The litany of humility has been bouncing around in my spirit lately, and I know better than to ignore that. Usually when that kind of thing happens, it means God wants me to pay attention to something. I’ll wrestle with that a bit in prayer, but I also wanted to share it with you. This particular litany is not for the faint of heart. It’s one that should be prayed when you are feeling spiritually courageous, or conversely, when you’re completely broken. But even in between, it’s a great prayer to wake up a tepid prayer life.
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
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 others,
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 being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line)
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
There’s a very nice song by Audrey Assad called “I Shall Not Want” that is based on the litany of humility. Take a listen: