There is nothing that gives such a solid peace as humility. At the beginning it is difficult, and we smart under the wounds that our pride has to suffer, before it can be destroyed in us; but a holy perseverance in the practice of humility will spread over the soul such a sweet and calm tranquillity, that even in this life the soul begins to taste the joys of the heavenly paradise. Troubles, disappointments, unkindness, injustice, insults, do not disturb the quiet happiness of one who is really humble, and he appreciates continually the truth of our Lord's words: "Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls . . . . For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

Humility is also the best possible safeguard against the attacks of the devil. The humble man can say as our Lord did: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." Or as St. Martin said when dying: "Why art thou here, O evil one? No malice wilt thou find in me." Nor has the devil any chance of success in tempting the humble. Their continual disposition is one of dependence on God, and therefore no temptation has power to lead them astray.

Humility is also the root whence all the other virtues spring. A humble man is always charitable, for he never thinks of himself, but always of doing something for God. For the same reason he is full of zeal; he is prudent, for he always relies on God, never on himself; he is a man of prayer, because he looks to God for everything; he is pure of heart, because he never in anything desires to please himself, but always to please God. Are these points of humility to be found in me?

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.