Thursday, March 11, 2010

Prayer To Christ Our Lord, The Pattern Of Humility.

" O Eternal Word made flesh for love of us, I adore Thee in Thy great majesty, and I adore Thee no less in Thy humiliations.
For in Thy glory and in Thy humbleness Thou art always God, and as Thou hast exalted our nature in making it Divine by union with Thee, so hast Thou exalted our infirmities by taking them upon Thee and impressing upon them a stamp of supreme nobility. 
Thou wast not content to be master of humility without being a pattern of it also, and Thou wast pleased first to exhibit it in all Thy life before Thou taughtest it by Thy Word, that so Thou mightest prevent all excuse for my pride and force me to surrender to the truth, what excuse can I have left me to pretend to exalt myself? I, who am a miserable worm and vile sinner, when Thy Divine Majesty so stupendously humbles itself? Indeed, I have none and I make submission to the truth, I confess before heaven and earth that in me there is no good thing. All is Thine, the gift of Thy hands, and all is solely for Thy sake and given me for Thy glory. But though I confess all this for certain, still, alas, I return to the misery of my foolish vanity, I take complacency in what I do as though it were my own, forgetting all my innumerable defects as though they were not my own.
O, then, my most merciful Lord, my Truth, and my Light, illumine my eyes with my own clay, ' Lord make me that I may see.' Give me so great a knowledge of my own imperfections that it may overwhelm my pride, and that I may no more lift up my head to think myself any more than a mere nothing. 
 And since this is not enough, make me also consider and treat myself as such, and willingly be treated so by others for the love of Thee." 
Amen
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3 comments:

Maria said...

Fr. Giovanni Pietro Pinamonti S.J. is another gem. Thank you, Joseph!

Joseph Fromm said...

More gems coming. I am changing the direction of the blog through lent. I hope every one likes it. I'll start back with the red meat after Easter.

JMJ

Joe

Maria said...

Oh, Joseph, I am really enjoying these posts. There is such a tender ardor and sweet clarity in the things that these Jesuits wrote in the mid to late 1800's. It is like discovering spiritual jewelry hidden away in a sacred vault.