Creativity in Prayer

Lord, I long to be in Your presence throughout my day. I long to see You and to love You always. 

Help me to pray to You, in the midst of my activity, so that I may always be in Your company. Jesus, I trust in You.

Often times, our days are filled with activity. Families are often occupied with one event or another. Chores and work can pile up and we may find, at the end of the day, that we have had little time to pray to God in solitude. But solitude and prayer can happen at times throughout our busy day. Though it's important to look for moments when we can be alone with God, giving Him our full attention, we should also look for opportunities to pray, interiorly, in the midst of our busy lives.

Do you find that your life is full of activity? 

Do you find that you are often too busy to get away and pray? 

Though this is not the ideal, it can be remedied by looking for opportunities within your busyness. 

At a school event, while driving, while cooking or cleaning, we always have the opportunity to raise our minds and hearts to God in prayer. 

Remind yourself, this day, that you can pray during most moments of the day. 

Praying continually, this way, may provide the solitude you so desperately need.

Act of Adoration and Praise after Communion Devotion

O Lord Jesus, sweetest Guest,
mayest Thou have come happily to me, Thy poor and humble servant.
Mayest Thou have entered in blessing under this mean and lowly roof.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, in the highest, for that Thou hast come into my heart, Thou Day-spring from on high.

O King of peace,
drive from my heart all vain and idle thoughts,
that my soul may imitate and love Thee only,
the Author of peace.
For what beside Thee, O Thou peace,
Thou calm and sweetness of my heart,
should my soul seek for or desire?

Amen.

Act of Charity Devotion

O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul because you
are all good and worthy of all my love.

I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.

I forgive all who have injured me and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. 

Amen.

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O Jesus, divine saviour, deign to cast a look of mercy upon your children, who assemble in the same spirit of faith, reparation, and love, and come to deplore their own infidelities, and those of all poor sinners, their brethren.

May we touch your divine heart by the unanimous and solemn promises we are about to make and obtain mercy for ourselves, for the world, and for all who are so unhappy as not to love you. We all promise that for the future:

For the forgetfulness and ingratitude of men, we will console you, O Lord.

For the way you are deserted in your holy tabernacle, we will console you, O Lord.

For the crimes of sinners, we will console you, O Lord.

For the hatred of the impious, we will console you, O Lord.

For the blasphemies uttered against you, we will console you, O Lord.

For the sacrileges that profane your sacrament of love, we will console you, O Lord.

For the outrages against your divinity, we will console you, O Lord.

For the injuries of which you are the adorable victim, we will console you, O Lord.

For the coldness of the greater part of your children, we will console you, O Lord.

For the contempt of your loving invitation, we will console you, O Lord.

For the infidelity of those who called themselves your friends, we will console you, O Lord.

For the abuse of your grace, we will console you, O Lord.

For our own unfaithfulness, we will console you, O Lord.

For the incomprehensible hardness of our hearts, we will console you, O Lord.

For our long delay in loving you, we will console you, O Lord.

For our tepidity in your holy service, we will console you, O Lord.

For your bitter sadness at the loss of souls, we will console you, O Lord.

For your long waiting at the door of our hearts, we will console you, O Lord.

For the heartless scorn that grieves you, we will console you, O Lord.

For your loving sighs, we will console you, O Lord.

For your loving tears, we will console you, O Lord.

For your loving imprisonment, we will console you, O Lord.

For your loving death, we will console you, O Lord.

Let us pray: O Jesus!  divine savior, from whose heart comes forth this bitter complaint, "I looked for one that would comfort me, and I found none," graciously accept the feeble consolation we offer you, and aid us so powerfully by your grace, that we may, for the time to come, shun more and more all that can displease you, and prove ourselves in everything, and everywhere, and forever your most faithful and devoted servants.  We ask it through your sacred heart, O Lord, who live and reign with the father and the Holy Spirit one God, world without end. 

 Amen.

Act of Adoration #3

Act of Adoration #3

Jesus, my God, I adore You, here present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, where You wait day and night to be our comfort while we await Your unveiled presence in heaven.

Jesus, my God, I adore You in all places where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved and where sins are committed against this Sacrament of Love.

Jesus, my God, I adore You for all time, past, present and future, for every soul that ever was, is or shall be created.

