c Who

Trust Him



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Following booklets lOfji each

Devotion to the Most Holy Trinity

Devotion to the Holy Ghost

Little Devotions to the Holy Infant Jesus

Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague

The Holy Eucharist, Our All

God With Us

The Bread of Life

Eucharistic Miracles

Sweet Sacrament, We Thee Adore
Eucharistic Heart-talks with Jesus

Jesus, Joy of My Heart

Jesus Pleads 'for My Love

Jesus Loves Me

My Daily Visit
Communicate Frequently and Devoutly

God Himself Our Sacrifice

The Divine Drama (in verse)

My Daily Companion at Mass
Come, Let Us Adore

True Veneration of the Sacred Heart

Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the Home

Six Discourses on the Enthronement

All for Thee, O Heart of Jesus
The Guard of Honor and the Holy Hour

Wonders of the Miraculous Crucifix

Devotion to the Precious Blood

Devotion to the Holy Face

Reduction for quantities. Postage extra.

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri



The Goodness of

Our Savior

to Those Who Trust Him

Nihil Obstat Stephanus Schappler, O.S.B.

Abbas Coadjutor Im. Conceptionis

Imprimatur Carolus Hubertus Le Blond

Episcopus Sancti Joseph!

1st Edition, 1943 All rights reserved

20,000

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri



Come to Me, all you who labor and

are burdened, and I will give

you rest” (Matt. xi. 28).



The Goodness of

Our Savior

to Those Who Trust Him

HATEVER may be the nature

of trials and afflictions,

whether they concern the

mind or the heart, the soul

or the body, whether they

pertain to our eternal or

to our temporal welfare,

whether they be new or old, of long

or short duration, one power alone is ca-

pable of alleviating them, and that is the

power of the infinitely wise and merciful

God, Our Heavenly Father has promised

to aid without fail those who turn to Him

with unwavering faith. In His infinite

goodness and mercy, He is ever attentive

3



to the needs of His creatures, but before

He exercises His mercy in their behalf He

requires of them a lively faith in His

power and goodness.

What was it that wrested so many

favors from our Divine Lord during His

earthly life? It was faith — firm faith,
not only in His power but also in His

willingness to help in troubles and afflic-

tions. “If thou canst believe, all things

are possible to him who believes,” He said

to one who called upon His assistance

(Mark ix. 22). In healing all kinds of

diseases, in raising the dead to life, did He

not attribute these miracles solely to faith?

He did not say, “Because you forgave your

enemies,” “Because you kept My command-

ments,” etc., but, “Because you believed

you are cured.” “Thy faith has saved

thee” (Matt. ix. 22). Faith, then, or child-

like trust in His paternal goodness, is the

fundamental requisite for obtaining help

from God in all our needs. If we wish to

receive the benefits of God’s goodness, our

cry must ever be, like that of the afflicted

father in the Gospel: “I do believe; help

my unbelief” (Mark ix. 23).

4



Consolation in Spiritual Trials

OWHERE are we in greater need of

God’s merciful assistance than in the

spiritual trials which constantly assail us.

The infallible teachings of Holy Scripture

assure us that the spiritual life is a con-

tinual warfare. Our own personal experi-

ence confirms this teaching. A man must

be constantly armed in order to defend

himself against enemies both from within

and without. The enemies of his own

household, his evil inclinations, his pas-

sions, his self-love, seek to seduce him

under a thousand pretexts and artifices.

From without he must wage battle against

the influence of bad example, human re-

spect, the allurements of the world, and the

evil spirit, who in his jealousy has sworn

unceasing warfare against the happiness of

mankind. From all these sources man is

assailed by temptations, against which he

must be ever on his guard.

Temptations, however, are by no means

a sign that a soul is displeasing to God or

has been forsaken by Him. They are for

the most part trials, which, if properly met

5



and combated, purify the soul and increase

its merit for heaven. “Blessed is the man

who endures temptation,” says the Apostle

St. James, “for when he has been tried, he

will receive the crown of life which God

has promised to those who love Him” (i.

12). And St. Peter admonishes: “Over this

you rejoice, though now for a little while

if need be you are made sorrowful by

various trials, that the temper of your

faith — more precious by far than gold
which is tried by fire— may be found unto
praise and glory and honor at the revela-

tion of Jesus Christ’^ (1st Epis. i. 6, 7).

True it is that sometimes by means of

temptations the all-just God brings us

under the rod of correction for certain

weaknesses, for negligence in His service,

for tepidity or presumption, or for natural

inclinations which the heart cherishes too

keenly. But in any case we must look upon

them in the spirit of faith and with confi-

dence that God will grant us the victory if

we hope in Him.

In the interior storms which so often

break upon us, we sometimes feel that the

hand of the Lord is sustaining us in the

contest and we fight valiantly against our

6



passions. The thought of the presence of

God and the desire to please Him rouses

our courage and confidence. But some-

times God, so to say, conceals Himself.

He appears to sleep, as He once slept in

the little barque with His disciples, while

the storm threatens to destroy us. But even

in such critical moments there is nothing

to fear. God never forsakes those who

place their trust in Him. If we have re-

course to Him immediately in prayer, as

the disciples did. He will still the waves of

passion and temptation.

The Apostle St. Paul, who endured the

most severe temptations and tribulations,

assures us: “God is faithful, and will not

permit you to be tempted beyond your

strength, but with the temptation will also

give you a way out that you may be able

to bear it” (1 Cor. x. 13). Even when

we think Our Lord is far from us. He is

in the midst of our heart. Our Lord Him-

self revealed this to St. Catherine of Siena.

Once after she had overcome a very severe

temptation in which she had feared to be

defeated. Our Lord appeared to her. She

lovingly reproached Him and asked Him

where He had been when she was struggling

7



with the terrible temptation shortly before.

Our Lord replied that He had been in the

midst of her heart, sustaining her in the

struggle and rejoicing in the efforts she

had made to overcome it. So, even though

we may at times think Our Lord has for-

gotten us, He is thinking of us more than

ever, since we then have most need of Him.

He perceives our struggles and strengthens

us, and if we do not lose confidence. He

will lead us to victory over our enemies.

—

—

Mercy for Sinners

T T IS especially toward sinners that God

manifests His infinite goodness and

mercy. The soul burdened by sin ought

especially to rise to our Savior on the

wings of confidence and trust. The mercy

of God is infinite. It is the Divine perfec-

tion toward which sinners unceasingly

stretch forth their hands — the attribute
which at all times is ready to receive the

contrite sinner with open arms. The mercy

of God does not reject even the most mis-

erable sinner; on the contrary, it shows

itself most mild and generous towards

8



him, and where sin formerly abounded, it

causes grace to abound. It would seem as

if the mercy of God, finding no misery to

relieve in heaven, came down to earth to

find creatures steeped in misery upon which

to lavish its treasures. Truly does David

say: ‘The earth is full of the mercy of the

Lord” (Ps. xxxii. 5) . So bountiful is God’s

mercy that a few contrite words of self-

accusation blot out the judgments of His

strict justice, and a single contrite tear

washes away the punishment of eternal

damnation.

Our merciful Savior willingly pardons

even the greatest sinner. We need but re-

call the example of the woman accused of

adultery, of the public sinner, Magdalen,

of Zaccheus, of the publican, of the repent-

ant thief on the cross. Jesus Himself went

in search of sinners. He even ate with

them, although as a consequence He had

to endure bitter persecution. How consol-

ing are the parables of the prodigal son,

of the lost sheep, of the drachma that was

lost and found, all of which represent the

pardon of sinners. Why, then, should

sinners fear?

