Tag: prayer

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on TEMPTATION

Thought for the Day – 13 March – PRAYER

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Thought for the Day – 13 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

PRAYER

“The Saints had their failings and temptations like everyone else.
Some experienced continual spiritual aridity.
Others, like St Anthony and St Benedict, were often tempted against purity, while St Francis de Sales, was strongly inclined towards impatience.
Others, like St Therese of the Child Jesus, were even tempted to despair.
But, they all conquered, by means of prauer.

If we wish to conquer in the same way, we must pray too.
Let us never tire of prayer.
Sooner or later, the Father of Goodness and Mercy, will answer us.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-prayer/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-prayer-2/

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Posted in HOLY WEEK, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on PRAYER

Thought for the Day – 10 April – Jesus in Gethsemane

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Thought for the Day – 10 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Jesus in Gethsemane

“After the last supper, when Judas had disappeared in order to carry out his treacherous plan, Jesus walked, with His other eleven Apostles among the olive trees of Gethsemane.
He took aside three of the most faithful and then went away a few paces from them and prostrated Himself on the ground in fervent prayer.
Being God, Jesus had no need of prayer but He wished to give us an example of how we ought to behave in moments of trial and danger.
Three times He rose and went over to the Apostles, who were tired and had fallen asleep.
He reproached them gently and exhorted them to pray.
“Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed, is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mk 14:38).
We often have a similar experience.
Temptation assails us from within and, from without and we remain unmoved and inactive.
But how can we escape from danger without the help of God?
The divine help comes to us from grace, which must be sought by prayer.
The electric current ceases, if the switch cuts off it’s contact with the source, from which it is derived.
In the same way, the divine grace of which we are in constant need, is cut off, if we do not remain united by prayer to God, the source of the spiritual life.
Let us learn from our divine model, Jesus, how to watch and pray always, especially in times of temptation and of peril.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on PRAYER

Thought for the Day – 13 March – Prayer

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 13 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Prayer

what is prayer - bacci - 13 march 2020

“What is prayer?
It is not simply a request for some favour or grace.
It is much more than this.
It is a raising of the mind and heart to God, in order to adore, praise, love and appease Him.
It is an intimate conversation with God, or with Our Lady, or with any of the Saints.
It is wonderfully consoling to be able to place ourselves quietly in the presence of God and open our hearts to Him.
We can make known to Him our weaknesses, our desires and our resolutions.
We can tell Him how much we long to love Him and to do His will in all things.
We can tell Him how much we need His grace, because we are incapable of achieving anything without Him.
We can tell Him that we long to love, adore and serve Him and to lead others to do likewise.
If we pray in this fashion, we can be sure, that God will hear us.
If He obliges us to wait for an answer, it is because He wishes to test our faith and love.
Even during such a period of trial, our prayers will still reach the throne of God.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

it is wonderfully consoling - bacci 13 march 2020

Posted in CONTEMPLATIVE Prayer, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER

Thought for the Day – 26 October – Prayer is the Light of the Soul

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 26 October

Prayer is the Light of the Soulst john chrysostom on prayer - 26 oct 2018

“There is nothing more worthwhile than to pray to God and to converse with Him, for prayer unites us with God as His companions.   As our bodily eyes are illuminated by seeing the light, so in contemplating God our soul is illuminated by Him.   Of course, the prayer I have in mind is no matter of routine, it is deliberate and earnest.   It is not tied down to a fixed timetable – rather it is a state which endures by night and day.

Our soul should be directed in God, not merely when we suddenly think of prayer but even when we are concerned with something else.   If we are looking after the poor, if we are busy in some other way, or if we are doing any type of good work, we should season our actions with the desire and the remembrance of God.   Through this salt of the love of God we can all become a sweet dish for the Lord.   If we are generous in giving time to prayer, we will experience its benefits throughout our life.

Prayer is the light of the soul, giving us true knowledge of God.   It is a link mediating between God and man.   By prayer the soul is borne up to heaven and in a marvellous way embraces the Lord.   This meeting is like that of an infant crying on its mother and seeking the best of milk.   The soul longs for its own needs and what it receives is better than anything to be seen in the world.

