A Year with the Saints. Anonymous

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СКАЧАТЬ young man who had come to ask his aid. And as he felt at first some unwillingness to acknowledge him when he heard of his arrival, he often accused himself of this to his companions as a great fault, exaggerating too the pride that caused it. He could not bear to hear himself praised, or see himself held in high esteem; and so when a poor woman told him, in presence of some persons of rank, that she had been a servant of his mother, hoping to induce him to give her alms, the Saint, to whom such flattery was unpleasant, answered quickly: "My poor woman, you are mistaken. My mother never kept a servant, but she was a servant herself, and afterwards, the wife of a poor peasant." For this cause, too, he was never heard to speak of the excellent works which he had carried on, nor of the wonderful circumstances in which he had been placed. A remarkable proof of this is that though innumerable occasions offered themselves to speak of his slavery in Tunis, especially in the exhortations which he addressed to his Congregation and others, to move them to aid the poor slaves in Barbary, he never let fall a word concerning himself, nor about what he had said or done to convert his master, and escape with him from the hands of the Infidels, nor as to anything else that happened to him in that country.

      This is a rare case, on account of the pleasure which everyone naturally feels in narrating the perils, the dangers and difficulties from which he has happily escaped, especially when his success reveals some virtue and gives occasion for praise. But when necessity, or the good of others, sometimes constrained him to tell something which he had done for the glory of God, if anything had gone ill he attributed to himself whatever might cause humiliation, though he had given no occasion for it; but if all went well, he told of it in very humble terms, setting all to the account of the zeal and labor of others, and suppressing so far as he could those circumstances which would bring praise to himself; and he always ascribed even the slightest good that he did to God, as its primary and only cause. For example, he never said, "I did this; I said this; I thought of this"; but rather, "God inspired me with this thought; put into my mouth these words; gave me strength to do this"; and so on. The humility of St. Francis de Sales was, says St. Jane Frances de Chantal, humility of heart. For it was his maxim that the love of our abjection ought to be with us at every step; and, therefore, he strove to conceal the gifts of grace as much as he could, and endeavored to appear of less account than he really was, so that he was often slow and late in giving his opinion upon subjects with which he was well acquainted.

      10. We ought always to consider others as our superiors, and to yield to them, even though they be our inferiors, by offering them every kind of respect and service. Oh, what a beautiful thing it would be, if it should please God to confirm us well in such a practice.----St. Vincent de Paul

      This was precisely the practice of this Saint. He made great account of all, and considered all better than himself, more prudent, more perfect, more capable, and more fit for any employment, and therefore he felt no difficulty in yielding his own opinion to anyone. We read of a good nun named Sister Rachel Pastore who had formed such an humble opinion of herself that she regarded all persons, without exceptions, as her superior; and with this sentiment deeply fixed in her heart, she abased and humbled herself in the presence of all.

      11. Our Lord says that whoever wishes to become greatest of all must make himself least of all. This is a truth that all Christians believe; how happens it, then, that so few practice it?----St. Vincent de Paul

      The same Saint was one of these few. As he had always but a low opinion of himself and had taken so much pains to lower himself beneath all, God continually exalted him by the many great works which He entrusted to him, by the high regard in which he was generally held and by the abundant benedictions which God bestowed on all his actions. St. Paula, by the testimony of St. Jerome, excelled so much in self-abasement that if a stranger attracted by her fame had come to visit her, he would never have recognized her, but would rather have supposed her to be one of the least of her own servants. And when she was surrounded by bands of young maidens, in dress, speech and manner, she always seemed the humblest of them all.

      12. Do not believe that thou hast made any advance in perfection unless thou considerest thyself the worst of all, and desirest that all should be preferred to thee; for it is the mark of those who are great in the eyes of God to be small in their own eyes; and the more glorious they are in the sight of God, the more vile they appear in their own sight.----St. Teresa

      One day when St. Anthony was praying, he heard a voice saying, "Anthony, thou hast not reached the perfection of a man named Coriarius, who lives in Alexandria." The Saint went immediately to find him, and inquired about his life. Coriarius answered: "I do not know that I have ever done anything good, and so, when I rise in the morning, I say in my heart that all people in this city will be saved by their good works, and I alone shall be lost for my sins; and I say the same thing in the evening, in all sincerity, before going to rest." "No! no! no!" replied St. Anthony, "thou hast secured Heaven for thyself by thy wise practice; but I have unwisely failed to attain this excellence of thine."

      In the Lives of the Fathers, a certain monk is mentioned who, in giving an account of his interior to the Abbot Sisois, said that he kept continually before his mind the thought of God. The Abbot answered: "That is nothing great. The great thing would be that you should see yourself below every creature."

      One of the chief men of Alexandria, having been received into a monastery, the Abbot judged from his appearance and other signs that he was a hard man, haughty, and inflated with worldly pride. Wishing to lead him by the safe road of humility, he placed him in the porter's lodge, with instructions to throw himself at the feet of all who passed in or out and to beg them to pray to God for him, because he was a great sinner. He obeyed with exactness, and persevered in this exercise for seven years, acquiring thereby great humility. The Abbot then thought it time to give him the habit and admit him to the society of the other members of the Order. But when he heard of this, he implored and entreated to be left as he was for the short time which, as he said, remained to him of life. His request was granted, and he proved to be a true prophet----for, after ten days he died, in great peace and confidence in regard to his salvation. This is related by St. John Climacus, who says that he had spoken with this man, and when he inquired how he occupied himself in all that time when he was remaining at the gate, he replied: "My constant exercise was to consider myself unworthy to stay in the monastery, and to enjoy the sight and company of the Fathers, or even to raise my eyes to look at them."

      We read of the venerable Maria Seraphina di Dio that she seemed to have no eyes except to see and exaggerate her own defects, and to admire the virtues of others. So, when she saw others performing any good action, she would say, with feeling: "How happy they are! All, except me, attend to the services of God!" When she saw any going to the confessors, she thought they would only have to hear and speak of God, while she reproached herself that she went solely to tell her errors and sins. If she ever saw anyone commit a fault, she always found means to excuse or palliate it, and thus she was able, in spite of the sins of others, to retain the opinion which she held of herself as being the worst of all.

      13. When one is very remarkable for virtue, and truly great before God, and favored and esteemed by Him, yet with all this remains little and vile in his own eyes----here is that humility so grateful to God and so rare among men, which was found most perfect in the Blessed Virgin, who, on hearing herself chosen to be the Mother of God, acknowledged herself to be a servant and handmaiden.----St. Bernard

      St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi was an admirable example of this. Though she had arrived at high perfection and sanctity and saw herself enriched by God with extraordinary graces and favors, even to the power of working miracles; yet with all this, she had so low an esteem and so poor an opinion of herself as to astonish those who knew her. Nor was this a matter of pure imagination or of mere words, but true and sincere, and was clearly shown by an ecstasy, in which the Lord showed her the strength and virtue He intended to communicate to her against the fierce temptations she had endured from the devil, and she broke forth with these words: "What confusion for me! that upon the lowest and vilest creature upon earth, as I am, Thou designest to bestow the immensity of the treasures of Thy liberality and mercy!"

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