If our sins be as numerous as the sands

9



on the seashore, as bloody as the treason

of Judas, as terrible as the denial of Peter,

as abominable as the adultery of David,

let us still have confidence, for God’s

mercy is boundless. Our crimes can never

exceed His mercy and His goodness. The

only requisite is a good will. If we have

bad the misfortune to lose the grace of

God by sin, let us strike our breast con-

tritely as did the publican in the temple

and pray with him, “0 God, be merciful

to me, a sinner!” Let us show the leprosy

of our soul in all sincerity to Christ’s rep-

resentative in the tribunal of penance. St.

John assures us: “If we acknowledge our

sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us

our sins, and to cleanse us from all in-

iquity” (1 John i. 9).

Nor need we fear the power of evil

habits. He who gave us the will to reform

will also aid us in executing our resolution.

With St. Paul we must exclaim: “I can do

all things in Him who strengthens me”

(Phil. iv. 13). We are not expected to

accomplish everything at once. Since God

had patience with us as long as we were

in sin, will He not take compassion on us

when we wish to change our life? Let us

10



take courage then! To doubt His mercy

is sinful. Let us think of the Passion of

our Savior. Our Lord would not have suf-

fered so much for us had He not desired

to save us.

Consoling Promises of the Old Law

The Divinely inspired psalmist, King

David, exclaims: ‘‘Bless the Lord, 0 my

soul... Who forgiveth all thy iniquities:

who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeem-

eth thy life from destruction. . . thy youth

shall be renewed like the eagle’s. . . The

Lord is compassionate and merciful; long-

suffering and plenteous in mercy. . . nor

will He threaten forever. He hath not

dealt with us according to our sins. . . As

a father hath compassion on his children,

so hath the Lord compassion on them that

fear Him. . . He remembereth that we are

dust” (Ps. cii).

Through the Prophet Isaias, God testi-

fies: “I am He that blots out thy iniquities

for My own sake, and I will not remember

thy sins” (xliii. 25). “Before they call I

will hear” (Ixv. 24). “If your sins be as

scarlet, they shall be made white as snow,

and if they be red as crimson, they shall

11



be white as wool” (i. 18). And again,

through the Prophet Ezechiel: “As I live,

I desire not the death of the wicked, but

that the wicked turn from his way and

live” (xxxiii. 11). And through the Proph-

et Joel: “Turn to the Lord, your God, for

He is gracious and merciful. . . and ready

to repent of the evil” (ii. 13).

How often, too, does not God assure us

in the psalms: “If they will cry out to Me,

I will hear their cry”? Yes, innumerable

passages of Holy Scripture assert that

God’s love extends from the rising of the

sun even to the going down thereof; that

He excludes no one from His merciful

omnipotence; that He is ever ready to lend

a willing ear to a contrite prayer.

Promises of the New Law

The promises of the New Law are still

more encouraging. Our Lord Himself

says, “I have come to call sinners, not the

just” (Matt. ix. 13). And again, “Whose

sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven

them” (John xx. 23) — which means all
without exception, the greatest as well as

the least. He invites all to come to Him:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are

12



burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt,

xi. 28). At another time He says: ‘‘It is

not the healthy who need a physician, but

they who are sick” (Matt. ix. 12).

The Apostle Paul encourages us to

“draw near with confidence to the throne

of grace, that we may obtain mercy and

find grace to help in time of need” (Heb.

iv. 16). The Blessed Virgin Mary pro-

claimed the mercy of God when she said:

“And for generation upon generation Is His

mercy to those who fear Him” (Luke i.

50) . These are but a few of the Scriptural

texts which show forth God’s readiness to

assist those who call upon Him in their

needs. Why, then, should any sinner, even

the most depraved, hesitate to cast himself

into the arms of the all-merciful God and

implore forgiveness?

How God Manifests His Mercy

towards Sinners

We poor sinful creatures find great

difficulty in forgiving an injury done to us,

or in remitting without recompense the

satisfaction due to us. Especially is this

experienced by those of high rank when

they have been offended by someone of low

13



social standing, since the offense is the

greater, the greater the dignity of the one

who has been offended and the more lowly

the condition of the offender. Consider,

then, the greatness of the offense when the

Lord of infinite majesty is offended by a

sinner, who, in comparison to God, is less

than a worm, a mere handful of dust. Who

will deny that an offense against the great

Lord of heaven and earth gives Him the

right to hurl into the abyss of hell the

presumptuous creature who dares to insult

Him?

But, oh infinite wonder of Divine good-

ness! The outraged God seems to forget

the greatness of His majesty and is silent

at the affront received. The almighty and

all-holy God bears patiently with the ar-

rogant worm of earth who has dared to

despise Him. He keeps back the just pun-

ishment which He could so easily mete out

to him. And not only does He keep back

the punishment, but when a sinner with

sincere contrition sighs over his misdeeds,

God regards him with as much love as if

he had not sinned. He not only forgives

the sin committed, but receives the sinner

back into His grace, embraces him as a

14



dear child, and shows him the most tender

love, the love of a father for his son. All

Christians believe this truth. Yet few seri-

ously consider the infinite condescension

of God in this wonderful act of mercy, or

are moved to gratitude when meditating on

it. Because this exceeding mercy is offered

to them every day as a general benefit, they

pay little or no heed to it.

This Divine gift of mercy is so sublime,

that St. Augustine says: ‘‘The forgiveness

of sins is a greater wonder than was the

creation of heaven and earth.” The devout

spiritual writer, Ven. Martin von Cochem,

develops this thought in the following man-

ner: “When God wished to create the

world. He but spoke the words: ‘Let there

be a firmament made amidst the waters. .

.

let the dry land appear’ (Gen. i. 6, 9), and

heaven and earth sprang into being without

exertion on the part of the Creator, who

thus formed them from nothing.

“But when God wishes to convert a

sinner and drive sin out of his soul, what

great exertion, what labor it costs Him,

because sin is rooted so deeply in the hu-

man heart and resists even the power of

Almighty God. Sin hardens the heart of

15



the sinner and causes him to reject all

good inspirations. It presents to his mind

the sweet and pleasing aspects of evil and

so charms him as to cause him to defy

God and to become obstinate in sin. Be-

cause God will not force the sinner, though

He desires most ardently to convert him,.

He approaches him with all kindness and

employs every possible means to bring him

to a better state of mind and to lead him

to repentance. When God meets with

resistance on the part of the sinner. His

justice urges Him to punish the guilty one.

His mercy, however, keeps His justice from

inflicting the punishment and seeks by

manifold means to lead the sinner to con-

version.”

God’s Dealings with Sinners

Just as a subject who has gravely of-

fended a great prince uses every means to

become reconciled to him and to regain

his favor, so a sinner ought to employ the

greatest zeal and diligence to appease God,

and to attain once more to His grace and

love. He should strive for the greatest

compunction of heart, should bewail his

sins day and night and perform earnest

16



and sincere penance because he has offend-

ed the highest of kings, the Lord of heaven

and earth. Such should be the ordinary

course of a sinner. God has the right to

demand this of him and the sinner ought

to consider it the greatest happiness if he

can appease the just anger of God in any

manner.

God’s mercy, however, is so bountiful

and extends so far that the whole world

must be astounded at His dealings with

sinners. For He does not wait till the

sinner himself desires forgiveness. He

anticipates his desire and offers him abun-

dant graces to obtain forgiveness. And

when the sinner is moved to desire forgive-

ness, God gives it to him the very first

instant that he turns to Him with a contrite

heart. He forgives him so completely that

He no longer remembers the offenses by

which the sinner has merited His displeas-

ure. And God not only forgives his sins,

but gives him inestimable graces besides,

for He restores to him the whole treasure

of his former merits.

