Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Litany of Humility

A prayer that Atticus found several years ago, and that we try to pray together regularly:


Litany of Humility
:

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.

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

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

4 comments:

Rachel said...

I love this prayer, too, Karen. Although somedays I'm too afraid to pray it!

Frabjous Days said...

Let me bolster your pride and thank you for posting this beautiful prayer ;-)

Karen Edmisten said...

I know just what you mean, Rachel!

And, Elizabeth, I just had to laugh. I'm imagining how I must sound: "I'm so humble, let me tell you all about how humbly I pray my humility prayer, and let me humbly tell the world!" :-D

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle said...

I love this prayer, Karen Thanks for posting it. I'm smiling at the comments above! :)

God bless and love,
Donna