Conversing with God

How to Converse Continually and Familiarly with God
St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, Founder of the Redemptorists

“Let nothing hinder thee from praying always...” —Ecclesiasticus 18:22
“Pray without ceasing.” —1 Thessalonians 5:17
“Pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” —Luke 22:40

“Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends. Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears— of everything that concerns you. Converse with Him confidently and frankly; for God is not wont to speak to a soul that does not speak to Him.” —St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Chapter 1
Love and Confidence
Job was astonished at seeing Almighty God so intent on doing good to us that He seems to have nothing more at heart than to love us and to induce us to love Him in return. In his amazement he cried out to the Lord: “What is man that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that Thou visitest him?” (Ps. 8:5). Is it not a mistake, then, to think it a lack of respect for God’s infinite Majesty to act toward Him with great confidence and familiarity. Assuredly, Loving Souls, you should go to God with all humility and respect, humbling yourselves in His presence, especially when you remember your past ingratitude and sins. Yet you should practice the greatest possible love and confidence in treating with Him. True, He is infinite Majesty, but He is also infinite Goodness and infinite Love. There can be no greater Lord than God; neither can there be a more ardent lover than He. Far from despising our confidence in Him, He rejoices that we have it—confidence and familiarity and affection like that which little children show toward their mothers. Behold how He invites us to come to Him, and the loving embraces which He promises to lavish on us: “You shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you.” (Is. 66:12-13). Just as a mother finds pleasure in taking her little child on her lap, there to feed and caress him, in like manner our loving God shows His fondness for His beloved souls who have given themselves entirely to Him and have placed all their hope in His goodness.
Chapter 2
Why Have You Loved Me?
Consider that no one—whether friend or brother, father or mother, lover or spouse—loves you more than your God. And divine grace is the inestimable treasure through which vile creatures and servants like ourselves become dear friends of our Creator. “For she is an infinite treasure to men! which they that use, become the friends of God.” (Wis. 7:14). It was for the purpose of increasing our confidence that He “emptied Himself” (Phil. 2:7), so to speak, humbling Himself to the point of becoming a man in order to live in familiar converse with us. “He conversed with men.” (Bar. 3:38). He went so far as to become a little Babe and to live in poverty and die on a cross for our sake. He even placed Himself under the species of bread so as to be with us always and in the most intimate union. “He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.” (John 6:57). In short, so great is God’s love for you that He seems to love no one but you. And therefore, you should love no one but Him.* (*That is, we should love only God with an absolute love which supersedes every other consideration. —Publisher, 2005.)

You should be able to say to Him: “My Beloved to me, and I to Him.” (Cant. 2:16). My God has given Himself entirely to me, and I give my whole self to Him; He has chosen me for His beloved, and I choose Him from among all for my only love. “My Beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.” (Cant. 5:10). Often, therefore, speak to God in these words: “O my Lord, why have You loved me so much? What good do You find in my poor self? Have You forgotten the injuries I have done You? But since You have treated me with so much love—for instead of condemning me to Hell, You have given me graces without number— I will henceforth love no one but You, my God and my all. What grieves me most in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love. But You never reject a repentant and humble heart. ‘A contrite and humbled heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.’ (Ps. 50:19). Now indeed I wish for no one else but You alone in this life and in the next. ‘For what have I in Heaven? and besides Thee what do I desire upon earth? . . . Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever.’ (Ps. 72:25-26). You alone are and will always be the only Lord of my heart and will; You alone my only good, my heaven, my hope, my all. ‘Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever.’ ” (Ps. 72:26).
Chapter 3
The Mercies of the Lord
If you wish to strengthen your confidence in God still more, often recall the loving way in which He has acted toward you, and how mercifully He has tried to bring you out of your sinful life, to break your attachment to the things of earth and draw you to His love. With such thoughts in your mind, now that you have resolved to love Him and please Him with all your strength, your only fear should be to fear God too much and to place too little confidence in Him. There can be no surer pledge of His love for you than His past mercies toward you. God is displeased at the diffidence of souls who love Him sincerely and whom He Himself loves. If, therefore, you wish to please His loving heart, go to Him henceforth with the greatest possible confidence and affection.

“Behold, I have graven thee in My hands: thy walls are always before My eyes.” (Is. 49:16). “Beloved Soul,” says the Lord, “why do you fear? Why are you afraid? Your name is written in My hands so that I may never forget to do you good. Perhaps you are afraid of your enemies? Know that I can never forget to protect you, since I have always before My eyes the charge of your defense.” With this thought to rejoice him, David said to God: “O Lord, Thou hast crowned us, as with a shield of Thy good will.” (Ps. 5:13). Who, O Lord, can ever do us harm if Your loving kindness is cast all around us as a wall of defense? Above all, reanimate your confidence by thinking of the gift which God has given us in the person of Jesus Christ. “God so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son.” (John 3:16). How can we fear, asks the Apostle, that God will ever deny us anything since He has given us His own Son? “He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not also, with Him, given us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
Chapter 4
The Paradise of God
“My delights were to be with the children of men.” (Prov. 8:31). The heart of man is, so to speak, the paradise of God. Oh, love the God who loves you! Since His delights are to be with you, let yours be found in Him. Spend all the days of your life with Him in whose company you hope to pass an eternity of bliss. Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends. It is a great mistake, as we have already remarked, to be afraid of Him and to act in His presence like a timid and craven slave trembling with fright before his master. But a far greater mistake it would be to think that to converse with God is wearisome and bitter. No, it cannot be. “For her conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness, but joy and gladness.” (Wis. 8:16).* (*In the Old Testament book of Wisdom, God’s attribute of divine Wisdom is personified as she. —Publisher, 2005.) Ask those who love Him with a sincere love, and they will tell you that they find no greater or prompter relief amid the troubles of their life than in loving conversation with their Divine Friend.

You are not asked to apply your mind continually to the thought of God and lay aside the fulfillment of your duties and your recreations. Nothing else is required than to act toward God, in the midst of your occupations, as you do, even when busy, toward those who love you and whom you love. Your God is ever beside you—indeed, He is even within you. “In Him we live, and move, and are.” (Acts 17:28). Not only is there no need of an intermediary through whom He would want you to speak to Him, but He finds His delight in having you treat with Him personally and in all confidence. Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears—of everything that concerns you. But above all, converse with Him confidently and frankly; for God is not wont to speak to a soul that does not speak to Him.

[taken from How to Converse Continually and Familiarly with God by St. Alphonsus Liguori, TAN Books & Publishers, Inc.]

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A Saintly Connection: Her [St. Birgitta's] Revelations were greatly admired by St. Alphonse Liguori . . . (see quote in context)


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Heart & Will

God says to each of us: "Give me your heart, that is, your will." We, in turn, cannot offer anything more precious than to say: "Lord, take possession of us; we give our whole will to you; make us understand what it is that you desire of us, and we will perform it."

If we would give full satisfaction to the heart of God, we must bring our own will in everything into conformity with his; and not only into conformity, but into uniformity also, as regards all that God ordains. Conformity signifies the joining of our own will to the will of God; but uniformity signifies, further, our mkaing of the divine and our own will one will only, so that we desire nothing but what God desires, and his will becomes ours. This is the sum and substance of that perfection to which we ought to be ever aspiring; this is what must be the aim of all we do, and of all our desires, meditations and prayers. For this we must invoke the assistance of all our patron saints and our guardian angels, and, above all, of our divine mother Mary, who was the most perfect saint, because she embraced most perfectly the divine will.

~Saint Alphonsus Liguori, from The Redeeming Love of Christ

[copied from Patron Saints Index: Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori]

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Among the virtues we should prefer that which is most conformable to our duty, and not that which is most conformable to our inclination. St Paula was inclined to practice severe bodily mortifications in order the more readily to enjoy spiritual sweetness, but her duty lay rather in obedience to her superiors; and therefore St Jerome avows that she was to be blamed for practicing immoderate austerities against the counsel of her bishop. The Apostles, on the other hand, who had been commissioned to preach the Gospel and distribute the bread of heaven to souls, judged extremely well that it was wrong for them to be hindered in this holy charge by practicing the virtue of care for the poor, although this is a very excellent virtue. Every vocation must needs practice some special virtue; distinct in practice are the virtues of a prelate, as are likewise those of a prince, those of a soldier, those of a married woman, and those of a widow; and although all ought to have all the virtues, yet all are not bound to practice them alike, but each one ought to practice in a particular manner those which are requisite to the kind of life to which he is called.

