Yesterday someone from Lent & beyond linked to my “Lenten resources” post so, naturally, I checked out the site. What a wonderful website! The beauty of its prayers, devotions, and resources stems from its inclusivity among Christians— a fine example of community building.
Contact information
The prayer leaflet is from Franciscan Mission Associates, P. O. Box 598, Mt. Vernon, NY 10551-0598.
March 27, 2014
Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him. It is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own.
We must dedicate this offering with our whole heart. We must fatten it on faith, tend it by truth, keep it unblemished through innocence and clean through chastity, and crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God (Tertullian).
June 3, 2014
Prayer should be continuous, waking and sleeping, walking and standing, working and resting. Such prayer is made in the deepest part of the sacred interior desert (our baptized soul), in deepest solitude, in loving interior repose in God, totally absorbed and lost in that sea of infinite love (Passionist Nuns, 2014).
Prayer is never more perfect than when it ascends from the very depth and essence of the soul; we pray, then, in the spirit of God. This is a sublime language, but when God wills, he makes even the stones speak. Let the sovereign God reign in your spirit; there ought to be a reciprocal repose: God in you, and you in God. O sweet, O divine operation! (St. Paul of the Cross quote; Agonisant, 1893, p. 63).
June 9, 2014
Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to heaven (St. Ephrem).
June 20, 2014
“It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life” (St. John Chrysostom).
July 19, 2014
Prayer is an aspiration of the heart; it is a simple glance directed to heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus (St Thérèse of Lisieux).
December 4, 2014
“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (St. John Damascene).
December 16, 2014
I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God; it changes me (C.S. Lewis).
December 22, 2014
We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone (St. Frances Xavier Cabrini).
December 29, 2014
“Grace can do nothing without the will, and the will can do nothing without grace” (St. John Chrysostom).
July 22, 2015
Mental prayer, in my opinion, is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him whom we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much, but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight, but desire to please God in everything (St. Teresa of Ávila).
July 28, 2016
“What prayer could be more true before God the Father than that which the Son, who is truth, uttered with his own lips” (St. John Chrysostom).
August 7, 2016
“Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness” (St. John Chrysostom).
August 22, 2016
Christian prayer is meant to be profoundly whole— body and soul, affection and thought, heart and understanding. Such prayer leads to courage, the movement toward reconciliation with God, the beginning of a pilgrimage to our Father’s house (Dr. Anthony Lillies in Fire from Above: Christian Contemplation and Mystical Wisdom).
August 31, 2016
Every Christian is called to become a strong athlete of Christ, that is, a faithful and courageous witness to his gospel. But to succeed in this he must persevere in prayer, be trained in virtue, and follow the divine Master in everything (St. John Paul II).
November 13, 2016
Prayer is powerful! It fills the earth with mercy, it makes the divine clemency pass from generation to generation. Right along the course of the centuries, wonderful works have been achieved through prayer (St. Frances Xavier Cabrini).
December 20, 2016
Any desire for holiness is a prayer, says Saint Augustine. We are drawn to the fullness of grace for which we were created. The root meaning of the word grace is Latin “a favor, a kindness”— a gift. A gift is an unasked favor above and beyond deserving. If this natural human meaning means an undeserved gift, “how much more will the heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). God the Father finds it irresistible to give a gift such as grace when we ask for it. He will fill our hearts with grace “pressed down, shaken together, running over… into your lap” (Luke 6:38). He will not fail us. “Hope does not disappoint us, for God’s love has been poured into our hearts.”
Saint Dominic, Preacher of Grace, pray for us! (Aquinas College, 2016).
March 14, 2017
It is a foolish mistake to expect to lead a recollected life that is not also a life of prayer. The best method of learning to pray always is to pray whenever it is possible, and as well as is possible (Fr. Raoul Plus, SJ, in How to Pray Always).
June 26, 2017
Let us pray on behalf of those who do not pray. Let us remember [that], if we want to be able to love, we must be able to pray (St. Teresa of Kolkata).
June 27, 2017
Let us offer our prayers in Christ’s name. The Father will most readily agree to them when they are made in this way (St. Cyril of Alexandria).
April 4, 2018
When the time comes and we cannot pray, it is very simple. Let Jesus pray in us to the Father in the silence of our hearts. If we cannot speak, he will speak. If we cannot pray, he will pray. So let us give him our inability and our nothingness (Mother Teresa).
October 27, 2018
For the Christian who is serious about who he really is, prayer is not optional. As lungs are to physical life, prayer is to spiritual life (Johnnette Benkovic in When Women Pray: Eleven Catholic Women on the Power of Prayer).
March 13, 2019
It is a foolish mistake to expect to lead a recollected life that is not also a life of prayer. The best method of learning to pray always is to pray whenever it is possible, and as well as is possible (Fr. Raoul Plus, SJ, in How to Pray Always).
March 22, 2019
Prayer should be continuous. It is the soul breathing. Just as we have to breathe continuously, so we must pray continuously. Prayer is the deep interior movement of which we are barely conscious (Dom Augustin Guillerand in The Prayer of the Presence of God).
April 22, 2019
Prayer is the key that opens the treasury of God. You have the key. Use it well and often! (Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik in The Basic Book of Catholic Prayer).
November 7, 2019
Praying means conversation with God. This conversation is life (Romano Guardini in The Rosary of Our Lady).
November 14, 2019
When does God speak to us? He speaks at all times, especially in prayer. Prayer is a conversation with God. But it is not a monologue. When we pray, then, we should also listen (Fr. Kilian J. Healy in Awakening Your Soul to Presence of God).
October 26, 2020
“Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night” (George Hebert).
Rio Grande City, TX
Links of interest… Advent & Lent devotionals (audio, pdf)… Art of verbal prayer… Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati… Early Christian Writings: Tertullian… Feeling angry better than being non-confrontational… Five simple tips on how to make every day holy… Lent & beyond… Miracle prayer… Passionist Nuns: blog / website… RevGalBlogPals (blog)… Prayer that matters… St. Ignatius of Loyola: Six ways to find your purpose in life… St. John Chrysostom: about / biography / doctor / hierarch / homilies (more) / holy prayers / life / quotes / vegan… St. Ephrem of Syria: about / doctor / life / memorial (more) / poet theologian / prayer / writings… St. Paul of the Cross: about / Flowers of the Passion (free ebook) / words & quotes… Ten important tips to grow to in prayer & ways to improve your prayer life… Through prayer let divine love suffuse your heart… Twelve prayers to help you receive all the gifts God has for you… Why we must pray… the Word among us…
WP posts… Agreements and treasures… Dear God… Faith and prayer… Gifts… Golden… Growing pains… One prayer… St. Chrysostom… Two angels
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