resolution

106 The same can be said of your resolutions, Which are Equally Necessary to render the confession valid. These resolutions must be constant and efficacious, but can not be so without the special help of God. Do you ever think of humbling yourself and asking for that help, and Confessing Knowing your weakness and instability, and that you 'are not capable of yourself to keep the smallest resolution, from morning till night Either or even from one hour to another?
It is for This reason so that you 'Often fall over and over again into the same faults, Because you are lacking in humility. The truly humble man is altogether diffident acerca himself, and putting trust in God All His, is Helped in The most admirable way by Him. "Humble thyself to God and wait for His hands." [Ecclus xiii, 9]
How many times do you not say: "I have taken This firm resolution, and I mean to keep it, I am not afraid of breaking it," iniquitously trusting in yourself, without the mind-bending Divine help in any way? Take care that you 'May not Be Counted Among Those reprobates "Who Were Their Own destroyed trusting to strength." [Ecclus xvi, 8] If you even boasts only a little upon yourself, That Little can be the cause of great ruin, According to the prediction of Job: "They are lifted up for a little while, and Shall not stand, and Shall brought` be down. " [Job xxiv, 24]

sorrow

105 But the more essential the grace of God we are asking is for us, the more humility is Necessary. Before going however I to the tribunal of penance do you humble yourself, and ask God to give you sorrow for your sins That Which is Necessary for the validity of the Sacrament? As This sorrow must be supernatural, it is that you 'Un Certain Could Attain never of yourself to it, however I much you were to try and force yourself to feel it. God alone can give it to you, and it is Equally Un Certain That this is not a debt Which He owes you, but a great grace Which it pleases Him to confer upon you out of His goodness alone and without any merit on your part. If, however it, you desire to receive This grace, you must ask It With humility, protesting from your heart that you 'do not deserve it, that you' are unworthy to receive it, and that you 'only hope for it through the Merits of Jesus Christ . But do you practice This humility, Which is, May one say, of precept for you, Because it is an essential Means of Obtaining contrition?

reverence

104. There are certain cases in which we are obliged to make acts of virtue-----such as faith, hope and charity-----which some necessity, circumstance, or duty of our state of life may exact, and there are certain cases in which we must make acts of humility in our hearts.
First of all it is necessary to humble ourselves when we approach God with prayer to obtain some grace, because God does not regard, nor heed, nor impart His grace except to the humble. "The Lord looketh on the low," [Ps. cxxxvii, 6] "The prayer of the humble hath always pleased Thee," [Judith ix, 16] "God giveth grace to the humble." [James iv, 6] When therefore you come to ask God for some grace of the body or of the soul, do you always remember to practice this humility?
When we pray, and especially when we say the "Our Father," we are speaking to God; and how many times, when you are saying your prayers, do you speak to God with less respect than if you were speaking to one of your fellow creatures? How often when you are in church, which is the house of God, do you listen to a sermon, which is the Word of God, and assist at the functions of the service without any reverence?
Humility of heart, says St. Thomas, [2a 2æ, qu. clxi, art. 2] is accompanied by exterior reverence, and to be lacking in this is to lack humility, and is therefore a sin of pride, "which excludes reverence."

dogs

103 But how are we to make practical acts of humility in Original before God? I will give you some examples. You can Imagine yourself in the Presence of God now as a Convicted felon who humbles himself and implore mercy for the forgiveness of His sins: "Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Thy great mercy"; [Ps. l, 1] wretched now as a needy beggar who humbles himself and ASKs alms to help him in His necessity: "Give Us This Day our daily bread"; now as the sick man near the Pool of Bethsaida, who humbled himself before the Saviour to be healed of incurable disease His: "Sir, I have no man..."; [John v, 7] now As That blind man who humbled himself His darkness That might be illuminated: "Lord, That I May see"; now as the Canaanite woman who humbled herself and exclaimed: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, help me," [Matt. xv, 22, 25] and who was not ashamed to liken herself to the dogs who are unworthy to eat Their master's bread, but are content to eat the crumbs from His table That Fall. Humility of heart is ingenuous, and in the same Manner as our heart loves without Needing to be Taught to love, it humbles itself without Needing to be Taught humility.

