disdain me not for my sinful life, known to none so well and clearly as to You alone.
Grant me, O Lord, to know that which is worth knowing, to love that which is worth loving, to praise that which pleases You most, to esteem that which to You seems precious, to abhor that which in your sight is unclean.
Suffer me not to judge according to the sight of the outward eyes, nor to give sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men; but with a true judgment to discern between things visible and spiritual, and above all to be ever searching after the good pleasure of Your will. The minds of men are often deceived in their judgments; the lovers of the world too are deceived in loving only visible things. What does a man gain for being by man esteemed great? Truly nothing, for the deceitful flatter the deceitful, the vain man flatters the vain, the blind man the blind, the weak man the weak; and in truth rather puts him to shame, while he vainly praises him. “For what every one is in Your sight, so much is he, and no more,” said humble Saint Francis. •
