My Prayer Book_LASANCE - the Catholic Kingdom!

138 Menial Prayer
'By obtaining divine love,' says St. Francis of Sales,
'we obtain all graces'; 'For,' says St. Alphonsus, 'he
who truly loves God with all his heart will, of himself,
abstain from causing Him the least displeasure, and
will strive to please Him to the best of his ability.' If
we feel dry or despondent and unable to meditate or
pray well, let us repea: many times as earnestly as possible:
'My Jey, mercy! Lord, for Thy mercy's
sake, assist me.
"Let us offer all our petitions for grace m the name
and through the merits of Jesus Christ, and we shall
surely obtain an that we ask. 'Mental prayer,' said
a holy soul, 'is the breathing of the soul, as in corporal
breathing the air is first inhaled and then exhaled, so in
mental prayer the soul first receives light and other
graces from God, and then by acts of self-offering and
love, it gives itself wholly to Him.'
" Before concluding the meditation, we should make
some specified good resolution, ap ropriate, as far as
ssible, to the subject of our me x itation. This reso-
&ion shouU be directed to the shunning of some sin,
of some occasion of sin, to the correction sf some defect.
or to the practice of some act of virtue during the day.
It would now be well to renew our baptismal vows, or
the promises we made during our retreat, during the
mission, or at our confessions.
"The preparation of our meditation consists of
(I) an act of faith in the presence of God, and of adoration;
(2) an act of humility and of contrition, and (3) an
act of petition for light. We should then recommend
ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary by reciting a
Hail Mary, and also to St. Joseph, to our Guardian
Angel, and to our holy patrons. These acts should
be brief but very earnest and fervent.
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