SPIRITUAL LIFE DICTIONARY

DOCILITY

Readily trained or taught; teachable.

Docility is a much-needed gift to advance in the spiritual life. A person who is docile is a humble person. A docile person is open to spiritual direction and follows the advice of the spiritual director. A docile person is a holy person who is constantly at attention ready to be taught and led by the Holy Spirit. 

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the docile person:

1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.¹⁰⁹They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.


 Three acts which prepare the soul for docility to the Holy Spirit according to Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

1.  Obeying faithfully the will of God.

2.  Frequently renewing our resolution to follow the will of God in 
     everything.

3.  Asking unceasingly the light and strength of the Holy Ghost to 
     accomplish the will of God.


From Catholic Answers Magazine
Article by Leon J. Suprenant

Docility comes from the Latin verb docere, which means "to teach." From docere we get the word "doctrine"—that which is taught...

And so we have the virtue of docility, which refers to our habitual attitude toward "doctors" who teach us "doctrine." In other words, it’s about how teachable or coachable we are. As we will see, this virtue has specific applicability to our relationship to the Church, which is our mother and teacher. But it also applies to our ability to be taught in every sphere of daily living.

Docility is the mean between the extremes of, on the one hand, an excessive, prideful self-reliance, and on the other hand, a passive, cowering submissiveness. It’s about seeking and making use of wisdom wherever it is found. Bl. Mother Teresa famously searched for the "hidden Jesus" in everyone, especially the poorest of the poor. I think it’s fair to say that the docile person searches for the "hidden wisdom" in others.

The Holy Ghost consoles us in our exile on earth, far from God.

Fr. Louis Lallemant, S. J.


For the Secular Carmelite it is important to be docile of spirit. Communities experience problems when they accept candidates who are not teachable or able to be formed in Carmelite spirituality, or, for that matter, in basic Christian charity. These persons present themselves as knowing everything and they are ready and willing to teach others. St. John of the Cross warns us about these persons-beginners on the road of prayer who are detoured by their own pride. They want to teach others, but they themselves will not be taught.

These people are easily recognized early on in their formation. These are some warning signs to look for:

1.  In formation class, they state, "Oh, we've read and studied this 
     before, can't we read something else?"

2.  They tire of the same teacher (usually a very intelligent one).

3.  They want to lead and teach the group (although they are not 
     qualified or knowledgeable in the subject-at-hand).

4.  They have an attitude of arrogance-they present themselves as 
     knowledgeable and spiritually advanced above others in the 
     community.

Let us imitate the saints who were humble of heart-always teachable, even though they possessed great holiness. In order to be saints we must possess all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And, as St. John of the Cross teaches us, let us scale the heights by entering the depths-the wine cellar of the beloved. This inmost cellar is only entered by a rare few. Do you desire this perfect union with God?

Let us pray for each other.



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds