Have you ever been tired of your tummy pudge and after consulting Dr. Google, found out that the idea of “spot toning” is really not a viable one? Depressing isn’t it? When you realize that you can’t just do 50 sit-ups a day and poof! the spare tire will disappear. The reality is that, any physical trainer worth their salt will recommend a much more holistic approach and be sure to include cardio and strength training along with healthy eating in order to combat excess weight. There are no magic short-cuts for long-term changes.

So it is with the spiritual life. Some people recognize how much they struggle with gossip, so they start to shut their mouths and ears just a little bit more and hope to beat it. Others have a short temper… so they practice deep breathing techniques and maybe invest in a punching bag. And these things will help. Every isolated struggle we face can be addressed and combatted head on and small changes (with varying degrees of success) can be expected.

But it won’t work for the long haul. There will be backsliding. You’ll wonder why your list of sins sounds like a tired old record player, even though you feel true contrition and have true amendment to change. To be forged by fire into who we are called to be, I.e. saints, there’s only one painful path: taking a shotgun and firing a heavy round of buckshot into your ego. As pride is the father of all sins, humility is the mother of all virtues.

I have loved praying the Litany of Humility ever since I first heard about it… but it’s alway been a struggle to pray it with sincere enthusiasm. Over the years, and after logging a little more time in at the Range of Life Humiliations, the prayer has become a comforting salve to me, healing and protecting me from the inevitable defects that set me back. But I keep returning to it, so prone I am to the inflammation of pride. And it does its job on some level—reawakens in me the desire to be grounded in my identity as nothing other than a fool for God. Indeed I only grit my teeth a tiny bit now, toward the end of the prayer… I’m still a work in progress.

Anyway, one of the things that has taken me many years to learn is just how interwoven pride is in so many of my character defects. I’ve never had to uproot it so thoroughly from my heart as I have lately and turns out that pride is a nasty weed that has a quite the complicated root system. (As an aside, if a gardener could do his weeding with a shotgun, I’m sure he would, but the rest of us will have to labor through my awkward, mixed metaphors here with patience.) Something like ‘being a control freak’… is a form of pride. Obsessing over your imperfect looks… a form of pride. Wanting to divulge others’ secrets… a form of pride. I was stunned when I learned that even the horrible feeling of “self hate” is a mutated form of pride (Fr. Jacque Philippe said so, okay! And that means it’s Gospel. The two cent version of this concept is that if we loathe ourselves, it’s because we have created a false idea of who we are supposed to be and rely on our powers—rather than God— to be that way… despairing when we fall short. More or less anyway.)

I thought it might be useful to make a corollary list for sinners like me to go through. I got all excited thinking how useful it would be to my readers and how great of an idea it was before I found out that St. Josemaria Escriva (and probably hundreds of others) have already been there, done that, and I’m only a couple hundred years late to the ball game. So. I will only distil some of what far smarter people have already conceptualized for us (and before I forget, the chapter called “The Great Sin” in Mere Christianity is an absolute must read for all Christians. Read that chapter every other month or so, in fact.) Please don’t use this list as a prompting to scupulosity. Most of these aren’t sins per se, but warts on our character that just need to be filed off to really maximize the efforts we are making to truly grow in virtue. As with all the vices, the way to beat pride isn’t to just try and eliminate it… but to replace it by practicing the opposite virtue.

Self-inventory for the Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

Do I enjoy being considered pious, virtuous or holy and try to demonstrate what that “looks like” outwardly?

From the desire of being loved…

Do I try to make myself seem interesting or unique to win the esteem of others?

From the desire of being extolled …

Do I bat away compliments in an effort to hear them emphasized or repeated?
Do I forget that all the gifts, talents or blessings I have are simply on loan to me, and not my own?

From the desire of being honored …

Do I make a point to name drop so others will be impressed by my associations?
Do I get annoyed when I feel like someone is patronizing me?

From the desire of being praised …

Do I purposefully put myself down in an underhanded attempt to get people to contradict and praise me?

From the desire of being preferred to others…

Do I get jealous of the attention others get from people I admire?

From the desire of being consulted …

Do I like to be considered an expert in any area (cooking, web design, babywearing, fantasy football, etc.)?
Do I regularly offer my opinions when they are not asked?

From the desire of being approved …

Do I make a point to demonstrate how witty, knowledgeable, or special I am by inserting my anecdotes into conversations?
Do I try and serve only the best food or wear only the most fashionable clothing or drive only the nicest cars?

From the fear of being humiliated …

Do I hide or make excuses for my flaws or bad decisions?
Do I refuse to accept help or charity even when needed?

From the fear of being despised…

Do I avoid controversial situations or debates because I don’t want people to think badly of me?

From the fear of suffering rebukes …

Do I have the need to get the last word in an argument… even if I’m right?
Do I refuse to back down on a position even if I’m wrong?
Do I resist apologizing to others, especially under the reasoning of ‘they don’t deserve it.’?

From the fear of being calumniated …

Do I have to clear my name whenever I perceive it to be sullied?

From the fear of being forgotten …

Do I always have a story to share in group conversations?
Do I like to be in the know regarding the details of everyone’s personal lives?

From the fear of being ridiculed …

Am I embarrassed by doing menial jobs or not having certain possessions or lifestyles?

From the fear of being wronged …

Do I go out of my way to make sure I’m never misunderstood?

From the fear of being suspected …

Do I act defensively or deny wrongdoing rather than sometimes, bearing wrongs patiently?

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Am I envious of the happiness in others’ close friendships and/or romances?

That others may be esteemed more than I …

Do I think my ideas are always the right or best ones?
Do I resist taking the advice of others?

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease …

Do I want to be considered the “life of the party”, the “brains behind the operation”, the “deep thinker” or “the fantastic host” etc. ?
Do I insist on having my own way?

That others may be chosen and I set aside…

Do I put myself in position to be recommended or chosen in some way?

That others may be praised and I unnoticed …

Do I get hurt or annoyed when I hear others being complimented or praised, even if they don’t deserve it?
Do I make sure people see me being generous or doing good works?

That others may be preferred to me in everything…

Do I get upset if I’ve not been invited to social events, chosen for a leadership position or selected for promotion?
Do I compare myself to others all the time?

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…