The Steps of Humility and Pride XIII: 41 69
The Steps of Humility and Pride XIII: 41
enough outlet, and he says like Elihu: "Behold, my heart is like new wine that has no vent; like new wineskins it is ready to burst."315 Yes, speak or burst! He is full of words and the swelling spirit strains within him.316 His hunger and thirst are for listeners, someone to listen to his boasting, on whom he can pour out all his thoughts, someone he can show what a big man he is. At last the chance to speak comes. The discussion turns on literature. He brings forth from his treasury old things and new.317 He is not shy about producing his opinions; words are bubbling over. He does not wait to be asked. His information comes before any question. He asks the questions; gives the answers; cuts off anyone who tries to speak.318 When the bell rings and it is necessary to interrupt the conversation, hour-long though it be, he seeks a minute more. He must get special permission to resume his talk, not to edify the listeners, but to show off his learning.319 He may have the capacity to help others but that is the least of his concerns. His aim is not to teach you nor to be taught by you, but to show how much he knows. If the conversation brings up the subject of religion, he is quite ready to talk of visions and dreams. He warmly recommends fasting, urges watching and exalts prayer above all. He will give a long discourse on patience and humility and each of the other virtuesall words, all bragging. He trusts that you will draw the conclusion: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks;"320 or, "A good man from a good treasure brings forth good things."321 The talk takes a lighter turn. He is more in his element here and becomes really eloquent. If you hear him, you will say his mouth has become a fountain of wit, a river of smart talk. He can set the most grave and 315. Job 32:19.
316. Job 32:18.
317. Mt 13:52.
318. Mills has this note: Contrast St Basil's standard for the true monk (Ep 11 tr. Newman, Church of the Fathers, Basil and Gregory, 5): "To interrogate without overearnestness; to answer without desire of display; not to interrupt a profitable speaker, nor to desire ambitiously to put in a word of one's own "
319. Cf. 1 Cor 8:1.
32a Mt 12:34.
321. Mt 12:35.
The Steps of Humility and Pride XIV:42 serious laughing heartily.322 To say it briefly, when words are many, boasting is not lacking.323 There is the fourth step described and identified. Flee the reality, but remember the name. The same warning goes with the next, which I name singularity.
THE FIFTH STEP: SINGULARITY
XIV. 42. When a man has been bragging that he is better than others he would feel ashamed of himself if he did not live up to his boast and show how much better than others he is. The common rule of the monastery and the example of the seniors are no longer enough for him.324 He does not so much want to be better as to be seen to be better. He is not so much concerned about leading a better life as appearing to others to do so. He can then say "I am not like the rest of men."325 He is more complacent about fasting for one day when the others are feasting than about fasting seven days with all the rest. He prefers some petty private devotion to the whole night office of psalms.326 While he is at his meals he casts his eyes around the tables and if he sees anyone eating less than himself he is mortified at being outdone and promptly and cruelly deprives himself of even necessary food. He would rather starve his body than his pride. If he sees anyone more thin, anyone more pallid, he despises himself. He is never at rest. He wonders what others think about the appearance of his face and as he cannot see it327 he must only guess whether
322. Cf. Csi 2:22; OB 3:430; CF 19.
323. Cf. Prov 10:19; RB 7:56-58: "The ninth degree of humility is that a monk restrain his tongue and keep silence, not speaking until he is questioned. For the Scripture shows that "in much speaking there is no escape from sin" and that "the talkative man is not stable on the earth."
324. RB 7:55: "The eighth degree of humility is that a monk do nothing except what is commended by the common Rule of the monastery and the example of the elders." Cf. SC 19:7, OB 1:112f, CF 4:145; SC 64:5; 2:168, CF 31.
325. Lk 18:11.
326. According to the RB, which the Cistercians strictly followed, tourteen psalms were recited or sung at the night office eariy in the morning: RB 9.
Guerric of Igny, a close disciple of Bernard, who follows him in many things, emphasizes this same point in his Fifth Advent Sermon, 5:2; CF 8:32-33.
327. Needless to say there were no mirrors in the early Cistercian monasteries, indeed they were only commonly introduced in the middle of this century when the monks began to shave themselves.