How are we to know whether we are humble?
If we think we are humble, we may be quite sure that we are not really humble at all. There is no more certain sign of pride than to be unaware of its existence in ourselves. What Saint ever lived who did not acknowledge and lament his pride and self-love? A Saint who should believe himself to be thoroughly humble would be no Saint at all. How far do I recognize in myself an ever-running sore of pride, making me foul and unsightly before God, who hates the proud and gives grace only to the humble?
If I find that I take disparaging remarks, attacks, and contradictions from others with patience and good humor, it is a good sign, but not a certain sign, that I am humble. Pride that apes humility often renders man proof against what others think. He wraps himself in his cloak of pride and looks down on their opinion of him. Indifference to the praise and honor of those around us is not a certain sign, for this too may come from pride and a spirit of contempt.
But if anyone:
• recognizes himself as full of pride;
• dislikes the idea of being honored and praised;
• desires humiliations and prays for them; or
• thinks himself to deserve the worst of everything and the lowest place,
he may hope that he has begun to walk the road that in the end may through God's grace produce in him the virtue of humility. Examine yourself on these points, thank God for any signs of progress and lament over still remaining defects.
- text from Humility, Thirty Short Meditations by Father Richard Frederick Clarke, SJ