PART 8

This is the English translation of the EIGHTTH from twelve parts of a series of articles of
H.H.Pope Shenouda III that appeared in Watany weekly newspaper during the period
from July 9, 2000 to September 24, 2000


LIFE OF HUMILITY
AND
MEEKNESS
8





BY HIS HOLINESS AMBA SHENOUDA III,
POPE AND PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA
AND
THE APOSTOLIC SEE OF ALL THE PREDICATION OF
SAINT MARK








Translated from "WATANY" newspaper 27 August 2000













MEANS AND SIGNS
OF
HUMILITY

(B)

















We spoke in the last edition about seventeen means and signs of humility; and we want to-day to complete our meditations about this subject.
18. The humble must run away from magnificence and all its manifestations and all its sources:
He must run away from the love of principality and leadership, from the love of domination and power, from the love of greatness and superiority over the others, and from the love of advancement over the others, because all these lead to perdition. Our Lord has forbidden them for us when He said to his saint apostles:
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20: 25-28).
19. If somebody is placed in a great position, let him act in it in simplicity and humility, and not be haughty over others.
How beautiful is it for thim to forget his position, and to deal with people with charity, in such a way that his heart does not become upraised, and that he does not proudly deal with others, as if they were inferior to him or less than him, and that he does not despise anybody, and that he does not use his power to subdue others.
He does not treat them in the same manner as Haman who requested a certain respect from Mordecai (Esther 3: 5-6); but rather he treats people like David, who mixed with people in love, although he was the leader of king Saul's army, "But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them" (1 Sam. 18:16).
The humble man treats his subordinates as a comrade and a friend, and he makes them feel his love.
Our Lord Jesus Christ called his disciples brothers. He said to them: "No longer do I call you servants........ but I have called you friends" (John 15:15). And it was said of Him that "in all things He had to be made like His brethern" (Heb. 2:17).
20. The humble tolerates dignity, and his heart is not raised because of it:
Whatever dignity he obtains, he does not forget that he is a man, and that he is dust and ashes; but on the contrary, he humiliates himself more, in order to establish an equilibrium between his interior and his exterior. If he attains an excellent position, or if he obtains fame or riches or power, let him remember the words of the great saint Antonius: "Supporting dignity is more difficult than supporting affront". As for him whose heart is raised up, he makes us remember the words of the poet:
"When my friend became one of the rich people,
I became certain that I had lost my friend".
21. The humble constantly tries to take the lowest place according to the Lord's command in (Luke 14: 7-10).
How beautiful is the saying of the "spiritual oldman" (St. Saba) about that subject: "Wherever you go, be the smaller of your brothers and their servant". Not only that you do not exalt yourself over them, but that you become the smallest of them and their servant.
The humble gives to everybody the preference to himself according to the saying of the apostle: "in honor giving preference to one another" (Rom. 12:10). Such as the Lord inclined himself and washed his disciples' feet, in like manner he will be ready to incline himself and serve everybody, whatever smaller than he they are.
Likewise we see that the priests and the teachers in our Church call themselves servants:
We mention here the prayer which saint Augustin prayed for his people saying: "I ask you, Lord, for my masters your servants". He said about them that they are his masters, although they were his sons and his pastorate.
We want to use the expression "servants" not simply as an expression or as a surname, but that its author uses it in the fullness of its significance and meaning.
22. The humble places in front of himself the virtue of the saints and its elevation, and so all his good deeds become small in his eyes.
If he is tempted about a virtue in which he has excelled, he remembers the level which the saints attained specially in that virtue, and he compares himself to them. Then he will see that he is nothing, and his soul becomes small in his eyes in all the good deeds which he had done. But the danger lies in comparing himself to the beginners or to those who have fallen down or to the sinners, and then he would see that he is better than them, such as that pharisee did when he stood in the temple and prayed saying: "God, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector" (Luke 18:11).
23. The humble places in front of himself the perfection that is required of him, and then he sees that he has not yet attained anything:
He remembers the word of the Lord: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). He sees the distance between himself and this required perfection, and then his heart becomes humble and he feels that he is still wanting in the balances: "Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed on the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor" (Ps. 62:9), and he repeates the same expressions by which Belteshazzar was described: "you have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting" (Dan. 5:27). In that manner his heart will be humiliated if he remembers what is required of him.
If charity is the first fruit amongst the numerous fruits of the Spirit (Gal.5: 22-23), and charity has a long program which the apostle Paul mentioned in (1 Cor. 13), and till now he has not comprehended the depths of this charity, and has not completed its requirements, what then would he say about the rest of the fruits of the Spirit of which he possesses nothing?!
He rather remembers the word of the Lord: [when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, "we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do"] (Luke 17:10). He says: "Truly I have not yet attained the degree of these unprofitable servants".
