August 7

he humble never fall. How could they when they are beneath everyone? Pride is a great abasement, but humility a great exaltation, honor, and dignity. Let us then force and compel ourselves to be humble even though it goes against the grain, and to be gentle and loving; with this object before us let us continually beg God in prayer with faith, hope, and love to send his Spirit into our hearts to enable us to pray and worship him in spirit and in truth. Then the Spirit himself will teach us how to pray properly, which we cannot do now however much we try; he will teach us to be truly compassionate and kind, and to obey all the other commandments of the Lord without effort or constraint, for he knows how to fill us with his fruits.

We fulfill God's commandments, then, through his Spirit, who alone knows the Lord's will. And when the Spirit has perfected us in himself and he is perfected in us, and we have been purified from all defilement and stain of sin, he will present us pure and spotless, like fair brides, to Christ. Then we shall rest in God and in his kingdom, and God will rest in us for ever. Glory be to the Lord's compassion, mercy, and love, because he has deigned to bestow such honor and glory on the human race, making them children of the heavenly Father, and calling them his own brothers and sisters.

From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.

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