God rejoices when a sinner accepts His

forgiveness. His gifts and benefits. Our

Savior tells us: “There will be joy in heav-

17



en over one sinner who repents, more than

over ninety-nine just who have no need of

repentance” (Luke xv. 7). The good God

rejoices over the conversion of one sinner

as if He Himself had received the benefit.

The wonders of God’s forgiving mercy will

appear all the more marvelous in the light

of the following facts: —
1. It is a fundamental Christian truth

that a sinner would never think of conver-

sion if the goodness of God did not give

him the grace beforehand and inspire him

with the thought of conversion. This the

holy Psalmist David affirms in Psalm xx,

when he says: ‘‘Thou hast prevented him

with blessings of sweetness!” And again:

“Thou art my protector. My God, His

mercy shall prevent me” (Ps. Iviii. 11).

Verily the goodness of God is so great that,

although He has been so grievously offend-

ed, He, nevertheless, seeks out sinners and,

as it were, entreats them to make peace

with Him. He inspires them with good

thoughts and admonishes, yes, begs them,

we might say, to reject sin and lead an

upright life. He commands the guardian

angels of sinners to urge them to repent-

ance and to use all means to gain their

18



conversion. He inspires virtuous persons

to offer them salutary exhortations, or He

admonishes them through preachers and

confessors, as well as by pious writings.

He has given to priests the faculty and

power to absolve every contrite sinner in

order to give to the sinner a concrete sign

of the forgiveness He Himself imparts.

But if these many entreaties of His im-

measurable love fail to bring sinners to a

better state of mind, our Heavenly Father

uses stronger means. He has recourse to

misfortunes and trials. He sends troubles,

sickness and difficulties of one kind or an-

other so that the sinner may be forced, as

it were, to become converted to Him.

2. When a sinner of his own accord

desires conversion, God does not deliberate

long before granting it to him. He does

not make him beg a long time for forgive-

ness, but mercifully grants pardon without

delay, the very moment the contrite sinner

desires it. Witness the example of the

penitent thief on the cross, of St. Mary

Magdalen and countless others narrated in

the Gospel.

3. So great is the mercy of our loving

God that He not only forgives the contrite

19



sinner immediately, but He blots from His

remembrance the sins and offenses com-

mitted against Him, This boundless mercy

is beyond all human conceiving. It is hard

for even an ordinary person to forgive,

and still harder for one of rank and nobil-

ity, but to forget entirely when one has

been grievously offended is, without ques-

tion, almost impossible. God, however, is

so infinitely good that He is moved by the

contrition of a sinner and forgets each

offense, however grave it may have been.

It would be hard for us to believe this

truth had not God Himself revealed it to

us in saying: ‘Tf the wicked do penance

for all his sins which he hath committed,

and keep all My commandments, and do

judgment and justice, living he shall live,

and shall not die. I will not remember

all his iniquities that he hath done; in his

justice which he hath wrought, he shall

live” (Ezech. xviii. 21, 22).

With respect to good works, God’s deal-

ings with men is different, for He never

forgets our good works, even though we

have become His enemy by sin. It is in-

deed true that a man loses the whole treas-

ure of his merits as soon as he commits a

20



mortal sin; but God preserves these merits

for him, and when he returns to Him by

penance, God restores all to him. This

is indeed an ineffable mercy on the part

of God.

4. When a sinner seeks forgiveness

from God, God not only forgives him, but

gives him new graces. According to the

Ven. Martin von Cochem, His love for the

repentant sinner is greater than it was be-

fore he committed sin because his new

claim to mercy has moved God to bestow

upon him new gifts. ‘Tor,” says Father

von Cochem, “just as we feel more tenderly

toward those to whom we have shown some

act of kindness, so God’s love increases

towards repentant sinners. When God

grants forgiveness to sinners, it is not a

formal and unfruitful remission of sin.

It is a new and stronger tie of the bond of

friendship. God wishes to preserve this

bond forever and desires that it should not

be broken by renewed sins. This new

friendship has the following characteris-

tics: First, God restores the sinner to the

state of grace and with it gives him all the

merits and supernatural goods which he

had acquired or had been endowed with.

21



in so complete and just a degree that he

does not forfeit the least of his spiritual

riches. Secondly, He raises him to a new

degree of merit and gives him graces which

he did not possess before. Thirdly, this

new grace is a seal and pledge of recon-

ciliation which is to remain forever.

We have a beautiful example of this

loving mercy of God in the manner in

which He granted forgiveness to the thief

on the cross when He said: ‘‘Amen, I say

to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in

paradise” (Luke xxiii. 43). We see the

tenderness of God’s mercy also in the

prodigal son who, when he returned to his

father and acknowledged his sins with sin-

cere sorrow, was lovingly embraced by his

father, was clothed with costly robes, en-

tertained at a great banquet and reinstated

in his inheritance, or, to say it more truly,

was given a new inheritance. In like man-

ner, God rejoices when a sinner accepts

His graces and is converted to Him.

Our Savior told the parable of the lost

sheep to make men understand in some

degree how great is the joy of the Divine

Shepherd when a strayed member of His

flock returns to Him.

22



We find the story related in the Gospel

of St. Luke: “What man of you having a

hundred sheep, and losing one of them,

does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert,

and go after that which is lost, until he

finds it? And when he has found it, he

lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing. And

on coming home he calls together his

friends and neighbors, saying to them:

‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my

sheep which was lost.’ I say to you that,

even so, there will be joy in heaven over

one sinner who repents, more than over

ninety-nine just who have no need of re-

pentance” (xv. 4-7).

Is not this a beautiful comparison to

make us understand God’s love for sin-

ners? Are not these loving words? To

us it would seem that the lost sheep should

rejoice more than the shepherd because it

has been saved from the danger of being

torn to pieces by wolves and has been

brought back to the fold where it may

again enjoy the protection of the faithful

shepherd. However, Our Lord apparently

wishes to congratulate the shepherd more

than the sheep. For, as He loves the sheep

infinitely more than it loves itself, so His

23



joy over its salvation is much greater than

could be that of the sheep. Our Lord even

adds that not He alone rejoices, but that

the whole heavenly court celebrates a new

feast of joy at the conversion of every

sinner.

The Treasury of God’s Mercy

Is Inexhaustible

St. Jerome says, regarding the infinite

greatness of Divine mercy: “If you can tell

me how great God is, you can also tell me

how great His mercy is.” He means to

say that just as God Himself is infinite, so

also His mercy is infinite^ inexpressible

and unfathomable. Come, then, poor sin-

ner, and draw from this ocean of Divine

mercy as much as you will and as much

as you can, and do not be afraid that the

enormity and grievousness of your sins

will surpass this infinite ocean. For if you

had committed all the sins in the world

and if the least of your sins exceeded the

greatest sin imaginable, nevertheless, all

your sins, if you were sorry for them out

of love for God, would be entirely swal-

lowed up and blotted out by the great

ocean of Divine mercy. Just as you could

24



not dry up the ocean by throwing a spark

of fire into it, so neither can you dry up

the ocean of Divine mercy by your sins,

no matter how enormous their guilt.

