Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection

by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Overview

Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church and justly revered for his efforts and achievements as a pastor and bishop, St. Alphonsus offers here one of the most powerful and accessible primers on the art of prayer ever written.

The graces necessary for salvation cannot be obtained from God except by prayer, explains the legendary eighteenth-century saint and scholar. Indeed, the damned have been lost precisely through their failure to pray, and all the blessed have been saved by their perseverance in prayer.

Unbeknownst to many, mental prayer is the only weapon sufficient to overcome every assault of the devil. Prayer is a port where we are safe in every storm, and a treasure that provides us with every good. It is only through the reflection and meditation of mental prayer that we come to know eternal truth, identify the hidden sins that keep us from salvation, and gain the inspiration of holy thoughts, desires, and resolutions.

With St. Alphonsus's wise and holy advice, you'll learn not only how to master the art of mental prayer, but also:

• How to becomes docile and tender to the influence of grace

• Why God permits you to be assaulted by your enemies

• Why the grace of salvation is not a single grace but a chain of graces linked with that of final perseverance

• The key to developing confidence in your prayers

• The three reasons God delays granting you perseverance

• How prayer overcomes worries about being saved

• How souls in Purgatory can serve as spiritual aides for you

• The critical differences between mental prayer and devotional prayer

• Key prayers Alphonsus himself offered and his specific recommended daily aspirations

• What the ancient Church Fathers determined was the single most useful prayer exercise

• The ideal place, time, duration, and posture for prayer

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644135426
Publisher:	Sophia Institute Press
Publication date:	07/27/2021
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

St. Alphonsus was filled with a great zeal for souls. His eloquent sermons, wise teachings, and kindness as a confessor won many souls for Christ. “In God you possess the most exalted and supreme Lord,” he wrote in his book How to Pray at All Times (1753), “but also a Friend who loves you with the greatest possible love. He is not offended—on the contrary He is pleased—when you treat Him with that confidence, freedom, and tenderness with which a child treats its mother.” Through his inspiring words and instructive teaching, St. Alphonsus’s enduring works continue to show souls how to develop such friendship with God.

Table of Contents

Editor's Note xi

Foreword Dan Burke xiii

Part I The Necessity, Power, and Conditions of Prayer

1 The Necessity of Prayer 5

2 The Power of Prayer 29

3 The Conditions of Prayer 43

Part II The Grace of Prayer Given to AH and This Grace's Ordinary Mode of Operation

Introduction 81

1 God Wishes All Men to Be Saved, and Therefore . Christ Died to Save All Men 83

2 God Gives to All the just the Grace Necessary for Observance of the Commandments, and to All Sinners the Grace Necessary for Conversion 105

Part III Mental Prayer

1 Mental Prayer Is Morally Necessary for Salvation 129

2 Mental Prayer Is Indispensable in Order to Attain Perfection 135

3 The Ends of Mental Prayer 141

4 Principal Subjects of Meditation 147

5 The Place and Time Suitable for Meditation 149

6 The Manner of Making Mental Prayer 155

7 Distractions and Aridities 163

8 Prayers of St. Alphonsus 167

About the Author 181