Jesus, my God, who for us has endured hunger and cold, labour and fatigue, I adore You.

Jesus, my God, who for my sake has deigned to subject Yourself to the humiliation of temptation, to the perfidy and defection of friends, to the scorn of Your enemies, I adore You.

Jesus, my God, who for us has endured the buffeting of Your passion, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the heavy weight of the cross, I adore You.

Jesus, my God, who, for my salvation and that of all mankind, was cruelly nailed to the cross and hung there for three long hours in bitter agony, I adore You.

Jesus, My God, who for love of us did institute this Blessed Sacrament and offer Yourself daily for the sins of men, I adore You.

Jesus, my God, who in Holy Communion became the food of my soul, I adore You.

Jesus, for You I live. Jesus, for You I die. Jesus, I am Yours in life and death.

Amen.

Act of Adoration #2

I adore Thee, O my God, present in the holy Eucharist, as my Creator, my Preserver, and my Redeemer. 

I offer Thee all that I have, all that I am, all that depends on me; I offer Thee my mind to think of Thee, my heart to love Thee; my will to serve Thee; my body to labour and suffer for Thy love. 

I am Thine, I give myself; I consecrate myself to Thee, I abandon myself to Thee, I wish to live and die for love of Thee.

Act of Adoration #1

I adore Thee,
O my God,
present in the holy Eucharist,
as my Creator,
my Preserver,
and my Redeemer.
I offer Thee all that I have,
all that I am,
all that depends on me;
I offer Thee my mind to think of Thee,
my heart to love Thee;
my will to serve Thee;
my body to labour and suffer for Thy love.
I am Thine,
I give myself;
I consecrate myself to Thee,
I abandon myself to Thee,
I wish to live and die for love of Thee.

The Four Parts of Confession

Part 1: Contrition

The word "contrition" comes from the Latin word "CONTRITIO" - "I crush".

What do I crush? I crush and pulverize my heart insofar as it is hardened by sin.

Without a soft heart, the healing graces of God flow off like water on a rock. Sin makes us selfish and hardens our hearts. But a contrite heart absorbs the graces of God like a sponge absorbs water.

I am contrite by being truly sorry for my sins. I am truly sorry for my sins by acknowledging my grievous offenses against my loving God and against my neighbor and having a deep heartfelt regret for the sins and a firm purpose of amendment not to sin again. I grow in confession especially by understanding what MY SINS have done to JESUS, especially as manifested in His Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns, and Carrying of the Cross, and Crucifixion and Death.

By being contrite we can do what is proper to us who are creatures wounded by sin: We cannot fix ourselves, but we can hate what is evil in us - that is, our sin. We so dispose ourselves to let God do what is proper to Him: To FORGIVE!

By heartfelt contrition, we seek our justice not "in ourselves" but in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to TRUST in Him. Jesus absolutely requested that the signature of the Divine Mercy image be "JESUS I TRUST IN YOU". When we look at the Divine Mercy Image we see the Picture of His infinite Mercy, Goodness, and Love; when we read the signature "JESUS I TRUST IN YOU" with our hearts we respond as we ought.

Our contrition is PERFECT when we are sorry because of what we have done to Jesus because of our sins. It is IMPERFECT when we are sorry because of what our sins do to us: disgrace, temporal and possibly eternal punishment.

Catholics are most blessed because the Sacrament of Confession perfects imperfect contrition such that even mortal sins will be forgiven. Otherwise, mortal sins can be forgiven only by having perfect contrition.

But having perfect contrition is hard especially when in the state of mortal sin. Why? Because sin causes us to love ourselves before God. Only God knows if our contrition is perfect or not. Avoid presumption and go to Confession!

If a Catholic is not in the state of grace, his perfect contrition includes to do what Jesus tells us to do thorough His Church: To go to confession! So no one should go to Holy Communion if they are aware of having an unconfessed mortal sin. Going to Holy Communion when aware of unconfessed mortal sin is sacrilege - the worst of all sins.

If our contrition is perfect, we don't need any punishment! Why? Because there is no more need of punishment since the soul already loves God above all! So continually increase your sorrow for sins, perfect your contrition, and go to confession often. Pray for the souls in Purgatory. Then when you die you can hope to go straight to heaven since there is not any need to be further cleansed in Purgatory!