Neither can the mercy of God be re-

stricted at any time. Every day and at

every hour, until the very last moment of

your life. He is ready to forgive your sins;

and not only the first time you commit

sin, but ‘‘seventy times seven” times (Matt,

xviii. 22), that is, times without limit. If

you had fallen back into sin a hundred

thousand times, but with true contrition

again begged God for forgiveness. His in-

finite mercy would forgive you this great

number of sins, and every time would be-

stow on you the untold benefits mentioned

above. A single tear of contrition falling

from the eyes of a sinner, a single word of

repentance uttered by his lips, or a single

sigh rising from his contrite heart is suffi-

cient to obtain the forgiveness of his sins.^

*We must distinguish here between perfect

and imperfect contrition. Perfect contrition is

sorrow for our sins because by them we have

offended God, whom we love. Imperfect con-

trition is sorrow for our sins because we fear

God and dread His punishment. Imperfect: con-

trition is sufficient to obtain the forgiveness of

25



We need but a firm confidence in God

in order to obtain abundant graces from

Him. He desires more ardently to give

graces to us than we desire to receive

them. If all men had but the least degree

of the longing which God has for their

sanctification, the whole world would be-

come a new heaven and every soul would

become like a seraph in the ardor of its

love for God. The desire which God has

for our salvation and our bliss is so great

that He sent His only-begotten Son from

heaven to earth in order to redeem us and

to make us blessed. “For God so loved the

world as to give His only-begotten Son;

that whosoever believeth in Him may not

perish, but may have life everlasting”

(John iii. 16).

The desire of Jesus Christ for our sal-

vation is no less great than that of His

Father, for^ as the Evangelist St. Luke tells

sins in the sacrament of penance, although

perfect contrition is more to be desired. Perfect

contrition, however, is capable of reconciling

the sinner with God and of wiping out all pun-

isment due to sin, even outside of confession,

but the sinner must have the desire and the in-

tention to confess his sins as soon as he has

an opportunity to do so.

26



US, it was for the salvation of sinners that

He came into the world: ‘‘The Son of Man

is come to seek and to save what was lost”

(xix. 10). To do this, “He emptied Him-

self, taking the form of a servant, being

made in the likeness of men, and in habit

found as a man. He humbled Himself,

becoming obedient to death, even to death

on a cross” (Phil. ii. 7, 8).

Each one of us can truly say with St.

Augustine: “0 my Jesus, what great ardor

and what great love hast Thou shown in

redeeming my soul! For I was lost and

had made myself a slave of sin. But Thou

didst come in Thy own person to seek me

and to sacrifice Thy life for me. Thou, 0

Jesus, hast loved me more than I have

loved Thee, because Thou didst wish to

die for me.” Yes, Jesus has done this not

only for St. Augustine, but for every one

of us. The intense desire to suffer and to

die for every man caused Him to exclaim:

“I have a baptism to be baptized with; and

how distressed I am until it is accom-

plished” (Luke xii. 50). And when He

was dying on the Cross, He cried out with

a loud voice: “I thirst!” By this cry He

wanted to reveal the intensity of His desire

27



for the salvation of souls. Must we not

admit, then, that God desires our salvation

more than we ourselves desire it, since we

do and suffer so very little in order to

obtain it?

The Sin of Presumption

In placing his confidence in God’s

mercy, however, a person must remember

that although every sinner may hope for

Divine mercy, yet he must not tempt God

by presumptuous trust. Presumption is a

terrible sin and worthy of damnation.

When great sinners are admonished to do

penance and to begin a better way of life,

or if they are perhaps threatened with the

punishment of hell on account of their

wicked deeds, they sometimes say: ‘‘God

is merciful. He will not condemn anyone,

but will forgive sinners and bring all to

eternal happiness.” In support of their

words they offer such assurances as the

promise of God in Holy Scripture which

says that if the sinner cries to God, He will

forgive him his sins. Or again, they will

say: “If Christ wanted to condemn us. He

would not have suffered for us.” Hardened

sinners who allege these or similar objec-

28



tions and excuses are presumptuous in re-

lying on the mercy of God. Since they

do not repent of their sins, they rather sin

the more boldly because God is so infinite-

ly merciful. But how greatly will they

lament when God’s justice is forced to

condemn them because by their resistance

to grace they have rejected His mercy.

Whoever perseveres in sin throughout

his entire life, relying on being converted

at the end, will meet a fate similar to that

of the godless King Antiochus. This wick-

ed king, when he was in danger of death,

earnestly called upon God and promised

to make good the injuries he had done to

the Jews, and even vowed to accept the

Jewish religion, yet he was not heard by

God, because his heart was not contrite.

Holy Scripture says of him: “Then this

wicked man prayed to the Lord, of whom

he was not likely to obtain mercy” (2

Mach. ix. 13). The presumptuous sinner

who postpones his conversion till the end

of his life will not be given the graces

which he scorned and rejected many times

over. Out of fear of hell, he may call up-

on God, but how can he hope thereby to

obtain mercy? Has not Our Lord de-

29



dared: “Not everyone who says to Me,

‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom

of heaven” (Matt. vii. 21)?

Regarding those who refuse God’s mer-

cy, the Book of Proverbs says: “Because I

called and you refused, I stretched out My

hand and there was none that regarded.

You have despised all My counsel, and

have neglected My reprehensions. I also

will laugh in your destruction and will

mock when that shall come to pass which

you feared. hen sudden calamity shall

fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest,

shall be at hand; when tribulation and

distress shall come upon you; then shall

they call upon Me and I will not hear;

they shall rise in the morning and shall

not find Me; because they have hated in-

struction and received not the fear of the

Lord” (i. 24-29).

These are such terrible words of threat

that no one would have dared to utter them

if the Holy Spirit had not Himself incor-

porated them into Holy Scripture. For

what man would dare say that the good

God, who has such tender sympathy for all

sufferers, would not have pity on the most

miserable of sinners? How can this be ex-

30



plained? It is the due reward of such sin-

ners as those who have perseveringly con-

temned the most high God, have mocked

Him because of His threats, have misused

His mercy, have ridiculed His justice, have

rejected His proffered graces and wantonly

angered His infinite Majesty. Let sinners^

therefore, beware of falling into the griev-

ous sin of presumption, but accept the

grace of God while it is offered to them.

Help in Temporal Needs and

Afflictions

HE Gospel narratives of Our Lord’s

public life recount an unbroken chain

of mercies toward the needy and afflicted.

A touch of His almighty hand, a word

from His sacred lips, and the blind see, the

deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lame walk,

the lepers are cleansed; the withered hand

is restored, palsied limbs become normal,

fevers abate, and the issue of blood ceases.

At His word the most dreadful diseases

disappear, lunatics are restored to sanity

and demons are driven out. It is as easy

31



for Him to perform these miracles at a

distance as when He is near the afflicted

person. The holy Gospel says of Him:

‘Tower went forth from Him and healed

all” (Luke vi. 19). Yes, He even raised

the dead to life.

Prayer, Our Means of Access to

God’s Goodness

But if we wish to benefit by the surpass-

ing goodness and power of Almighty God,

we must ask Him for His blessings by

prayer. Prayer is the point of contact be-

tween man and God, It is the one and

only means of communication between the

visible and the invisible world. Prayer

brings God down to us and raises us up

to God. Prayer brings us into touch with

the world beyond the veil of material

things, to the true realities of life which

can be seen only with the eyes of the spirit.

Prayer is defined as the elevation of

our hearts and minds to God to offer Him

our homage, adoration and love, to thank

Him for His benefits, to obtain from Him

pardon of our sins and the remission of

their punishment, and to ask Him for fa-

vors which we need for ourselves or others.

