LITANY OF HUMILITY
EDIT: This is from The Handbook of Prayers by Belmonte & Socias
Oh 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 other s "
From the desire of being consulted
"
From the desire of being approved
"
From the fear of being humiliated
"
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 eing 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 be chosen and I set aside
"
That others be praised and I unnoticed "
That others be preferred to me in all things "
That others become holier than I, provided
that I become as holy as I should
Comments (26)
WOW, did you write that?!?!?! That's amazing and I've been there in every line of it! It reminds me of an old favorite: The prayer of St. Francis Assisi.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is injury, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
Where there is darkness, let me bring light.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
Wow... that is totally the prayer of my heart lately! Nothing I do is me- it's all God. Thus, anything good that comes from an action I do should be only praised if that praise goes straight to God. But, then, it's also scary to let go of our fears and give them to God, as well. Why do I have a harder time letting go of the bad stuff (like fears, being suspected, and being humiliated) than I do letting go of praise?
Thank you so much for your comment- I check your site often, but can't always comment!
A rare litany during our current age of partisanship and conquest.
And, note, Humility does not mean "lack of confidence" --- Its actually quite opposed, one who is purely humbe is also supremely confident... in God.
So, I'll say thanks for your nice comment and for the Francis of Assissi prayer. Also, I saw where you posted something on a previous post that God had said to you about not being hard on others who disagree with you. I would love it if you'd come over and post that. :)
thank u for the prayers on my surgery....i am getting a little scared as it draws near....thursday is the big day and i am having pins put in my hand,,,,,ouch
agent k...
This is just what I needed to hear this morning...thanks...this is so good. Not easy; for example, to give over the desire to be loved; but good.
I can't believe how much I've missed:
on Jung...how insighful...speaks so well to the way we learn and grow through our struggles.
on Wright...What a beautiful way to delineate God's pupose in us! I, also, like the way he writes.
Your poem is remarkable and wide -ranging. There are a number of passages which really stick with me..
"The truth in golden goblets
Forgotten in the dust
Of memory and time"
...this is really savory phrasing, I also like the concept of holding a "life both old and new"
Very sobering, thinking of those "tares sown", and "those bereft of hope or solace", leading to the last passage...
"And when we finally meet You
Face to face
Will we feel the need
For much more grace -
Knowing that instead of honoring You
We made Your name disgrace?"
I pray not, yet know that for all our failing, poor efforts, we WILL need, and have, grace at that moment.
blessings....Jim
I also have concluded as you stated above...that every sin is born of pride, but that the cure is focus on Him. As you said so eloquently,
"When He is all our love and all our heart's desire, we do have confidence before Him. And I have also found that this in itself makes us crave humility rather than succumb to pride. I think every sin is born of pride ultimately, but if in fact we are loving God above all and in spite of all, if indeed we have no other gods before Him, especially ourselves, then we get a better picture of what humility is all about."
RYC: That's the whole point behind the Krispy Kreme thing ... they ALL taste like fried death.
It's funny, but there's a donut shop on every corner in Texas. I once counted four in a one mile stretch of road. No wonder Texas has such a high obesity and cardiac rate.
thank you for your interest... and your sub... I offer this as a welcome mat to my "home" here on xanga... http://www.xanga.com/wildernesschild/403938566/the-welcome-mat.html
blessings,
JC
ryc: You are so right..it's all worth making Him the love of our lives.
I'm guessing I'll not do more than small edits in the way of those "musings" for a few days...four days of 7am-7:30pm shifts coming up.
in a bit...Jim
At about 430am today I was feeling a little overwhelmed by some things I have to get done...a general "to do" list, and asked the Lord if I could please have the day off. At 5am the hospital called and offered me the first 8 hours of the day off, which is not a common occurence where I work. God is SO good to me!(just had to share that...)