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Question Title Posted By Question Date
Follow up on litany of humility Philo Saturday, September 11, 2010

Question:

Dear Bro.Ignatius ,

Thank you for your good explanation on traits of humilty .

On the litany of humilty , would like to have clarification on the last parts , that asks for the grace to desire that others be more loved, esteemed etc :

Is this grace related to the basic foundation of trusting /knowing how much one is already loved by God which thus fulfills other prideful desires stemming from underlying attitude that one is owed more or is it related to some other concept of humility , such as resisting the desire to see oneself as better than others !

With your backgournd in psychology and theology, trusting that you would have good answer , like most of your other answers .
Thank you !



Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)

Dear Philo:

In seeking humility we do not fulfill prideful desires. It is just the opposite. In this prayer we seek to mortify all prideful desires. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your phrase, "fulfills other prideful desires".

Humans tend to seek their own ego, that is, to positively stroke the ego, to give oneself credit, to desire those things that makes our ego comfortable. The entire Litany prays for the opposite -- to be delivered from those things that bolster our ego, but even for the desire of it. For example:

The first three petitions are asking for deliverance from the desire (Deliver me, Jesus):

From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,

These are negative petitions -- asking that something be taken away.

In the last section the petitions are positive, not asking for something to be taken away, but that something be given to you (Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it).

These petitions are directly correlated with the first set of intentions:

That others may be loved more than I,
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Thus, we first ask for deliverance from our pride, then we ask for the grace to desire the virtue of humility so that we will not get ourselves in the pit of pride again.

Hope this helps to understand this beautiful Litany.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary


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