32



Prayer, then, means going to our Creator

with all our worries, troubles and cares,

telling Him about them, and asking Him

to help us. It means letting Him know how

much we love Him. It means telling Him

how weak we are. It means begging Him

to give us assistance. It means expressing

our gratitude for all His benefits to us.

Our Need of Recourse to God

by Prayer

Can it be necessary to explain why we

need to pray? Is there anyone who has

not himself experienced the need of re-

course to God in prayer? How many and

varied are the unpleasant incidents to

which man falls a prey during life! In

this valley of time, where trials, disappoint-

ments, ill-health, failure, misfortune, pov-

erty, abandonment, ingratitude of friends,

intrigues of enemies, death of relatives and

friends, and a thousand forms of hin-

drances and obstacles daily confront us

and cause us vexation, trouble, discourage-

ment and even despair, will anyone say

that there is no need of prayer?

An old. proverb says: “Trouble brings

one to rap at the door of God.” To appeal

33



to God in time of need is the natural course

for any man to take. But besides this, God

Himself exhorts us to make use of prayer

to implore His favors. He has made prayer

the means by which we may obtain benefits

from Him, as well as the condition of His

exercising His Divine goodness in our be-

half. Since this is so, surely there is a real

need that we should make use of this means

to obtain God’s help. Even the animals

teach us the need of having recourse to

God. A little chick or other small animal

will run to its mother when frightened.

So, too, a little child runs to the protecting

arms of its father or mother. Instinctively,

each one of us feels and knows that our

Heavenly Father is the first and principal

one to whom to appeal in time of distress.

Yet not only in sorrow and pain, but

also in happiness and joy, we need to pray.

When the heart is singing, there is need of

prayer, for we ought to express gratitude

for God’s goodness and mercy to us, for

the happy circumstances in which we find

ourselves, for the strength and health and

joy we find in living, since gratitude, too,

is necessary to make us worthy of God’s

goodness.

34



Why We Believe in the Efficacy
of Prayer

One would have to write ponderous

books to relate all the examples of the

efficacy of prayer in the history of God’s

Chosen People, in the lives of the saints,

in the history of the world, and in one’s

own experiences. We would meet in Holy

Scripture such names as Abraham, Jacob,

Moses, Josue, Samuel the Prophet and Da-

vid, and even Solomon, the wisest of kings.

They prayed and received help from God.

It is sometimes foolishly said that this is

an age of action and that there is no need

of prayer. This is one of the groundless

assertions which is made only by people

who have no faith. The fact is that, de-

prived of the gift and power of prayer,

we would at once be cut off, and cut off

effectively, from the source of highest

power, the spiritual switch by which the

current of grace is turned on for our souls;

for, just as the electric current is the power

that sets huge machines into action and en-

ables them to carry out gigantic tasks, so

communion with God in prayer is for man

the source of power which will enable him

to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks

35



in the daily life of toil and difficulties.

It was the power that came to them in

prayer that enabled the greatest heroes of

history to beat down adversity, to see the

silver lining in the dark cloud, and to keep

their eyes fixed on the vision that beckoned

them on to greater work and larger con-

quests for the good of their brethren. It

was because these men and women looked

to the help promised by Christ to those

who humbly pray, that they triumphed

over all adverse circumstances and seeming

calamities which they encountered.

King David says, ‘‘God is our refuge

and our strength, and our helper in

troubles which oppress us exceedingly.”

Let us then realize that prayer is a force,

a gift which God has given us in order to

enable us to enter into His storehouses of

mercy and grace.

Qualities of Prayer by Which God^s

Goodness Is Moved

Prayer unaccompanied by honest effort

and made without confidence is of no value.

We must pray with devotion, earnestness,

confidence, humility and perseverance. If

we are sincere and wish to be heard by

36



God we will think of what we say. We do

not honor God when our thoughts are far

from Him. When our thoughts are wander-

ing about on earthly affairs and no heed

is paid to the words which fall from our

lips, how can we expect God to hear our

prayers? How can He pay attention- to

them when we do not pay attention our-

selves? Prayer is only prayer when we

lift our heart and mind to God and mean

what we say. The essential characteristic

of a good prayer is prayer with attention,

with a conviction of our own helplessness

and our dependence on God, with a great

desire for the graces we beg of Him, with

loving trust in His goodness, and with

perseverance.

There are superficially devout Catholics

who think that to pray well is to pray

much, and, scarcely mindful of what they

are saying, they hastily run through ros-

aries, litanies and countless other prayers.

This kind of prayer is of little value in the

eyes of God, because He regards the mind

and the heart more than the words of the

lips. St. Therese always prayed simply

though none the less earnestly and devout-

ly. She says: ‘T have not the courage to

37



force myself to seek beautiful prayers in

books. Not knowing which to choose I

act as children do who cannot read, I say

simply to the good God what I want to tell

Him, and He always understands me.

Sometimes when I find myself spiritually

in dryness so great that I cannot produce

a single good thought, I recite very slowly

a Pater or an Ave Maria; these prayers

alone console me; they suffice; they nour-

ish my soul.”

Prayer Should Be Persevering and

Confident

We should practice fervent, trustful,

childlike, zealous prayer in difficulties. Our

Lord Himself is the best teacher of the

manner of praying so that we will be

heard by God. During His life He related

many parables by which He taught the

secret of making effective prayer. St. Luke

records one of an unwilling judge and a

poor widow who appealed to him for help

against her enemy, and who found help

because of her continued, persevering

prayer. “There was a judge,” says the

Evangelist, “in a certain town, who did not

fear God and did not respect man. Now

38



there was a certain widow in that town,

and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Do

me justice against my adversary.’ And he

would not for a long time. But afterwards

he said within himself, ‘Although I do not

fear God, nor even respect man, yet be-

cause this widow bothers me, I will do her

justice, lest by her continual coming she

finally wear me out’” (xviii. 2-5).

This forsaken widow appealed to the

magistrate of the city, the judge, to help

her in her need because she had no hus-

band to protect her interests, and no doubt

because her adversary had taken advantage

of the very fact of her husband’s death to

deprive her of her property. Extreme

need, therefore, compelled her to have re-

course to the judge. This widow applied

to one, who, because he was a judge, was

obliged to help, and who, for the same

reason, was able to help. But as St. Luke

records, the judge did not fear God nor

regard man. How then could she have

hoped that such a heartless man would

have regard for a poor widow? What

dismay and fear must have weighed upon

her soul! How she must have trembled

as she stood before the door of the court.

39



Yet she dared enter and open up her heart

to this judge. With confidence in the

judge’s favor, she hoped for justice, for

her cause was just. Though not believing

in the man’s good will, she had faith in

his office as judge of the city, and relied

confidently on God, who, as Scripture says,

‘‘rules the hearts even of kings.” And

finally she obtained her cause because she

wearied the judge with her persistence.

With this same confidence, with this

same candid faith, with this same persever-

ance, we must appeal to God, who, as the

Psalmist says, “shall judge the world with

equity and the people with justice” (Ps.

xcvii. 9). Yet how often are the hearts

of those who approach the door of mercy

faint-hearted and doubting! They see the

inscription over the door: “Call upon Me

in the day of trouble, and I will deliver

thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Ps. xlix.

15). And yet they lack sincere trust in

God. They say, “Is there really a just

judge in heaven? Is hope in Him not

merely a phantom for simple-minded

people to quiet them? Or if there is a

just God who helps the needy, will my

prayer change His plans?”

