The most perfect prayer:
Preparing for Mental Prayer
The greatest preparation for mental prayer is to envisage thousands upon thousands of people going up into heaven. You are left standing on earth unsure that you will ever be good enough to join them.
Pray silently:
Jesus grant me the grace to desire that others become holier than I, provided that, I become as holy as you wish me to be.
Then encourage in yourself, feeling of Joy, and Delight that the Creator God is Adored and Glorified by all these people. Truly know that they are holier than yourself. They deserve to go into heaven and you don’t. Rejoice that this is the case. Not that you are not holy enough but that so many people are.
Make yourself understand that this is how it should be: all the peoples of the earth should love God so much that they go quickly to heaven. The skies should be filled to capacity of holy souls glorifying God. And you should be happy so happy that you say to God, “Look Lord at all these souls glorifying you.
Because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.
In Latin: Sed cum vocatus fueris, vade, recumbe in novissimo loco : ut, cum venerit qui te invitavit, dicat tibi : Amice, ascende superius. Tunc erit tibi gloria coram simul discumbentibus :
[Luke 14:10]. ( I have underlined the English derivatives that are easy to spy. (ascende = ascend. superius = superior. loco = location. invitavit = invite)
We have all met the “Holier than thou” brand of Catholic. Actually I haven’t met one of these for years now. However my husband, Lord rest his soul would often warn me about falling into this bad behavior. I would always defend myself because it is very difficult to spot this fault in ourselves.
Then there is the member of your church group who befriends you thinking that you are “holy like them”! After a while they begin to think that perhaps you say more prayers than they do. Or you have more religious interests than they have. As jealously enters their soul they begin to resent you. Or even worse their resentment leads them to suspect it is not God who is working in your soul. Instead it is the boyo from below that is leading you astray!
The main thing for us to do is make sure we are not one of these people. Either a proud “holier than thou” or a resentful, angry, cynical, embittered person.
Being jealous of another’s piety is a serious sin. It might be a sin against the Holy Ghost. Because when you think of it: If we have these feelings of wanting to be holier than another christian or thinking that we are holier this amounts to resenting God getting adoration from His creatures. Think about it. Also there is the fact that God the Holy Ghost gives gifts of graces to His creatures and we are being angry with God.
Remember the parable Jesus told about the man going and hiring workers at different times of the day and when the day over and the work done those who had worked longest resented the workers who worked less getting the same wage as they did.
“Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good?” [Matthew 20:15]
So this is the type of sin read out from the book of our lives on the day of judgment.
Litany of Humility
The litany of humility was written by Cardinal Raphael Merry del Val He was the Secretary of State to Pope Saint Pius X (1903 – 1914l.
Let’s really try our best, to live this prayer in our daily lives. Especially the last request about holiness.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, O 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 go 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.
Charity
To have Charity is to love God above all things for Himself and be ready to renounce all created things rather than offend Him by serious sin. ( Matt. 22:36-40)
Cardinal Merry del Val was the Secretary of State to Pope Saint Pius X (1903-1914)