Pray for Gift of Humility
SYMBOLS
[℣] Leader [℟] Response [Ⱥ] All together
SIGN OF THE CROSS
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
PRAYER
Dear Jesus, my Master, King of kings and the Lord of lords, when YOU walked the earth, YOUR humility hid YOUR Kingship. YOUR meekness confused the arrogant, preventing them from understanding YOUR purpose. YOUR benevolence and compassion attended to the needy.
Teach me to shape my life on you, to subject my human nature to humility.
Grant me a natural inclination to never view myself greater than anyone.
Banish all lingering sparks of self-importance that could lead me to consider myself even greater than YOU.
Lord, grant me the gift to always imitate YOUR humility. For without receiving it as your gift I cannot truly become humble. I ask this in YOUR Holy Name. Amen.
I want to resemble YOUR, O Jesus—YOUR crucified, tortured, and humiliated. Jesus, imprint upon my heart and soul YOUR own humility. Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like YOURS. Amen
LORD’S PRAYER
[℣] Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your WILL be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. [℟] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
HAIL MARY
[℣] Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. [℟] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
GLORIA
[℣] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. [℟] As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
— CONTINUE WITH —
— OR END WITH —
[℣] May the divine assistance remain always with us, [℟] and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. [Ⱥ] Amen.
SIGN OF THE CROSS
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
ST AUGUSTINE PRAYER FOR THE GIFT OF HUMILITY
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St Augustine of Hippo (354–430), one of the most influential Church Fathers, repeatedly stressed that humility is the foundation of the Christian life and the path to God.
In a letter, he famously declared: “The way to Christ is first humility, second humility, and third humility… if humility does not precede and accompany and follow every good work we do… pride will wrest from our hand any good deed.”
He prayed for the gift of humility—both in the sense of asking God to grant him this grace and in his broader writings, where he treated humility as an essential divine gift rather than something achieved by human effort alone.
He viewed true humility as a grace from God that counters pride (which he saw as the root of sin) and opens the soul to God’s mercy.
Several well-known prayers attributed to him explicitly include requests for the gift of humility or the ability to humble oneself before God. One of the most widely circulated and beautiful examples is this short prayer, often called “A Prayer of St. Augustine”:
Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You,
And desire nothing save only You.
Let me hate myself and love You.
Let me do everything for the sake of You.
Let me humble myself and exalt You.
Let me think of nothing except You.
Let me die to myself and live in You.
Let me accept whatever happens as from You.
Let me banish self and follow You,
And ever desire to follow You.
Let me flee from myself and turn to You,
That I may be worthy to be defended by You.
Let me fear for myself, let me fear You,
And let me be among those who are chosen by You.
Let me be poor because of You.
Look upon me, that I may love You.
Call me that I may see You, and for ever enjoy You.
Another prayer traditionally attributed to him, sometimes titled “St. Augustine’s Prayer for All Virtues,” is even more direct:…Drive far from me the spirit of pride; and grant me the grace of holy humility.
These prayers appear in countless Catholic devotional collections, websites, and books, and they faithfully reflect Augustine’s spirituality as seen in his Confessions and other works (where he constantly prays for self-knowledge, dependence on God’s grace, and deliverance from pride).
In short, Augustine not only taught that humility is a gift we must seek from God—he modeled it by praying for it himself. His life and writings show that he understood humility as something God must “grant” or enable, not something we can manufacture on our own.