either compassion or obedience. 1\. Is. LIII. 3. 2\. Heb. IV. 15. He had indeed a natural but not an experimental knowledge of these. Yet as He not only laid aside His own dignity, but was made a little lower than the angels, who by favour not by nature are incapable of suffering, He took a form in which it was possible for Him to suffer and to submit, which, as has been stated, He could not have done in that form which was His own. Thus by suffering He learned compassion and by subjection obedience. This experience, however, led, as I have pointed out, to an increase, not of wisdom on His part, but of confidence on ours, since by the knowledge thus painfully acquired He from whom we had been so widely separated was brought nearer to us. For when would we dare to approach Him while He was incapable of suffering? But now the Apostle advises and exhorts us to go with confidence to the throne of grace (1) whereon is He whom we surely recognize as the one of whom it is elsewhere written that He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows, 2 and of whose power to sympathize with us in what He has himself endured we can entertain no doubt. So there appears to be no contradiction on the one hand, in saying that, as there is nothing of which Christ was ever unaware, His knowledge could have no commencement, and, on the other hand, in maintaining that while in His Divine nature. 1\. Heb. IV. 16. 2\. Is. LIII. 4. He knew compassion from all eternity, in another capacity He learned it under bodily and temporal conditions. And note the similar language which our Lord used when in reply to a question from His disciples He pleaded ignorance of the date of the Last Day. For how could He in whom _are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge_ (1) be unaware of that day? How could He, for whom ignorance of any sort was clearly impossible say that He did not know? Could He possibly desire to conceal by a subterfuge information which He could not profitably disclose? God forbid the thought! For neither could He who isWisdom be unaware of anything, nor could He who is Truth be capable of falsehood. But in His desire to discourage the useless curiosity of the disciples, He pleaded ignorance of the matter about which they asked Him -- not indeed without qualification but in a way in which He could truthfully disclaim such knowledge. For although by His Divine insight -- ranging over all things past, present and future, He had that day clearly before Him, it was still true that He was unaware of it by the exercise of any bodily sense. 1\. Col. II. 3. Had it been otherwise He would already have slain Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, would have heard with His bodily ears the shout of the archangel and the sound of the trumpet at whose call the dead are to rise, and would have surveyed with His bodily eyes the sheep and the goats who are then to be separated from each other. But with the intention of making it clear that it was only in the sphere of that intelligence which He possessed in His human capacity that he. asserted His ignorance of that day, He was careful in His answer not to say 'I do not know' but 'The Son of Man himself doth not know.' (1) Now what is this title of 'Son of Man' but the one which He assumed on taking on Himself our nature? By its use here, He means it to be understood that when He says that He is ignorant of anything, He is speaking not as God, but as man. When on the other hand He refers to His own Godhead, He usually says not 'the Son' or 'the Son of Man' but 'I' or 'We' as in the passage _verily verily I say unto you, before Abraham was made, I am._ (2) 1\. This is the misquotation of Mark XIII. 32, which St. Bernard acknowledges in his 'correction' (above p.1). 2\. John VIII. 58. He there speaks of Himself as 'I' not as the 'Son of Man'. There can be no doubt that He then referred to that existence which was His before Abraham, and which never had a beginning -- not to what He became after the time of Abraham and by descent from him. And when He elsewhere asks His disciples what men think of Him, He says _Whom do_ _men say_ not 'that I am' but that _the Son of Man is?_ (1) But when He afterwards asks the same disciples what they themselves felt about Him, He says, _But whom do you say_ not 'that the Son of Man is,' but _that I am?_ So when He asks the opinion of worldly persons about His bodily nature He uses the term 'Son of Man,' but when He questions His spiritual followers about His God-head, He significantly says not 'the Son of Man' but 'me'. And that Peter understood what He meant by putting the question in this form is apparent from his reply, for he says _Thou art_, not 'Jesus the son of a Virgin,' but _Christ_ _the Son of God_. Had he made the former reply he would have said what is no less true. But shrewdly gathering from the wording of the question the meaning of Him who put it, he gave a suitable and sufficient answer by saying, _Thou art Christ the Son of God_. (2) 1\. Matt. XVI. 13, 16. 