Blessed Lent

I pray you have a very holy and fruitful Lent!  What do you have planned for your Lenten season?  I feel more prepared this year than many past years, but we will see how it goes.  :)  Our family has created a Lenten calendar, incorporating the ideas and images from Jessica's calendar, to keep us on track with extra prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Matt, the older 5 children and I will also be reading two religious books each:

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• Seamus--  Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo and Searching for and Maintaining Peace (by Fr. Jacques Philippe)
• Riley--  Humility of Heart and The St. Gemma Galgani Collection
• Liam--  Humility of Heart and The Great St. Joseph by Dr. Remi Amelunxen (who was a parishoner at our parish who recently passed away)
• Finn-- The Secret of Mary by St. Louis de Montfort and The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort
• Moira-- St. Collette  (Along the Paths of the Gospel)
• My selection--  Searching for and Maintaining Peace and Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Fr. Peter J. Arnoudt
• Matt--  The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

I hope to post new Lenten prayers for you this Lent, but I wanted to start with one of my favorite prayers:  the Litany of Humility.  

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Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus. (**Repeat each time.)
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 each time from this point forward.)
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,**
Amen.

--Composed by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

God bless!

+JMJ+