The Southwell Litany and Modern Sensibilities

Recently in the performance of my morning office, I spent the week in the reading of the Southwell Litany, an Anglican prayer of immense size (four pages) which explored the fallibilities of the self.  It is a rigorous reading, one for its size, the other for its content.  In taking up this litany which I haven't read for several years, I was reawakened to the passing of time and the post-modern thinking that would find great displeasure in such introspection.  I find that in the quest of fulfillment, modern man is not open to self-criticism.  This lengthy prayer, drafted in a spirit of repentance in the early 1900's, seems so out of touch with the progressive spirit which seeks affirmation, not self-denial.

The introduction sets the theme of this critical introspection: 

• O Lord, open our minds to see ourselves as Thou seest us, or even as others see us and we see others, all from all unwillingness to know our infirmities.  Save us and help us, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord.

The initial portion is the bulk of the litany, making up half of the litany itself.  I call this the "from portion," named for the first word of each bequest.  The first petition goes:

• From moral weakness of spirit, from timidity, from hesitation, from fear of men and dread of responsibility, strengthen is with courage to speak the truth in love and self-control; and alike from the weakness of hasty violence and the weakness of moral cowardice;  Save us and help us, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord.

Other requests in this introspection:

• From the irresolution that carries no choice into act,
• From the sluggishness of indolence and the slackness of indifference,
• From dullness of conscience, from feeble sense of duty, from thoughtless disregard of consequences to others,
• From love of flattery, from over ready belief in praise, from dislike of criticism,
• From all love of display and sacrifice to popularity,
• From desire to have our own way in all things, from overweening love of our own ideas and blindness to the value of others,

This is followed by a smaller portion, which advances the times we live in, as such a moments of spiritual danger.  Thus I call this part the "In all times portion:"

• In all times to follow pleasure ...
• In all times of ignorance and perplexity as to what is right and best to do ...
• In times of doubts and questionings, when our belief is perplexed by new learning, new thought, when our faith is strained by creeds, by doctrines, by mysteries beyond our understanding ... alike from stubborn rejection of new insights and from hasty assurance that we are wiser than our fathers.

As the litany closes, there is a triad of prayers for true understanding of self:

• Give us knowledge of ourselves, our powers and weaknesses, our spirit, our sympathy, our imagination, our knowledge, our truth;  teach us by the standard of Thy Word, by the judgments of others, by examinations of ourselves; give us earnest desire to strengthen ourselves by study, by diligence, by prayer and meditation;  and from all fancies, delusions and prejudices of habit or temper or society:
• Give us true knowledge of our brethren on their differences from us and in their likenesses to us that we may deal with their real selves, measuring their feelings by our own but patiently considering their varied lives and thoughts and circumstances; and in all our relations to them, from false judgments of our own, from misplaced trust and distrust, from misplaced giving and refusing, from misplaced praise and rebuke:
• Chiefly, O Lord, we pray Thee, give us knowledge of Thee, to see Thee in all Thy works, always to feel Thy presence near, to hear and know Thy call; may Thy Spirit be our will, and in all shortcomings and infirmities may we have sure faith in Thee:

The litany closes with this final petition:

• Finally, O Lord, we humbly beseech Thee, blot out our past transgressions, heal the evils of our past negligences and ignorances, make us amend our past mistakes and misunderstandings; uplift our hearts to new love, new energy and devotion that we may be unburdened from the grief and shame of past faithlessness to go forth in Thy strength to persevere through success and failure, through good report and evil report, even to the end; and in all time of our tribulation, in all time of our prosperity: Save us and help us, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord.

How would this litany travel in the ranks of the self-contented and narcissistic among us?  This seems to be the great divide of the human spirit in dealing with religious thought.  It is the grand abyss that ultimately separates one from all God-talk.  Yet, if all unbridled pride and pompousness could come under some degree of control, how would society be improved?

Introspection is not criminal behavior.  All efforts for self-doubt will not end in exercises in futility.  It may be the first step towards nobility to understand our limitations.