2\. St. Bernard expresses himself more fully on this point in his treatise 'On Consideration', Bk. V, C. is. Sect. 20, 'I say that in Christ the Word, the human soul and body are without confusion of the essences one Person, and I further maintain that the human and divine remain numerically distinct without prejudice to the unity of person. Nor would I deny that this unity is of the same class as that unity whereby soul andbody are one man.' Now from this you may see that Christ has two natures, albeit in one Person, one in which He has always existed, the other in which He had a beginning, and that while in that nature which is eternal He always knew everything, in that which is temporal He found out many things in the course of time. Why then do you find it difficult to admit that as there, was a time when His bodily existence began, so may His knowledge of the ills of the flesh -- at all events that sort of knowledge which bodily weakness conveys --have had a beginning? Our first parents would no doubt have been better and wiser had they not possessed knowledge of this sort, since they could acquire it only through folly and misfortune. But God, their Creator, seeking what had been lost, in His mercy followed up His own handiwork. He Himself mercifully descended to the level from which they had miserably fallen, and was willing Himself to endure what they deservedly suffered through their disobedience to Him -- and this not from a curiosity like theirs, but from marvellous love, His purpose being not to remain in misery with the unfortunate, but to become merciful and so to deliver them from their misery. When I say that he became merciful I refer not to that compassion which had been His in His eternal condition of bliss, but to that which He acquired through the medium of misfortune, while He bore our nature. Moreover, He completed in the latter the work of love which He had commenced in the former state. He could undoubtedly have made it complete in the former alone, but without the latter it would not have been effectual for us. Both forms were essential, but the latter more closely concerns ourselves. How indescribable is the method of His goodness. Could we ever have understood that marvellous mercy unless previous suffering had given it shape? Could we have discerned His sympathy, of which we had no knowledge, if He had had no previous suffering and had remained insusceptible to pain? Yet had He not possessed that compassion which knows no misfortune, He would never have attained that whose mother is misfortune. If He had not attained this He could not have drawn it to Himself. If He had not so drawn it, He could not have brought it out. And whence did He bring it out if not _from the pit of misery and_ _mire of dregs?_ (1) Yet He did not abandon that earlier compassion, but added to it the later. He did not alter He augmented it, as it is written, _Men and beasts thou wilt preserve,_ _O God, O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God._ (2) 1\. Ps. XL. 2 (XXXIX. 3, Vulg.) 2\. Ps. XXXVI. 6, 7 (XXXV. 7, 8, Vulg.). ## Chapter IV — The First Degree of Truth -- Self-scrutiny -- Reveals to Us Our Own Evil Case. Ye Who Are Spiritual, Instruct Such an One in the Spirit of Meekness Considering Thyself lest Thou Also Be Tempted in the Spirit of Meekness Consider Thyself -- Thou Hypocrite, Cast out First the Beam out of Thine Own Eye and Thus Shall Thou See to Cast out the Mote out of Thy Brother's Eye But let us resume the thread of our argument. If then He in whose nature there was no sadness, made Himself sad in order that He might have personal experience of something of the existence of which He was already aware, how much more is it your duty, I will not say to alter, but to recognize your condition, which is indeed a pitiable one -- and thus to learn compassion o which you could otherwise have no knowledge? For it may well happen that by dwelling on the shortcomings of your neighbour without sufficientattention to your own, you may be moved not to pity but to anger -- not to assist but to condemn, and so to destroy in a spirit of wrath, rather than to restore in a spirit of meekness. saith the Apostle,. The counsel -- aye, the command -- of the Apostle is that you should aid your ailing brother in the same kindly spirit in which you would wish to be helped when you are ailing. And to show how it is possible to be forbearing towards a wrong-doer, he says,. And please to note how well the disciple of Truth follows the sequence of the Master. In the Beatitudes, to which I have already referred, the 'merciful' are named before the 'pure in heart', as are the 'meek' before the 'merciful'. And the Apostle when he exhorted those who were spiritual to restore such as were carnal, added. For the reformation of the brethren is the mark of the merciful, and a spirit of meekness that of the humble. He says in effect that no one who is not himself meek can be reckoned among the merciful. Note that the Apostle here clearly asserts exactly what I said just now that I would establish, viz., that truth must be sought in ourselves before we can look for it in others, for he says by which he means, think how easily you may be tempted -- how liable you are to sin -- so that by self-scrutiny you may be made humble and may thus come to the aid of others in a spirit of meekness. If, however, you heed not the warning of the Apostle, tremble before the rebuke of the Master.. (1) Pride in the mind is like a thick heavy beam in the eye, whose excessive size is due not to health but to vanity, to swelling rather than to strength. It so darkens the mental vision as to hide the truth. If then it has taken hold of your mind, you will be unable to see yourself as you really are, or to appreciate either your actual or possible condition, but you will fancy that you are or will become just what you would like to be. For what is pride if not -- as a certain holy man defines it 'appreciation of one's own goodness'. (2) If this be so, we may say, on the other hand, that humility is the disparagement of our own goodness. For love and hatred alike ignore the verdict of truth. Would you like to hear what that' verdict is? _As I hear so I judge_, (3) not as 'I hate' or 'I love' nor as 'I fear'. There is the judgment of hate, such as that which said _We have a law and according to our law he_ _ought to die_. (4) And there is the judgment of fear like that one _If we let him alone so the_ _Romans will come and take away our place and nation._ (5) But there is a judgment of love, as that of David on the son who would have slain his father, _Spare the boy Absalom_. (6) 1\. Matt. VII. 5. 