Speaking of the humility and chastity of the Blessed Virgin the holy
Prelate said: "These two virtues, although they have to be continually
practised, should be spoken of so rarely that this rarity of speech may
rank as silence. The reason is that it is difficult to mention these
virtues or to praise them either in themselves or in any individual who
possesses them, without in some way sullying their brightness.
"1. There is, in my opinion, no human tongue which can rightly express
their value, and to praise them inadequately is in a way to disparage them.
"2. To praise humility is to cause it to be desired from a secret self-love
and to invite people to enter its domain through the wrong door.
"3. To praise humility in any individual is to tempt him to vanity and to
flatter him dangerously; for the more he thinks himself humble the less
he will really be so; and possibly when he sees that others consider him
humble he will think that he must be so.
"4. As regards chastity, to praise it in itself is to leave on the mind a
secret and almost imperceptible image of the contrary vice, and therefore
to expose the mind to some danger of temptation. There is a sting hidden in
the honey of such praise.
"5. To praise it in any individual is in a measure to expose him to the
danger of falling. It is to put a stumbling-block In his way. It is
to inflate that pride which under a fair disguise may lure him over a
precipice.
"6. We must never be content to rely upon our hitherto untarnished purity
of life, but must always fear, since innocence is a treasure which we carry
in a vessel of glass, easily broken.
"7. In a word, the virtues of humility and chastity always seem to me like
those subtle essences which evaporate if they are not kept very tightly
corked.
"8. However, although I consider it wise very seldom to speak of these two
virtues, it is wise to practise them unceasingly, humility being one of the
most excellent virtues of the soul, and purity that fair white adornment of
the body which is its honour, and which, like a lily growing among thorns,
brings forth a wonderful flower, whose fruit is honour and riches.
"9. Nevertheless, I do not mean that we are to be so scrupulous as _never_
to dare to speak of these virtues; not even to praise them when occasion
warrants or demands our doing so. No, indeed. In one sense they can never
be sufficiently praised, nor ever sufficiently valued and cultivated. What
I mean is that we gain little by praising them. Our words in praise of a
virtue are of little account in comparison with the smallest fruit; that
is, with the least of the acts of a virtue.
"I add this because I know you attach too much importance to my words, and
take them as literally as if they were oracles."