Litany of Humility

One Friday, on the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of the parishes I attend Mass at held a Holy Hour before the exposed Blessed Sacrament. I'd never quite had the experience of the communal Holy Hour before, especially since I'd committed my Friday evenings for the last two years to doing other things for Him, so this particular Friday was my first "away" from the usual Friday worship I'd been so used to. And yet it was an intensely worshipful experience nonetheless.

After a recent Sunday Mass, one of my new friends brought his "wards" to adore the Blessed Sacrament. None of the kids had ever been in the Adoration Chapel before, and were naturally curious about why this was such a solemn, quiet place. And my friend explained it so simply and yet so precisely: "Prayer isn't just talking to God all the time; sometimes we have to come to Him to listen what He wants to say to us." Adoration, after all, is not about us. It's all about Him - our beautiful, magnificent, glorious Creator who alone is worthy to be adored. And where better to adore Him - body, blood, soul, and divinity - than in the Most Holy of Sacraments He so lovingly bestowed upon His beloved children to guide and strengthen them while still on pilgrimage.

One of the prayers spoken by the priest during that Friday adoration was a litany I'd never heard before, but which stirred my spirit in its profound counter-cultural radicalism:

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.

- by Merry Cardinal del Val, Secretary of State to Pope Saint Pius X
From the Prayer Book for Jesuits, 1963

"Behold these are not the times to believe everyone; believe only those who you see are walking in conformity with Christ's life." - St.Teresa of Avila