2\. The reference could be to St. Augustine's commentary on Genesis, book XI, cap. XIV. 18. 'Envy is not the cause of pride, but pride the cause of envy. For as pride is the love of one's own excellence, envy is the dislike of another's happiness which clearly may arise therefrom.' 3\. John V. 30. 4\. John XIX. 7. 5\. John XI. 48. 6\. 2 Sam. (2 Kings, Vulg.) XVIII. 5. The quotation is from the old Latin version, of St. Bernard's acquaintance with which there are several traces in his writings. And I know that it is a rule of human law, which is binding alike in ecclesiastical and in civil actions, that personal friends of the litigants shall not be allowed to take part in the proceedings lest through their affection for their friends they may be misled or maymislead others. (1) And if affection for a friend leads you to extenuate or even to conceal his guilt, how much more will self-esteem preclude an unfavourable verdict upon yourself? So the man who is really anxious to discover the truth about himself must remove the beam of pride which prevents him from seeing the light, and must propose in his heart to ascend by steps by which he may scrutinize his inmost self, and from the twelfth degree of humility may pass on to the first degree of truth. But when a man has found truth in himself or rather has found himself in truth so that he can say, _I have_ _believed and therefore have I spoken, but I have been humbled exceedingly_, (2) he may rise to a high spiritual level in order that truth may be held up, and may say in his ecstasy, _Every man is a liar_. Do you not suppose that this was the trend of David's thought? (3) 1\. By Roman Law persons closely related to the litigants were not allowed to give evidence in law-suits much less to serve on the Roman equivalent for the jury. 2\. Ps. CXVI. 10 (CXV. 10, Vulg.) 'humbled ' here refers rather to suffering or affliction than to moral or spiritual humiliation. 3\. Ps. CXVI. (Vulg. CXV) 11. 'Excess' (the rendering of the Douai version). _Excessus_ is a word of which St. Bernard was very fond. It really means going outside certain limits, and in the Vulgate usually -- but not always denotes a state of ecstasy or temporary rapture. The thought is of one who has gone out of himself, and entered a higher sphere -- as did St. Paul on an occasion to which we shall refer presently. Do not you think that the prophet felt as did the Lord, as did the Apostles, and as we do who come after them and share their feelings? _I believed,_ says this man, in Truth who says, _He that followeth me walketh not in darkness._ (1) I therefore showed my faith by following, and expressed it by confessing. And by confessing what? The truth -- which I discovered through faith. But afterwards I believed unto righteousness and made confession unto salvation. _I was humbled exceedingly_, (2) that is entirely. He appears to mean by this -- since I was not ashamed of the fact that the truth which I discerned in myself bore witness against me, I carried humility to its utmost extent. For this word 'exceedingly' may mean 'completely', as in the passage, _He shall delight exceedingly in_ _his commandments._ (3) But some one may urge that 'exceedingly' is here used for 'in a high degree', not for 'completely' and that the commentators seem to uphold this interpretation. Even if this be so, there is nothing inconsistent with the meaning of the Prophet, which we may take as being to this effect: --'While I was 'still unaware of the truth, I did indeed suppose myself to be something whereas I was nothing. But when I afterwards believed in Christ and therefore tried to imitate His humility, I recognized the truth. It was indeed uplifted in me by my confession, but I was _exceedingly humbled_, (4) that is, was greatly depreciated in my own estimation as a result of my self-scrutiny.' 1\. John VIII. 12. 2\. Ps. CXVI. (Vulg. CXV) 10. 3\. Ps. CXII. (Vulg. CXI) 1. 4\. Ps. CXII. (Vulg. CXI.) 1. ## Chapter V — The Second Degree of Truth -- Wherein Consciousness of Our Own Shortcomings Makes Us Merciful to Those of Other People. in Thy Truth Thou Hast Humbled Me. Every Man Is a Liar Thus in this, the first degree of Truth, the Prophet is so humbled that he says in another Psalm, (1) He may then reasonably conclude that the wretched condition in which he finds himself to be, is that of mankind in general. And as he thus passes into the second degree, he may say in his ecstasy, (2) And in what does this ecstasy consist? Is it not without doubt due to the fact that in his detachment from himself and attachment to truth, he pronounced his own condemnation? So in that ecstatic condition he may say, not in anger or insult but with pity and regret, _Every man is a liar._ And why is every man a liar? Every man is weak, every man is poor and powerless, since none can save himself or any one else. In much the same sense is it said, _Vain is the horse for safety_, (3) not because the horse deceives anyone but because the rider deceives himself if he relies on the