Prayers for The Religion Forum (Ecumenical)

Various and self | some time back | various

[Mad Dawg]

Litany of Humility

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, 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 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.

Closing Prayer

Dominicus Gabriel Mariae

O most gracious Lord Jesus:
To redeem an undeserving humanity
You gave up everything you had.

In your mercy, grant us the grace
of despising all things but you
and your love

That we may know the joy
you brought to us
through your dolorous Passion
and Death,

Who live and reign in might and bliss
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
One God, in everlasting glory.

[maryz]

“Guess what, my new blood pressure drug causes insomnia,”

Good morning! My sister (who is adamantly opposed to drugs -- even aspirin) tells me she brought down her blood pressure signifcantly with apple cider vinegar -- a tablespoon or so in a glass of water, I think she said three times a day.

I have a friend who's taking it for cholesterol -- don't know if it's helping: he doesn't actually have high cholesterol but since he's diabetic, his doctor prescribed Pravastatin to prevent it; that gave him awful muscle pains and vertigo to the point of fainting spells. The vinegar does, however, seem to help regulate his blood sugar!

FWIW . . .

[GOPJ]

So, is long life better than bacon? You decide.

On a selfish note, I enjoy your posts - so I would prefer you to lighten up on the bacon. :) Sorry about all the stuff you're going through...

[Desdemona]

If Norvasc is involved, the hypertension is not going to be effected by vinegar. One of my parents is on Norvasc and that’s one of the things that’s extending life. Keep an eye on the kidneys. All this stuff apparently takes a toll and my parent went on a strict pre-dialysis diet (you can find it online) when the internist said, “Dialysis is in the future.” The last blood work showed that the kidney function was better. And bacon - don’t abuse it. Every now and then won’t hurt.

[Tax-chick]

I did the litany while waiting at the lawyer’s to sign our mortgage re-fi papers. It’s in “Father Hardon’s Catholic Prayer Book.”

15 years at 4.25%.

[Tax-chick]

nine days is not long enough

I agree. We can have a perpetual novena, or until we're all perfect, whichever comes first.

[Mad Dawg]

I have made a commitment to pray the Litany as well as the Divine Mercy Chaplet every Friday at the hour of mercy (or as nearly as possible) for the next 4 years.

[Mad Dawg]

Friend:

I LOVE your tag line!

THANK you for your kind words and thoughts.

This has been a wonderful thing for me.

[Mad Dawg]

nine days is not long enough
I agree. We can have a perpetual novena, or until we're all perfect, whichever comes first.

As Tsar of this thread, I proclaim that this is a "Some-ena" so as not to freak out the brethren for whom "novena" smacks too strongly of Irish ladies in black and ninja nuns wielding rulers WITH metal edges -- and all other papist detestable enormities. BUT, how say you all? Shall we continue? How much? IN what way? Advice is besought.

[ArrogantBustard]

how say you all?

That this thread should become undead.

Shall we continue?

Should we cease praying?

How much?

As much as we are able.

IN what way?

See #226 above ...

[Tax-chick]

That this thread should become undead.

I agree. I will bring the penguins.

How about posting the Litany and the Suscipe at the top (more or less) of each 50-post screen, with a ping to whoever is on the list?

I keep all my ping lists on my profile page, so they're accessible to anyone who wants to ping about Ireland, strange names, wine, reptiles, Typso, or Seaman Anoreth.

[Mr Rogers]

"So, is long life better than bacon? You decide."

False dilemma. I can gain weight walking past a bakery shop, and if I ate bacon regularly, my horses would flee in terror at the approach of the Rogers Blimp. But about once a month, I hear the Double Bacon Cheeseburger call my name, and I obey...

Don't know what novena means...I thought is was the skin cream my wife used to coat our baby girl with for her skin rashes. Maybe I'm confused.

Oh...and a gratuitous posting of a horse picture, this one with my youngest daughter getting a riding lesson on Lilly. Lilly is the Arabian mare we bought unbroken at 6 years old, who is still learning, but who has such a sweet nature that we trust our daughter with her. The lady in the first picture is the trainer who broke Lilly:

Of course, when things go wrong, sometimes a face-palm is required:

[Louis Foxwell]

I prayed until I realized I have suffered each of the assaults by the world as listed. I have not found joy in Christ but am still bitter about mistreatment. I need to pray more.

[Tax-chick]

Beautiful pictures, Mr. Rogers.

“Nivea” is the skin cream, not to be confused with “Nevaeh,” currently a popular name for unfortunate baby girls. A novena is a prayer that is said daily for nine days.

[boatbums]

I think you're thinking of "Noxema". LOL!

Glad to see your post. Have you been in agreement with this prayer? I have determined to read the prayer in a prayerful way every day since the first. I also make it a point to pray for everyone who was also in unison with this. I appreciate the reminders from Mad Dawg each day and his encouragements.

