By Francis Van Uden Hey everyone! I am pumped to be sharing the Litany of Humility with you today! It is such a beautiful prayer, and a great way to ask God to help us be more humble, which is not an easy virtue to practice. Before I continue, here’s what the prayer is:
“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.” Although it may look like a long and intimidating prayer, it really isn’t. It is repetitive, and in each line, the prayer outlines either something that we struggle with that brings pride, or something that goes against it. It is such a good reminder of the ways we should try to be humble, and sometimes I don’t even think that some of the things in the prayer are prideful until I pray about them. When I pray this prayer, I like to pause after each statement (and before the repetitive response) and think of specific ways that I may be struggling with that in my life, and then offer up those specific examples to Jesus. Sometimes I include this prayer in the morning, keeping in mind the events of the day to come, and starting my day with a humility reminder. Other times, I’ll pray it in the evening and offer up the things that I had done that day. I LOVE how at the end of the prayer, it says “Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.” I usually think of humility as a substitute for pride, and not something that we would want to practice because of what humility is in itself. That portion of the prayer is so powerful, and reminds me of God as something so much greater than this world. The very last line of the prayer is also super cool to me! Before I was introduced to this prayer, I never thought that God was calling people to different “levels” of holiness. But the truth is, we aren’t all called to be as holy as some of the doctors and saints of the church, or even as holy as some of the people in our own churches. God calls us all to be holy, but he has a plan and a reason for why each person is called to be as holy as he desires. It also helps me be patient and content when I don’t hear God’s voice, because I don’t a lot of the time. He has a plan for me, and even if I try super hard to hear him, he sometimes won’t reveal himself to me, because that won’t draw me closer to him in the way that he wants. Humility is all about giving ourselves up to His will.
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PulsePulse is our Jr High group (Grades 6-9) for those who want to be journeying to learn more about God and how He fits into this crazy thing called life! From Saint of the Day to talks to activities, we work to understand more about our faith and its importance in our everyday lives as we all work to become modern day saints. Categories
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