A Brother’s Proud Answer

While I have been in this region I have heard of something I shudder and am ashamed to recall. One of the younger monks was rebuked by his abbot because he had begun to show signs of throwing off the humility he had practiced for a short time when he renounced the world, and of being puffed up with devilish pride. He answered most insolently: “Did I humble myself for a time just so that I would always be in subjection?” At this wanton and wicked reply the elder was utterly aghast and could say nothing, as though he had received the answer from old Lucifer himself and not from a man. He could not utter a single word against such impudence, but only let sighs and groans escape from his heart, turning over silently in his mind what is said of our Savior: “Who, being in the form of God, humbled himself and became obedient” — not “for a time,” as that man said who was seized by a devilish spirit of pride, but “even to death.” [a]