Litany of Humility
I may have seen this sometime ago but only recently said it carefully and daily. It can be easily found. The author is Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta. He was the Secretary of State to Pope Saint Pius X (1903-1914). I first found it in the book, Deliverance Prayers, For use by the Laity, by Fr. Chad Ripperberger, PhD. I’m posting it here from EWTN since it is easy to post it.
After turning 65 this year and looking ahead to that next life phase which might be a sort of retirement, this prayer has made me feel much more calm and less anxious. I’ve always been a competitor, in sports or in business. I don’t mind saying my goal was to become a millionaire. That didn’t go so well on the first business. Now Cindy and I are 20 years into a small business with a goal of not only doing good work but just being able to pay bills and raise a family of three daughters. We’re now 43 years after college, with 40 in the agricultural communications field. It has been rewarding, educational, fun, and I’ve been able to travel as see so many things that most people will never see. And as proud of I am of meeting a Pope, seeing Guadalupe, seeing the Shroud and many more, I cherish the memories but I don’t want to be honored/praised/preferred/approved. I want to love Jesus and be a good disciple. That is enough and that is a lot. So, whatever happens in the next little while, I want it to be for God only.
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.
Charity
Charity is patient, is kind; charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth, bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
To have Charity is to love God above all things for Himself and be ready to renounce all created things rather than offend Him by serious sin. ( Matt. 22:36-40)