Help with the Litany of Humility

[Elena321]

The litany of Humility is:
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 …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
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 ]…

---

Can someone help “break it down for me” please?
Eg: I assume “being loved” means being like worshipped/popular/exalted/like celebrity and not literally loved emotionally-is this correct?
Being emotionally loved is a good thing that everyone wants isn’t it?

Is it ok to prefer sometimes to be preferred to others?
For example,if you auditioned for a dancing or acting job you would want it over the other “auditioned” although you would wish them good luck too?

What does calumniated mean please?

From the fear of being forgotten or ridiculed-in which sense?
Any real life examples please?

From fear of being suspected-in which sense please?

From fear of suffering “rebukes”.Rebuke isn’t really a modern word.No one in my country says “I rebuke you”. It would sound weird.Are there any modern day equivalents?
I’m receptive to correction if it’s said kindly but if someone says something unkindly ( or has done something also on their part that they refuse to accept) them I am less receptive.

Thankyou
Elena

 

[fhansen]

The litany of Humility is:
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 …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
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 ]…

---

Can someone help “break it down for me” please?
Eg: I assume “being loved” means being like worshipped/popular/exalted/like celebrity and not literally loved emotionally-is this correct?
Being emotionally loved is a good thing that everyone wants isn’t it?

Is it ok to prefer sometimes to be preferred to others?
For example,if you auditioned for a dancing or acting job you would want it over the other “auditioned” although you would wish them good luck too?

What does calumniated mean please?

From the fear of being forgotten or ridiculed-in which sense?
Any real life examples please?

From fear of being suspected-in which sense please?

From fear of suffering “rebukes”.Rebuke isn’t really a modern word.No one in my country says “I rebuke you”. It would sound weird.Are there any modern day equivalents?
I’m receptive to correction if it’s said kindly but if someone says something unkindly ( or has done something also on their part that they refuse to accept) them I am less receptive.

Thankyou
Elena

We’re asking to be delivered from all desires, which are always pride-related and so tend to lead us around by the noses, to enslave us, to cause us to fear what others think more than to simply live in the truth.

 

[mattp0625]

When reading the writings of the saints, they often speak of avoiding pride, self love, seeking praise for earthly things, etc., in order to remain humble. They indicate this brings us away from materialistic tendencies and closer to the spiritual (to God).

One can thoroughly read about this type of spirituality in Thomas a Kempis’s 15th century book: The Imitation of Christ.

 

[Della]

Can someone help “break it down for me” please?
Eg: I assume “being loved” means being like worshipped/popular/exalted/like celebrity and not literally loved emotionally-is this correct?
Being emotionally loved is a good thing that everyone wants isn’t it?

Being emotionally loved is a good thing, but like all good things it can be misused/abused. Love–true love, is an act of the will, not merely a feeling. True love is unconditional and freely given, not held back in order to get something for ourselves. The Cardinal composed a litany in which he prayed that all our self-interest might be crucified with Christ and replaced with agape love–sacrificial love. It’s natural and normal to want to be loved and to love, but if we put that first in our lives it becomes an idol to be worshipped instead of the rightful worship of God alone.

Is it ok to prefer sometimes to be preferred to others?
For example,if you auditioned for a dancing or acting job you would want it over the other “auditioned” although you would wish them good luck too?

It’s fine, but if you don’t get it, are you envious and wish the other didn’t get what they deserved by their better performance? If we don’t put all out hopes into being rewarded/getting things we cannot be hurt if we don’t receive them. Our hope and our goal is God in all things.

What does calumniated mean please?

Make false and defamatory statements about.

From the fear of being forgotten or ridiculed-in which sense?
Any real life examples please?

Forgotten by family–such as put in a nursing home and never visited? Or friends laughing behind your back and making you the butt of jokes? That sort of thing.

From fear of being suspected-in which sense please?

Of wrongdoing, I would imagine. People like to say “Where there’s smoke there’s fire” when they want to imply that someone is guilty even if they can’t prove it. We should not fear such comments/attitudes against us because our reputations aren’t as important as faithfully loving and serving God. We should ignore any attempts to defame us and leave our lives completely in God’s hands. This doesn’t mean we can’t defend ourselves, but it shouldn’t take over our lives nor cause us to hold onto our egos but let God care for us and our honor, for our boast is in Christ and him crucified.

From fear of suffering “rebukes”.Rebuke isn’t really a modern word.No one in my country says “I rebuke you”. It would sound weird.Are there any modern day equivalents?
I’m receptive to correction if it’s said kindly but if someone says something unkindly ( or has done something also on their part that they refuse to accept) them I am less receptive.

Rebuke means just what you stated, someone correcting you. The Cardinal is praying that he won’t let correction offend him, but receive it graciously. And example is King David being cursed by a man who hated him and his family. David’s men wanted to kill the man, but David told them that God had wanted the man to curse him: biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+16%3A5-13. Also, think of Our Lord being reviled and rebuked by the High Priest and the elders of Israel. Jesus didn’t return any invectives in return for he knew the truth and that men would not believe him. Let others say whatever they will about us, even to our faces, but if we are innocent we need not take offense at being concerned. If we need the correction, as David believed he did, then we take it as such and amend our behavior.

Thankyou
Elena

I hope that helped. Cardinal Merry del Val’s litany calls us to deeper repentance and deeper trust in God, rather that letting self-interest/our egos guide our behavior. It’s not easy to do–it means crucifying the “old man and putting on the new” as St. Paul put it. But it’s a sure way to perfection in love and holiness.

 

[St_Francis]

Also, each person may have more trouble with some of the listed situations than others.

I learned a lot about humility and prayer by praying this prayer, lots of “ah, ha!” moments, some of which were not excatly comfortable, iyswim