The Sermons of Johannes Tauler · 120 of 124

Sermon for the Feast of a Holy Bishop, Confessor

And in My name shall his horn be exalted. — Ps. lxxxvill, 25.

Self -glory and proud boasting is, as you know, my dear children, the sin most offensive to Qod. It is giving to a man’s own self the glory that belongs to Qod alone. Qod cannot endure that His creature shall usurp to his own honor the good repute that is granted him only for the divine honor, and for the spiritual benefit of other men. And how plainly do Qod’s servants show their appreciation of this, as did the holy prelate whose feast we celebrate today. He sought his own glory in nothing, Qod’s glory in everything. Hence holy Church chants his praises in today’s office: “In My name shall his horn be exalted” — that is to say, his glory in heaven and on earth. As if God should say of him: His name shall not be his glory, for he never cared for that, as he cared but for me alone; therefore he shall be exalted even in My name and with My glory.

And in another place the Psalmist says: “For His name alone is exalted” (Ps. cxlviii, 13). Now, nothing is more hateful to God, nothing goes straighter against Him than ambition to acquire a great name. In many men this sin is hidden deep in their souls, and they little realize their perilous plight. Men in high places demand, as of personal right, that all should bow down to them; and woe to anyone who says or does anything at all likely to lessen their public honor. Of the secret pride from which this springs David speaks: “Who can understand sins? From my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord” (Ps. xviii, 13). Which means in some cases: Cleanse me from the secret desire of a great name. Again we read: “Let not the foot of pride come to me” (Ps. xxxv, 12) . Which means the first steps or inclinations towards pride; for in “the earliest movements of the heart are the causes of all iniquity. I say to thee, that if thou wilt not renounce thy lore of an honorable name, thou canst not find Qod in whatsoever thou doest, no matter how good it all may be in itself. St. Chrysostom says: “Forsake thy great name, and thou shalt easily be superior to all the sorrows and sufferings of life.” If God could but obtain from penitent sinners self-abasement in the same degree as they formerly had pride and self-complacency, He would obtain from them all that He desires. Every chastisement that God visits on a man is for the purpose of lowering him in his own selfesteem. And when ordinary correction fails, then will God often allow His friends to suffer public shame, even to a most pitiful degree of degradation, in order that they may be disenchanted with self.

Mark this well: When a man is overpraised by others, when more virtue is ascribed to him than is really his in God’s sight (for He alone knows all man’s shortcomings), then if God would advance him in perfection, He wrecks and ruins this fair fame and turns it into evil repute. For this stolen spiritual treasure must be given up in shame and ridicule in this life, if one shall come safely through to eternal life. But if a man’s great name does not puff him up, then it will help his spiritual state; let him but keep a clean heart, guard well the grace of God, and stand humbly and fearfully before Him, avowing his innate sinfulness. Let him hold himself merely as God’s steward of all the gifts and graces he possesses, nor rate himself in the least degree a more deserving man that he was before his elevation to his office. This he should administer with a singlehearted purpose to honor God and holy Church, and advance his neighbors’ salvation. Herein is much merit in God’s eyes, much profit for men. When such a man hears the praises of the worldly-minded, it affects Him no more than if he were in any common state of life.. And if he were suddenly turned out of office it would be all one to him, for he holds his spirit indifferent to all things whatsoever in this life.

Dear children, another kind of great name, and one that is a deadly danger, is the reputation for holiness. Make sure that you dread and avoid this most sincerely. The man that does not live up to the reputation he holds among his fellows, who rejoices in a fair fame of virtue that he does not actually possess, must pay the penalty of bitter shame and disgrace here or hereafter, and all the more painfully in proportion to the esteem he shall have enjoyed.

But sometimes a good man may be distressed lest his motives in doing good are tainted by love of human praise. He may dread lest men’s applause, rather than holy obedience, inspires him. But if he has an upright intention, let him not be troubled, only keep himself upright in conscience while doing all his good works, repressing vainglorious thoughts as best he* may; for we must never cease doing good on account of scruples.