For Meditation on Contrition:

(1) From the "Conversation of the Merciful God with a Sinful Soul", Diary of St. Faustina, #1485

Jesus: My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of my goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace.

(2) From the "Conversation of the Merciful God with a Despairing Soul", Diary of St. Faustina, #1486

Jesus: My child, all your sins have not wounded My Heart as painfully as your present lack of trust does — that after so many efforts of My love and mercy, you should still doubt My goodness.

Part 2: Confession

I confess my sins to Jesus directly through the priest. Why "directly" through the priest? Because Jesus has ordained that man such that the priest is His instrument for forgiving sins: It is really Christ who forgives the sins.

When Jesus forgives us through His representative the priest, there is no less grace than if he was to forgive us 2000 years ago when He walked the face of the earth. Just as there is no less grace to be present at the Consecration at Holy Mass than to be on your knees before Christ when He died on the Cross.

It is fitting that Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance: "He breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" (Jn 20:22-23). We offend God and His Church when we sin; we fittingly confess our sins to Jesus through His ordained representative. Sin increases our pride so that we "live a lie"; confession humbles us so as to perfect our contrition. The soul that is dead cannot revive itself but needs a new infusion of life. Jesus revives the soul, shipwrecked by mortal sin even after baptism, by the Sacrament of Confession.

We KNOW that Jesus forgives us when we confess our sins. We just have to confess our sins without hiding them.

We confess mortal sins by type and number. If we "hold back" a mortal sin, then we are not making a good confession. The confession itself becomes a sin; the soul does not even have the necessary imperfect contrition when it knowingly refuses to confess a sin.

If we forgot a sin, our confession is still good. But we need to confess the mortal sin later and as soon as we can.

It would be impossible to confess each venial sin, imperfection, and fault by type and number - there would be too many. Instead of really becoming holy by the grace of Christ, we would become preoccupied with our own defects and could actually fall into the trap of trying to perfect ourselves instead of disposing ourselves to be perfected by Christ.

Instead, confess CONTRITELY and CONCISELY your dominant venial sins and faults, knowing full well that we cannot fully express in a brief confession the depths of our misery. Thus we see the need for the MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT - the Holy Eucharist. In Holy Communion, Jesus perfects us and burns away our faults and sins by His divine love. Frequent confession - even for venial sins and faults - is a very powerful preparation for the worthy reception of the Sacrament of Love - the Holy Eucharist.

Remember: all souls are prideful and selfish. Confessing such broad generalities afford little in confession. Rather, confess HOW I am prideful and selfish, without going into unnecessary detail. (e.g., "I talked back to my parents several times and did not take their correction well.") That is the proper material to take to Confession.

Part 3: Absolution

Jesus forgives the soul directly when the priest says the words of absolution.

Do you believe in Jesus? Then believe in His will and ability to forgive the soul with the words of absolution that He speaks through the lips of His ordained ministers. Jesus was crucified because HE FORGAVE SINS - and only God can forgive sins. But His claim to forgive sins is not blasphemy but is the Truth because He - the Second Person of the Trinity - is GOD and Man.

It suffices to repeat our Lord's exhortation to St. Faustina: (Diary of St. Faustina, 1448)

Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament of Reconciliation] There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late.

Part 4: Penance

We should fulfill our penance promptly and with devotion.

Does our penance take away our sins? NO! Jesus takes away our sins by shedding His Blood on the Cross. Our penance is our fitting "two bits" which is a way of expressing our sorrow and gratitude.

Our penance usually consist of a short prayer. After Jesus forgives us in absolution, we are already 'working for Him' in the work of salvation; we are 'back on track' working for His glory and for the salvation of souls - even if it is only by saying a simple prayer!

Consider the great model penitent in St. Peter who denied Jesus three times. Did He do penance? Yes, he was sorry and forgiven by Christ. Did he have his own type of "penance" similar to that of confession? Yes, three times Jesus asked him, "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me?" Peter was "hurt" as penance is sometimes hard: "Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee."

Peter is "back on track". His dignity is restored and winning souls for God.

Glorify God in His Mercy in the great Sacrament of Penance! That is not man's plan; but God's plan to revive life in the soul!

The 4 Keys To Heaven

1. Mass
2. Rosary
3. Scapular
4. Way Of The Cross

Brother Estanislao (1903 - 1927)

At the age of 18, a young Spaniard entered the Novitiate of The Brothers of the Christian Schools at Bugedo. 