40



And those of little faith exclaim, “Will

God have regard for a poor creature like

me? He has already forgotten me, other-

wise I would not be in this deplorable

state. I have been guilty oj many sins,

and I have not listened to Him in the past,

neither to His invitations nor to His threats,

so will He hear me?” With such lack of

faith and hope, is there any wonder that

their half-hearted prayers go unheard? To

such distrusting souls St. James says, ‘‘Let

him ask with faith, without hesitation. For

he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea,

driven and carried about by the wind.

Therefore, let not such a one think that he

will receive anything from the Lord”

(James i. 6-8). Our Lord said to St.

Thomas: “Be not unbelieving, but believ-

ing. Blessed are they who have not seen

and yet have believed” (John xx. 28, 29).

These words apply to prayer as well as to

the occasion on which they were spoken,

namely, to belief in Our Lord’s resurrec-

tion. Believe, then, in the words of God

when He says, “Call upon Me in the day

of trouble, and I will deliver thee.”

In the thousands of years since these

words were uttered, millions upon millions

41



of souls have found them to be true. They

have returned from the door of God’s mer-

cy with glistening eyes, with glowing faces,

with cheerful hearts, and with hands filled

with the gifis of God. Let us believe the

witnesses to God’s mercy: Abraham, Moses,

David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, Agnes, Lucy,

Cecilia, Therese — the saints of all times,
yes, our own friends and neighbors. With

one voice they all say: ‘The Lord is nigh

to all that call upon Him — to all that
call upon Him in truth” (Ps. cxliv. 18) ;

“Our God is the God of salvation” (Ps.

Ixvii. 21).

Confidence Is the Key to the

Treasures of God

God has solemnly promised to hearken

to prayers said with confidence: “All things

whatever you ask for in prayer, believing,

you shall receive” (Matt. xxi. 22) . “All

things whatsoever you ask for in prayer,

believe that you shall receive, and they

shall come to you” (Mark xi. 24) . “I

have graven thee in My hands,” says Our

Lord by the lips of the Prophet Isaias

(xlix. 16), as if He would say, “Beloved

soul, why dost thou fear or mistrust? I

42



have written thy name in My hands so as

never to forget to do thee good.” There-

fore, whosoever prays with faith and con-

fidence may hope to be heard, provided,

of course, that the favor he begs is for the

glory of God and the good of his soul.

Our Lord once said to St. Mechtilde:

‘‘As great as a man’s faith and confidence

can be in My goodness, so much and in-

finitely more will he ^receive. For it is

utterly impossible that what a person sa-

credly believes and hopes for should be

refused him.” Again, Our Lord said to

St. Gertrude : “Although I regard with

pleasure all that is done for My glory,

such as prayers, fasts, vigils and other

works of piety, still the confidence with

which the elect have recourse to Me in their

weakness touches Me far more sensibly.”

Confidence is, then, the key to the treasures

of God.

This, however, does not mean that good

works are unavailing. There is no doubt

that precisely by performing good works

and leading a good life the grace of a firm

faith is obtained. “Faith. . . is the gift of

God,” says St. Paul (Ephes. ii. 8). Let

him who possesses it be assiduous in its

43



practice and avoid whatever might weaken

his confidence in God. Nothing can be a

substitute for faith, but faith can be ob-

tained by everyone who ardently desires it.

Everybody must believe. If anyone is not

capable of believing, that is, if he has not

attained the use of reason or if he is de-

prived of his mental faculties, others must

have the required faith in his stead; but

as soon as he is able, he himself must

practice it.

Childlike Trust

Do we believe in God’s perfect love and

perfect faithfulness? Do we believe that

He is a God of tender, compassionate, un-

changeable and limitless love? Is not,

then, the God of limitless love worthy of

limitless trust and confidence? And if the

God of limitless love is worthy of limitless

trust, shall we not accord it to Him? Our

confidence and trust in God ought to be

truly childlike. Let us not forget that Our

Lord said, “Let the little children come to

Me, and do not hinder them” (Mark x. 14)

.

Childlike simplicity and trust is too often

absent from our prayers, and in the blind-

ness of our hearts we demand things from

44



God instead of simply asking for them.

Most of the restlessness experienced in

our lives comes from this lack of trust in

God. We would save ourselves much

trouble and anxiety if we were to put full

trust in God’s Providence, in His love. His

mercy and His goodness. The child is care-

free and happy because it leaves all re-

sponsibility to its parents. To the child,

his father or mother seems all-powerful.

To us, God is all-powerful. The child ex-

pects kindness and love and care from its

mother. Can we not by right expect an

infinitely greater solicitude for us on the

part of God? If we are weak. He is strong.

If we are embarrassed, insulted, injured,

have we not God’s infinite love to console

us? Fortune favors the trustful, because

they are not over-anxious about the things

of the world, and God’s Providence watches

over them. Each one of us, then, ought

to be as a little child, trusting in God.

We cannot be too insistent upon the

necessity of unbounded confidence in the

kindness and mercy of our Heavenly Fa-

ther and of the Heart of Jesus, our Savior.

Want of confidence is one of the most

dangerous of faults, and wounds the Divine

45



Heart of Jesus. His unbounded love for

us ought to beget a confidence proportion-

ate to such love. To put limits to our

trust is to narrow the loving kindness of

God, denying in consequence His all-pow-

erfulness, His infinite love, implying that

He cannot or will not remedy our evils,

forgive our sins or relieve our sufferings.

If such thoughts as these do not actually

exist in the minds of those who are lacking

in confidence, they are at least the basis

of their conduct. Such souls show a total

misunderstanding of the love of God, and

fail to realize the significance of those

mysteries by which He testified His love,

namely, the incarnation, the crucifixion

and the Holy Eucharist. But above all,

such lack of confidence removes our only

hope.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus has said:

“We cannot have too much confidence in

the good God. He is so mighty, so mer-

ciful.” And how perfectly she has proved

that statement. So great was her confi-

dence and trust in Him, that she became

a living example of the virtues of faith,

hope and charity. Relying utterly upon

Divine Providence, and wishing only that

46



which God foreknew to be for her good,

she was rewarded by an abundance of

grace and strength. Since God was her

Father, St. Therese abandoned herself com-

pletely to His care. And as children feel

wholly safe and secure in the love of their

parents, so she felt in the love of God.

And God took His little child to His

breast and poured out upon her all the

bounty of His love. Her soul became a

living temple of God’s treasures. Her

faith was the faith of God Himself; her

charity was the burning flame that abides

in the Heart of God; her hope knew no

bounds.

Patience Must Accompany Confidence

Our confidence in prayer ought to be

lasting; then one day we shall have the

joy of knowing that our prayers have been

heard. Man in his haste wishes to carry

everything by storm. He hears or reads

of some virtue today, and wants to possess

it perfectly tomorrow. All things in the

world grow slowly. Continue to pray

when apparently there is no answer to your

prayer. Recalling once more the story of

the widow and the unjust judge, remember

47



that she had to wait a long time. The

judge did not agree to help her at all in

the beginning. She accomplished nothing

at the first visit. Perhaps she was re-

ceived in an unfriendly manner, answered

brusquely, listened to surlily, and dis-

missed with little hope. So the widow

had to go home sad and disappointed. She

perhaps retired to her chamber, hid her

face in her hands or laid her head on

the table and wept. That was only the

beginning of her struggle. Another one

might have given up in despair, but not

she. She had both patience and persever-

ance, Perhaps the next morning she went

again. At least she went more than once

or twice or three times. She continued

undaunted until she obtained her request.

A Christian who applies to the Heaven-

ly Father should know how to wait and

how to come again. For Our Lord ex-

pressly says that God helps where they

“cry to Him day and night” (Luke xviii.

