The Chaplet of the Three Humble Values

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This Trinity chaplet is based on the Three Humble Values which I write about in my piece on the Journey in Four Directions.

For each of the Values, I have proposed nine meditations: on the Value itself, on the traditional monastic vow of which it is the extension, on the theological virtue which corresponds to it, on the shadow version of the Value, on the seduction or temptation which it poses, on the sin (1 John 2:16) associated with it, on the modern ill which is opposite to it, on the metaphor from natural things which describes it, and on the maiden (I had to have another M) used to represent it in Botticelli's painting Primavera, where the three graces referred to by Renaissance philosophers are portrayed dancing in a circle.

I have colour-coded the numbers to make it easier to tell which beads are used for which meditation.

  Meditation
I1 I open my heart to the Three Humble Values.
I2 I concentrate my mind upon them.
I3 I give my strength to practice them.
T1 In the name of the Father, who needs nothing, for he owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
F1 I call to mind the value of simplicity,
F2 the vow of poverty,
F3 and the virtue of faith.
F4 The shadow of this value is obsession with money,
F5 its seduction is pride in not having,
F6 its sin is the lust of the eyes.
F7 The modern ill opposed to it is complexity,
F8 its metaphor is the sky on a clear day - everything and nothing,
F9 and the maiden of the graces is Beauty.
T2 In the name of the Son, who, though fully human and tempted like us, was without sin,
S1 I call to mind the value of continence,
S2 the vow of chastity,
S3 and the virtue of hope.
S4 The shadow of this value is obsession with sex,
S5 its seduction is pride in not doing,
S6 its sin is the lust of the flesh.
S7 The modern ill it is opposed to is consumerism,
S8 its metaphor is tilled earth - ordered for fertility and growth,
S9 and the maiden of the graces is Restraint.
T3 In the name of the Holy Spirit, who gives us power to serve one another,
H1 I call to mind the value of submission,
H2 the vow of obedience,
H3 and the virtue of love.
H4 The shadow of this value is obsession with power,
H5 its seduction is pride in not controlling,
H6 its sin is the boastful pride of life.
H7 The modern ill it is opposed to is competitiveness,
H8 its metaphor is the ocean - supporting without resisting,
H9 and the maiden of the graces is Pleasure.

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