He took the Vow of Regularity, Perfection and Pure Love. 

In October, 1926, he offered himself to Jesus through Mary.

Soon after this heroic donation, he felt ill, and was obliged to rest.

He died saintly in March 1927. He was, according to the master of novices, a privileged soul, who received Messages from Heaven.

Confessors and Theologians recognized these supernatural facts. 

His Director asked him to write the Promises made by OUR LORD to those who have devotion to THE WAY OF THE CROSS.

They are:

1. I will grant everything that is asked of Me with faith, when making The Way of the Cross.

2. I promise Eternal Life to those who pray from time to time, The Way of the Cross.

3. I will follow them everywhere in life and I will help them, especially at the hour of death.

4. Even if they have more sins than the blades of grass in the fields and the grains of sand in the sea, all of them will be erased by The Way of the Cross. (Note: This promise does not eliminate the obligation to confess all mortal sins, and this, before we can receive Holy Communion.)

5. Those who pray The Way of the Cross often will have a special glory in Heaven.

6. I will deliver them from Purgatory, indeed if they go there at all, the first Tuesday or Friday after their death.

7. I will bless them at each Way of the Cross, and My blessing will follow them everywhere on earth and, after their death, in Heaven for all Eternity.

8. At the hour of death I will not permit the devil to tempt them; I will lift all power from him in order that they will repose tranquilly in My Arms.

9. If they pray it with true love, I will make of each one of them a living Ciborium in which it will please Me to pour My grace.

10. I will fix My Eyes on those who pray The Way of the Cross often; My hands will always be open to protect them.

11. As I am nailed to the Cross, so also will I always be with those who honor Me in making The Way of the Cross frequently.

12. They will never be able to separate themselves from Me, for I will give them the grace never again to commit a Mortal sin.

13. At the hour of death I will console them with My Presence and we will go together to Heaven. Death will be sweet to all those who have honored Me during their lives by praying The Way of the Cross.

14. My soul will be a protective shield for them, and will always help them, whenever they have recourse.

St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote: "If you pray you are positive of saving your soul. If you do NOT pray you are just as positive of losing your soul."

The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. And opening his mouth, he taught them, saying:

(1) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

(2) Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.

(3) Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

(4) Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.

(5) Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

(6) Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.

(7) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

(8) Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.

Prayer for the First Week of Lent Devotion

[This prayer is designed to be said within the family before a Crucifix during the first week of Lent.]

Mother or a child:
From the words of St. Paul [2 Cor. 6:1-2].

Dearly beloved, we entreat you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: "In an acceptable time I have beard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Father:
This time of fasting has opened to us the gates of paradise. Let us accept it, praying and beseeching.

Family:
That on the day of resurrection we may be glorified in the Lord.

Father:
Let us pray.
Through the observance of Lent, O Lord, You purify Your Church every year. See to it that Your children lead a better life and so obtain the graces they are striving to acquire by doing penance. This we ask of You through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

Family:
Amen.
Favour this dwelling, Lord, with Your presence. Far from it repulse all the wiles of Satan. Your holy angels, let them live here, to keep us in peace. And may your blessing remain always upon us. This we ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

Father:
Let us bless the Lord.

Family:
Thanks be to God.

Father:
May the almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless and keep us.

Family:
Amen.

Country Prayer for Lent Devotion

Dear Lord, we are now in the holy season of Lent. 

We begin to realize anew that these are the days of salvation, these are the acceptable days. 

We know that we are all sinners. 

We know that in many things we have all offended Your infinite majesty. 

We know that sin destroys Your life in us as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land, leaving an arid, dusty desert. 

Help us now, Lord, in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin. 

Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace. 

Make us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification. 

Help us to see, in our ordinary difficulties and duties, in the trials and temptations of every day, the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities. 

Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood, in sky and stream, of Your own boundless generosity to us. 

Help us to realize that You are never outdone in generosity, and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and flowing over. 

Then we shall see, in our own souls, how the desert can blossom, and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich, useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning. 

Amen.

The Mercy of Purification

Lord, help me to see my soul as You see it. Help me to let Your merciful gaze cleanse me of every sin. In Your compassion, dear Lord, replace the sin in my life with Your Mercy. And help me to never run from You. Jesus, I trust in You.

