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You have asked me, brother Godfrey, to expand and put in writing
the substance of the addresses 'On the Degrees of Humility which I
had delivered to the brethren. I admit that, anxious as I was to
give to this request of yours the serious answer that it deserved,
I was doubtful whether I could comply with it. For with the
evangelist's warning in my mind, I did not venture to begin the
work until I had sat down and calculated whether my resources were
sufficient for its completion. Then when love had cast out the fear
that I had entertained of ridicule for failure to complete my work,
it was replaced by misgiving of a different kind; for I was
apprehensive of greater danger from the credit that might attend
success than of the disgrace that might attach to failure. So I
found myself, as it were, at the parting of the ways indicated
respectively by affection and by fear; and I was long in doubt as
to which was the safer choice. For I was afraid that if I said
anything worth saying about humility. I might myself be found
wanting in that virtue, whereas if, on grounds of modesty, I
refused to speak, I might fail in usefulness. And I saw that,
though neither of these courses is free from peril, I should be
obliged to take one or the other. So I have thought it better to
give you the benefit of anything that I can say, than to seek
personal safety in the harbour of silence. And I earnestly trust
that, if I am fortunate enough to say anything which commends
itself to you, I may have in your prayers a safeguard against
pride, whereas ifas is more likely-I produce nothing worthy of your
attention, there will be no possible cause for conceit. THE TWELVE
DEGREES OF PRIDE TAKEN DOWNWARDS 1. Curiosity, when a man allows
his sight and other senses to stray after things. which do not
concern him. 2. An unbalanced state of mind, showing itself in talk
unseasonably joyous and sad. 3. Silly merriment, exhibited in too
frequent laughter. 4. Conceit, expressed in much talking. 5.
Eccentricity-attaohing exaggerated importance to one's own conduct.
6. Self-assertion-holding oneself to be more pious than others. 7.
Presumption-readiness to undertake anything. 8. Defence of
wrong-doing. 9. Unreal confession-detected when severe penance is
imposed. 10. Rebellion against the rules and the brethren. 11.
Liberty to sin. 12. Habitual transgression.
Saint Bernard enumerates several progressive manifestations of
pride, a ladder we climb down to perdition, "curiosity, levity of
mind, foolish and misplaced joy, boasting, singularity, arrogance,
presumption, the refusal to recognize one's errors, the
dissimulation of one's sins in confession, rebellion, unbridled
liberty, the habit of sin even to the contempt of God." He then
explains how to overcome these vices in order to achieve virtue,
salvation and eternal happiness. St. Alphonsus writes: "a single
bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a
monastery." Pope Pius XII wrote in 1947 at the beatification of
Blessed Maria Goretti: "There rises to Our lips the cry of the
Saviour: 'Woe to the world because of scandals ' (Matthew 18:7).
Woe to those who consciously and deliberately spread corruption-in
novels, newspapers, magazines, theaters, films, in a world of
immodesty " We at St. Pius X Press are calling for a crusade of
good books. We want to restore 1,000 old Catholic books to the
market. We ask for your assistance and prayers. This book is a
photographic reprint of the original The original has been
inspected and many imperfections in the existing copy have been
corrected. At Saint Pius X Press our goal is to remain faithful to
the original in both photographic reproductions and in textual
reproductions that are reprinted. Photographic reproductions are
given a page by page inspection, whereas textual reproductions are
proofread to correct any errors in reproduction.
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