24. The humble is also humble as regards knowledge and understanding:
He places in front of himself the saying of the Bible: "Do not be wise in your own eyes", "And lean not on your own understanding" (Prov. 3: 7,5). He keeps away from the knowledge that puffs (1 Cor. 8:1). Let him remember the saying of saint Isaac: "he who glorifies in knowledge, falls into doctrinal divergence and heresy". Arius, Nestorius, and Eutache have fallen into it, and they all were self-conceited in their knowledge and their positions, and self-confident in the depth of their knowledge.
25. The humble is not obstinate, holding on his opinion:
Some people have an intellectual haughtiness, a magnificence in holding on oneself's opinion and persisting in it, whatever dislocated or false it is, not accepting contradiction or even discussion! Such a person would become angry if any fault was attributed to his ideas, he would become violent and speak harshly, and may be insulting, as if his thoughts possessed such a plausibility that would raise him over discussion or analysis.
But it is rather easy to come to an understanding with the humble. He accepts the other opinion whatever opposing it is to him. He accepts conversation and discussion with goodness of heart.
26. The humble person likes discipleship, and he accepts instruction and reproach:
He absolutely does not see that he has attained a degree of knowledge that does not accept augmentation. But he constantly wants to know and to learn more. He lives all his life as a pupil learning from books, from people, from nature, and from events....... He does not think that he has attained a degree of knowledge which makes him constantly give and not take.
In his humility, he accepts every opinion with humility, if it is sound. He thanks for it, and confesses that he has profited. If the opinion is false, he does not hurt its author, but he rather calmly and humbly discusses with him.
27. The humble person is always far away from anger and irritated nerves:
As saint Dorotheus said about that: "The humble person does not get angry at anybody, and does not anger anybody."
Nobody makes him angry, because he constantly brings the blames upon himself in everything. And he does not anger anybody, because he asks for the benediction of everybody, and because he believes in his depths, that everybody is better than himself.
Thus we see that humility is always connected with calmness and meekness.
Truly, not every calm person is humble, but every humble person must necessarily be calm, and be meek and good-hearted.
28. The humble is naturally easy in his dealing with others, and he is simple in his treatment.
He does not continually suppose that he is right, and that whoever opposes him is wrong. He has no objection to give up his opinion, if it is proved that to be wrong. He rather thanks with true love, the person who has drawn his attention that this is wrong.
He does not interrupt the other person who discusses with him. He does not let him be silent in order to speak himself. He does ridicule the opinions that are opposed to his opinions. He does not attempt to break another. But rather he would gently prove to him the falseness of his thought without hurting his feelings or harming him. Thus did saint Didymus the blind manager of the ecclesiastical college in the time of saint Abba Athanasius, and he was able in his debates with the idolater philosophers to gain many of them to Christianity, and they all loved him.
29. Also the humble's heart is not exalted whatever he grows in spirit and in virtue:
and whatever spiritual gifts he obtains. But rather he continually believes that all the spiritual life which he has, is the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in him, the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit with him, and that he does not deserve it; and that without God he can do nothing (John 15:5); he must then thank and not glorify.
The humble knows that if he boasts of anything, grace will leave him, so that he may feel his weekness, and humble himself before God, and remember always the word of the Bible:
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18).
He thus remembers that he is like others: "a man with a nature like ours" (James 5:17); and that he is not above falling, that he is not unerring, "For she cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men" (Prov. 7:26).
30. That is why he does not lose his watchfulness as regards all sins:
He does not say about any sin that it is from the kind that combats the beginners, and not those who are grown up in spirit! and that he is greater than the level of such wars, or that he has trodden Satan under his feet!
But rather, in all satanic warfare, he asks for the help of God, praying forcefully, whatever simple the war seems to be, because he does not lean at all upon his own power, nor upon his previous victories.
31. The humble person has no objection to taking counsel:
He who takes counsel, feels that others have the knowledge that he lacks; he absolutely does not think that he does not need an opinion or a solution from others, as the proud do. But rather he asks for counsel and acts according to the good counsel, being confident that whatever knowledge and experience he has, there are those who know more than himself in certain things.
And even if he does not ask for counsel, and somebody who has an opinion voluntarily comes to him without having been asked, he takes what is profitable in that opinion, whatever smaller than himself or less than himself is the author of the opinion.
32. Among the qualities of the humble, there are obedience and respect of those that are greater than himself:
whether that great person is older than himself, or is greater in his position, or greater than himself in his spiritual stature or in his social relations.
Generally the humble does not count anybody small. He treats everybody gently, even the small ones and the servants, and with that he lifts up their morale, and makes them feel that their souls are dignified in his eyes.
This article remains insufficient to treat all the means of humility. To another coming edition, if the grace of the Lord wills and we are alive.