But all depends on the intention, for if that is not upright, virtuous acts are not meritorious. If one’s name is highly lauded, and his intention is meanwhile to please men, he is easily made proud; soon he is overbearing in his manners; he will not do anything good unless it attracts attention; his main object is always to be noticed and praised by men. He parades pious ways of talking and of acting; nor will he be content with anything less than the first place in the opinion of his fellows.

The sign of this vice is principally that such men do not win their fame with the people because they advance them in the virtues of divine faith and hope and love. It is soon noticed that their reliance is not upon the love of God. Men begin to mistrust that they are true servants of God, and soon their high repute is lost. Then they begin to be anxious about themselves. They lose confidence in God’s love and fall into a very dangerous frame of mind. Ask them to do some good act which they fear they are not equal to, and they will refuse you: they dread that God will unveil their feebleness and they will be exposed to contempt. All that holy Scripture teaches of trusting God cannot induce them to risk the danger of exposure of their lack of virtue — a dozen preachers could not persuade them to it. And so they rest in their obstinacy and pride, and become quarrelsome. They find it impossible to live peaceably even with kindly-natured people. Only a new, strong, very attractive light of grace can change them, can teach them self-denial, instruct them in love for all those with whom they must live. So they continue in bitterness of spirit toward their neighbor. Brotherly love — the very thought of it is painful to them, and all the gentle and affectionate virtues are hateful to them. Now they dream of obtaining relief by entering an order, separating themselves from men by solemn vows, thinking they will never again see and hear what may annoy them. But no, dear children. That is not the road to peace. In the monastery such men are only the more unsettled; they are a prey to envious thoughts, rash judgment, community

If they will have peace, let them turn inward and study their souls. Let them cleanse their thoughts of pride and self-complacency. Let them, as far as is seemly, communicate their false interior state to others, that they may be rated for what they really are, shameful sinners, worthless creatures. And let them persevere in this painful exercise till they have purged their whole being of their passion for human praise. Then and not before will they gain the sweet gift of peace, then and not before will they be fit for the good works to which their calling obliges them.

They sometimes fancy that a mechanical use of confession will serve them for peace of soul. But if I allowed them hours and hours of confession daily, it would not relieve them; they would still be tossed about with trouble of mind, and would be hateful to their neighbor. The more they go to confession without true sorrow and deep humility, the more occasions of sin will the evil spirit throw in their way — anger, envy, hate, trouble-mindedness, despondency, mistrust of self and of all others. Often they live in thoughts of the past. They beguile their minds with vain memories of what happened twenty or thirty years before, rather than with the will of God at the present moment. And all this misery must they continue to suffer, until they learn their own weakness and humbly confess it, giving up wholly and finally their love of men’s praise, and their absorption in outward appearances of virtue.

But they may say: We must set the people a good example and not scandalize anybody. But I auswer that if you would set the people a good example, then acquire virtue and give the people edification; give them to know what in very truth you are; show out real Christian good qualities, and let these be at least the commonplace virtues of kindliness, patience, promptness to serve them, receiving ill-treatment good-naturedly: better this than a pretense of virtues you do not possess.

Ah, children, these men were neglected in their training. They were not subjected to ridicule by their superiors, they were not thwarted by them. They were allowed to see how pleasing they were to the people, being praised no matter what they did. That hnrri»n«d to win their favor, to profit by the service of these defective characters in worldly affairs.

Ah, children, longing for worldly advantages means turning away from heavenly things; and this continues until it too often happens that both one and the other are forfeited. Seek first whatever is needful for eternal life, and God will provide for your temporal needs, and that in sufficient abundance. Tet for some small temporal gain we mislead soft-natured souls with our fulsome praises. We thereby instill vain glory into them, a vice ever leading one to resist God, ever hurtful to grace, laying men open to the demon’s fierce assaults. A man fully possessed of this form of pride may become capable of any sin, even the most inhuman. The foulest depravity springs from this devilish root of evil. And if this root be planted in early youth, it strikes so deep into our nature that in later life infinite pains are necessary to pluck it out.

Hence we should admonish our young brothers and sisters against the influence of men’s praise. Bid them act wholly for God’s glory, Who for love of us and to save us humbled Himself even unto the death of the cross. He has granted us strength, knowledge and many graces wherewith to win eternal happiness. Children, these beginners in the spiritual life had best be made little of, corrected with kindness, and exercised in the ways of holy humility: they may thus be made holy men. By lavish praise they are ruined; later on they are too much hardened in habits of self-complacency to suffer correction.

At last it happens that if one does not flatter such men they are bitterly discontented; they think that they are hated; they are dissatisfied with their superiors and father confessors and are evilminded about them; they are sunk in despondency; and they are full of suspicions. They say that nobody cares for them or wants them to do anything of importance. They boast of the great things they have done, and of how great use they have been to others; and all this they whisper around to those who will listen to them. Dear children, see the effects of flattery upon a certain class of simple characters. It finally imperils their eternal salvation. It prevents genuine brotherly love, and plain, honest obedience to superiors. If these are lacking, of what account are fasts, vigils, disciplines, reading and singing prayers, genuflexions, and all other bodily exercises of religion? These are all good; but with them we must have true humility; we must acquire real self-abasement and mortification; we must establish a fixed intention to do all and everything for God’s honor and our neighbor’s good, and for that alone.

Furthermore, consider that once a man sincerely disregards a great name, longs ever to be hidden, covets humiliations, is quite willing to be despised and to be ranked the lowest of all, then will God begin to do great things with him and through him. When a man never seeks honor, name or position, when he is well content that nobody praises him, and really feels better when he is last and least, then I say that before God he is just as he ought to be. If such a man happens to be given a high place, the flattery that is offered him does him no harm; and the honors that are done him only help him the better to serve the people. But yet the praises of men afflict his humble spirit very keenly, and his pain thereat is one degree of that interior death that he must experience in becoming united with God. It will clarify his soul more and more brightly, until God’s light shall shine more perfectly in him — a state of soul not easily understood except by one who has gone along this path of self-abnegation.

How happy a lot is this; and how lamentable the state of those who have failed to secure it, having given up their lives to men’s praises. Everyone of us should be on his guard against vain glory. And we should be ready and quick to enter the dark road of humility, to which God would draw us. The true man lives only upon faith and hope in God. He says in all sincerity: Lord, I will serve Thee in this darksome way; and I confidently trust that what lies before me in this marvelous experience on which I am entering is no delusion; and I give myself up to be guided passively by Thee forever. Sometimes faith, hope and love all fall away from him — as far as he faculties, and even his understanding, are, according to his perception, wholly emptied of love. But meanwhile love of God is hidden safe and secure in the higher part of the spirit. And as long as he retains some feeling of loyalty to God in real self-abandonment — even in spite of the emptiness of nature and of his understanding — and as long as he is content to be thus forsaken by God, and as long as he harbors no thought of despair, nor seeks to relieve his interior pains by any sort of bodily self-indulgence: — then he may be sure that all is well with him. But if he seeks relief in the solace of the enjoyment of the senses, or if he plunges for solace into active labors — even those of a good and spiritual kind — for the stated purpose of escaping the interior oppression that God has imposed on him (the feeling that he has no faith, nor hope, nor love), then he has made a false, step. He has snapped the tie of painful love that bound him to God, and all unconsciously he is likely to fall into a lower degree of the spiritual life. But if he will only stand his ground, true to God though God seems to have abandoned him, then is he intimately bound to God in the highest degree of love, however little he may be aware of it.

And when the darksome time is past and gone, then the soul is found cleansed in its very depths of all sense of proprietorship. Now he brings forth abundant fruit to God in the practice of virtue, and he finds a sweet rest in God, and knows God in all things. Then, too, is his zeal for souls very fruitful of his neighbor’s salvation. This is easier felt than described, for without having experienced it one can never fully understand what it is to love God in truth. May we have grace to exalt the name of God above all things and not exalt our own. May God grant us the grace of true self-renunciation, and teach us how to make little of ourselves. Amen.