#12 Part III: Chapter V. Prayer for the Preservation and Increase of Humility

Omnipotent and merciful God, You bitterly hate all arrogance. Help me to be a rose of charity and a violet of humility, so that I may spread a fragrant smell by works of love and think humbly of myself. What am I in Your sight, O Lord? Dust, ashes, a shadow, nothing. Therefore, since I am nothing in Your sight, grant that I consider myself nothing in my own eyes. Push back the inborn, swelling pride of my heart that I receive the dew of heavenly grace. For the rivers of Your grace do not ascend up lofty mountains; rather, they flow down to the low-lying valleys of the humble heart. I have nothing but weaknesses and transgressions. Whatever is good in me has come down to me from the font of Your goodness. I can claim for myself nothing whatsoever which is good, since in and of myself I have nothing good. The more highly I think of You, the more unworthy I must consider myself. Far, far be it from me, O kindest Lord, to be arrogant concerning the gifts You have given me and despise others because of them.  (Continued on Epiphany Two) (from The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.62-63)