Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)

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. (repeat after each line)

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


Litany of Humility was composed by Rafael Cardinal Merry de Val (1865-1930) and is published by the Catholic Church.

**When the litany of humility is prayed in a private setting by two or more people, the lines given in italics below are the responses to a leader.

Bonhoeffer Morning Prayer

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;

I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.

Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.


Written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while incarcerated in a Nazi prison, uncertain of what his future would hold.

Prayer for Rest

Lord, You are the giver of rest. Help me trust that You have everything under control, and that my job is not to juggle everything, but to hand all of my burdens over to You, the all-powerful, able, strong God.



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Excerpted from God's Peace for When You Can't Sleep, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Mercy Prayer

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Weekly Collect Oct 2

Weekly Collect Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.