In The Paradise of the Soul: Forty-Two Virtues to Reach Heaven, St. Albert the Great lists forty-two virtues, but meekness is not one of them. The word “meek,” however, is mentioned under “gentleness.” The saint mentions various signs of meekness. When one is meek, he is not affected by bitterness of heart or hardness of mind, and he displays neither rage nor rancor. When attacked, he accepts all things in the simplicity of faith and sustains all with equanimity. In the face of adversity, he does not murmur or offer bitter words or even bitter thoughts. If he feels hurt, he does not let it show but, rather, strives to keep his soul tranquil so that it may be a fitting place for the dwelling of God. Counterfeit meekness, rather, is seen in a duplicitous soul that displays a peaceful shell, but within the secret chamber of his heart, he cultivates animosity with full consent and knowledge.
The Forgotten Virtue
St. Thomas Aquinas covers meekness in his treatise on temperance. He considers the soul to be strong who shows meekness in the face of insult or under attack; thus, the meek soul is unconquerable. This is important because dictionaries use the word “soft” to indicate the natural meaning of “meek” in the eyes of the world.
Clemency is related to meekness, but the two are not the same. St. Thomas writes of clemency in his treatise on temperance; thus, those in power who are clement do not indulge in an inordinate joy in inflicting just punishment. Seneca defines “clemency” as “leniency of a superior towards an inferior.” St. Thomas clarifies, “Whereas meekness is not merely of superior to inferior, but of each to everyone.” Clemency moderates inordinate anger in exacting external punishment. Take, for example, the victors of World War I. They did not moderate their anger and punished Germany (and other nations) with extreme geopolitical sanctions. Hitler rose to power and started World War II as a backlash. Clemency moderates external punishment, and meekness moderates the inordinate passion of anger. “Meekness regards properly the desire itself of vengeance.”
St. Thomas makes an interesting distinction. He writes that the Beatitudes are acts of virtue, whereas the fruits of the Holy Spirit are the delights in virtuous acts. Meekness can be reckoned as all of the above: virtue, beatitude, and fruit.
What the Virtue of Meekness Is and What It Is Not
Is meekness the greatest virtue? No, meekness is not the greatest virtue because, as St. Thomas notes, meekness withdraws a man from evil by mitigating anger, but it is more perfect to obtain good than to lack evil. Charity directs one to good, so charity is better than meekness. But, as will be seen later, saints have written that meekness is the flower of charity. Meekness is thus a very great virtue because of its relationship to the queen of all virtues, charity.
The word “meek” seems to mean “poor,” but it lays more emphasis on manly resignation to adversity and less on adversity itself. In the Psalms and in the Beatitudes, meekness is given two promises: (1) prosperity in the land of promise and (2) the reward of the heavenly kingdom. The qualities of meekness that the Lord demands are unlikely to win political success. Maybe that is why it is rare to see a meek politician. In Ecclesiastes, the cultivation of meekness is necessary in the face of the capriciousness of rulers: “Because meekness leaves great offenses undone, both parties will be saved from serious faults.”
Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange developed a definition of supernatural meekness: Meekness is similar to gentleness, as St. Albert the Great noted above, and is similar also to patience. But the difference between meekness and patience is that patience is the endurance of vexations, whereas meekness is the curbing of inordinate movements of anger. The virtue of meekness does away with bitterness toward all persons. Just severity is necessary at times, but meekness injects a note of calmness into it. Meekness is united to temperance, the virtue of moderation, “which causes the light of reason and that of grace to descend into the more or less troubled sensible appetites. This is so in true martyrs.”
Meekness is an artifice if it is apparent only in words or conduct; it must reign in our hearts. “As St. Francis de Sales points out, when it is inspired by a supernatural motive and practiced even toward those who are acrimonious, meekness is the flower of charity. ‘Charity is kind,’ says St. Paul. The flower is the most beautiful visible part of a plant, that which most draws our gaze, and in spite of its fragility, it has a very important role: it protects the fruit which is forming in it.”
Meekness is charming because it is the most visible practice of charity. Meekness appears on the face—for example, through a smile. The correspondence of a peaceful countenance with the goodness dwelling in a holy soul is called clarity. Much can be discerned by looking at someone’s face. Meekness is also manifested in speech; it protects charity and zeal because it helps prevent a person from responding from inordinate passion instead of from reason and wisdom.
Zeal is necessary, but it must be patient and meek. St. Francis de Sales declares: “It is better to make penitents through meekness than hypocrites through severity.” The Lord recommended meekness as the virtue of virtues if it is considered, as St. Francis de Sales considered it, a form of charity, which is the highest of virtues.
Meekness is the remedy for bitter zeal. Today, bitter zeal is rampant. It includes sermonizing indiscriminately and is the bad fruit of observing too much negative church politics or negative national politics on the news. A person can be smug and say, for example, “At least I go to Mass every Sunday, and I believe the Eucharist is the Body of Jesus.” But then the devil can twist this from charity into pride. When one constantly judges church leaders, he can feel superior to them; if he were meek, however, he would understand that it is by prayer that church leaders will be converted. St. John of the Cross says: “Where there is not sufficient love, put love and you will reap love.”
St. Thomas and St. Augustine state that exercising meekness corresponds to the gift of piety. When one is enduring adversity, meekness helps him to have a filial affection toward God, and it stresses the permissive will of God and helps the person to grow in virtue when under attack. The meek person can then see others not as rivals but as brothers and sisters.
