Ave Maria!— April’s Theme: Vices
“St. Jerome was right to compare vainglory to the shadow. In fact, the shadow follows the body wherever it goes; it even measures its steps. The body flees from this or that, so does the shadow; the body walks at a slow pace, the shadow conforms itself to this as well; the body sits, and the shadow takes the same position. Vainglory does the same thing; it follows the virtue wherever it goes. In vain would the body try to flee from its shadow. It likewise happens to one who has given himself to the [practice] of virtue, to perfection: the more he flees vainglory, the more he feels assailed by it.”
