THE REMEDY FOR PRIDE by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
THE REMEDY FOR PRIDE
The great remedy for pride is to recognize practically the majesty of God. As St. Michael the Archangel said: "Who is like to God?" He alone is great; He is the source of all natural and supernatural good. "Without Me," says our Lord, "you can do nothing" in the order of salvation. [23] St. Paul adds: "For who distinguisheth thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" [24] "Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God." [25]
St. Thomas states also: "Since God's love is the cause of goodness in things, ... no one thing would be better than another if God did not will greater good for one than another." [26] And then why should we glory in the natural or supernatural good that is in us, as if we had not received it, as if it were our very own and not ordained to glorify God, the source of all good? "For it is God Who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will." [27]
The remedy for pride is to tell ourselves that of ourselves we are not, that we have been created out of nothing by the gratuitous love of God, Who continues freely to preserve us in existence; otherwise we would return to nothingness. And if grace is in us, it is because Jesus Christ redeemed us by His Blood.
The remedy for pride is also to tell ourselves that there is in us something inferior to nothingness itself: the disorder of sin and its effects. As sinners, we deserve scorn and all humiliations; the Saints have thought so, and they certainly judged better than we.
How can we glory in our merits, as if they came solely from us? Without habitual grace and actual grace, we would be absolutely incapable of the least meritorious act. As St. Augustine says: "God crowns His gifts, when He crowns our merits."
This conviction, however, must not remain theoretical, but should be practical and inspire our acts. The Imitation says:
Truly, a lowly rustic that serveth God is better than a proud philosopher who pondereth the courses of the stars, and neglecteth himself. He that knoweth himself, becometh vile to himself and taketh no delight in the praises of men. ... Learned men are very willing to seem wise, and to be called so. ... If thou wouldst acquire knowledge and learn anything to the purpose, love to be unknown, and to be esteemed as nothing. ... If thou shouldst see another openly do wrong or commit some grievous sins, thou needest not think thyself better; for thou knowest not how long thou mayest be able to persevere in well-doing. We are all frail; but see thou think none more frail than thyself. ...
Be not ashamed to wait on others for the love of Jesus Christ, and to be looked upon as poor in this world. ... Trust not in thine own knowledge, ... but rather in the grace of God, Who helpeth the humble and humbleth them that presume upon themselves. ... Esteem not thyself better than others, lest perhaps thou be accounted worse in the sight of God. ... What pleaseth men, oftentimes displeaseth Him. ... Continual peace dwelleth with the humble; but in the heart of the proud is frequent envy and indignation. ... The humble man God protecteth and delivereth; the humble He loveth and consoleth; to the humble He inclineth Himself; on the humble He bestoweth bounteous grace, and after he has been brought low, raiseth him up unto glory. To the humble He revealeth His secrets, and sweetly inviteth and draweth him unto Himself. [28]
But to reach this humility of mind and heart, a profound purification is needed. That which we impose on ourselves is not sufficient; there must be a passive purification by the light of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which causes the bandage of pride to fall away, opens our eyes, shows us the depth of frailty and wretchedness that exists in us, the utility of adversity and humiliation, and finally makes us say to the Lord: "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy justifications." [29] "It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradictions, and to allow people to think ill of us. ... These are often helps to humility, and rid us of vainglory." [30] It is in adversity that we can learn what we really are and what great need we have of God's help: "What doth he know, that hath not been tried?" [31]
After this purification, pride and its effects will gradually be felt less. A person, instead of letting himself fall into jealousy toward those who have more natural or supernatural qualities, tells himself then that, as St. Paul remarks, the hand ought not be jealous of the eye, but, on the contrary, it should be happy because it benefits from what the eye sees. The same is true in the mystical body of Christ; far from becoming jealous, souls ought to enjoy in a holy manner the qualities they find in their neighbor. Though they do not possess them themselves, they benefit by them. They should rejoice over everything that cooperates in the glory of God and the good of souls. When this is the case, the bandage of pride falls away and the soul's gaze recovers its simplicity and penetration, which make it enter little by little into the inner life of God.
Source: http://www.catholictradition.org/Christ/healing1.htm