7). Notice that He does not say that God

helps those who call upon Him here and

there, but day and night. And not quietly,

but loudly, that is, persistently and ur-

gently, Indeed, this persevering and

48



continuous prayer is one of the essentials

for obtaining our requests from God, and

it is one of the hard things required of us.

Our Lord emphasized this when He said

that we ‘‘must always pray and not lose

heart,” which are the opening words of

the parable of the unjust judge to which

we have referred.

We have heard these words of Our

Lord from our childhood. Let us im-

press them more deeply on our memory,

for we forget so easily and often have

to struggle against impatience when our

prayers are not immediately answered.

We are unwilling to believe that God will

take His own time. His own way. His own

means. How quickly do we not drop our

hands and say: “God doesn’t hear me.

There is no use in praying.” Let us

follow the example of the widow. She

came again and again.

Let us remember, too, Our Lord on

Mt. Olivet, repeating the same prayer

three times, and undoubtedly with greater

effort at each time. If God seems to put

us off, unceasing prayers, day and night,

unceasing sighs and tears will certainly

be heard at last. Our Lord has given

49



His Divine word for it. How short a time

will seem the visitation of trouble when,

sooner than expected, the door of God’s

mercy is opened to us!

Countless are the other examples we

find in Holy Scripture regarding the re-

sults of persevering prayer. If the woman

who so importunely followed our Savior

and called to Him in the street had become

discouraged the first time and had not

repeatedly pleaded: “Son of David, have

mercy on me,” her daughter would not

have been freed from the evil spirit. If

the man who went to his friend’s house

at night for bread had • not knocked re-

peatedly, he would never have obtained

what he desired. Thus it is in innumerable

cases. What we do not receive today

may be granted tomorrow; what is not

given this year may be bestowed upon

us in the next.

Dare we prescribe rules to God? Let

it suffice that we can depend upon our

requests being granted provided we are

not wanting in faith and confidence, and

provided we do not ask for anything that

is contrary to the will of God or detri-

mental to our salvation. When we are

50



tempted to be discouraged because we have

prayed a long time without any apparent

answer, let us recall the example of St.

Monica. She prayed night and day for

seventeen years for the conversion of her

son. Although God deferred granting her

request for so long a time, at length not

only was the desired conversion obtained,

but her son became one of the greatest

Bishops and Doctors of the Church, the

illustrious St. Augustine of Hippo.

Implicit faith and confidence in God’s

goodness and mercy, united to fervent and

persevering prayer, does violence to God.

Even in temporal needs, it is the will of

God that we should pray with strong

faith and perseverance. The stronger our

faith, the more speedily will the desired

aid come. But how easily do we not

become discouraged and give up. If God

does not grant our petitions immediately,

we complain and grow bitter, and even

turn away from Him in anger. How un-

becoming is such conduct in a Christian,

and what a lack of humble confidence it

displays! Let us then place our trust

in the goodness and mercy of God and

continue to pray with humble confidence.*

51



Even Unanswered Prayers Are a Proof

of the Goodness of God

Considering Our Lord’s emphatic state-

ment, “Ask and you shall receive,” we

might conclude that all our petitions will

be granted. And yet do we not pray for

certain favors, and apparently receive no

answer to our prayers? We must remem-

ber, in the first place, that Christ said to

ask in His Name. The Name of Jesus is a

life-giving Name: “Thou shalt call His

Name Jesus, for He shall save His people

from their sins” (Matt. i. 21). Conse-

quently, whenever we ask for something

from God which pertains to our eternal

salvation, we may be said to ask in the

Name of Jesus, and therefore we may

confidently hope to receive what we desire.

But are not sometimes the favors we ask

for only material things which aim at self-

ish ambition, which might ruin our lives,

our homes, our fortunes and finally bring

us to the abyss of hell, because of the

improper use we would make of them?

It is possible then that sometimes in our

blindness, we ask from God things that

Vould be harmful to us, and He does not

52



grant our request as we would wish. Yet

we can be sure that He will give us

something far better for us, for no prayer

is unheard.

God is like a wise physician who will

not give us what He knows to be injurious

to our welfare. He lets us wait, perhaps

because He sees that granting our petition

or giving the gift we desire would hurt

us more than benefit us, at least at the

time. So, too, a wise parent will not give

a child everything it wants. A child,

seeing a sharp knife, might reach out his

hands and cry for it, but the parent knows

that such an instrument must not be given

to a child and withholds it from him. So

God acts with His children. Or He may

let us wait until the gift will be better

appreciated. He does not give us our

desire at once in order that He may

grant us more and better gifts. He lets

us wait to test our good will. In this

way Our Lord tested even His own Blessed

Mother. He let her wait at Cana. He

said to her, “My hour is not yet come.”

So, too. He let Mary Magdalen and Martha

wait at Bethany, and only after Lazarus

had been laid in the tomb did He come

53



to them and give them back their brother.

It is possible also that we may ask

something from God which does pertain

to our temporal and eternal salvation, but

we ask for it from a wrong disposition

of mind, from a sinful and selfish motive.

In such a case we will not be heard, as

St. James writes: “You ask and do not

receive, because you ask amiss, that you

may spend it upon passions” (iv. 3).

The Lord is good and does not grant the

precise request of such a prayer, but grants

something more beneficial. St. Augustine

says regarding the dispositions of Divine

Providence: “It is certain that God de-

sires that which is most advantageous to

us much more than we desire it ourselves.

He knows better than we by what means

that which is best for us must arrive.

The choice of means is entirely in His

hands, since it is He who disposes and

regulates all things in the world. It is

also certain that in the events which

happen, that which befalls us will always

be best for us.”

The Holy Ghost, speaking through St.

Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, says

that the will of God is perfect, (xii. 2.)

54



Now it is not said that we always see it

as perfect, but that it is perfect. There-

fore it is as perfect when we cannot under-

stand it as when we can; as perfect when

it seems unjust and grievous to us, as

when it seems just and acceptable; as

perfect when the way is rough, toilsome

and shrouded in thick darkness, as when

it is smooth, easy of ascent and flooded

with noonday light.

Since, then, the will of God is the best

thing in the world for us, let us yield to

it. God Himself has declared, through

the Apostle St. Paul, “For those who love

God, all things work together unto good”

(Rom. viii. 28). God does not say that

all things are good in themselves, for evil

is not good. But all things work together

for good to them that love Him, In some

way, then, by God’s permissive will, the

evil that assails His children will work

for their highest good. It may be inscru-

table to us at the time we are crushed by

trials and difficulties. But faith assures

us that it is so. Our Lt)rd said to His

disciple: “What I do thou knowest not

now, but thou shalt know hereafter” (John

xiii. 7).

55



When Joseph’s brethren sold him into

Egypt, they did it through wickedness of

heart, yet God brought good out of it by

establishing Joseph as viceroy of that great

land, whereby he was able to save his

brethren from the famine which devastated

the whole land of Israel.

Think of the Crucifixion itself. Was

it not the masterstroke of hell, and did

not God at the same time make of it the

masterstroke of His mercy? Out of it

have flowed the blessings of the Redemp-

tion which shall glorify God throughout

all ages of eternity.. ‘‘Oh, the depth of

the riches of the wisdom and of the knowl-

edge of God! How incomprehensible are

His judgments and how unsearchable His

ways” (Rom. xi. 33).

Recall the words of our Savior, “What-

ever you ask in My Name, that will I do”

(John xiv. 13). The promise implies fu-

ture time. . . “That will I do.” Our Lord

does not say, “I will answer your prayer

ri^ht awajT He will grant our request

when the time is most suitable, and when

it will be best for us. After all, if we

really want a thing, and it is worth having

at all, one or two feeble attempts to attain

56



it do not deserve to meet with success.