Among the virtues which do not concern our particular duty, we should prefer the most excellent and not the most showy. Comets ordinarily seem to be greater than the stars, and to our eyes take up much more space; but they are not to be compared with the stars either in greatness or in quality, and they only seem great because they are nearer to us, and of a coarser substance in comparison with the stars. So also there are certain virtues, which, because they are nearer to us, more perceptible, and, if one may say so, more material, are highly esteemed and always preferred by the common run of people: so they commonly prefer temporal almsgiving to spiritual, the hair-shirt, fasting, nakedness, the discipline, and bodily mortifications to gentleness, mildness, modesty, and other mortifications of the heart, which nevertheless are much more excellent. Choose, then, Philothea, the best virtues and not the most esteemed, the most excellent and not the most specious, the best and not the most showy.

~Saint Francis de Sales, from Introduction to the Devout Life

[copied from CIN - St. Francis de Sales]


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Penance #3

Psalm 39
The Vanity of Life

I said, "I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will set a curb on my mouth."
Dumb and silent before the wicked,
I refrained from any speech.
But my sorrow increased;
my heart smoldered within me.
In my thoughts a fire blazed up,
and I broke into speech:

LORD, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.
You have given my days a very short span;
my life is as nothing before you.
All mortals are but a breath.
Selah
Mere phantoms, we go our way;
mere vapor, our restless pursuits;
we heap up stores without knowing for whom.
And now, Lord, what future do I have?
You are my only hope.
From all my sins deliver me;
let me not be the taunt of fools.

I was silent and did not open my mouth
because you were the one who did this.
Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
You rebuke our guilt and chasten us;
you dissolve all we prize like a cobweb.
All mortals are but a breath.
Selah
Listen to my prayer, LORD, hear my cry;
do not be deaf to my weeping!
I sojourn with you like a passing stranger,
a guest, like all my ancestors.
Turn your gaze from me, that I may find peace
before I depart to be no more.


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St. Michael Prayer

Pope Leo XIII’s Original Exorcism Prayer to St. Michael

(copied from: http://www.stjosephsmen.com/articles/general/LeoXIII )

Pope Leo XIII’s original Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel is prophetic. Composed over 100 years ago, and then suppressed due to its startling content, Pope Leo XIII’s original Prayer to St. Michael is one of the most interesting and controversial prayers relating to the present situation in which the true Catholic Church finds itself. On September 25, 1888, following his morning Mass, Pope Leo XIII became traumatized to the point that he collapsed. Those in attendance thought that he was dead. After coming to consciousness, the Pope described a frightful conversation that he had heard coming from near the tabernacle. The conversation consisted of two voices – voices which Pope Leo XIII clearly understood to be the voices of Jesus Christ and the devil. The devil boasted that he could destroy the Church, if he were granted 100 years to carry out his plan. The devil also asked permission for “a greater influence over those who will give themselves to my service.” To the devil’s requests, Our Lord reportedly replied: “you will be given the time and the power.” Shaken deeply by what he had heard, Pope Leo XIII composed the following original Prayer to St. Michael (which is also a prophecy) and ordered it to be recited after all Low Masses as a protection for the Church against the attacks from Hell. The Original Prayer was taken from The Raccolta, 1930, Benzinger Bros., pp. 314-315. The Raccolta is an imprimatured collection of the official and indulgenced prayers of the Catholic Church. (Holy Family Monastery 4425 Schneider Rd., Fillmore, NY 14735, (800)275-1126 or (585)567-4433)

The Prayer:

O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and Patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen

Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.

The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.

Let thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.

As we have hoped in thee.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray. O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen

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Prayer to St. Michael - Short version (formerly recited after all Low Masses

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

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The Curé of Ars on lust

The article that follows has been excerpted from the book The Little Catechism of the Curé of Ars, available from Tan Books.

[Read more about this great saint, The Curé of Ars, otherwise known as St. John Vianney.]


CHAPTER 8

On Lust

Lust is the love of the pleasures that are contrary to purity.


