Reclaiming Humility

Jane Foulcher is an Anglican priest on the theology faculty of Charles Sturt University, Canberra, Australia.

• ContentsAcknowledgments   xiiiList of Abbreviations   xviiIntroduction: Why Humility?   xixChapter 1: Virtue or Vice? Humility among the Virtues   11.1 The Lost Virtue? Humility in the Modern World   21.2 Humility and Virtue in the Greco-Roman World   61.2.1 Aristotle, Eudaimonia, and Megalopsychos   81.2.2 Humility as a Condition of the Socially Inferior   151.3 Humility in the Judeo-Christian World   171.4 Humility among the Virtues   241.5 The Return of the Virtues   301.6 A New Monastic Turn?   321.7 Conclusion   33Chapter 2: Humility and the Self: Desert Monasticism   372.1 The Literature of Early Desert Monasticism   412.2 From the City to the Desert: Locating the Self in the World   462.2.1 The Desert: A Place of Humility   462.2.2 Abba Arsenius: The Downward Journey of the Desert   512.3 Between Heaven and Earth: Locating the Self in Eternity   592.3.1 Anthony and the Open Heavens   592.3.2 Judgment and Humility   642.4 Habits of the Desert: The Practice of Humility   672.5 Turning the Other Cheek: The Humiliated Self   752.6 Conclusion   84Interlude: From the Desert to the Cloister   87Chapter 3: Humility and Community: The Rule of Saint Benedict   953.1 The Rule of Saint Benedict in Context   973.2 Communal Eschatology: “All Together to Everlasting Life” (RB 72.12)   1053.2.1 From a School of Suffering to a School of Love: Prologue 45-50   1073.2.2 Together, with Ardent Love: RB 72   1113.3 The Ladder of Humility   1153.3.1 RB 7 and Its Pedigree: Cassian, the Master, and Benedict   1163.3.2 The Ladder of Humility: Metaphor and Theology   1223.3.3 The Ladder of Humility in Communit  y 1313.4 Practicing Humility in the Monastic Workshop   1343.5 The Monastic Polis: A Place of Humility   1363.6 The Yoke of Service: Humble Love and the Monastery Kitchen   1443.7 The Bread of Obedience: The Difficult Heart of Humility   1523.8 The Raven at the Table: Benedict Practices Humility   1593.9 Conclusion   162Chapter 4: Humility and Public Life: Bernard of Clairvaux   1654.1 The Problem with Bernard   1704.1.1 Life and Work   1704.1.2 Character and Cult   1734.1.3 Writing and Rhetoric   1764.2 Bernard and Humility: On the Steps of Humility and Pride   1824.2.1 The Fall from Humility: A Phenomenology of Pride   1844.2.2 Humility and Truth   1874.2.3 The Birth of Compassion: Humility and Love   1954.2.4 Two Types of Humility: Cold and Warm   1964.2.5 The Humility of God   1984.2.6 Assenting to Grace: The Practice of Obedience and the Conversion of the Will   2014.3 Bernard and the World   2044.3.1 The Virtuous Christian Community   2054.3.2 Contemplation and Action   2114.4 Humility and Public Life: On the Conduct and Office of Bishops   2144.4.1 Monastic Virtues for Public Life: Chastity, Charity, Humility   2194.4.2 Pride: An Interior View   2224.4.3 Pride: An Exterior View   2244.4.4 Obedience and Public Life   2264.5 Practicing Humility in Public Life: The Life of Saint Malachy   2294.6 Bernard the Juggler: Humility and Failure   2314.7 Bernard and the Florentine Republic   2354.8 Conclusion   239Chapter 5: Humility and the Other: Christian de Chergé and the Monks of Tibhirine   2435.1 Christian de Chergé: A Vocation to Algeria   2475.1.1 Childhood and Education   2475.1.2 Algeria: Formative Encounters   2485.1.3 Ordination and Monastic Vocation   2505.2 The Cistercians in Algeria   2515.3 Tibhirine: An Emerging Vocation   2535.4 Bribes d’humilité: “Scraps of Humility”   2555.4.1 Humility: A Divine Climat   2575.4.2 Humility and Obedience   2595.5 The Eschatological Horizon: Hope and Humility   2615.5.1 “I Place Death before My Eyes”   2625.5.2 Pilgrims of the Horizon   2645.5.3 Reimagining Benedict’s Ladder: The Chapter Talks   2685.5.4 The Mystical Ladder of Dialogue: The Journées Romaines Lecture   2725.6 L’AUTRE que nous attendons: “The OTHER for Whom We Wait”   2745.6.1 Space for “the Other”   2775.7 Practicing Humility in “the School of the Other”   2805.7.1 Hospitality and the Monastery Wall   2805.7.2 Monasticism and Islam   2845.7.3 La “grisaille” du quotidian: Ordinary Time   2865.7.4 Ora et Labora   2885.7.5 Work: The Monastery Garden   2895.7.6 Prayer: The Daily Office   2915.7.7 Priants parmi d’autre priants   2945.8 Martyrdom: The End of Humility?   2985.8.1 Loving to the End   2985.8.2 Humility and the Hostile Other   3035.9 Conclusion   305Conclusion: Reclaiming Humility for the Twenty-First Century   307Reclaiming the Way of Humility   308Reclaiming an Eschatological Orientation   310Reclaiming the Material Face of Humility   311Reintegrating Humility and Humiliation   313References   317

"This book seriously explores the marginalization of humility in the modern world and in contemporary Christian life by tracing the history of humility from the Greco-Roman philosophical traditions and Judeo-Christian origins to major monastic sources of teaching on humility from the desert monks, the Rule of Benedict, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Christian de Chergé and the monks of Tibhirine. The breadth and depth of each chapter guides the reader to the significance and reevaluation that humility offers for Christian living, whether one is a monk or married person, by the transforming grace of Christ's own kenosis. I hope that every monastic house and theological library offers this fine study of humility, in its many facets, for its readership to read, ponder, and reflect with others."Mary Forman, OSB, Associate Professor of Monastic Studies, Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary