Pride and Humility
We will publish in these pages every week the talks given by His Holiness the Pope in his meeting at the Great Cathedral. And the topic of last week was about pride and humility.
Pride and Humility¹
We previously mentioned that the first sin into which the devil fell was pride, and the first sin with which the devil tempted Adam and Eve was also pride, when he said to them: “You shall be like God, knowing good and evil.” And we gave the example of Job the righteous, how he “was righteous in his own eyes,” and that he “considered himself more righteous than God” (Job 32:1–2). We want to speak about this mighty sin which was able to make both the angel and the human fall.
One of the saints said: If humility is the best of virtues, then pride is the worst of vices. And Scripture said: “Before destruction comes pride, and before the fall, the haughty spirit.” And Scripture said that the Lord “resists the proud.” It was said that He “treads on the pride of the sea; when its waves rise high, He stills them.” Therefore, the proud person exposes himself to be resisted by the Lord Himself. And so, when Job was fought by vain glory, Scripture said about him: “God overcomes him, not man” (Job 32:13).
And on the contrary the Lord said about the humble: “The Lord is near to those of a contrite heart.”
What is pride?
Pride is the elevation of the heart. A person becomes great in his own eyes, and he wants to be exalted in the eyes of people. He may even stand before God in pride.
The Paradise of the Monks divided pride into two types: worldly arrogance and monastic arrogance. By the first it meant arrogance in outward appearance: grandeur in clothing, in facial expressions, in manner of speaking, in walking, in sitting—an outward puffing up. He speaks with a tone of superiority, looks with greatness, and sits with haughtiness… all of these are outward pride.
Alongside this pride in outward appearance, there is inner pride, in the heart, by which a person thinks himself to be something. He thinks himself great, then this develops into treating people as a superior… He speaks to people from above. He treats them in a way he would not accept to be treated himself. He feels there is a difference between him and others. He feels he is more righteous and holy than people. He feels he is deeper than they are in thought and knowledge. He always assumes he is right and others are in error. He never admits he is wrong. He demands a certain manner of respect and a special way of treatment.
What are the causes of pride?
A person may become great in his own eyes because of his position, or his wealth, or his strength, or his intelligence, or his knowledge, or his beauty, or his appearance and elegance. Or the cause of his pride may be the graces and gifts God has bestowed upon him: artistic or intellectual gifts, or perhaps he grows proud because of spiritual gifts—such as a person becoming proud because of his piety, his ability to fast, his tears in prayer, his vigil, his prostrations, his meditations… or because of his gifts in performing miracles.
Strangely, the majority of the proud are of the type to whom God has done good. Instead of the gift leading them to thanksgiving, they deviate because of it into pride…
It is expected that the more gifts a person has, the more he should humble himself. As with the saints—just as a good tree laden with fruit bends its branches downward from the weight of the fruit it carries. But a tree without fruit has its branches lifted up by the wind because of its lightness… It is wondrous that the full ones are humble, while the empty ones rise up.
It is expected that those who have gifts should humble themselves, knowing that these gifts are from God to them, and not from themselves—they are granted to them by the Lord of gifts. So they give the glory to God and do not take it for themselves. As the Psalmist said: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your holy name give glory.”
These humble ones thank God for His gift, and do not thank themselves.
If a person boasts because of a gift or grows proud because of it, how easy it is for God to take it away from him. And how easy it is for the grace of God to depart from him because of his arrogance, causing the demons to cast him into the opposite. And so one of the fathers said: The one who boasts of chastity falls into impurity; the one who boasts of knowledge falls into heresies; the one who boasts of holiness falls into the traps of demons.
One of the saints said: If God gives a person a gift, sometimes He gives alongside it a trial or affliction. For if the soul is humbled because of the trial, he may be saved from the warfare of the gift. Thus, the trials were a safeguard for the gifts. Some of the saints who had gifts used to pray that God would give them such humiliation, so that their hearts would not be lifted up because of the gifts. And how true are the words of David the Prophet: “It is good for me, O Lord, that You have humbled me.” And some of these saints used to pray that God would remove these gifts from them.
How difficult gifts are, and how many have been unable to endure them.
And how true are the words of Saint Abba Antony when he said: “Enduring honor is harder than enduring humiliation.”… Often God grants a person a particular gift or honor, and he cannot bear it, and the world becomes too small for him. And this becomes the cause of his destruction…
The proud attributes everything to himself and not to God.
The proud wants to appear. But the humble hides himself so that God may appear. If the proud lifts up his heart from within, or misuses the gifts given to him, this appears in various manifestations in his life.
