Exaltation Of The Humble And Meek
Are we proud of being traditional Catholics? That’s kind of a loaded question, and you’d probably have to think twice before you answer accurately. It all depends on what we mean by the word ‘proud’. Pride is undoubtedly the worst of the seven deadly sins, the sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance. We think of the pharisee and the publican in the temple—the first thanks God that he is not like other men, so much better and holier than other men, while the sinner, the publican, is quite aware of his own misconduct and begs God for forgiveness. This was one of Christ’s most memorable parables and the message is loud and clear—pride is bad, humility is good. Our Lord warned us repeatedly of the consequences of pride and humility: “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
The warning is clear, and should give us pause any time someone asks us if we’re proud of our behavior, of our achievements or our virtues. We need to remember that any and all good that is within us, like all good things, comes from above, from the Father of lights. Our blessed Mother understood this very well, and if we think deeply upon today’s feast of her Immaculate Conception, we will learn the true distinction between pride and humility.
Our blessed Lady is truly the most magnificent of God’s creatures. We regard her as blessed and all-blameless, and the Mother of our God. She who is more honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, she who without stain of sin did bear God the Word, and is truly the Mother of the Most High. We magnify her and place her below only her Creator, God himself in dignity and honour. What creature is more worthy of praise than the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of her Creator? Who among the children of men more deserves to feel ‘proud’ of her privileges, her status, and her closeness to God?
This tremendous privilege, granted uniquely to her, of being conceived without inheriting the original sin of Adam, this Immaculate Conception we commemorate today, is surely a reason for pride. Our blessed Lady has every right to look down upon the rest of us poor sinners, knowing that she is far, far superior to us in every aspect. And yet her humility far transcends anything we can imagine. In fact, it is this awe-inspiring humility that places her above the rest of mankind and even above the very angels. St. Augustine reminds us that “it was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” The humility of holy Mary is such that it makes her even above the Cherubim and Seraphim, those closest to God in heaven. It makes her Queen of the Angels and Queen of Heaven, and we wonder, we marvel, how such an exalted creature can be so humble!
Before we explain the answer, let’s examine the words of the author C.S. Lewis. He wrote that “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” We think again of the pharisee in the temple, filled with prideful contempt towards the sinful publican. He fails to see his own worth in the eyes of God because he is busy looking down on others, comparing himself with other men, instead of looking up to see the perfection of his Creator and realizing how far short of that perfection he is. Our blessed Lady makes no such mistake. In the Gospel of St. Luke we can read the message of her Magnificat and see exactly why she is humble in her greatness, and we can observe her example, learn from it, and become humble, no matter how ‘great’ we may become.
In spite of all her privileges and graces, she takes our attention immediately away from herself and up to God: “My soul doth magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” This God, she says, saw fit to see her own unworthiness, her “lowliness”, and yet elevated her in spite of that so that all generations should call her blessed.” This canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary is read by the clergy every single night at Vespers. It is worthy of our frequent meditation, showing us as it does, how the good Lord takes us, his sinful creatures, and exalts us to high positions through no merit of our own but only by his own freely given grace. If there is anything good in us at all, it is because God has given us those graces. If we have chosen to accept this gift, if we have used our free will to do God’s will, it is only—only—because the breath of God inspires us to rise to our calling.
We should not compare ourselves to the Blessed Virgin. We should not say that she was given privileges that we don’t have, and that therefore we cannot rise to her state of perfection. What we should think upon is the fact that she who is far greater than we could ever hope to be was at the same time more humble. If she could find humility in her perfection, how much easier should it be for us to be humble in our own sinful and pathetically dismal imperfections. In her Immaculate Conception she shows us the way. It is the way of God, who “hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.”