Thought for the Day – 18 November – Meditations with Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Bishop, Confessor, Most Zealous Doctor of the Church
“How to Pray at All Times”
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
The Practice of Praying Constantly
Excerpt from Chapter Five:1
“When you awake in the morning, let your first thought be to raise up your mind to God, to offer to His honour whatever you may have to do, or suffer, during the day and, to beseech Him, to assist you with His holy Grace. Then, perform your other morning devotions, making Acts of Love and of Gratitude and praying and resolving, to spend the day as if it were to be the last of your life.
Father Saint-Jure recommends you, every morning, to complete an agreement with God that, every time you make a certain sign, such as placing your hand upon your heart, or raising your eyes to Heaven or to the Crucifix, or the like, you intend thereby, to make an Act of love, of desire to see God loved by all, of oblation of yourself and other acts of the same kind. When you have made these Acts, place your soul in the Wound of the Side of Jesus and under the Mantle of Our Lady and beg of the Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus and Mary, to protect you during the day.
Then, before all things else, be sure to make your meditation, or mental prayer, at least for half an hour.
Meditate especially on the sufferings and contempt endured by Jesus in His Passion.
This is the subject dearest to fervent souls and the one best calculated to set hearts aflame with Divine love.”
AnaStpaul 