PRAYER AND MEDITATION

Why do you distress ...

Why do you distress yourself because you cannot meditate, as you suppose? Meditation is a means to rise to God, but not an end. The final purpose of meditation is the love of God and one's neighbor. Love the first with all your soul and without reservation; love the second as another self, and you will have arrived at the final purpose of meditation. I beg of you therefore, not to spoil the work of God in yourself when the soul feels itself called to contemplate God. Be it in Himself or in his attributes, let yourself be conquered and don't desire to have the presumption to rise up to Him by the discursive way, which would be the first part of meditation. Apply yourself to move towards God, which would be the second part of meditation when you must come to the second part. But when the good God already places you in the second part, don't wish to turn back, which would be the same as spoiling everything.

One thing is necessary: ...

One thing is necessary: to be near Jesus. You know well that at the birth of our Lord the shepherds heard the angelic and divine chants of the heavenly spirits. The Scriptures say so. But they do not say that his Virgin Mother and St. Joseph, who were nearer to the Child, heard the voices of the angels or saw those miracles of splendor. On the contrary, they heard the Child weeping and saw by the light of a poor lantern the eyes of the Divine Child all bathed in tears, in sighs and shivering with cold. Now I ask you: Would you not have preferred to have been with the shepherds, beside yourself with joy over those sweet melodies from heaven and the beauties of this wonderful splendor?

Ahead! Courage! In the ...

Ahead! Courage! In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens as with a boat which always must go ahead. If it stand still the wind will blow it back.

When you do not ...

When you do not succeed in meditating well do not for this reason cease to do your duty. If there are many distractions do not lose heart. Make a meditation of patience; you will profit all the same.

Fix the time, the ...

Fix the time, the length of your meditation, and do not rise from your place until you have finished it even at the cost of being crucified.

While assisting at holy ...

While assisting at holy Mass renew your faith. Have your mind elevated to the mystery that is happening before your eyes.

Go with your mind ...

Go with your mind to Calvary and think and meditate on the victim who offers Himself to divine justice, absorbing the price of your redemption.

If you want to ...

If you want to assist at Mass with devotion and with fruit, think of the sorrowful Mother at the feet of Calvary.

Prayer is the best ...

Prayer is the best weapon we possess, the key that opens the heart of God.

He who does not ...

He who does not meditate acts as one who never looks into a mirror and so does not bother to put himself in order, since he can be dirty without knowing it. The person who meditates and turns his thoughts to God who is the mirror of his soul, seeks to know his defects and tries to correct them, moderates himself in his impulses and puts his conscience in order.

The holy gift of ...

The holy gift of prayer is placed in the right hand of the Saviour. And in the measure in which you will be empty of yourself - that is the love of the body and your self-will - and will keep on communicating himself to your heart.

Have patience in persevering ...

Have patience in persevering in the holy exercise of meditation and be contented to begin with small steps till you have legs to run, and better, wings to fly. Be contented to be obedient, which is never a small thing for a soul which has chosen God for its portion, and be resigned to be, for the present, a little bee in the nest which will soon become a large bee capable of making honey.

When you have distractions ...

When you have distractions don't distract yourself still more by stopping to consider the why and the wherefore. Just as a traveller who misses his way, returns to the right road as soon as he is aware of it, you should continue to meditate without stopping in the distractions which you had.

The most beautiful credo ...

The most beautiful credo is that which come from your lips in darkness, in sacrifice, in pain, in the supreme effort of an unbending will for good. It is this which, like a stroke of lightning, penetrates the darkness of the soul; it is this which in the flash of the tempest lifts you and leads you to God.

The prayers of the ...

The prayers of the Saints in heaven and of the just on earth are a perfume which never will be lost.

Pray, hope, and don't ...

Pray, hope, and don't worry. Anxiety doesn't help at all. Our Merciful Lord will listen to your prayer.

I always pray for ...

I always pray for the sick. The best consolation comes from prayer. Every day I say a holy Rosary for them.

Let us bind ourselves ...

Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our heavenly Mother and reflect on its boundless grief and how precious is our soul.

When there is no ...

When there is no time for both, meditation is to be preferred to vocal prayer, because it is more fruitful.

In the spiritual way ...

In the spiritual way the more one runs the less one feel fatigue; rather peace, prelude of eternal joy will take possession of us. We will be happy and strong in the measure in which, living in this endeavor, we will make Jesus live in us, mortifying ourselves.

Let others follow the ...

Let others follow the way traced out for them by Divine Providence. You look to yourself and follow me (Padre Pio) by the more beautiful way.