wretch

Consideration on Humility Towards God

THE first act of humility, says St. Thomas, [2a 2AE, qu. clxi, art. 2 ad 3; et qu. clxii, art. 5] in rendering Consist Entirely subject ourselves to God with the greatest reverence for His infinite Majesty, Which before we are as nothing: "All nations before Him are as if They Had not being at all." [Isai. vl, 17] But do you ever Consider your nothingness before God? ----- That and all the being you have, You have from God? ----- That through intrinsic necessity and you depend upon God That Entirely so without Him you can not do anything good ----- "for without Me you can do nothing" [John xv, 5] ----- That without God you neither think nor say nor do anything that is good?
This is of faith. "No man can say the Lord Jesus but by the Holy Ghost." [1 Cor. xii, 3] "Not that we are Sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God." [2 Cor. iii 5] "For it is God Who worketh in you both to will and to Accomplished ACCORDING TO His good will." [Phil. ii, 13] It is not enough only to say All These Things I know, but it is Necessary to Realize Them To Become really humble.
The Angelic Doctor Teaches That the reason why humility Principally Tends to render the soul is subject to God Because This virtue is nearest to the theological virtues, and as it does not suffice only to know what things we must believe or hope, but it is Also Necessary for us to make acts of faith and hope, so in the same way we must make like acts of humility.
Christ Himself Taught humility of heart, and the heart must REMAIN not idle, nor fail to produce the Necessary ----- acts acts and what do you make of humility before God? How often do you make them? When have you made them? How long is it since you made them?
It would be absurd to hope for the reward promised to the Which is humble without being humble, or at Least without the desire to be humble; and without making acts of humility; humility of heart without the heart humbling itself ----- what folly! And are you foolish enough to believe That This Can be done?
Sometimes you give utterance to Un certain words Which seems to outstretch to your own humiliation; you say you are a contemptible wretch, and good for nothing, but do you say Such Things sincerely from your heart? If you are afraid of lying to yourself by confirming them in your own mind, listen to what St. Thomas [Loc. cit. art. 6, ad 1] tells us for our instruction, That everyone can truthfully say of himself and believe he is a contemptible That wretch, Referring All His Ability and talent to God.

essential

Practical Consideration on the Virtue of Humility

NOW that you 'are conversant With the notion of humility, in Its necessity, ITS excellence and Its motives, I am persuaded That a fervent desire to practice it has-been excited in your heart. But Because, on the one hand, you can not do this without the special help of God, and, on the other, God will work in you nothing without you ----- That is, without the co-operation of your own will ----- When it THEREFORE That Follows You have Invoked the Divine help, not doubting but that you 'will receive it, you must apply yourself to adopt Means Those Which are most likely to help you to to Attain That virtue.
And Because all the masters of spiritual life agree in this, that it is efficacious to Most make a particular examination every day on the virtue Which We wish to acquire, I will expound for your enlightenment a practical examination on Christian humility; and, in order that you 'make a good use of it, I offer you three words of advice.
The first Is that in making your exam eleven day, at least, in order to mark Those faults Which May you have-committed against humility, you choosing not more than one or two of the Most flagrant Which ones are you in the habit of Committing , and THUS, after having Accustomed to amend yourself in Original, you will pass on little by little to the others, until pride will be Eradicated Gradually anti humility will spring up in your heart.
This is Also the Manner In Which We ought to meditate. Certain resolutions generally, to subdue: such as pride and humility to practice, are never of any use; but, on the Contrary, they 'create faq frequently generate confusion and conflict in the mind: Therefore it is Necessary to go into particulars of Those things during the day In Which we Have Been Most sensitive of our imperfections, and even then we must not form a overall intention not to fall into them again through all our life, but it is enough That We Should make a firm resolution not to fall into them again one day During That. It was THUS That holy King David made resolutions and Renewed them, not trying to keep them from year to year, from month to month nor, hut from day to day: "I will pay my vows from day to day." [Ps. lx, 9] And in order to keep them one can not sufficiently It urges the necessity of imposing oneself upon some penance and of accomplishing it faithfully. For example, as many times as I have failed to keep my resolutions today, so many times I will kiss the Wound in the side of Christ, and devoutly recite Hail Marys as many, etc.
The second is to take in Original Which faults form the subject of our review, and to accuse ourselves of them in our confessions, in order to make us still more ashamed of our pride before God, And Also Because the Sacrament of Penance confers a singular grace of Its Own in helping us to amend faults of Those Which We accuse ourselves therein, as St. Thomas Teaches. [P. 3 qu. lxxxiv, art. 8 ad 1] And although none of these defects can absolutely be called sins, and are simply imperfections, it does not follow That we must not pay any heed to them, Because They Either serve to keep us in vice or virtue are an impediment to .
When it is a question of humility, Which is the Most Necessary for our eternal salvation virtue, it is always better and safer to have too much of it than to have too little. And it is Un Certain That I who is content To have only That Which is absolutely essential amount to him That will never really acquire virtue. "Unless you Become as little children, you can not enter into the kingdom of Heaven," said the Saviour of the world, and we have no other way of becoming as little children than to Eliminate our self-love by the vigorous exercise of humility.
The third is that you 'Often Should read this practical examination in order to Reflect seriously upon yourself and to see how you stand in regard to humility, so that you' May not be of Those who are humble and think they 'are not really so.
That St. Thomas says it is for humility to examine the faults-committed against any virtue whatsoever. How much more, Therefore, Should it examine Those Which are-committed against faults This very humility!
You will find many little points in This examination, but if you find yourself defective in many of them, you must not regard them from the point of view of size but of Their Their number, and the more you find That They are usually with you Should the more they 'fill you with fear and apprehension. And in proportion as you find that you 'are not humble In This Or That point, you will be reliable to infer that you' are proud; This examination and if only on humility Teaches you to know your own pride it will not be a small gain, Because We begin to be humble When we open our eyes and Recognize That we are proud.
Many things considered in Themselves are only of counsel; but in respect to Circumstances Such and such they 'can nevertheless be of obligation, and so are Necessary That We May Also not transgress the precept, According to the teaching of St. Thomas. [2a 2AE, qu. lxxii, art. 3; et qu. clxxxvi, art. 2] In conclusion, you must not Make This review scruples or with much anxiety, as if every imperfection Were a sin and as If You Had the presumption to will to be humble all at once, nor must you reject with contempt all that does not you seem to positively of precept.
You must be solicitous in your wish and desire to acquire humility, and You should have diligence and care not to omit Means Those Which would lead you to gain it, and then recommending yourself to God continue to Make This review ACCORDING to the inspiration of God and the dictates of your own conscience. As humility May be Considered under three different Aspects, in relation to God, our neighbor and ourselves, and practiced in two ways, That is to say interiorly and exteriorly, THEREFORE it Follows That we can not in Original in several ways, as we not against the laws of any other virtue, Either by our thoughts, words, deeds or omissions. THEREFORE Let us proceed now to the examination of our faults.