Anything of good quality cannot be ob-

tained cheaply in the ordinary course of

events in worldly matters. Why, then,

should we expect it in the higher matters

of our eternal welfare? God will refuse

us nothing that is for our good. He will

deny us no grace or temporal favor that

will promote our eternal happiness. Hav-

ing confidence in God, we will be happy

in whatsoever way He deigns to regard

our petitions.

We may consider the question of un-

answered prayer also from the aspect of

our interior dispositions. If we pray

without devotion or with lack of faith, or

if we are sunk in sin, or our hearts are

not in our petitions, we are unworthy of

being heard. God gives the reasons why

such prayers are not acceptable to Him

in the Book of Isaias. The people of

Israel, who had fasted and prayed without

obtaining God’s help, asked God through

the Prophet Isaias why He had not paid

any heed to them. And God answered: —
“
‘Behold, in the day of your fast

your own will is found and you exact of

all your debtors. Behold, you fast for

57



debates and strife, and strike wickedly

with the fist. Do not fast as you have

done until this day, to make your cry to

be heard on high. Is this such a fast as

I have chosen: for a man to afflict his

soul for a day? Is this it, to wind his

head about like a circle and to spread

sackcloth and ashes? Wilt thou call this

a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this rather the fast that I have

chosen? Loose the bands of wickedness,

undo the bundles that oppress, let them

that are broken go free, and break asunder

every burden. Deal thy bread to the

hungry, and bring the needy and the har-

borless into thy house; when thou shalt

see one naked cover him, and despise not

thy own flesh. Then shall thy light break

forth as the morning, and thy health shall

speedily arise, and thy justice shall go

before thy face and the glory of the Lord

shall gather thee up. Then shalt thou

call, and the Lord shall hear; thou shalt

cry, and He shall say: Here I am’
”

(Iviii)

.

Let us then support our prayer by a

good life and God will surely hear us.

Let us strengthen our petitions, too, by

invoking the intercession of the Blessed

58



Mother and the saints of God. Mary is

the refuge of sinners, the health of the

sick, the comfortress of the afflicted. St.

Bernard declares that no one has ever

had recourse to her in vain. The saints,

too, are the beloved friends of God and

will interest themselves in our needs if we

seek their assistance. Charity toward the

poor souls in purgatory is likewise an

excellent means to obtain speedy assistance

in our necessities.

The Power of United Prayer

Let us add a few words also -on united

prayer. It is certain that united prayer

powerfully aids the effects of faith and

the other qualities that make a prayer

worthy of being heard. “Where two or

three are gathered together for My sake,

there am I in the midst of them” (Matt,

xviii. 20), said our Divine Savior. He

signifies the readiness of God to hear the

combined prayers of several persons. He

emphatically states it in these words: “I

say to you, further, that if two of you

shall agree on earth about anything at all

for which they ask, it shall be done for

59



them by My Father who is in heaven”

(Matt, xviii. 19).

United prayer is that prayer which

rises from hearts that are bound together

by holy friendship; it is the mingling of

their thoughts and desires, presented by

them as one individual prayer before the

throne of God. United prayer may be

that of several individuals praying private-

ly for the same intentions or it may be

public prayer. Public prayer is superior

to all. It has the special promise of God’s

presence, so that the soul can say with

assurance, “My prayer ascends to God,

borne up by the prayers of others.”

Taking part in public devotions such as

public novenas or monthly devotions, is,

therefore, particularly efficacious in obtain-

ing our petitions from God.

The Mass, the Most Powerful of

All Prayers

But above all, the holy Sacrifice of the

Mass, in which we unite with the whole

Churchy the Mystical Body of Christ, and

with Christ Himself^ our Divine Mediator

on the altar, is the most effective means

we have of imploring benefits from the

60



Heavenly Father. The late Bishop Gross

of Leitmeritz said of Holy Mass: ‘‘Every-

thing good that happens in the world

happens through Holy Mass. What you

cannot obtain through the Mass, you will

attain through no other means; and that

which you cannot attain through devout

assistance at Mass, you will certainly not

attain at all. Our Lord grants you more

through the Holy Sacrifice than through

any other channel.”

It is easy to understand why this is so.

Every Mass comprises the sum total of the

merits of Jesus Christ, and these, as we

know, are of illimitable value. Conse-

quently, the Mass itself is of limitless

value. Now, when we assist at Mass in

the proper manner, we offer to Almighty

God these infinite merits and He receives

thereby an infinite worship. We pray

"‘through Jesus Christ, and with Jesus

Christ, and in Jesus Christ,” and because

Jesus is the God-man, our prayer, in being

united to His, takes on all the qualities

of His own and becomes infinitely power-

ful. It becomes inflamed with the Divine

ardor of Jesus in the worship of His

Eternal Father. It becomes permeated

61



with the sanctity of Jesus. It becomes

all-perfect, so that we are able to offer

to God a prayer that is Godlike, a prayer

that is truly Divine.

Through the Mass we are thus able

to exercise a peculiar power over the

Heart of Almighty God, so that He is

moved to administer His mercies to us.

In return for this infinite homage. His

Divine benediction streams forth into hu-

man hearts. Souls are spiritually uplifted,

while God’s goodness remedies the evils

that afflict them or makes them better able

to bear the troubles, cares, sufferings,

poverty, etc., under which they labor.

The Mass is not only of infinite worth

in itself, but just because it is infinite it

is likewise an inexhaustible source of

grace, an infinite treasury which we can

never drain. If men but understood that

each Holy Mass is something ineffably

great, an inexhaustible treasury from which

they may freely draw, if they but knew

how much courage, strength and light are

to be derived from it, they would strive

never to miss even a single Mass, no matter

what difficulties might present themselves

to hinder attendance thereat. Almighty

62



God Himself has bestowed on us this

sacrifice of prayer, which is fully adequate

for all our needs of petition, and which

gives to Him infinite honor, adoration,

atonement, love, praise and thanksgiving.

Let us then make more and better use of

our opportunities of assisting at the ador-

able Sacrifice. We will experience then

in very truth the goodness of Almighty

God to His creatures.

So, whatever difficulties may beset us,

let us cease weeping and lamenting and

have recourse to God in prayer. If we

did so, how much less misery there would

be in the world. Let us realize that the

God of our fathers still lives and that His

arm is as mighty as ever. With Abraham

let us always hope against hope, for “No

one has hoped in the Lord and has been

confounded” (Ecclus. ii. 11).

63



CONTENTS
Page

The Goodness of Our Savior to Those

Who Trust Him 3
Consolation in Spiritual Trials 5

Mercy for Sinners - 8

Consoling Promises of the Old Law 11

Promises of the New Law 12

How God Manifests His Mercy
toward Sinners 13

God’s Dealings with Sinners 16

The Treasury of God’s Mercy Is

Inexhaustible 24

The Sin of Presumption 28

Help in Temporal Needs and Afflictions 31

Prayer, Our Means of Access to

God’s Goodness 32

Our Need of Recourse to Prayer .... 33

Why We Believe in the Efflcacy of
Prayer 35

Qualities of Prayer by Which God’s

Goodness Is Moved 36

Prayer Should Be Persevering and

Confident 38

Confidence is the Key to the Treas-

ures of God 42

Childlike Trust 44

Patience Must Accompany Confi-

dence 47

Even Unanswered Prayers Are a

Proof of the Goodness of God 52

The Power of United Prayer 59

The Mass, the Most Powerful Prayer 60



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