Summary of the Morrow's Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow on the advantages of modesty, and we shall see that this virtue is: 1st, the charm of society; 2nd, the path of perfection. We will then make the resolution: 1st, henceforth to hold modesty in greater esteem, and no longer to look upon it as the portion of simple, scrupulous, timid persons, who do not know how to conduct themselves in society; 2nd, to observe modesty in our eyes, by depriving ourselves of looking at what we have no need to see; in our manner of walking, by never taking hasty, precipitous steps; in our conversations, by willingly deferring to the opinion of others, when conscience permits. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Apostle: "Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, the bowels of modesty" (Coloss. iii. 12).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ under the figure of the wise man whom the Holy Spirit represents to us as wearing modesty painted on the features of his face (Prov. xvii. 24). It was sufficient to see our divine Saviour in order to recognize that there was in Him something more than a man. In fact, the saints tell us that modesty is a ray, and as it were a reflection, of the Divinity. Let us render our whole homage to the Man-God for so ravishing a modesty.
FIRST POINT
Modesty is the Charm of Society.
Who, in fact, has not experienced when in the society of a modest man a pure and intimate pleasure which has something of heaven itself in it? Who has been able to prevent himself from feeling inexpressible delight in looking at the modesty of his countenance, and of his eyes, and the propriety of his behavior? It is difficult to please every one, it has often been said: this privilege has been reserved for a modest man. There is in him an inexpressible something which captivates esteem, which charms the heart, and pleases the most exacting. The mere sight of him gives pleasure; his manners, equally distant from affected politeness and vulgar rusticity, are at once simple and amiable, and we see that it is his heart alone which has taught them to him. His conversation is genial, humble, tranquil; he does not indulge in arguments or disputes, because, very different from men of a presumptuous frame of mind, who consider that their opinion decides everything, he is reserved in pronouncing an opinion. If he does give an opinion, it is with simplicity and without being attached to it; he does not endeavor to make his own ideas prevail, and he prefers to allow himself to be conquered by yielding with gentleness rather than to be triumphant by means of disputing obstinately. He does not belong to the class of great talkers who seem to desire that no one should speak save themselves alone, any more than he belongs to the opposite class of taciturn persons who, by their ill-regulated silence, are a weariness to others. He has none of the pretension and self-sufficiency which aims at domineering, at making itself to be listened to, and gain esteem. Looking on himself, on the contrary, as the last of all men, he feels within himself and he outwardly testifies all kinds of considerations and of amiabilities towards his brethren; in his eyes they are the holy children of God and he is their servant, who ought to do everything to make himself agreeable to them. Hence his words, which are seasoned with goodness and gentleness; his manners, which are full of grace and amenity. This is how modesty is rendered the ornament of all the virtues, the honor of religion, the link of charity between men, and the charm of society. At what point have we arrived in the practice of so beautiful a virtue?
SECOND POINT
Modesty is the Pathway of Perfection.
The masters of the spiritual life represent perfection as a height which we reach by three degrees. In the first we expiate past sins; in the second we form ourselves to virtue; in the third the soul, detached from all things, unites itself to God, its principle and its end. Now it is by modesty that we pass through these three degrees. 1st. We expiate by it past sins. Without having recourse to hair-shirts, modesty is of itself a magnificent penance; it is a universal mortification which affects all the senses, the eyes, the tongue, the behavior, the deportment; it is a mortification possible to all kinds of persons, a mortification which does not injure the health, which does not exhaust the strength, which does no harm either to the head or the lungs; a mortification which is practicable in all places, private or public, sacred or profane; at all times, at night as well as during the day, in company as well as in solitude; a mortification which is always wise, wherein excesses need not be feared; a mortification, lastly, of the most sanctifying kind, which fashions the soul to the great law of abnegation, by accustoming it to fight against seeking after its own comfort, the frivolity and license of its fancies. 2nd. By modesty we rise to all the virtues, according to the saying of the Holy Ghost: The fruits of modesty are the fear of God, spiritual riches, and a perfect life (Prov. xxiii. 4). The first fruit of modesty: the fear of God, for it disposes the soul to reflect upon God and upon itself, to the order and wisdom which regulate words and movements with perfect discretion; the second fruit of modesty: spiritual riches, which are a more lively and actual faith, a greater confidence, a more ardent charity; lastly, modesty has, as its last fruit, a perfect life, because a modest exterior favors interior recollection and purity of soul, whilst, if the senses are not under control, the soul is like a house open to all passers-by, with continual goings out and goings in, the entrance of exterior objects which dissipate, and the goings forth of the heart to exterior objects to attach itself to them and to become sullied by the contact (St. Gregory). 3rd. We unite ourselves to God by modesty. The eyes being cast down to the ground, says St. Bernard, cause the heart to rise to heaven; and the less we occupy ourselves with outward things, the more easy it is for us to occupy ourselves with God within. It is then that we enjoy Him, that we fill ourselves with Him, that we live in Him, leaving below ourselves all creatures, with their tumult and agitation, which distract us from God (Ps. lxxv. 3).
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.