A Path Through . . .

“Humility, far from being opposed to grandeur of soul, is intimately united to it. Thus the true Christian ought to aim at great things, worthy of a great heart. Yet, he should aim humbly and, if necessary, run the course of great humiliations. He must learn to say often: ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give glory.’” … “‘What do you have that was not given to you?’ (1 Cor. 4:7). This induces the saints to say to themselves on seeing a criminal condemned to death: ‘If this man had received the same graces that I have received for so many years, perhaps he would have been less unfaithful than I; and if God had permitted in my life the mistakes that He permitted in his, he would be in my place and I in his.’ ‘What do you have that was not given to you?’ This is the true foundation of Christian humility. All pride should be smashed under this divine saying! The humility of the saints thus becomes more and more profound, because they come to know better and better their own ...