Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/603

 HUMILIATI

543

HUMILITY

the eleventh century the custom was inaugurated of having the paten borne, no longer by an acolyte, but by the subdeacon; this was especially the case at Rome. The subdeacon then had no humeral veil, but rather held the paten with the pall (inappula, palla, sitdarium), the forerunner of ovir chalice veil, the ends of which were thrown over the right shoukler. Thus it is prescribed by " Ordo Rom. XIV " (c. liii), and so it may be seen in various reproductions. The acolyte continued, even in the later Middle Ages, to use a humeral veil {palliolum, nindon, manlellum) when car- rying the paten, and the present Roman custom, according to which the suljdeacon is vested in the humeral veil when holding the paten, originated at the close of the Middle Ages. It was slow in finding its way into use outside of Rome, and was not adopteil in certain countries (France, Germany) until the nine- teenth century. The veil used by the mitre-bearer is mentioned as far back as "Ordo Rom. XIV" (c. xlviii).

Bock, Geschichle der liturg. Gewnnder des Mittelatters, III (Bonn, 1S71); Robinson, Concerning three eucharistic veils of western use in Transactions of the St, Paul's Ecclesioloffical Soci- ety, VI (Loudon, 1908). JoSEPH BrauN.

Humiliati. — I. A penitential order dating back, according to some authorities, to the beginning of the eleventh, but more probably to the beginning of the twelfth century, to the reign of Emperor Henry V, who, after quelling a rebellion in Lombardy, led the principal nobles of the cities implicated back to Ger- many as captives. Converted from the vanities of the world, these assumed a penitential garb of grey and gave themselves up to works of charity and mortifica- tion, whereupon the emperor, after receiving their pledges of future loyalty, permitted their return to Lombardy. At this time they were often called Ba- rettini, from the shape of their head-dress. Their ac- quaintance with the German woollen manufactures enabled them to introduce improved methods into Italy, thus giving a great impetus to the industry, supplying the poor with employment and distributing their gains among those in want. On the advice of St. Bernard, in 11.34, many of them, with the consent of their wives, withdrew from the world, establishing their first monastery at Milan. They exchanged their ashen habit for one of white. Some years later, on the advice of St. John Meda of Oldrado (d. 1159), they embraced the Rule of St. Benedict, adapted by St. John to their needs; they received papal approbation from Innocent III about 1200, and from many suc- ceeding pontitfs. The order grew rapidly, gave many saints and blessed to the Church, assisted in combating the Cathari, formed trades associations among the people, and played an important part in the civic life of every community in which they were established. In the course of time, however, owing to the accumula- tion of temporal goods and the restriction of the num- ber of members admitted (for at one time there were only about 170 in the 94 monasteries), grave abuses crept in, which St. Charles Borromeo was com- missioned by Pius y to reform. His fearless efforts roused such opposition among a minority that a conspiracy was formed and a murderous assault made on hirii by one of the Humiliati, a certain Girolamo Donati, called Farina, which, though it was unsuccess- ful, was responsible for the execution of the chief con- spirators and the suppression of the order by a Bull of 8 Feb., 1571. The houses and possessions were be- stowed on other religious orders, including the Barna- bites and Jesuits, or applied to charity.

II. The wives of the first Humiliati, who belonged to some of the principal families of Milan, also formed a community under Clara Blassoni, and were joined by so many others that it became necessary to open a second convent, the members of which devoted themselves to the care of the lepers in a neigh- bouring hospital, whence they were also known

as Hospitallers of the Observance. The number of their monasteries increased rapidly, but the suppres- sion of the male branch of the order, which had admin- istered their temporal affairs, proved a heavy blow, involving in many cases the closing of monasteries, though the congregation itself was not affected by the Bull of suppression. The nuns observed the canonical Hours, fasting rigorously and taking the discipline at stated times. Some retained the ancient Breviary of the order, when other houses adopted the Roman Breviary. The habit consists of a robe and scapular of white over a tunic of ashen grey, the veils being usually white, though in some houses black. The lay sisters, who retain the name of Barettine, wear grey. There are still in Italy five independent houses of Humiliati.

Hklyot. Diet, des ordres relig. (Paris, 1S59): Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen (Paderbom, 190S).

F. M. RUDGE.

Humility. — ^The word humility signifies lowUness or submissiveness and it is derived from the Latin humilitas or, as St. Thomas saj's, from liumus, i. e. the earth which is beneath us. As applied to persons and things it means that which is abject, ignoble, or of poor condition, as we ordinarily say, not worth much. Thus we say that a man is of humble birth, or that a house is a humble dwelling. As restricted to persons, humility is understood also in the sense of afflictions or miseries, which may be inflicted by external agents, as when a man humiliates another by causing him pain or suffering. It is in this sense that others may bring about liumiliations and subject us to them. Humility in a higher and ethical sense is that by which a man has a modest estimate of his own worth, and submits himself to others. According to this meaning no man can humiliate another, but only him- self, and this he can do properly only when aided by Divine grace. We are treating here of humility in this sense, that is, of the virtue of humility.

The virtue of humility may be defined: — "A qual- ity by which a person considering his own defects has a lowly opinion of himself antl willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake." St. Bernard defines it: — "A virtue by which a man knowing him- self as he truly is, abases himself." These definitions coincide with that given by St. Thomas : — ' ' The virtue of humility", he says, "consists in keeping oneself within one's own boimds, not reaching out to things above one, but submitting to one's superior" (Summa Contra Gent., bk. IV, ch. Iv, tr. Rickaby).

To guard against an erroneous idea of humility, it is necessary to explain the manner in which we ought to esteem our own gifts in reference to the gifts of others, if called upon to make a comparison. Humility does not require us to esteem the gifts and graces which God has granted us, in the supernatural order, less than similar gifts and graces which appear in others. No one should esteem less in himself than in others these gifts of God which are to be valued above ail things according to the words of St. Paul: — "That we may know the things that are given us from God" (I Cor., ii, 12). Neither does humility require us in our own estimation to think less of the natural gifts we possess than of similar, or of inferior, gifts in our neigh- bours; otherwise, as St. Thomas teaches, it would be- hove everyone to consider himself a greater sinner or a greater fool than his neighbour; for the Apostle without any prejudice to humility was able to say: — "We by nature are Jews, and not of the Gentiles sinners" (Gal., ii, 15). A man, however, may gener- ally esteem some good in his neighbour which he does not himself possess, or acknowledge some defect or evil in himself which he does not perceive in his neigh- bour, so that, whenever anyone subjects himself out of humility to an equal or to an inferior he does so be- cause he takes that equal or inferior to be his superior in some respect. Thus we may interpret the humble