Praise And Humility

In omnibus ergo in quibus adulationum nimietas etiam terminos hominis competentes excessit illud Davidicum recordaveris documentum, in quo ille venena adulationum devitans ait: Corripiet me iustus in misericordia et arguet me, oleum vero peccatoris non impinguat caput meum. Oleum namque peccatoris adulatio est, quae leni quadam et suavi unctione caput interioris hominis, quod est cor, quasi ungendo dinitidat. Melius ergo sibi esse dixit propheta David ab homine iusto argui vel moneri quam a quovis adulatore laudari. Recte autem adulatorem peccatoris nomine denotavit, cuius id maximum ante oculos Dei et detestabile est peccatum, aliud corde tenere, aliud ore proferre. De talibus enim et in alio Psalmo dicit: Mollierunt sermones suos super oleum, et ipsi sunt iacula. De iusto autem dicit: Loquitatur veritatem in corde suo et non egit dolum in lingua sua. Ut autem in his rebus quaevis hominum subtilitas, nullo umquam laudationis titillamento, credulitatem mentis tuae attrahat in consensu, ad ipsius domini nostri Iesu Christi evangelica illa gesta convertere, et invenies illum dominantium Dominum magnum nobis dedisse inter humanas laudes sanctae humilitatis exemplum. Hanc ergo excole, hanc magistram habeto, hanc tibi inter laudationum illecebras arbitram pone. Haec tibi si volueris dicit quota portio ex his quae homines adlaudando tribuunt, vel quanto tempore tua sit. Haec te non permittit placidis auribus audire quae ficta sunt. Sanctus Martinus Bracarensis, Exhortatio Humilitatis, III Source: Migne PL 72.39d-40b

In everything, then, in which there is excessive adulation exceeding even the limits that are set for men, you should remember that composition of David, in which he speaks of avoiding adulation like poison: 'May the righteous man correct me in his mercy and dispute with me, let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head.' 1 Adulation is the oil of the sinner, which is like some light and sweet unction on the head of the interior man, that is, the heart. Better for himself, then, David says, that the righteous man should dispute with him and admonish him, rather than that he should be praised by an adulator. And rightly is the adulator denoted by the name of sinner, for before the eyes of God it is a grave and revolting sin, that is, to have something in the heart and to bring something else out of the mouth. Concerning this it says in another Psalm: 'Their words were softer than oil, and they were blades.' 2 But he says of the righteous man: 'He speaks truth in his heart and does not work deceit with his tongue.' 3 And so that it might be that these things which are most subtle among men, even the pleasure of adulation, shall never draw the belief of your mind to consent, turn to the deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel and you will find that the Lord of lords 4 has given us a great example amid human praise. This, then, honour. Have this for a teacher. Set this beside you as a judge amid the allurements of praise. Have this, if you should choose, he says, for your portion among the things that men praise, and indeed for as long as you shall live. This shall not permit you to hear with eager ears those things which are lies. Saint Martin of Braga, Exhortation to Humility, 3 1 Ps 140.5 2 Ps 54.22 3 Ps 14.3 4 Apoc 19.16