Prayer is a precious way of communicating with God, it gladdens the soul and gives repose to its affections.   You should not think of prayer as being a matter of words.   It is a desire for God, an indescribable devotion, not of human origin but the gift of God’s grace.   As Saint Paul says : we do not know how to pray as we ought but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.

Anyone who receives from the Lord the gift of this type of prayer possesses a richness that is not to be taken from Him, a heavenly food filling up the soul.   Once he has tasted this food, he is set alight by an eternal desire for the Lord, the fiercest of fires lighting up his soul.

To set about this prayer, paint the house of your soul with modesty and lowliness and make it splendid with the light of justice.   Adorn it with the beaten gold of good works and, for walls and stones, embellish it assiduously with faith and generosity.   Above all, place prayer on top of this house as its roof so that the complete building may be ready for the Lord.   Thus He will be received in a splendid royal house and by grace, His image will already be settled in your soul.”

A reading from the homilies of St John Chrysostom  (347-407) Father & Doctor, (Hom 6 on Prayer)

Prayer:  Give us the grace, Lord, to be in constant prayer so all of our lives, may be accomplished in sincerity of heart.

St John Chrysostom, Pray for Us!st john chrysostom pray for us - 13 sept 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 19 June – The Memorial of St Romuald (c 951-1027)

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One Minute Reflection – 19 June – The Memorial of St Romuald (c 951-1027)

And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.   And if we know that he hears us, in regard to whatever we ask, we know that, what we have asked him for, is ours...1 John 5:14-15and we have this confidence in him - 1 john 5-14-15 - 19 june 2018

REFLECTION – “Better to pray one psalm with devotion and compunction than a hundred with distraction.”…St Romualdbetter to pray one psalm with devotion - st romuald - 19 june 2018

PRAYER – Father, through St Romuald You renewed the life of solitude and prayer in your Church.   By our prayer and self-denial as we follow Christ our Lord, bring us the joy of heaven.   Kindly receive the intercession of St Romuald still, as we beg his prayers for all of your Church.   We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amenst romuald - pray for us no 2 - 19 june 2018

Posted in CONTEMPLATIVE Prayer, MORNING Prayers

Thought for the Day – 8 July

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Thought for the Day – 8 July

Unsteady Hearts – Learning to give thanks!

The lack of genuine gratitude we experience within our souls and even the sense of selfishness we can have in our prayers to God for deeper feelings toward Him can fill us with disgust.   It doesn’t take much in the way of self reflection to know how unsteady our hearts can be.   Are we really sorry for our sins or do we simply want the psychological relief of unburdening ourselves?   O’Connor sees both her tendencies towards scruples and utter laxity.   Yet, despite these unpleasant truths she can in the end step away from her self concern and self focus and say simply to God “I am thankful.”   In the end, we have to let go of self conscious shame and take hold of what is greater than ourselves and worthy of our attention.

“You’ve done so much for me already and I haven’t been particularly grateful.   My thanksgiving is never in the form of self sacrifice—a few memorised prayers babbled once over lightly.   All this disgusts me in myself but does not fill me with the poignant feeling I should have to adore You with, to be sorry with, or to thank You with.   Perhaps the feeling I keep asking for, is something again selfish—something to help me to feel that everything with me is all right.   And yet it seems only natural but maybe being thus natural is being thus selfish.   My mind is a most insecure thing, not to be depended on.   It gives me scruples at one minute and leaves me lax the next.  If I must know all these things through the mind, dear Lord, please strengthen mine.   Thank you, dear God, I believe I do feel thankful for all You’ve done for me. I want to. I do.”

Excerpt From: Flannery O’Connor. “A Prayer Journal.”

“Praying actualizes and deepens our communion with God.   Our prayer can and should arise above all from our heart, from our needs, our hopes, our joys, our sufferings, from our shame over sin and from our gratitude for the good.”………..Pope Benedict XVI

praying actualizes and deepens-pope benedict

Posted in MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 6 December

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Thanks be to You, our Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits which You have given us,
for all the pains and insults
which You have borne for us.
Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,
may we know You more clearly,
love You more dearly,
and follow You more nearly,
day by day. Amen.

by St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)

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