Do you find it hard to get God to listen to your prayers and to answer them?
What if I could show you a way that God will answer a good chunk of your prayers virtually all of the time?
Let me show a secret tool called the Litany of Humility. It is a prayer that I have been using regularly the last few years. And, yes, it’s probably not really a “secret”, but it was to me. I’ve since found that many souls pray this regularly.
The Litany of Humility
Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X
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.
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Now, as you read this it may seem that this prayer is a little scary. It certainly was for me the first time I saw it. I had been told by a priest that I should get more familiar with the Christian view of humility. My search led me to this prayer.
And guess what? I started noticing that my prayers were being answered.
This was during a very difficult time in my life and I found that my relationships with people were suffering, I wasn’t getting the progress I hoped for. But time and time again, I’d find that more hurt and pain was coming my way.
God was answering my prayers! So many of my other prayers went unanswered, yet these were answered almost all the time. Now you may wonder if I’m saying that a little tongue-in-cheek and I am. But the truth is when you really start to understand what humility is all about, you will want your prayers to be answered.
Meditate on each line of the prayer of humility. You can see that every one of these aspects of suffering and humility were part of the life and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And aren’t we all to take up our crosses with Jesus?
The other side is that I was able to make sense of things that happened to me. In fact, I’d thank God for some of the situations that were manifesting in my life. So, if I was faced with a situation that seemed to cause me a lot of pain and suffering, I would pull out the Litany of Humility and review it in prayer with God.
I would say something like “Jesus, I understand that you faced this kind of suffering and that you want me to join in your Cross”. After all, if I was going to be responsible for making these prayers to God shouldn’t I also be accepting of prayers being answered? To do otherwise would just mean that my prayers were hollow or hypocritical.
So often our prayers are just a laundry list of things that we want from God to make us happier or in response to bad things that have happened in our lives. But if we are serious in really imitating Christ, we will want the same kind of humility that He experienced.
Is that hard? Yes, it is.
If you are going through tough times I recommend that you study what humility really means. Find out what the Saints did to live a humble life. Know that Jesus wants us to be happy but His kind of happy is eternal happiness with Him in heaven. That often does not translate into happiness here on this Earth.
Certainly, you can and will have many moments of happiness. You have countless gifts from God like your family, friends, talents, health, and your abundant lifestyle for most of us who live United States. All of these are a small foretaste of what heaven is like. But here on Earth we are given the opportunity to show our love for God by the challenges He presents to us. These challenges may come from outside forces, natural disasters, or from our own sinfulness. No matter what the source, they are all either by design from God or because He allows it.
All of us have a different journey and a different set of circumstances that we will face in our lives. God knows exactly what each of us needs to arrive at our own salvation. For some of us who God thinks are stronger, we may be given a bigger challenge. We cannot be bitter or resentful about that challenge. Thank God for the confidence He has shown in you.
We should not compare our challenges to others. Seemingly others may have a “nicer” or “easier” life, but you never really know what demons they are fighting or how God has planned for them.
In closing, I think this Litany of Humility was given to us so that we can find a more meaningful approach to suffering. Also, every line of the prayer puts us in humbled state with respect to others in our life. It shows us how to unite more fully with Jesus in His Cross.
And, finally, I’d ask you to reflect on the hope that is perhaps hidden in the last line of the prayer. That “others may be holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should”.
Think about that. If you are as holy as you should, you will be a saint. And, if you are a saint, then everyone else, holier than you, will be a saint, too!
I cannot think of a more wonderful answer to my prayers for my family and friends. That we are all saints! Wow!
© John S. Cohoat, 2017
John S. Cohoat
John is a Midwesterner, born and raised in the great Hoosier State of Indiana. He jokes that he has a “checkered past” in that he didn’t choose the path that many thought he might when he left Notre Dame and rose quickly through the ranks at a large public accounting firm. He’s been the Chief Financial Officer at a medical laboratory and CEO of a small hospital. John has owned an ice cream company, operated restaurants, worked for large Catholic Health Care organizations, did real estate business development, wrote a book and owned a bed & breakfast. The last several years John led a membership and consulting strategy organization for small business owners. For over a dozen years, John has mastered the art of copywriting for several small business clients and Catholic organizations. His true passion now is personal spiritual development including copywriting/fundraising for Catholic organizations and spiritual writing. You can find out more about John and his work at www.cohoatbusinessgrowth.com including samples of his writing.
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