The Under-Reported Prayers of Clarence Thomas

Teresa Neumann, Charles J. Sykes : Nov 11, 2007
Charles J. Sykes?The American Thinker

"Deliver me, O Jesus, from the fear of being humiliated...from the fear of being despised... from the fear of suffering rebukes...from the fear of being calumniated."

In his newly published memoir, "My Grandfather's Son," Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote of many things. Unfortunately, it appears that segments of his book detailing the role of prayer in his life have been overlooked by the mainstream media. (Photo: Thomas, The Washington Post)

Charles J. Sykes, in an article published in The American Thinker called "The Prayers of Clarence Thomas," combats that discrepancy.

Sykes reveals the prayers Thomas prayed while courting his wife, the Scriptures he relied on during his confirmation ordeal, and the prayers he cried out to God after accusations brought against him by Anita Hill.

During that "dark night of the soul" episode in his life, Thomas writes that he realized the "only way to survive humiliation was humility."

Says Thomas: "It had long since become clear to me that this battle was at bottom spiritual, not political, and so my attention shifted from politics to the inward reality of spiritual life."

During that time, he also contemplated his former accomplishments. "Might I have been too proud?" he mused. "It occurred to me for the first time that I had cherished my good name in the same way that a wealthy man cherishes his money….perhaps I would have to renounce my pride to endure this trial."

From then on, he began to pray: "Deliver me, O Jesus, from the fear of being humiliated…from the fear of being despised…from the fear of suffering rebukes…from the fear of being calumniated."

Thomas, concludes Sykes, has hung on the wall of his Supreme Court Chambers this prayer from Cardinal Merry del Val:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled...
From the desire of being honored...
From the desire of being praised...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted...
From the desire of being approved...
From the fear of being humiliated...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes...
From the fear of being calumniated...
From the fear of being forgotten...
From the fear of being ridiculed...
From the fear of being wronged...
From the fear of being suspected...

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

That others may be esteemed more than I...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease...
That others may be chosen and I set aside...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should...