horse's strength. So very man is said to be false, that is, fragile and fickle, because no one can hold out any assurance of safety to himself or to others, and any one who puts his trust in man is more likely to receive condemnation. Thus the humble Prophet, proceeding under the guidance of Truth, observes in other people what he mourns in himself; where he finds knowledge he will also find sorrow, and so may say broadly but truly, _Every man is a liar._ Now note how widely different was the tone of that haughty Pharisee. What was the purport of his illconsidered utterance? (4) _God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men._ (5) While he is strangely satisfied with himself, he is offensively rude to others. David takes quite another line. He says _Every man is a liar_. He will make no exceptions which might be misleading, for he knows that _all have sinned and all do need the glory of God_. (6) 1\. Ps. CXIX. (Vulg. CXVIII) 75. 2\. Ps. CXVI. (Vulg. CXV) 11. 3\. Ps. XXXIII. 16 (Vulg. XXII. 17). 4\. Lit. 'What DID he bring forth in his ecstasy'. St. Bernard here applies to the Pharisee the same word which he had before -used of the Psalmist. 5\. Luke XVIII. 11. 6\. Rom. III, 23. The Pharisee, while condemning others claims exemption for himself alone. The Prophet does not exempt himself from the general guilt, lest he be excluded from mercy. The Pharisee stifles mercy by his disclaimer of guilt. The Prophet asserts, of himself as of every one, _Every man is false._ The Pharisee endorses this of all except himself, when he says, _I am not as the rest of men_. And he returns thanks not that he is good, but that he stands alone -- not so much for his own merits as for the ill which he sees in others. He has not yet cast out the beam out of his own eye, but he reckons up the motes in the eyes of his brethren -- for he adds, _unjust, extortioners_. I think that this diversion from the subject may not have been without its value, if it has enabled you to appreciate the difference between these two utterances. Let us now return to the main subject. If truth thus compels men to look into themselves and so to learn their own worthlessness, it follows as an inevitable consequence that all those things which have hitherto given them pleasure -- yea, even their own selves --should become distasteful to them. For as they sit in judgment upon themselves, they cannot fail to see themselves in a light in which they are ashamed to be seen even by their own eyes. Their present condition displeases them and they long to be what they are not -- a result which they distrust their power to achieve. Yet they find their consolation in the fact that their judgment of themselves has been stern and severe; and they hope that their love of truth and their hunger and thirst after righteousness -- even to the point of selfcontempt -- will enable them to exact a strict satisfaction for the past and to effect a real amendment in the future. But when they perceive their incapacity for any adequate and extensive reform, and realize that when they have done all that is commanded they must still call themselves unprofitable servants, they fly from justice to mercy. And that they may obtain this they follow the advice given by Truth, _Blessed are the merciful, for they_ _shall obtain mercy._ (1) This then is the second degree of truth, the one in which men look for it in their neighbours -- when from the realization of their own shortcomings they discover those of other people and learn from their own painful experience to sympathize with those who suffer. 1\. Matt. V. 7. ## Chapter VI — The Third, Degree of Truth -- the Clearing of the Spiritual Sight, so That It May Gaze on Holy and Heavenly Things If therefore men practise perseverance in the three matters that have been mentioned viz., the sorrow of repentance, the longing for righteousness, and works of mercy, they clear their spiritual sight of the three hindrances (1) which either through ignorance, infirmity or disposition they have encountered, and may thus pass on to that direct vision in which the third degree of truth consists. These are the ways that seem good to men at all events to those who are glad when they have done evil and rejoice in most wicked things, (2) and who attempt to cover their sins with the cloak of ignorance or of weakness. (3) But vainly do they whose ignorance or weakness is wilful put forward either of these pleas as an excuse for indulgence in sin. (4) Do you suppose that the first man could successfully plead infirmity of the flesh on the ground that he sinned, not of his own accord, but at the instigation of his wife? 1\. The same idea is more fully and finely expressed by St. Bernard in his treatise 'On Conversion' (cap. XV). where he says: 'The clemency of God blots out sin, not indeed so that it shall pass out of the memory, but so that what has been in it as a blemish, shall in future so linger in the memory as to cause no stain.' 2\. Prov. II. 14 (cp. XIV. 12 and XVI. 25). 3\. St. Bernard's words here are taken from Ps. CXL. 4. 