In Scripture are the words, "I humbled myself, and the Lord hastened to rescue me" (Psalm 114:6); and these words are there instead of "I have fasted," "I have kept vigil," "I lay down on the bare earth."Saint John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 25: On Humility
Prudence in the ascetic life has been an important area of spiritual awareness for me over the past year, and the past few months in particular. It is also significantly connected to the major theme of my retreat last week: discerning true humility from false humility.
The humble heart is turned to God and acts for love and longing for the Beloved; the proud heart is turned inward on itself and acts for its own insatiable appetites. The difference shows in their attachment to their activities; the humble heart, open to God, is willing to renounce mortifications as well as pleasures, and the proud heart may cling to either or to both but is equally unwilling to let go of them, because it holds them for its own sake rather than for God's.
Great quote from St JC, especially for me, because my efforts at physical mortification usually fail miserably..
ReplyDeleteA number of years ago, my focus during Lent was growth in humility. One of the results of my prayer and study was my extension of Cdl Merry de Val's "Litany of Humility."" For me it serves as both a prayer and an examen.
Thanks. I picked up "The Ladder" on retreat for the first time and found it a great source of insights for the spiritual life. After seeing it referenced everywhere in subsequent writings I found it really worthwhile to go back to the source.
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