Sunday, August 22, 2010

Graces




Front of the Miraculous Medal



Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré, standing atop the globe. On her hands were jeweled rings, most of which were shining light upon the world. When Saint Catherine Labouré asked her why some rings did not shine, she replied: "Those are the graces for which people forget to ask."


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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,
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.

Rafael Cardinal Merry Del Val


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For what graces will you ask today? For myself, perhaps I will ask that one day I will pray the Litany of Humility sincerely.


Respectfully Yours,


Cricket




4 comments:

Ananda girl said...

Good post. One I think that I required today. :-)

I often ask requests. A good reminder that its not all about me and what I want. There is a simple beauty in faith that does not beg favors and is content to believe with a pure heart.

Andy said...

Cricket, you shall never know how much I appreciate this.

I'm with Amanda girl. This is one I really needed to read today.

Really. REALLY!

In eternity I will 'splain it all. Thanks again.

lime said...

that is indeed a powerful meditation on humility if one considers even momentarily what it really means.

Cricket said...

Hi All -

It is a beautiful prayer, isn't it? I'm glad you liked it. It works for me on a number of levels, the most obvious being to remind me what true humility is, and how far from it I really am. Do I even really want the grace to desire it?

Maybe on a good day ;-)