True Excellence Lies in Humility, Not in Miracles

Finally, the Author himself of all miracles and mighty works, when he called his disciples to learn his teaching, showed clearly what those true and specially chosen followers ought above all to learn from him. He said, “Come and learn from me”: not, above all, to cast out demons by the power of heaven, not to cleanse lepers, not to give sight to the blind, not to raise the dead. For even if I do these things through some of my servants, a man’s condition cannot thrust itself into the praises that belong to God, nor can a minister and servant gather any share for himself where the glory belongs to the Godhead alone. But you, he says, learn this from me, “for I am meek and humble of heart.” This is something all people alike can learn and practice. But the working of miracles and signs is not always necessary, nor good for everyone, nor granted to everyone. Humility, then, is the mistress of all virtues. It is the surest foundation of the heavenly building. It is the special and splendid gift of the Savior. For a man can work all the miracles Christ worked without danger of being puffed up, if he follows the gentle Lord not in the grandeur of his miracles but in the virtues of patience and humility. But the man who aims at commanding unclean spirits, or giving gifts of healing, or showing the people some wonderful miracle, is far from Christ, even if he calls on the name of Christ while he is showing off, because in his pride of heart he does not follow his humble Teacher. [a]

For when he was returning to the Father, he drew up, so to speak, his will, and left this to his disciples: “A new command I give you,” he said, “that you love one another; as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another.” And at once he added: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” He does not say, “if you do signs and miracles in the same way,” but, “if you have love for one another”; and it is certain that none but the meek and humble can keep this.

So our predecessors never counted as good monks, or as free from the fault of empty glory, those who professed themselves exorcists among men, and who proclaimed with boastful display among admiring crowds the grace they had either obtained or claimed. But they did it in vain, for “he who trusts in lies feeds the winds, and the same man runs after birds that fly away.” Without doubt, what we find in Proverbs will happen to them: “As winds and clouds and rain are very plain to see, so are those who boast of a false gift.” So if anyone does any of these things in our presence, he ought to be commended by us not out of admiration for his miracles, but for the beauty of his life. Nor should we ask whether the demons are subject to him, but whether he has those features of love which the apostle describes.