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Summary
- Envy wants what another person has; the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it “a capital sin” and “the sadness at the sight of another’s goods” (paragraph 2539). Jealousy fears losing what one already has.
- Scripture calls God “a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14) and Paul speaks of “godly jealousy” (2 Corinthians 11:2), but envy is always condemned: “charity envieth not” (1 Corinthians 13:4).
- Short prayers cover a friend’s success, comparison, a colleague’s promotion, coveting, anger, a jealous husband or wife, betrayal, and people who envy you.
- Controlling jealousy can be domestic abuse; the US National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, and England’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.
- Orthodox Christians ask the prayers of the martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Abibus of Edessa for troubled marriages.
- Traditional prayers are quoted from the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers (“Against Envy”) and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (the Litany and Family Prayer).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Genesis 4:7; 30:1; 37:11; 50:20; Exodus 20:17; 34:14; 1 Samuel 18:9; 24:6; Psalm 73:3, 25; Proverbs 6:34; 14:30; 31:11; Song of Solomon 8:6; Mark 15:10; Romans 12:15; 1 Corinthians 13:4; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Galatians 5:20–21, 26; Philippians 4:11; 1 John 4:18). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraphs 2538–2540. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_two/chapter_two/article_10/i_the_disorder_of_covetous_desires.html
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Prayers against the Seven Deadly Sins, “Against Envy,” p. 297. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. The Litany, p. 54; Family Prayer, Evening Prayer, “Prayer for Grace to reform and grow Better,” p. 590. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. Prayers on the First Day after a Woman Hath Given Birth to a Child. https://www.ponomar.net/data/hapgood.pdf
- Orthodox Church in America. “Holy Martyrs and Confessors Gurias, Samonas, and Habibus, of Edessa.” https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2022/11/15/103304-holy-martyrs-and-confessors-gurias-samonas-and-habibus-of-edessa
- National Domestic Violence Hotline. https://www.thehotline.org/
- GOV.UK. “Domestic abuse: how to get help.” https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help
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