By Rev. Jerome DalGal - PB 188 pages
In the early part of the 21st century, because of the incessant and often strident media attention to the doings and mis-doings of many highly placed Churchmen, it is good to reflect upon how much good can be accomplished for the greater glory of God and the advancement of religion by even one man of deep holiness who has been placed in a position of great authority and responsibility in the Church.
Such a man was Cardinal Merry del Val. He was born into an aristocratic family of Irish, English, and Spanish parentage (oh happy combination!) in the city of London. His parents were the Marquis Raphael Merry del Val and the Countess Josephine de Zuletta. Among the family of his forebears was a martyr of the Church, St. Domenguito del Val, a child of barely seven who was crucified to a wall in the Cathedral of Saragossa in 1250 by the enemies of Christianity. He is of course best known as the architect and executor of St. Pius X’s war against Modernism, for which great service to God he acquired numerous enemies in his lifetime, and for which we can be sure that he gained many friends in Heaven. But his life was not one of merely temporal greatness. He was a profoundly humble and virtuous man as well.
Saint Pius X had as his Secretary of State a man who was eminently worth of his holy pontificate—Cardinal Merry del Val. In 1931, a year after the death of this illustrious Cardinal, the famous French scholar René Bazin made he following observation: “Judgment was passed in many different ways on Cardinal Merry del Val while he was living. This was due largely to the part he played in the political and religious affairs of his time. But now that he is dead people are getting to know him better, for with death has come the unveiling of the well-guarded secret of his extraordinary spiritual life.”
Merry del Val's 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 become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
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