How cool is this? Upon finding the Table of Contents...
I turned to the section on humility found in the “Benedictine Way of Life.” Here is the wisdom “of the day”:
St. Benedict could not have arrived at this beautiful thought of ordaining the monk to be, as it were, a courtier of the Great King, if he had not had a profoundly true conception of the relation of the creature to the Creator, of the Christian to Christ; and if he had not been prompted by this conception to make the monk’s life the expression, as perfect as human limitations may allow, of what ought to be the creature’s and the Christian’s attitude and manner of life over against God, so that it might be, in some measure, an expression of the service given Him by those who are united with Him in heaven.
But neither could he expect the monk, the model for the ideal Christian service of God, to carry out this mission faithfully, except the latter have a proper conception of his relation to God and strive to realize it in his daily life. No one seeks God except the light of grace has shown him his true relation to God as His creature, made to serve Him and destined to be united with Him in everlasting life; totally dependent upon Him not only for the present life, but also unable, without His grace, to obtain eternal life. The habitual recognition of this, not only in theory, but in every attitude and act of life, constitutes the virtue which we call humility.
How about that? Word choice and some theology aside, I found this an interesting and fascinating look back in time!
Let us walk in the holy presence.
