Humility is the virtue by which we know our place in the universe that God has created. The very idea of a creation and a Creator implies an order, pattern and design, in which things are arranged in their proper positions. Humility is the acceptance of that unique position that is accorded to each rational creature. Rejection of the same position is pride.
In light of this simple definition, it is useful for us to compare and contrast this great virtue with its sister virtue of meekness. It is true that they are closely linked together. Sometimes these virtues are even wrongly spoken about as being synonymous. In numerous languages, they are represented by different words. In Greek, for example, humility is tapeinosis, while meekness is prautis. Similarly, in Latin we have humilitas and mansuetudo.
As we were just saying, humility is in the intellect. By humility, we know the place that God has intended for us, neither too high nor too low– just the right position, where we are irreplaceable and inimitable. But meekness, on the other hand, is in the will. It is the virtue by which we accept our circumstances as the will of God. Founded on faith in a God, Who is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving, meekness recognizes whatever happens to us as coming from the hand of God.
We recognize that the Most Holy Mother of God is the preeminent example of these two very important virtues. As the handbook points out, through a life that was lived in constant prayer and reflection, "pondering all things in her heart," she learned her place in the great cosmic order and plan. We think of her place as a high one, even the highest, but she came to think of it as simply her place, and, further, one that put her more in debt to God, more dependent on God, than any other human being. Remember the prime message of the Book of Psalms? God hates human self-sufficiency, because He knows it's illusion; it's false in whatever degree it exists, because it misrepresents the relationship between God and His creature. Because it is illusion and falsehood, it does harm to us. God hates everything that does harm to us. The Most Holy Mother of God was alone under no illusion at all. She knew with exactitude who she was before God.
But she was also meek. She also saw every occurrence of her life, not as happenstance, but as part of the same plan and cosmic order. Ultimately, because of her perfect humility and meekness, she would become queen of that cosmos with literally unlimited power granted to her by the grace of God. Her adversary, our adversary, is neither humble nor meek. He is proud, disobedient and willful.
But why does humility and meekness wear the crown? Why do these two virtues deserve such preeminence? Because God Himself is meek and humble. He said so, "I am meek and humble of heart." Seriously, even before the Incarnation, we know a God Who does not seek to overawe His creatures and overpower them. He grants them freedom, because He wants to be loved freely. He cajoles and coaxes. He never forces His creatures to accept Him. The Chinese philosopher Laozi says that the Tao of all things is like water. It always seeks the lowest place, so that it can be the support of all things.
In these attributes and in many others, God made the Most Holy Mother of God to be the most like Himself. We can emulate her very easily, very simply. We imitate her, when we imitate her Son. We have a clear description of her mode of conduct in the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Everything that is said of love is said of her, just as it is said of her Son. She accepts all things, endures all things, believes all things, because she is meek and humble.
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