No sins, my children, ruin and destroy a soul so quickly as this shameful sin; it snatches us out of the hands of the good God and hurls us like a stone into an abyss of mire and corruption. Once plunged in this mire, we cannot get out, we make a deeper hole in it every day, we sink lower and lower. Then we lose the faith, we laugh at the truths of religion, we no longer see Heaven, we do not fear Hell. O my children! how much are they to be pitied who give way to this passion! How wretched they are! Their soul, which was so beautiful, which attracted the eyes of the good God, over which He leant as one leans over a perfumed rose, has become like a rotten carcass, of which the pestilential odor rises even to His throne. . . .

See, my children! Jesus Christ endured patiently, among His Apostles, men who were proud, ambitious, greedy--even one who betrayed Him; but He could not bear the least stain of impurity in any of them; it is of all vices that which He has most in abhorrence: "My Spirit does not dwell in you," the Lord says, "if you are nothing but flesh and corruption." God gives up the impure to all the wicked inclinations of his heart. He lets him wallow, like the vile swine, in the mire, and does not even let him smell its offensive exhalations. . . .The immodest man is odious to everyone, and is not aware of it. God has set the mark of ignominy on his forehead, and he is not ashamed; he is full of arrogance and pride. The eternal truths, death, judgment, Paradise, Hell--nothing terrifies him, nothing can move him.

So, my children, of all sins, that of impurity is the most difficult to eradicate. Other sins forge for us chains of iron, but this one makes them of bull's hide, which can be neither broken nor rent; it is fire, a furnace, which consumes even to the most advanced old age. See those two infamous old men who attempted the purity of the chaste Susanna; they had kept the fire of their youth even till they were decrepit. When the body is worn out with debauchery, when they can no longer satisfy their passions, they supply the place of it, oh, shame! by infamous desires and memories.

With one foot in the grave, they still speak the language of passion, till their last breath; they die as they have lived, impenitent; for what penance can be done by the impure, what sacrifice can be imposed on himself at his death, who during his life has always given way to his passions? Can one at the last moment expect a good confession, a good Communion, from him who has concealed one of these shameful sins, perhaps, from his earliest youth--who has heaped sacrilege on sacrilege? Will the tongue, which has been silent up to this day, be unloosed at the last moment? No, no, my children; God has abandoned him; many sheets of lead already weigh upon him; he will add another, and it will be the last. . . .

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Read more by St. John Vianney, Curé of Ars, . . .
scroll down to "Writings" after clicking here.

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Penance #2

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle A

Reading I
Hos 6:3-6

In their affliction, people will say:
"Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth."

What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
for it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:1, 8, 12-13, 14-15

R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your holocausts are before me always."

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

"If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine are the world and its fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?"

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

"Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me."

R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Reading II
Rom 4:18-25

Brothers and sisters:
Abraham believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become "the father of many nations,"
according to what was said, "Thus shall your descendants be."
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body
as already dead--for he was almost a hundred years old--
and the dead womb of Sarah.
He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief;
rather, he was strengthened by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what he had promised
he was also able to do.
That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
But it was not for him alone that it was written
that it was credited to him;
it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,
who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over for our transgressions
and was raised for our justification.


Gospel
Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

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The Word of the Lord
- Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ


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Offer praise as your sacrifice to God

A Responsorial Psalm (Ps 50)

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion God shines forth, perfect in beauty.

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes, storming fiercely round about.
God summons the heavens above and the earth to the judgment of his people:

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

"Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
The heavens proclaim divine justice, for God alone is the judge. Selah.

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

"Listen, my people, I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you; God, your God, am I.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, nor for your holocausts, set before me daily.

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

I need no bullock from your house, no goats from your fold.
For every animal of the forest is mine, beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
I know every bird of the heavens; the creatures of the field belong to me.

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for mine is the world and all that fills it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me."
But to the wicked God says: "Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your lips?
You hate discipline; you cast my words behind you!

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

When you see thieves, you befriend them; with adulterers you throw in your lot.
You give your mouth free rein for evil; you harness your tongue to deceit.
You sit maligning your own kin, slandering the child of your own mother.

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.

When you do these things should I be silent? Or do you think that I am like you? I accuse you, I lay the charge before you.
"Understand this, you who forget God, lest I attack you with no one to rescue.
Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me; to the obedient I will show the salvation of God."

Offer praise as your sacrifice to God.