4\. The argument here anticipates that of St. Thomas Aquinas a century later, who says: 'Some things we are under an obligation to know, those, to wit, without the knowledge of which we are unable to accomplish a due act rightly... Now it is evident that whoever neglects to have or to do what he ought to have or to do, commits a sin of omission. Wherefore through negligence, ignorance of what one is bound to know is a sin, whereas it is not imputed as a sin to man if he fails to know what he is unable to know... it is evident that no invincible ignorance is a sin.. vincible ignorance is a sin, if it be about matters one is bound to know,but not if it be about things one is not bound to know. (_Summa Theologica_ I. 11, Quest. LXXVI,. Art. 3, Eng. Trans.) Or were the men who stoned the first martyr, and had themselves stopped their ears, excusable on the plea of ignorance? Some people think that they have a natural antipathy to truth, and an inclination to and affection for sin, and that they are overcome by weakness and ignorance. Let such persons turn inclination into aversion, affection into distaste; let them conquer the weakness of the flesh by righteous energy, and dispel ignorance by better education. For if they disregard truth now, when it is needy, naked and weak, they may recognize it to their shame too late, when, coming with full authority and power, it overawes and rebukes them. They will then tremble as they return the vain reply, _When did we see thee in need, and did not minister to thee?_ (1) Surely the Lord whom they now disregard when He seeks sympathy _shall be known when he executeth_ _judgments._ (2) Finally _they look on him whom their pierced_ (3) as shall also the covetous on him whom they despised. Thus by the tears of penitence, by the pursuit of righteousness and by persistence in works of mercy, is the spiritual sight cleared from all stain, whether due to weakness, ignorance or disposition. 1\. Matt. XXV. 44. The various forms of need enumerated by our Lord are summed up in the one word _egere_ 'to be in need'. 2\. Ps. IX. 16 (Vulg. 17). 3\. John XIX. 37. And to it truth promises to reveal itself in its purity. _Blessed are the clean of heart, for_ _they shall see God._ (1) There are then three kinds of degrees of truth; we rise to the first by humble effort, to the second by loving sympathy, to the third by enraptured vision. In the first truth is revealed in severity, in the second in pity, in the third in purity. Reason, by which we analyze ourselves, guides us to the first, feeling which enables us to pity others conducts us to the second; purity by which we are raised to the level of the unseen, carries us up to the third. 1 Matt. v. 8. ## Chapter VII — The Work of the Persons of the Holy Trinity in Leading Men Through the Three Degrees of Truth. if I, Your Lord and Master, Have Washed Your Feet, How Much More Ought Ye to Wash One Another's Feet Here I seem to discern a certain marvellous and individual operation of each Person of the Trinity -- if indeed it is possible for the limited intelligence of man to conceive a difference such as cannot be expressed in words between persons who co-operate. On this supposition, the first degree appears to be due to the action of the Son, the second to that of the Holy Spirit, and the third to that of the Father. Would you wish to hear about the work of the Son?, saith He, (1) The Master of truth thus presented to His disciples a pattern of humility, that they might therein discern the first degree of truth. Mark also the work of the Holy Spirit, _Love is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy__Ghost which is given to us._ (2) Love is indeed the gift of the Holy Spirit, and this makes it possible for those who, under the instruction of the Son, have by humility already attained the first degree of truth, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to reach the second by sympathy with their neighbours. Hear also what is said about the Father. _Blessed art_ _thou Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my father_ _who is in heaven._ (3) And there is another passage, _The father shall make thy truth known_ _to the children._ (4) _And yet again, I thank thee, Father, because thou hast hid these things_ _from the wise and hast revealed them to little ones._ (5) You see then how the Father at last receives into glory those to whom the Son first taught humility by precept and by practice, and on whom the Holy Spirit then shed love. The Son receives them as learners, the Comforter encourages them as friends, the Father raises them as sons. 1\. John XIII. 14. 2\. Rom. V. 8. 3\. Matt. XVI. 17. 4\. Is. xxsviii. 19. 5\. Matt. XI. 25. For this reason the title of 'The truth' is rightly given, not only to the Son, but also to the Father and to the Holy Ghost. From this it follows that one and the same truth --preserving the characteristics of each of the Persons -- performs this threefold work in the three degrees. In the first one it gives instruction as does a master; in the second it affords counsel as does a friend or a brother; in the third it provides a bond of union as does a father to his sons. Thus the Son of God -- that is to say the word and wisdom of the Father -- first found that intellectual faculty of yours which is called reason, fettered by the flesh, a captive to sin, blinded by ignorance, and surrendered to things external. In His mercy He took it up, by His power He raised it, by His wisdom He taught it, drew it to Himself, and in a marvellous manner made it His representative. He then caused it so to sit in judgment upon itself that, with due reverence to the Word with whom it was associated, it might act as its own accuser, witness and judge, and honestly pronounce condemnation on itself. It is from this first alliance between the Word and reason that humility has its origin. We then come to the second faculty, which is called will, and which was contaminated by the poison of the flesh, though this has already been in a measure counteracted by reason. This the Holy