Monday, August 4, 2008

Litany of Humility

After being able to listen (quiet, well-behaved Alexander) to Fr. Timothy's Homily yesterday, I felt the need to pray this. It was a fire and brimstone, guilt inducing Homily. Andrew hates it when he gives such Homilies, because he thinks Father gives them a little too often. But, I think he does a good job bringing the scripture to light.

Litany of Humility(for private devotion only)

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should.

- Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

1 comment:

anne said...

What a beautiful (and difficult to pray!) prayer! You've inspired me :)

And good for Alexander sitting quietly through the homily. That's sometimes hard even for me to do!