17 SIGNS OF LACK OF HUMILITY by Saint Josemaría Escrivá - How Many Are You Guilty of?

JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA'S 17 SIGNS OF LACK OF HUMILITY:

1. Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say.
2. Always wanting to get your own way.
3. Arguing when you are not right or — when you are — insisting stubbornly or with bad manners.
4. Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so.
5. Despising the point of view of others.
6. Not being aware that all the gifts and qualities you have are on loan.
7. Not acknowledging that you are unworthy of all honor or esteem, even the ground you are treading on or the things you own.
8. Mentioning yourself as an example in conversation.
9. Speaking badly about yourself, so that they may form a good opinion of you, or contradict you.
10. Making excuses when rebuked.
11. Hiding some humiliating faults from your director, so that he may not lose the good opinion he has of you.
12. Hearing praise with satisfaction, or being glad that others have spoken well of you.
13. Being hurt that others are held in greater esteem than you.
14. Refusing to carry out menial tasks.
15. Seeking or wanting to be singled out.
16. Letting drop words of self-praise in conversation, or words that might show your honesty, your wit or skill, your professional prestige.
17. Being ashamed of not having certain possessions.
    If you need to work on any of thise things, spend time praying the Litany of Humility.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed...Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved…Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled …Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored …Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others…Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted …Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised… Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed … Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged …Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected …Deliver me, 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 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.

ADITTIONAL RESOURCES TO AID IN THE GROWTH OF HUMILITY:

• Forgiveness: How Do I Work At Forgiving Myself and Others
• Make of Yourself a Capacity
• Six Reasons We Have to Carry Our Crosses
• Why Me, Why, God? Understanding the Deeper Meaning and Life-changing Catholic Teaching on Redemptive Suffering
• A Catholic View of the End Times
• The Joyful Pains of Purgatory
• The Sacrament of Reconciliation and Rising to New Life

Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer was a Roman Catholic priest from Spain who founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity.

Born: January 9, 1902, Barbastro, Spain
Died: June 26, 1975, Rome, Italy
Education: Pontifical Lateran University
Beatified: May 17, 1992, Rome, Italy