Humility is one of those virtues that, generally, everyone knows they need but no one really wants 🙂 … We know it will make us holy, but we know it involves suffering. We know it will make us like Christ, but that transformation comes through the cross. We know it is the primary virtue of so many saints, but that they gained humility through a life of renunciation and obedience. St. Bonaventure calls humility “the guardian and ornament of all the virtues” – it is a foundation for charity, faith, hope, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, and all other virtues to be named (Life of St. Francis, 6.1).
Without humility, things fall apart and we become men and women who flex the muscles of our willpower like bodybuilders as we grow in virtue. With humility, we become saints who rest upon the strength of the Lord – we become just as strong in virtue but it isn’t all based on us.
Of all the virtues that St. Francis excelled in, humility is the one in his life too that could be said to take pride of place.
The first five chapters of The Life of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure are more or less a chronological account of the beginning of St. Francis’ ministry. After finishing this account, St. Bonaventure embarks upon an extended reflection on the different facets of St. Francis’ personality, virtues, community relations, and holiness. Chapter six is devoted to the humility and obedience of St. Francis.
Among the most striking images that St. Francis used to preach about humility and obedience in the course of his life and ministry was that of a dead body! St. Bonaventure quotes St. Francis as saying this:
“Take a corpse and put it where you will! You will see that it does not resist being moved, nor murmur about its position nor protest when it is cast aside. If it is placed on a throne, it will not raise its eyes up, but cast them down. If it is clothed in purple, it will look twice as pale. This is a truly obedient man.”
When I hear this quote, I am reminded of St. Paul when he said, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:12). St. Francis too knew how to be poor and rich, hungry and fed. He took what came to him in his life and simply trusted that the Lord would provide.
Clearly, we cannot all become poor to the extent that St. Francis did. He embraced poverty in a radical way according to the state in life that the Lord called him. A monk can do this, a man or woman with a family cannot. Still, what we can all imitate and strive for is the humility that came along with St. Francis’ poverty.
We can pray for the grace of indifference to worldly possessions. We can pray for the grace of seeing ourselves in the way Jesus himself sees us. When we see our goodness through his eyes, we recognize that we have not built ourselves up but that he has given us life and all good things. Through the intercession of St. Francis, may God grant us the grace of true humility.