Imagine if you could see your soul as God sees it. What would you see? How might God see your soul? 

Certainly He sees His precious child and looks at you with the greatest of love. But He also sees your sin, even the slightest sin. 

These sins, even the smallest imperfection, must be purged from within by His burning love. The Mercy of God becomes deeply "painful" in a spiritual way as it purifies. But this purification is necessary and is freeing. 

Purification must take place either now or through Purgatory. Choose the purification of God's merciful love now and you will not regret it.

Reflect, today, upon God's love coming to you to purify your soul of every sin, even the smallest imperfection you may have. 

See this as an act of abundant Mercy. Be ready to feel the sweet pain of being purified and do not run from this. Your purification fills the Heart of our Lord with immense joy!

A True Letter of Our Saviour Jesus Christ

(from the Pieta Prayer Book)

Consecrating the Drops of Blood which Our Lord Jesus lost on His way to Calvary.

Copy of a letter of the Oration found in the Holy Sepulchre of

Our Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, preserved in a silver box by his Holiness and by the emperors and empresses of the Christian faith. St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, with St. Matilda and St. Bridget, wishing to know something of the Passion of Jesus Christ, offered fervent and special prayers, upon which there appeared to them Our Lord Jesus Christ who spoke to them in the following manner:

I descended from Heaven to the Earth in order to convert you.

In olden times people were religious and their harvests were abundant; at present, on the contrary, they are scanty.

If you want to reap an abundant harvest you must not work on Sunday, for on Sunday you must go to church and pray to God to forgive your sins.  He gave you six days in which to work and one for rest and devotion and to tender your help to the poor and assist the Church.

Those people, who brawl against my religion and cast slurs on this Sacred Letter, shall be forsaken by me.

On the contrary, those people who shall carry a copy of this letter with them shall be free from death by drowning and from sudden death.  They shall be free from all contagious diseases and lightning; they shall not die without confession, and shall be free from their enemies and from the hand of wrongful authority, and from all their slanderers and false witnesses.

Women in peril at child-birth will, by keeping this Oration about them, immediately overcome the difficulty.  In the houses where this Oration is kept no evil thing will ever happen; and forty days before the death of a person who has this Oration about him or her, the Blessed Virgin will appear to him or her. So said St. Gregorius.

To all those faithful who shall recite for 3 years, each day 2 Paters (Our Fathers), Glorias and Aves, in honor of the drops of blood I lost, I will concede the following 5 graces:

1. The plenary indulgence and remittance of your sins.

2. You will be free from the pains of Purgatory.

3. If you should die before completing the said 3 years, for you it will be the same as if you had completed them.

4. It will be upon your death the same as if you had shed all your blood for the Holy Faith.

5. I will descend from Heaven to take your soul and that of your relatives, until the fourth generation.

Be it known that the number of armed soldiers were 150; those who trailed me while I was bound were 23.  

The executioners of justice were 83; the blows received on my head were 150; those on my stomach, 108; I was beaten on the body 6666 times;  beaten on the head, 110 times.  

I was roughly pushed, and at 12 o'clock was lifted up by the

hair; pricked with thorns and pulled by the beard 23 times;  received 20 wounds on the head; thorns of marine junks, 72; pricks of thorns in the head, 110; mortal thorns in the forehead, 3.  

I was afterwards flogged and dressed as a mocked king; wounds in the body, 1000.  

The soldiers who led me to the Calvary were 608; those who watched me were 3, and those who mocked me were 1008; the drops of blood which I lost were 28,430.

Benedetta DA S.S., Pope Leo XIII, In Roma 5 Aprile 1890

Jesus Crucified To The Heart Of The Christian.

"Son, for thy sake I have sacrificed my life on a cross, amidst the most fearful sufferings and tortures; can I then be requiring too much when I ask thee sometimes to remember all I have done for thee; sometimes to call to mind my Passion? 

Can a Father ask less of thee, O son? — a Father who for love of thee has suffered and died, was most cruelly transfixed with nails, and breathed his last, plunged in a sea of sorrows? 

I ask thee not for thy blood, although I shed every drop of mine for the love of thee. 

I ask thee not to endure the scourge, to which also I submitted for thy sake.

