"He who has acquired humility has acquired God"

... You have called yourself humble (of course, this is through ignorance), but you have not yet reached this measure to be humble. If we acquired this wealth, then we would conveniently acquire all the virtues. And it alone can save us without other virtues; and virtues without it, on the contrary, do not bring any benefit. He who has acquired humility has acquired God. These are all the teachings of St. Isaac, a great man. So you should not think that you are humble, and when you do, you clearly show your pride. One must try to humble oneself, to consider oneself a sinner and the worst of all; but this is not yet humility, but the paths leading to it. May the Lord give you true reason in the discernment of things, which the Holy Fathers call discernment, which is given from true humility (III, 85, 185).

EMBARRASSMENT

Confusion is a sign of spiritual pride

But you see in yourselves negligence in good deeds, and this confuses you, instead of having to humble you, with which they could attract God's help to themselves; but you are troubled, but confusion is the chariot of the enemy, and this is a sign of spiritual pride (I, 12, 42).

In confusion there is no benefit, but the greatest harm; it is the enemy's chariot, it does not allow its heart to be poured out before God with repentance (I, 255, 498).

... During the preparation for the Sacrament, that is, during the retreat, you were embarrassed by the fact that you had poorly prepared, prayed little, confessed absent-mindedly, and did you dare to approach the terrible Sacrament, having prepared so badly? You have not brought a single fervent prayer, not a single good deed, and your repentance is so cold and careless, and so on. You do not see that this confusion comes from the opposite, and with it you can never be at peace. Did you think that as well as you prepared, you could already start with dignity? But this is wrong; no matter how we prepare, we still cannot approach with dignity. Only the consciousness of our unworthiness, the heart, is contrite and humbly accepted by God, and in His ineffable goodness and mercy vouchsafes this great Sacrament. I am sure that you really wanted to prepare yourself for it, but there was also presumption; and not seeing herself in the power to do this or that, she did not humble herself in her weakness; then the enemy attacked you with confusion, and in him there is no repentance, no humility, no tranquility. When we read not only with our lips, but in the feeling of the heart: I know my iniquity, and my sin is brought before me, then the fruit of this will also be: the heart is contrite and humble, which God will not despise. But if we did not feel this in ourselves, but on the contrary, dryness and coldness, then even here we should not be confused, but humble ourselves, which we should involuntarily feel; but when we are troubled, we do not receive any benefit... (I, 253,492).

... Seeing your cowardice here, know also where it comes from: evidently from self-love, which cannot bear offense (VI, 118, 191).

It is our duty to grieve over our incorrectness, but not to be embarrassed; This sorrow leads to repentance and humility, and confusion shows in us a high-minded disposition. Humility makes you see your own weakness, not judge anyone, but yourself; but arrogance judges all; and though it touches itself, it is at the edge of the tongue, and does not receive tranquility and peace (V, 344, 471).

In confusion there is no repentance, no humility, no podvig against the passions

You complain about your furious part and get horrified. It is necessary to humble oneself more, and not to be horrified; to be horrified means the same as to be troubled, and in confusion there is no longer humility, repentance, or podvig to resist and destroy the passion. Take as an example a field overgrown with flies and thorns. What is to be done with it? Whatever good you sow, everything will be lost. It is necessary little by little to uproot thorns and cleanse the woods; and then to sow... (III, 9, 47).

Confusion deprives you of hope in God's mercy

... You feel that you will be completely unresponsive at the Last Judgment. If this latter has a strong effect on you and confuses you, then I will tell you that this is the intrigue of the enemy and the fruit of pride. You, recognizing yourself as a sinner, should not despair, but rather humble yourself and marvel at the love of God, which tolerates you and awaits your conversion and repentance (I, 3, 9-10).

Although no one can boast of being sinless, the Apostles themselves were aware of themselves as such; St. Apostle Paul: The Lord came to save sinners, of whom I am the first (1 Tim. 1:15), just as St. Peter always remembered his sin; and many who were going through the spiritual life, even the saints, considered themselves sinners, but were not troubled, because they did not place their salvation in their virtues, but in the merits and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. You consider yourselves sinful and see your virtues, but you are troubled in spirit, and all this constitutes a dark chaos in you, which prevents the light of reasoning from being in you (I, 55, 125).