Mary

100. After Jesus Christ, Who is King of the humble, what a beautiful example of humility we have in the Blessed Virgin Mary who is their Queen! No creature ever surpassed her in merit, or exceeded her in humility. By her humility she deserved to be the Mother of God, and by humility only she maintained the dignity and honour of the sublime Maternity.
Let us picture Mary in her room at Nazareth when it was announced to her by the Archangel Gabriel that the time had come for the Eternal Word to take flesh in her womb, through the operation of the Holy Ghost. She showed no sign of pride at being blest among women and chosen for such a high honour, but on the contrary she was distressed and "was troubled at his saying," [Luke i, 29] without being able to understand why she was chosen for so great an honour. And what does she exclaim? I,-----the Mother of God! I, a vile creature, to become the Mother of God! I am but His servant, and it would be too much honour for me even to be His handmaid. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." [Luke i, 38] Thus Mary humbled herself as much as lay in her power; and she continued in this deep humility all through her life, behaving in all things as the servant of the Lord, without ever attributing to herself the slightest glory for being His Mother. What a beautiful example for us! Therefore if we have devotion to our Lady we ought to try and imitate her in her humility; and in all the prayers, Communions and mortifications that we offer in her honour let us always ask her to obtain for us through her intercession the grace of holy humility. There is no grace that our Blessed Lady asks so willingly of Jesus for her devotees, and which Jesus concedes so willingly to Mary as the grace of humility, since both Jesus and Mary hold this virtue in singular affection.
Let us recommend ourselves to her protection and place all our confidence in her, entreating her for the love she herself bears to humility to grant that we may also become truly humble of heart; and let us not doubt but that our earnest prayers will be heard and our desires granted.
O my soul, it is through humility that we shall reach Paradise. And what shall we do in paradise? There the practice of all other virtues ceases and only charity and humility remain. We shall see God, and in seeing Him we shall know that He is the infinite Good; and this perfect knowledge will bring with it more perfect love, and the more we love God, the better we shall know Him, and the better we know Him, the more humble we shall be, practicing humility through all eternity like the ancients seen in the Apocalypse by the Apostle St. John: "Who fell on their faces and adored God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come." [Apoc. xi, 17] Let us begin to practice on earth those virtues which we hope to practice for ever and ever through all ages in Heaven: "Our Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names." [Phil. ii, 8, 9] "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man, rescue me from the unjust man." [Ps. cxxxix, 2] Who is this wicked and unjust man from whom I pray to be delivered? He is my inner self who is all vice, corruption and pride, ahd it is the same as if I were to say: "Deliver me, O Lord, from myself, that is, give me grace to amend and reform myself in order that I may no longer be that earthly, worldly and proud creature which I have been hitherto, dominated by passion, but that I may be renewed, and may conform to the spirit of my humble Lord and Master Jesus Christ." "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; rescue me from the unjust man."
Prayer
O GOD, Who resistest the proud and givest Thy grace to the humble, grant us the grace of true humility, of which Thine Only begotten Son showed forth in Himself an example to the faithful, that we may never, puffed up by pride, incur Thine anger, but that, submissive to Thy will, we may receive the gifts of Thy grace.