Humility is a Prerequisite for Peace

Verily, verily, the Savior of the world has raised meekness and humility to the foundation of all virtue. Abstinence, fasting, austerity, internal or external poverty, good works, miracles, all is nothing without a humble heart. But all these things will take on new life and receive blessings, if humility supports them. A humble heart is the generating force of virtue; the stem and branches can only come from the roots. Because its price is infinite and because it is the foundation upon which any spiritual perfection must rise, the Lord reserved only for himself the task of telling us to be humble. And because humility is the universal guardian, the Virgin Mary, as if she overlooked all the other virtues of her soul and body, admired only one of her own qualities, and gave only one reason for the Incarnation of the Son of God in her: "Because He looked upon the humility of his servant..." For this, and no other reason, all generations have called her blessed.