I ask thee not for the sacrifice of thy life, although I laid down my own with infinite love, for the salvation of thy soul. 

No, my son. I ask thee but to pause for a moment, to
contemplate me suffering, covered with wounds, and dying on the Cross; to contemplate me in the state to which I am reduced by my ardent desire for thy salvation. 

I ask of thee a thought, a feeling of love, a sigh, a tear of compassion at the sight of my countless sufferings. 

Can thy heart, O my son be so hardened and unfeeling as to refuse thy tender Father, thy loving Redeemer, this slight tribute of gratitude — the occasional recollection of my Passion? 

Canst thou so liberally bestow thy thoughts and affections upon the world, upon creatures, and upon thy own interests, and yet refuse me even a sigh, or a feeling of love and sympathy? 

Ah, son! I beseech thee to satisfy my desires, and not to refuse what I ask of thee. 

Remember ail my sufferings, my wounds, and my death, compassionate and love me. 

At least, let thy first thoughts each day be devoted to the remembrance of some one of my bitter sufferings; let at least one sigh be given to thy Crucified Saviour as the hours speed on their course; and let the last emotion of thy heart, after all the cares of the day are over, be a feeling of compassion for thy Redeemer expiring on a Cross."

"Ah, my son I forget not how much thy salvation has cost me; forget not at how dear a rate I have ransomed thy soul, how much blood I have shed, and how many sufferings I have endured in order to atone for thy sins! 

If thy find is continually occupied with such thoughts, and if thou dost often meditate upon my Passion, never, never more wilt thou so barbarously crucify me again by wilful sins."

Do You Still Worry?

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6"

Devotion : The children of God are the light of the world; hence the world looks up to them to know the ways of God. 

As a child of God, you are exhorted by the Word of God not to worry about anything.

Why is it so important that you don't worry? 

The opening scripture gives you the reasons not to worry: You have tools called prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving.

Supplication is to ask humbly and earnestly. 

Therefore, don't look down on your prayers; God is waiting for you to lay your entire burden on Him in humble prayer and thanksgiving. 

Show appreciation to Him for what He has already done for you, what He is doing, and what He is about to do for you.

 Continue in thanksgiving, and your anxious mind will give way to a sound mind, which will prepare you to receive the answers to your prayers. 

Praise the Lord!

A Prayer to God My Rock

Based on Psalm 18

God you are my rock!

I depend on your strength.

You save me from the destructive forces in my life.

When I pray, you hear me.

You can do so many incredible things.

I don't understand most of them.

And yet you hear my cry.

You pull me up when I feel like I am drowning.

I feel your hand strongly grasping mine when I reach for you.

You rescue me.

You know what I need.

You give me your laws, which I try to keep.

Those laws keep me close to you, where your strength sustains me.

You are God, and you know what is best.

When I realize you are near, I am not afraid.

Nothing holds me back.

The path I walk is safe when I follow you.

You are alive and you are life!

Your strength never fails me.

God you are my rock!

Amen.

David's Prayer for Deliverance

If you ever want a primer for prayer, you can't go wrong with this wisdom book. 

But we chose Psalm 3 because it provides a concise portrait of crying out to God in the midst of great stress. 

David's words are no less relevant to our modern workplace and lifestyle as they were to his battles:

Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!

Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.

Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

Interior Suffering – A Path to Mercy

Lord, at times I feel dry and dead inside. 

At times I wonder where You are and if You are with me. 

Help me to have hope and trust in those moments and to see them as a pathway to a deeper faith in You. 

Help me to turn to You in these moments so that Your gates of Mercy may be opened ever more widely. Jesus, I trust in You.

As you grow deeper in your relationship with God you will have many moments of struggle as well as many moments of consolation. 

Do not be afraid of moments of dryness and interior suffering. 

They are necessary and part of God's method of holiness for you. 

In those moments, raise your eyes to Jesus. See Him in His glory and beg for His Mercy.

Honestly look at your soul this day. 

Ponder all that you experience interiorly. 

Ponder, especially, all that only you are aware of. 

Do you find pain and suffering within? 

If it is a result of your own sin then rejoice that you see this. 

If it is the result of God purifying you, then rejoice that He loves you enough to let you go through this spiritual dryness. 

Look to Heaven and give thanks for all that you experience interiorly, for that which is in your soul is the presence of God leading you to Himself.