Dignified Pride Is the Harmonious Complement of
humility BY
P L I N I O
C O R R Ê A
D E
O L I V E I R A
manly figure, whose strength is replete with harmony and proportion and whose bodily vigor seems penetrated by and imbued with the strong and luminous presence of a great soul. His facial features are very defined and also well proportioned. Handsome? Without a doubt. But there is almost no time to analyze his physical beauty because his profound gaze—at once serious, serene, pensive, grave and gentle—so captivates the attention that one hardly notices anything else. It is the gaze of a thinker and a man of action—a thinker who sees things from the highest summits of philosophy and theology, yet a man of action whose sights are well fixed in reality, who can see deeply into people, things and events. There is a note of melancholy in the gaze, one of firmness and energy in the lips, and a noble, lofty attitude in his whole being. The hands seem made to command. Everything about this extraordinary man shows us a fighter who has no illusions about the world, who takes a definite stand in face of it, and who is ready for all the battles that life presents. All this is seemingly illuminated by a subtlety of expression and an aristocratic affability that allows us to glimpse the noble and diplomatic character of this man. Such was the rich personality of he who in this life was called Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, titular Archbishop of Nicea, who went down in history as the Secretary of State of Saint Pius X. Descended from an aristocratic line, he was the son of Marquess Merry del Val and the Countess of Zulueta, and in his veins ran illustrious blood from various countries of Europe: Spain, England and Holland. He consecrated himself to the service of the Church, taking Holy Orders and receiving the fullness of the priesthood. In this, he lost nothing of his natural talents. Rather, he elevated them, for the special quality of grace is not to destroy nature, but to elevate and sanctify it. His profound wisdom sprouted from an ardent faith and an admirable piety. His strength was an expression of a supernatural temperance. His dignity was the fruit of a keen consciousness of the respect that he owed himself for so many natural, and principally supernatural, reasons. Public Domain
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