The greatest of all lessons the Holy Ghost teaches us is that of humility. Thomas à Kempis shows that one of the special points of profit in temptation lies in the fact that in it "a man is humbled."[[9]]
The most necessary virtue the Christian soul must learn is that of humility. When our Lord would give His disciples the chief reason why they should learn of Him, He said it was because, "I am meek and lowly in heart."[[10]]
It was a common expression of the Fathers of the Church that humility is the mother and mistress of all virtues, and they loved to see in the etymology of the word (humus, earth), the suggestion of the soil under our feet, in which, though often unpleasant and repulsive, all fair flowers and fruits have their root and draw their sustenance.
We have only to consider pride, the vice which is the contrary of humility, to understand what is meant by the statement that without humility no other virtue can exist.
The first of the great virtues, Faith, can certainly not exist along with pride, for it is of the essence of pride to make for self-confidence, as opposed to trust in God or in anyone else besides one's self.
Hope cannot exist, for the true God-ward Hope which constitutes this virtue has in it an element of meekness and patient waiting on God that is incompatible with the presence of pride.
Nor can Love and pride exist in the same heart, for love is necessarily unselfish, and the proud soul is essentially bound up in self.
How then are we to obtain this so necessary virtue of humility? St. Bernard gives us the answer, an answer by no means original with him, however, but which has been the burden of the spiritual masters of every age of the Church. "Humility is nurtured only by humiliations." The soul that constantly rejects that which humiliates can never acquire the virtue of humility, for it is deliberately refusing to learn the lesson set for it by the Holy Ghost.
Let us not be surprised if God then sets very definite lessons for us in the school of humility. We should not be so foolish as to think we could acquire the knowledge of an earthly trade or profession, without applying ourselves to the lessons set for us. If a young man applied to a lawyer to be allowed to study the law under his direction, he would feel that it was hopeless if the lawyer said: "You need not trouble to work at this thing very much. Just stay around my chambers for a year or so, and you will find yourself a pretty good lawyer." This would not satisfy him. He wants to be told that the law is a jealous mistress, that he must labour long and hard if he would win her honours. His common sense tells him that this is necessary. But, alas, in learning the highest of all knowledge, that of humility, we refuse to use common sense. We think we can acquire it without the lesson of humiliation.