Humble Yourself

I read a prayer called the "Litany of Humility," written by Merry Cardinal del Val (1865-1930) and I would like to share it here:

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.

What do you think of this idea of humility? Is this a prayer we can or should pray?

I have not achieved humility, so I speak as an outsider, but I think that perhaps humility has less to do with me and more to do with the will of God being accomplished. If pride is the contrast to humility and if pride means to think highly of oneself, then does humility mean to think lowly of oneself, or, instead, to not think highly of oneself?

We can start by considering God’s will above our own. That sort of humility will surely teach us a lot about finding our proper place.

Don Morrison

*falsely accused

(The full version of the Litany of Humility can be found here along with some interesting comments and links.)