By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
One of the things that helped deteriorate chivalry was precisely what could be called in Brazilian Portuguese, exhibitionism: showing off.
The person who shows off wants to be seen. The knight walks in the street with airs of one who is dominating the street and instilling fear even in the little dogs roaming about – he wants to show off. This is not the Catholic spirit. The Catholic spirit is not to show off but to make seen the glory of God, the glory of Our Lady. He does not care whether he shows off or not – what matters to him is to make shine the glory of the Catholic Cause. And because of this he renounces his own will, his goods and the disgusting solicitations of impurity in order to serve Our Lady well. But he does not go about the street as if saying, ‘look how chaste I am,’ or ‘look how valiant I am.’
Never mind what I look like! I will march forward and that’s the end of it.
(Excerpt from a Tea, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 1989 – Nobility.org translation)
