The Root of All Sin
February 22, 2023
“THERE is a place in the Atlantic Ocean which sailors call the “Devil’s Hole.” Contrary currents hurl their torrents upon each other there, causing such commotion in the waters that navigation is always difficult. If you ever passed over it when the weather was good, you wondered why the sea was so rough and the ship rocked so much. If you asked one of the seamen for an explanation of this strange phenomenon, he answered you: ‘This is the Devil’s Hole; the currents meet here.’
“In the voyage of life, my dear brethren, there is a ‘Devil’s Hole’ in our track. It is the abyss of pride. Like the whirlpool, it is very much hidden; the appearances are all fair, and this makes the danger all the greater. You are, when swayed by pride, unconscious of the condition of your soul. You feel disturbed and blinded as to its cause. Envy and hatred rise up in your heart, but you do not see their hideousness because, forsooth, your self-conceit or self-will has been offended by those who are wiser and better than you, and this galls you. You can’t have your own way, and you are sad. You want to rule, and because you cannot you fancy yourself wronged. The whole difficulty is simply this: You have too good an opinion of yourself. Now, when you come to look seriously into your own heart, are you not forced to acknowledge this? Is not this the root of the whole evil? When you begin to understand and realize this, and try to conquer self-esteem, you become tranquil and find peace. Your passion subsides.
“St. Bernard says that in order to cure pride we should reflect upon three questions: ” First, what was I before I was created? Absolute nothingness. And in what state did I come into the world? It was as a poor, helpless infant that would have perished but for the care of others. ‘I was conceived in iniquity,’ and have I not committed countless actual sins?” What consideration can teach humility better than this? Ah, yes! if we would escape from the ” Devil’s Hole,” the abyss of pride, we must constantly be mindful of our own nothingness.”
— The Root of All Sin by the Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul, 1893
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