I have withheld making any day-to-day comments so that I would see how God was working in me and in each of us. I have been encouraged by the change somewhat in tone but the jury is still out on if it is because articles that provoke have been fewer or people have really taken to heart what humility truly encompasses. I will continue to defend the faith as I fully expect anyone to do who believes in truth.

I also hope to see a more respectful, loving and understanding spirit in our exchanges because true humility, to me, means I am not the focus in anything. It should always be about the Lord. My prayers from now on will include words to this effect:

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, 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 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.

I see in this prayer someone who places all at the feet of Christ and always seeks the benefit of others above themselves. I want to be this person!

[Mr Rogers]

I was a late-comer to this thread. And I would not pray this prayer, because I’d keep adding caveats.

“From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.”

You might as well pray to be delivered from being the human God created. It isn’t wrong to desire to be esteemed. It is only wrong if you desire the esteem of wicked men, and gain it by doing wrong. However, a deacon or elder who performs his role faithfully under God SHOULD be esteemed and honored. A man who cares for his family faithfully, loves them and provides for them and protects them SHOULD be esteemed and honored.

” 17Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching...24The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.” - 1 Tim 5

Paul boasted of his service to the Lord, and Peter wasn’t exactly a wall flower. We should want to be found faithful servants.

“14I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” - 1 Cor 4

God desires our praise and enjoys it, and we were made in the image of God. We SHOULD take pleasure in praise, if it is praise for the correct thing. God loves us and desires our love, and we likewise SHOULD desire to be loved - not to the point of forgetting God or doing evil to get it, but wanting to be loved is not wrong.

All the things listed in the prayer can become traps, but most seem appropriate if in the right place with respect to God.

“10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” - 1 Cor 3

On that day, I want to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” I want my work to survive and to receive the reward from God.

I understand the prayer is about not letting our natural and appropriate desires to turn us away from God. The pastor of our small Baptist church recently told us how as a young Christian, he once spent 2 hours lying face down in prayer, and as he got up...yep, he thought ‘God should be impressed!’ Of course, he then realized how wrong that was.

There is a fine line, hard to draw. I suspect this prayer bends the bar overmuch in one direction so that, when released, it will spring to a better position. It is kind of like when I ride horses sometimes. I tend to lean forward when trotting - too far forward, putting the horse off balance. But to correct it and break my old habits, I have to make a conscious decision to lean ‘back’...lean back far enough that I am actually just straight.

So I’m not criticizing the prayer. I just couldn’t pray it without being lawyer-like in my exceptions. Maybe I should pray, “Lord, make me less analytical!”

[boatbums]

I totally "get" your reply and may I add, I am in complete agreement. I agreed to pray this with others for numerous reasons, not the least of which was to be the woman God desires me to be. Rather than seeing this prayer as just a "Catholic" thing, I chose instead to let God reveal what he wanted me see and change in myself and to pray for others to grow the same way. I was disenheartened to see so much animosity growing on the RF that I saw this as a "life-line" that God would use to bring us into a better state of mind to discuss our beliefs with each other.

I agree that we should expect to see our hard work for the Lord be rewarded, as he promised us, but my prayer was really for the Lord to deliver me from the need to be esteemed, honored, praised, etc. I saw it as a way to put my motivation for serving the Lord in the right place. All for HIS glory and to still obey him regardless of whether others noticed or not. I know He does and nothing is ever lost that is devoted to him. Besides, he is the one who even gives us the desire to love and serve him in the first place. Without him we can do nothing.

The second part was even more precious to me because it was asking for deliverance from fear. The fear of being seen as a "fool for Christ" is probably what stops a lot of us from being and doing all that he has for us.

I don't regret joining in this group prayer. The results are all God's.

[Mad Dawg]

I see in this prayer someone who places all at the feet of Christ and always seeks the benefit of others above themselves. I want to be this person!

Amen.

Me too, Lord!

[Mad Dawg]

WEll, first, the prayer appeals to God for these gifts. it's not about sort of putting them on ourselves.

But more globally, I'd suggest we have an issue with the difference among Man as created, Man as Fallen, and Man as died and risen in/with Christ.

I would argue with you thus: That we hope for God to do very very great things in us, though we know that this somehow means the very real death of the old man and the coming to be of a new man who has, not the old moribund spirit, but the Spirit of Christ.

Anyway, I'm just glad you're here , you legalistic reprobate, you! ;-)

[Mr Rogers]

“That we hope for God to do very very great things in us, though we know that this somehow means the very real death of the old man and the coming to be of a new man who has, not the old moribund spirit, but the Spirit of Christ.”

Amen!

[Mad Dawg]

I want, though I fear it, God to gut this old house and rebuild it.

If He does, I think He can do wonderful things with it.