Manifestations of Pride:
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Among the manifestations of pride is boasting and speaking about oneself. And what is meant, of course, is speaking about oneself in one’s virtues and greatness. An example is the Pharisee in the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, when he said: “I thank You, O Lord, that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess”… He speaks of his righteousness even before God—although he tries to cover his pride with the form of thanksgiving!
A person who speaks about his virtues uses the method of half-truths.
For if he mentioned the full truth about himself, he would also have to mention his faults and falls. Therefore he is neither fully honest nor fully just…
The humble person, if he speaks about himself, speaks about his sins and weaknesses.
Some monks from Scetis went to Mother Sarah and revealed to her their faults and vices. She said to them: “Truly you are Scetians, for you hide your virtues and ascribe to yourselves vices that are not even in you.”
And thus we saw some of the fathers pretending to be ignorant or of little understanding or neglectful of worship so that they might receive people’s contempt and hide their virtues—like the story of “the foolish woman” whose virtue God revealed to Abba Daniel. When she knew that her holiness had been revealed, she left the monastery… Another example is Saint Longinus, who healed a woman from a serious illness without revealing to her that he was Saint Longinus. And when she asked for the man of that name to heal her, he said to her: “Longinus can do nothing for you. But pray and God will heal you.”
Other saints used to hide their knowledge and learning…
For example, three fathers visited Saint Abba Antony, and one of them was Abba Joseph. Abba Antony asked them to interpret a certain verse. Two of them answered. But when he asked Abba Joseph, he replied: “Father, I do not know.” Abba Antony said to him: “Blessed are you, Abba Joseph, for you have found the way to the words: I do not know.”
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The proud may boast of his knowledge. He may think he knows more than others and crush the opinions of others so that he may appear more learned!!
Thus the fathers said: “If you sit among elders, be silent. And if they ask you something, say: ‘I do not know.’” And the fathers did not allow the younger monks to speak in the presence of those older in age or rank, out of reverence and humility. In the story of Job the righteous and his three friends, Elihu remained silent the whole time “because they were older than he,” and finally he said to them: “I am young in days, and you are aged. Therefore I was afraid and feared to declare my opinion to you” (Job 32:6).
The humble person, if he reveals something of his knowledge, speaks with great politeness and caution, so that he does not appear as one who knows what others do not. He may even give an opinion but ascribe it to the listener. And he may praise others in his speech, making them feel that they are the owners of the idea.
The Lord Christ, in His conversation with the sinful Samaritan woman, did not embarrass her, but said to her: “You have said well, truly” (John 4:17–18).
There are people extremely polite in their speech. One of them may say something like: “I greatly admired the wonderful thought expressed by so-and-so (one of the listeners). It reminded me of the saying of one of the saints…” Then he explains what he wants to explain, and returns to ascribing the thought to the listener, saying: “According to the opinion of so-and-so…”
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The proud manifests himself—whereas the humble denies himself. Self-centeredness is a form of pride. The proud is a person centered around himself. He wants all attention to be directed toward him. He wants to appear himself—not God, not people. This self-centeredness appears in everything, even in prayer: he cares about himself—whether he is fervent in prayer, whether he is reverent, whether he is a man of prayer…
The humble person says to himself: Who am I? And what is myself? I am merely dust and ashes.
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Because the proud cares about himself, he may compare himself with others, showing his superiority over others, or judging others, or building himself by destroying others…
There is absolute pride, connected to a person’s idea of himself. And there is comparative pride, in which a person compares himself with others—as when someone says: “We were in a meeting, and silence fell upon all; they could not resist the flow. And I stood up and said…” And he continues comparing his strength to their weakness, his knowledge to their ignorance, or the praise he received to the blame they received.
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The proud may interrupt others to speak himself. He wants everyone to be silent so that he may speak. He may raise his voice above theirs. He may interrupt them. He may belittle their opinions. He may mock them. Therefore the humble is distinguished by politeness in conversation. And this humble person, if he sits with people, gives them the opportunity and prefers them over himself, convinced that listening is better than speaking…
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The proud loves the first seat. And he continually prefers himself over others.
But the humble does not push people aside in life’s path. He has no problem letting them go ahead. He competes with no one, but places before him the saying of Scripture: “In honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10). -
The proud is always stubborn: he does not submit to another’s opinion or command. He never yields his own view, no matter how they convince him, thinking that giving up is against his dignity, believing his opinion holds all wisdom. Therefore the Apostle warned us, saying: “Do not be wise in your own opinion” (Romans 12:16).
¹Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine, Year Five – Issue Seven, 16-11-1974
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