Spirit honours with a visit, administers to it a gentle purgative, imparts to it a genial warmth, and thus renders it compassionate; in such a way that after the fashion of a skin which is stretched by the application of an ointment, so the will that has been treated with the heavenly ointment may be so expanded as to become friendly to those that were its enemies. And this second alliance between the spirit of God and the will of man produces love. The Father finally takes the two faculties reason and will the one taught by the Word and sprinkled with the hyssop of humility, the other inspired by the spirit of truth and influenced by the fire of love, and unites them into a perfect soul, from which humility has removed all wrinkles and in which love has left no stain. In it will resists not reason. Nor does reason trifle with truth, for the Father unites it to Himself as His glorious bride, in such a way that reason may not be allowed to think of itself, nor will of its neighbour, but the entire delight of that blessed soul will be to say, _The king__has taken me into his chamber_. (1) It was fitting that that soul should first learn in the school of humility under the tuition of the Son, to enter into herself in accordance with the warning given. 1\. Cant. I. 3. Here again the quotation is from the Old Latin which has _cubiculum_ 'bed chamber ' instead of _cellaria_ which is the reading of the Vulgate, and is rendered by the Douai version 'store-houses'. _If thou knowest not thyself, go forth and feed thy kids_. (1) Thus did she become fit to be brought from the school of humility under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through affection into the store rooms of love by which undoubtedly is meant the hearts of her neighbours. Thence, seated on flowers and surrounded by friends, that is by good habits and holy virtues, she may at last gain entrance to the chamber of the King, for whose love she longs. There, when silence has been made in heaven for a space, it may be of half an hour, she rests calmly in those dear embraces -- herself asleep, but her heart on the watch how she may in the present range over those regions of hidden truth -- on whose memory she will feast as soon as she returns to herself -- there she sees things invisible and hears things unutterable, of which it is not lawful for man to speak. These are the things that surpass all that knowledge which night showeth to night. Yet day unto day throws out language, and the wise are allowed to speak wisdom, and to compare spiritual things with spiritual. 1\. Cant. I. 7. ## Chapter VIII — The Same Sequence Is Seen in the 'rapture' of St. Paul to the Third Heaven Do you suppose that St. Paul had not undergone the same gradual process when, as he has told us, he was 'caught up' to the third heaven? But why was he 'caught up' instead of being 'led up'? The reason surely was that if so great an Apostle says that he was 'caught up' to a place whither no teaching nor leading could bring him, I, who am certainly a lesser man than Paul, may not venture to think that I can reach the third heaven by any strength or effort of my own; so may I neither trust to strength nor shrink from exertion. For a man who is taught or led is obliged, from the fact that he follows his teacher or leader, to use some effort. He at all events does enough in assisting his removal to the place or condition at which he aims to enable him to say, Not I but the grace of God with me. (1) But the man who is carried away, not by his own action, but by that of others, and without even knowing his destination, cannot take the credit or any part of it to himself, since he accomplishes nothing either alone or with assistance. The Apostle might possibly have been directed or assisted to the first or to the middle heaven to reach the third one he had to be caught up. 1\. 1 Cor. XV. 10. For the Son is said to have come down for the purpose of helping men to rise to the first, and the Holy Spirit to have been sent to lead them to the second heaven. But the Father,though He always co-operates with the Son and the Holy Spirit, is never said to have come down from heaven, or to have been sent to the earth. _It is true that the earth is full_ _of the mercy of the Lord_, (1) and that _heaven and earth are full of thy glory,_ (2) and much to the same effect. And of the Son I read, _when the fulness of the time came, God sent his_ _Son_, (3) and the Son Himself says of Himself, _The Spirit of the Lord hath sent me._ (4) And through the same Prophet He says, _Now the Lord hath sent me and his Spirit._ (5) And of the Holy Spirit I read, _The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Lord will send in_ _my name,_ (6) and, _when I have been taken up, I will send him unto you_ -- (7) with undoubted reference to the Holy Spirit. 1\. Ps. XXXIII. (Vulg. XXXII) 5. 2\. Suggestive of, but not quoted from Is. VI. 3. 3\. Gal. IV. 4. 4\. The reference must be to Is. LXI. 1, 'The spirit of the Lord God... sent me '. 5\. Is. XLVIII. 16. 6\. John XIV. 26. 