The Litany of Humility

O 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 others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,

From the fear of being humiliated,
deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being defamed,
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.
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.

- Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)

How very original, starting my blog with a quote. Not even my own words. Maybe that is a bad start, a bad sign, maybe I won't ever write again. I'd like to. I should, I suppose. I've been told to keep a blog. I journal occasionally and it is good for my soul. To my core I am a verbal processor and so although writing is a passion and love of mine, I prefer stories -not thoughts.

The quote is my inspiration, my desire, my prayer. I have been returning to it several times throughout the day, amazed and ashamed at every line I have yet to fulfill. Every selfishness I could ever wish to keep as my own must leave with this prayer. It doesn't let you hold on to your self, even a little bit. My only self is in Christ. My only being is by what He grasps in His hand. Somehow, through His Son, I become more holy. Somehow, through His Son, my sins are not even seen by God. Somehow, even though I could never attain righteousness on my own, and could never keep this list, God has made me His daughter and heir to the throne. There is nothing more important, more central, more key to life than that realization, this reality.