Bernard of Clairvaux: The Steps of Humility and Pride: 13 (Cistercian Fathers Series)

The Steps of Humility was Saint Bernard's first spiritual work, written in 1124, and probably when he was Abbot of Clairvaux. Bernard shows humility as an indispensable and fundamental requirement for our spiritual perfection and ultimate union with God. He begins with the notion of humility as the way that leads to "truth," with Truth being God himself. The man who seeks to find perfection will be assured of finding Christ. Humility is the first stage in that process, i.e., the search for the truth must begin by a comprehensive self-examination. It is only when we truly know ourselves that we become aware of our total unworthiness in the sight of God. We realize his greatness and our lowliness.In all, he shows us that there are three degrees of humility. The first is knowing ourselves, the second is knowing our neighbor (or we could say true love of neighbor), the third being knowing God. These correspond to an ascent which must be made starting with the "harsh" toil of humility which, in turn, leads to compassion, and by which, one comes to the ecstasy of contemplation (where Christ takes possession of the us and fills us with his love). Saint Bernard follow his description of the degrees with a description of the steps through which one passes along the way.The steps can be the steps of either pride or humility, depending on which way we are traveling. Retracing one's steps, he says, is sufficient to reverse our direction, for example, "what was the twelfth step in pride going down is the first step of humility going up." Each of these is described in terms of qualities which few can fail to recognize. No doubt, the work reveals the saint's capacity to penetrate and guide the human soul. Saint John of the Cross refers to his wisdom in his great work the Dark Night of the Soul (Ch 18, par #2). He says, "To go down is to go up, and to go up is to go down. " For the latest translation of this work see, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross.Besides the average reader, or person searching along the way, Saint Bernard's work is a very valuable contribution to those who themselves have written or instructed on the spiritual life. Many times it is possible to pick up a mystical book which describes experiences which are of great value to those who have them, but to the reader they become insignificant because they do not have them themselves and cannot share them. The Steps of Humility is a very practical work because it is both realistic and demanding. In it, the saint somewhat successfully describes the steps which we can all encounter if we are to grow in this virtue. He does this in his method of personifying virtues and vices. For example, describing boastfulness, and the person who is plagued by this vice, he very comically and graphically says, "when increasing vanity begins to make the windbag swell, then the wind must be belched out through a larger opening, a wider passage, else it will burst." Using this to describe a foolish monk, swollen with his own vanity, who "must either talk or burst ... (who) hungers and thirsts after hearers ... to whom he may pour our all his feelings (so that) his greatness may become known," I find is very effective. Such an imagination makes the reading both profound and understandable (not to mention: enjoyable). Additionally, the treatise is not written for the person particularly advanced in the spiritual life and therefore has the possibility of more of a general application.Besides the application of the personal faults which I uncovered while reading that I can clearly apply to myself, I also found a valuable insight in Saint Bernard's description of the degrees of humility. We are told by the Lord in his teaching of the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the merciful, for mercy will be theirs." Saint Bernard seems to analyze this well in his description. It is only by knowing ourselves that we can understand our own need for mercy; and, it is only when we come to this knowledge that we really begin to have compassion on our neighbors who also have this great need; and, in showing this compassion we come to the knowledge of God Who treats us with his tremendous compassion!

This was the first book written by St. Bernard. In writing about Humility he takes you through the steps of Pride, Humility's nemesis.This was written conveying monastic life, but can be applied to everyone everywhere, everyday.He makes you understand that for everyone it is a constant battle and that we are always taking one step forward and two back in the journey.This is a short book but very powerful and should be read in small portions in order to digest the wisdom of his words.

Very pleased with the book and speedy delivery.

This is one of Bernard's earliest books and shows a great maturity for so young a person. Highly recommended for spiritual reading.

I am studying to be a 3rd Order Cistercian and this is very helpful for understanding this type of spirituality.