Unjust and bitter criticism is one of the marks of inveterate pride. The devil is the accuser of the brethren. Much that he urges against them is true, but this is no excuse. Much is false, and in this those who criticize rashly and uncharitably are sure to imitate their model. They fall unconsciously into false and rash judgments; and even where they were quite certain that they were right, they nevertheless often do serious wrong to those whom they criticize. If they were more humble, they would have a clearer and truer view of the characters and actions of those around them.

There is in the conversation of the proud an under-current of self-praise. They talk chiefly about themselves and what they have said and done, and in a tone of boastfulness more or less thinly veiled. The humble seem to forget themselves; they consider what is interesting to those to whom they talk, for God's sake they seek to please others rather than themselves. Try and cultivate this humility in conversation. It will make you loved by God and by men.

Yet how general is this habit of criticism! Many who are reputed good Catholics run down their neighbors with a freedom which shows how little they have imbibed of the spirit of the Church and of her saints. A saint is always most gentle in his judgments and words, and seeks to imitate his Master, when He said to the poor woman trembling at His feet: "Neither do I condemn thee." Ask yourself whether you are free from fault in this respect, and promise amendment.

O God, who resistest the proud, and givest thy grace to the humble, grant me that true humility of which thy adorable Son has left us the example. Notwithstanding the powerful obstacles which my natural inclinations oppose to this virtue, I ardently desire to learn of Him to be meek and humble of heart. I am filled with confusion, O Lord, when I reflect on my inordinate love of esteem and applause, my extreme fear of contempt and humiliation, my independence of spirit, my attachment to my own ideas and opinion, my secret satisfaction in success, my latent mortification at seeing others preferred, my insatiable desire of praise and honor. O Lord, I should despair of the cure of maladies so numerous and grievous, did not I know that thou art an Almighty Physician, to whom nothing is impossible. Cast on me, O my God, a look of compassion, and have mercy on me. Grant that I may know thee, to love thee alone ; that I may know myself, to comprehend the depth of my miseries.

May I never forget the many motives that urge me to the practice of humility, the sins of my past life, my inclination to evil, my inconstancy in virtue, my tepidity in thy service, my ingratitude towards thee, my daily infidelities, and the innumerable defects which, notwithstanding my pride, I cannot disguise from myself. May I at length do myself justice, by sincerely believing myself to be the last of all creatures; may I henceforth shun praise as sedulously as I have hitherto sought it; may my only aim be to please thee, my only desire to be forgotten by the world; may the remembrance of the account I shall have to render of Thy graces, prove a perpetual stimulus to the practice of humility in the use of them. If by thy grace I am ever capable of doing any thing to promote Thy honor, I will refer the glory to thee alone; I will think of the voluntary humiliations of my Savior; I will take Him for my model, that by attaining resemblance with Him, I may deserve to be one day ranked among His elect in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.