7\. This is a curious alteration of John XVI. 7, where both Latin versions have si abiero 'if I depart' thus correctly rendering the Greek. St. Bernard's gloss makes it more clear than does the correct reading that the reference is to the Ascension, but assumere 'to take up' does not occur in St. John. But though there is no region in which the Father does not exist, I find no mention of His own Person anywhere but in heaven, as in the Gospel, my father _who is in heaven_, (1) and in the prayer, _Our Father who art in heaven_. (2) From this I unhesitatingly conclude that as the Father did not come down, the Apostle could not go up to the third heaven in order to see Him, though he recalls that he was 'caught up' thither. Moreover, _No man hath ascended into heaven but he that descended_ _from heaven._ (3) And lest you should suppose that the reference here is to the first or second heaven, David tells you, _His going out is from the end of heaven._ (4) And to this He was not suddenly caught up, or secretly conveyed, but, as is stated, _in their sight_ (5) (that is in that of the Apostles) _he was raised up_. It was not with Him, as with Elias who had one witness, or with Paul who could have none, to attest his statement, and who could hardly do so himself, for he admits _I know not, God knoweth_. (6) But as the Almighty, He descended and ascended as He pleased, and chose at His discretion, the place, the time, the day and the hour, as well as the onlookers whom He thought worthy to be the witnesses of so great a spectacle, and _while they looked on he was raised up._ 1\. Matt. XVI. 17. 2\. Matt. VI. 9. 3\. John III. 13. 4\. Ps. XIX. 6 (XVIII. 7, Vulg.). 5\. Acts I. 9. 6\. 2 Cor. XII. 2. Elias and Paul were caught up; Enoch was translated; our Saviour is said to have been taken up, that is to have gone up by Himself, without help from anyone. He depended neither on conveyance by a chariot, or assistance by an angel, but on His own power. (1) _A cloud received him out of their sight. (_2) And what was the purpose of this cloud? Wasit to help Him in weakness, to stimulate Him in slackness, or to sustain Him when in danger of falling? Such ideas are inconceivable. That cloud received Him out of the bodily sight of His disciples who, though they had known Him as Christ in the flesh, did not as yet know Him to be more than man. So those whom the Son calls through humility to the first heaven, the Spirit brings together by love in the second, and the Father raises by direct vision to the third. In the first they are humbled by the truth and say, _In thy truth_ _thou hast humbled me_. (3) In the second they rejoice together with truth and sing, _Behold_ _how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity --_ (4) as also it is written concerning love. _It rejoiceth with the truth_ (5) In the third heaven they are carried up to the recesses of truth and say, _My secret to myself, my secret to myself_. (6) 1 The reference may be to the traditional assumption of the Blessed Virgin, with which St. Bernard deals in some of his sermons, or to the general belief that angels carry the souls of the departed into the presence of God. 2 Acts I. 3 Ps. cxix. (Vulg. cxviii) 75. 4\. Ps. CXXXIII. (Vulg. CXXXII) I. 5\. 1 Cor. XIII. 6. 6\. Is. XXIV. 16, Vulg. and Sept. ## Chapter IX — The Writer Sighs Regretfully over His Own Shortcomings in the Search for Truth. Wherein I May Show to Myself the Salvation of God. to the Work of Thine Hands Thou Shalt Reach out Thy Right Hand But how can a poor creature like myself ramble on about the two higher heavens in a way more suggestive of the outpouring of words than of spiritual activity, seeing that it is as much as I can do to crawl on my hands and feet under the lower one? Yet I have already, with the help of Him who calls me, set up for myself a ladder to that higher level. I am moving in the direction (1) Now I look upwards to the Lord who is leaning over me, now I spring forward at the call of truth. He has called me and I have answered Him, (2) Thou, Lord, dost indeed number my steps, but I, slow climber and tired traveller, am looking for a resting place by the way. Woe is unto me if the darkness gets hold of me, or if my flight be in the winter or on the sabbath day, yet, though now is the acceptable time, and now is the day of salvation, I delay to set forth towards the light. Why do I thus hold back? Pray for me, son, brother, friend, fellowtraveller with me in the Lord -- if such there be. 1\. In Ps. XLIX. (Vulg.) 23 from which these words are quoted, the speaker is the Lord. St. Bernard here supposes the climber to have set up the ladder for himself with divine assistance. 2\. Job XIV. I5 (Vulg.). Pray to the Almighty that He will strengthen my feeble foot, yet in such a way that the _foot of pride may not come to me._ (1) For though my foot is feeble and unable to attain to the truth, it is more reliable than one which, when it has reached it, cannot stand therein, as you have it in the Psalm, _they are cast out, and could not stand._ (2)So much for the proud. But what about their chief? What about him who is called _king_ _over all the children of pride?_ (3) He, said the Master, _stood not in the truth,_ (4) and elsewhere, _I saw Satan falling from heaven._ (5) Why did he thus fall, unless on account of pride? Woe be to me if he who _knoweth the high afar off,_ (6) should see me also indulging in pride, and should launch at me the terrible sentence, _Thou wast indeed the_ _son of the most high, but as a man thou shalt die, and thou shalt fall like one of the_ _princes._ (7) Who would not quail before this voice of thunder? O how much better it was for Jacob that the sinew of his thigh shrank at the touch of the angel than that it should swell, weaken and perish at that of the messenger of pride. Would that an angel would touch my sinew and make it shrink, so that I, who in my own strength cannot but fail, may from my weakness begin to make progress. 1\. Ps. XXXVI. 11, (XXXV. 12, Vulg.). 2\. Ps. XXXVI. 12, (XXXV. 13, Vulg-.). 3\. Job XLI. 25. 4\. John XIII. 44. gd 5\. Luke X. 18. 