respect of heavenly things; why then dost thou not give up all thy possessions to Christ, to obtain those that are heavenly and eternal?"
Then the judge, learned in all the foolish science of this world, said to Brother Giles, pure and simple as he was: " God hath filled thee with the wisdom of divine folly; but tell me. Brother Giles, dost thou believe there is a man in all the world, who would conform his exterior actions to that which he believes inwardly?" And Brother Giles answered him: " See, my beloved: it is most certain that all the Saints have made it their study to put in practice, as perfectly as possible, all that they knew or understood to be the will of God; and all those things which they could not actually carry out externally, they fulfilled in the holy desires of their will, in such wise that the impossibility of exterior fulfillment was made up for by the desires of the soul.
Again, Brother Giles said: " If there were a man to be found who had perfect faith, in a little space of time he would arrive at a state of perfection, in which it would be given him to know, with full certainty, his salvation. What good can prosperity or temporal advantage in this world do to the miserable man who expects eternal perdition? What hurt or harm can any temporal adversity of this life do to the man who, with firm faith, looks forward to eternal, consummate, and supreme bliss? Nevertheless, however great a sinner a man may be, let him never despair so long as he lives of the infinite mercy of God; because there is not a tree in the world so thorny, or so knotty and gnarled, but can be planed, and polished, and adorned and made beautiful by men; and so also, there is no man in the world so iniquitous and sinful, but God can convert him and adorn him with singular graces, and many gifts of virtue."
On Holy Humility.
No one can gain any knowledge of God, or intimacy with Him, but by the virtue of humility; inasmuch as the direct way to ascend is first to descend. All the perils and the great falls which have taken place in this world have arisen from no other cause than exaltation of the mind through pride. This is seen in the fall of the devil, who was cast out of heaven, and in the fall of our first father Adam, who was cast out of Paradise, because of the exaltation of the mind, namely, disobedience; and again in the instance of the Pharisees, of whom Christ speaks in the Gospels, and in many other examples.
And so, on the contrary, all the good works which have ever taken place in this world have been produced entirely by humility of mind, as is proven by the blessed and most humble Virgin Mary, and by the publican, and by the holy thief on the cross, and by many other examples in the Scriptures. And therefore it would be well for us, if we could find a great and heavy weight, that we might carry it always fastened round our neck, so that it might always draw us downwards, that is to say, continually cause us to humble ourselves.
A Brother once asked Brother Giles: "Tell me, Father, how may we escape from this pride?" To which Brother Giles replied: " My Brother, set this fact before thee, that thou canst never hope to flee pride, except, first of all, thou place thy mouth where thy feet are; but if thou consider the gifts of God thou wilt know well that thou owest it to Him to bow thy head. And again, if thou consider well thy defects, and the many offences which thou has committed against God, thou wilt find sufficient cause to humble thyself. But woe to those who would be honored even for their sins! There is a degree of humility in him who knows himself to be the enemy of his own welfare. There is a degree of humility also in him, who renders to another the things which belong to him, and does not attribute them to himself; which is to say, that all good, and all virtue which man finds in himself, he must not attribute to himself, but solely to God, from whom proceeds every grace, every virtue and every good.
But all sins and evil passions in the soul, and whatever vice man finds in himself, he must take as his own, considering that they proceed from himself alone, and from his own malice, and not from any other. Blessed is the man who knows himself, and reputes himself vile before God and men! Blessed is he who judges himself, and condemns himself, and not another: for he shall not be judged in the great, and terrible final judgment. Blessed
