“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” - Mt. 5:5

What is meekness? I assure you, Our Lord is not calling us to be weak, timid or some kind of doormat for the enemy to walk all over.

The word translated "meek" in this passage is from the Greek word "praus." It was a military term that relates to horse training.

The ancient Greeks would search for the wildest horses and bring them to be broken-in. After months of training they would separate the horses into categories: some discarded, some made useful for bearing burdens, some for ordinary duty and the fewest of all were made war horses.

When a horse was finally trained to be a war horse, its state was described as "praus." The war horse had "power under authority," and "strength under control."

The horse never ceased to be determined, strong or to have the fighting spirit. However, it learned to bring its nature under control; highly disciplined. It gave up its wild, unruly, out of control and rebellious nature. It learned to bring that nature under control. The war horse was then capable of responding to the slightest touch of the rider, standing in the midst of intense danger and thundering into battle. It was now "meek."

So how does this translate to man? Aristotle said that "the praus person is one who has the virtue of the mean between two extremes." If recklessness were on one end and cowardice on the other, praus might be characterized as steady courage.

A meek Christian Knight will not shy away from taking a stand. Rather, he takes the stand at the right time, with the right people, and in the right way. He constrains his power for greater effect on himself and others. As G.K. Chesterton said, "It is carrying a sword, and knowing when to unsheathe it." So meekness and gentleness, properly understood within their biblical contexts, are calls to develop an intense and passionate devotion to the things of God, so as to develop formidable strength in spiritual warfare.

"Meekness is a rock overlooking the sea of anger, which breaks all the waves that dash against it, yet remains completely unmoved." — St. John Climacus

Pure, calm, self-restraint, and detachment from emotion is not only the biblical but, also the ancient Greek definition of meekness, NOT timidity or weakness.

We are the Catholic militant. Soldiers for Christ. With that comes grave responsibility for us to know and defend our faith. And to stand as meek warriors in the face of the devil for our beloved Lord and His Holy Church.

Deus vult!

https://www.warriorpriest.net/blog/2018/5/2/blessed-are-the-war-horses-on-christian-meekness

https://www.mattnorman.com/meek/