6\. Ps. CXXXVII. 6. 7\. Ps. LXXXII (LXXXI, Vulg.) 6, 7. I surely read, _The weakness of God is stronger than men_. (1) So also did the Apostle, when he complained of the sinew which an angel, not of God but of Satan, was buffeting, receive the reply, _My grace is sufficient for thee for virtue is made perfect in infirmity_. What is this virtue? Let the Apostle himself give the answer, _Gladly therefore will I glory_ _in mine infirmity, that the virtue of Christ may dwell in me._ (2) But you may, perhaps, not quite understand to what virtue he particularly alludes, since Christ possesses all the virtues. But though He has them all, there is one which He pre-eminently possesses and specially commends to us in His own Person, namely, humility, for He says, _Learn of me_ _because I am meek and humble of heart._ (3) Gladly therefore will I glory in mine infirmity, in the shrinking of my sinew, that thy virtue -- which is humility -- may be made perfect in me. For thy grace is sufficient for me, when my strength has failed. I will then by thy favour put my foot firmly down, and though through its weakness I must move slowly, I will mount safely by the ladder of humility until, by keeping to the truth, I reach the broad expanse of love. 1\. 1 Cor. I. 25. 2\. 2 Cor. XII. 9. St. Bernard here notably interprets the meaning of the word virtus. Its leading idea, froth in classical and ecclesiastical Latin is strength. In the Vulgate it is usually (but not always) the rendering of the Greek buvauis and is often rendered 'strength ' or 'power ' by the English versions, though in Mark V. 30, Luke vi. 19 and viii. 46, some versions translate it 'virtue'. St. Bernard, however, puts it forth primarily in its more usual modern sense as denoting moral excellence. 3\. Matt. XI. 29. Then will I sing with a gesture of thanks, the words _Thou hast set my feet in a spacious_ _place._ (1) Thus by close and careful following of the narrow way, by slow and sure ascent of the steep staircase, with steady but painful progress, I limp along until by somemarvellous method, the goal is approached, But _Woe is me that my sojourn is prolonged_. (2) _Who will give me wings like a dove_, (3) wherewith I may fly more quickly to the truth, and so may rest in love? Since these are wanting, lead me, Lord, in thy way and I will walk in thy truth, and the truth shall set me free. Woe unto me that I ever came down thence. For had I not foolishly and madly begun this descent, I should not have had this long and laborious climb. But why do I speak of a 'descent' when I might more accurately call it a 'fall' unless indeed because, as no one comes at once to the top but all have to go up gradually, so no one becomes at once utterly bad but goes gradually down hill. 1\. Ps. XXXI. 8 (XXX. 9, Vulg.). 2\. St. Bernard quotes the Vulgate of Ps. CXIX. 5, which follows the Septuagint. 3\. Ps. LV. 6 (LIV. 7, Vulg.) Otherwise how could the saying stand, _The wicked man is proud all the days of his life._ (1) There are, in fact, roads which seem good to men, which yet lead to destruction. There is then an upward as well as a downward road -- a road to good and a road to evil. Avoid the evil and choose the good. If you cannot do this by yourself, pray with the prophet and in his words: _Remove from me the way of iniquity_, (2) and how shall this be? He adds, _Out of thy law have mercy on me._ This means by the law which thou didst give to those who fainted by the way -- that is to those who departed from the truth. And of these I, who have indeed fallen from the truth, am one. But does not a man who has fallen use every effort to rise again? For this reason _I have chosen the way of truth,_ (3) by which I may rise through humility to the place from which I fell through pride. I will rise, say I, and I will sing, _It is good for me, Lord, that thou hast humbled me; the law of thy mouth_ _is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver._ (4) David seems to have set before you two roads, which, however, you know to be one identical yet different -- and called by different names -- either that of _wickedness_ for those who go down, or that of _truth_ for those who go up. 1\. Job XV. 20. 2\. Ps. CXIX. (Vulg. CXVIII) 29. 3\. Ps. CXIX. (Vulg. CXVIII) 30. 4\. Ps. CXIX. (Vulg. CXVIII) 71, 72. For you go up to a throne by the same steps by which you come down, you use the same road for approaching or withdrawing from a town, and the same door for entering or leaving a house. In like manner the angels appeared to Jacob as ascending and descending on the same ladder. What do these comparisons suggest? Surely that if you wish to return to the truth, you need not look for a new and unknown road, but for the one by which you know that you came down, so that you may follow your own footsteps, and may humbly rise through the same degrees through which you fell in your pride. That which was the twelfth degree of pride in your fall will be the first degree of humility in your ascent; the eleventh will correspond to the second, the tenth to the third, the ninth to the fourth, the eighth to the fifth, the seventh to the sixth, the sixth to the seventh, the fifth to the eighth, the fourth to the ninth, the third to the tenth, the second to the eleventh and the first to the twelfth. And when you have discovered and really recognized thesedegrees of pride in yourself, you will have no difficulty in looking for the path of humility. --- ![[maps/bibliography#^biblio-bc]] > [[bc-td-02|← Previous]] | [[bc-twelve-degrees-toc|TOC]] | [[bc-td-04|Next →]]