<p>Saint Alphonsus says: "I HAVE already published several spiritual works, viz.: Visits to the blessed Sacrament, the Clock of the Passion of Jesus Christ, the Glories of Mary, a volume containing a Refutation of Materialism and Deism, and several small Treatises of Devotion, a Novena of the Nativity, which treats of the infancy of our Lord, a Book on the eternal maxims, entitled, a Preparation for Death, which contains a great deal of useful matter, for Sermons and Meditations, and also nine Discourses for the time of public calamities. But of all these works, I do not consider one more useful than this little book which treats of prayer as a secure and necessary means of obtaining salvation and all the graces necessary for it. Were it in my power, I would publish as many copies of this little work, as there are christians on earth, and would give to each a copy, that each might be convinced of the absolute necessity of prayer for salvation.I speak in this manner of this little treatise, because on the one hand, I see the absolute necessity of prayer so strongly inculcated in every page of holy writ, and in the writings of all the fathers, and on the other, I perceive that very few christians make use of that great means of salvation. What grieves me most, is, that though .there is no practice on which preachers, confessors, or spiritual writers, should insist with greater warmth, or in stronger terms, than on that of prayer; still, I know, that preachers seldom recommend it to their auditors, or confessors to their penitents, and that the spititual books most currently circulated amongst the people, do not sufficiently detail its advantages or inculcate its necessity. They indeed suggest many excellent means of preserving sanctifying grace, such as to avoid the occasions of sin, to frequent the sacraments, to resist temptations, to hear the word of God, to meditate on the truths of eternity, and other means; all of which are, I admit, most useful. But of what use, I ask, are sermons, meditations, and all the means proposed by masters of spiritual life, without prayer, when Jesus Christ has declared that he will grant his grace only to those who ask it. 'Ask,' he says, 'and you shall receive.' In God's ordinary providence, all our meditations, and good purposes, and promises, will be fruitless without prayer. If we do Dot pray, we will be for ever unfaithful to all the inspirations of God's grace, and to all our own promises. Because, to do actual good, to overcome temptation, and to practise virtue; in a word, to observe all the divine precepts, the light which God pours into our souls, and the reflections and resolutions which we ourselves make, are insufficient. The actual assistance of God is moreover necessary, and, as we will immediately see, the Almighty grants this actual assistance to those only who pray, and persevere in prayer. The lights we receive, and our own considerations and good purposes, enable us actually to pray, when tempted to transgress the divine law, and by prayer, to obtain from God actual help, by which we will avoid sin. But if, in temptation, we do not pray, we shall be lost.Saint Alphonsus reminds us: "The Pelagians erroneously asserted thatPrayer is not necessary to obtain salvation."</p>

A Short Treatise on Prayer: The Great Means of Obtaining from God Eternal Salvation

Religion & Spirituality

Ligouri, St. Alphonsus

Christian Books & Bibles

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The Glories Of Mary

The Glories of Mary

This book should be confused with shorter works by Saint Alphonsus issued under the title of 'The Glories of Mary'. This is a photographic reprint of the 1852 edition of the English translation of this work, and is complete. The first section is an exhaustive explanation of the Salve Regina, the Hail Holy Queen. At the end of this section is a collection of devout prayers by the Saints to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is not in other editions. The second section is a series of discourses on the seven major feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These are the Immaculate Conception, the Birth of Mary, The Presentation of Mary in the Temple, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Purification of Mary at Jesus' Presentation in the Temple, and the Assumption. Added to this is a discourse on the Seven Sorrows of Mary. The next section goes into detail into each of the seven dolors of Mary. The next section considers the many virtues of Mary, her humility, charity, faith, hope, chastity, poverty, obedience and patience. Also Mary's prayer is considered in depth, since she is a model for us in prayer. This section includes the many practices of devotion to Mary, such as the Hail Mary, the Novenas before her feasts, the Rosary, fasting, visiting images of Mary, the Brown Scapular, etc.

The Stations of the Cross and the Stations of the Passion as observed in Jerusalem have been added. Saint Augustine says, that there is nothing, more condusive to the attainment of eternal salvation, than to think every day on the pains which Jesus Christ hp,s suffered for the love of us. "Nothing is more salutary than to think daily on what the Man-God has endured for us." And before him, Origen said, that sin cannot reign in the soul that frequently meditates on the death of the Saviour. "It is certain that, when the death of Christ is carried about in the soul, sin cannot reign in it." Besides, our Lord revealed to a holy solitary, that there is no exercise better calculated to kindle in the heart the fire of divine love, than the nleditation of his passion. Hence, Father Balthazzar Alverez used to say, that ignorance of the treasures we have in the passion of Jesus Christ, is the ruin of Christians. Hence, he would tell his penitents, that they should not consider thelnselves to have done anything until they had succeeded in always keeping in the heart Jesus crucified. According to St. Bonaventure, the wounds of Jesus are wounds which soften the hardest hearts, and inflame the most frozen souls. "0 vulnera," exclaimed the saint, "corda saxea vulnerantia, et mentes congelatas inflammantia."

The Clock of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: With Considerations on the Passion

OUR holy faith teaches us, and we are bound to believe, that in the consecrated Host, Jesus Christ is really present under the species of bread. But we must also understand that He is thus present on our altars as on a throne of love and mercy, to dispense graces, and there to show us the love which He bears us, by being pleased to dwell night and day hidden in the midst of us. It is well known that the Holy Church instituted the Festival of Corpus Christi with a solemn octave, and that she celebrates it with the many usual processions, and such frequent expositions of this Most Holy Sacrament, that men may thereby be moved gratefully to acknowledge and honour this loving presence and dwelling of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, by their devotions, thanksgivings, and the tender affections of their souls. O God! how many insults and outrages has not this amiable Redeemer had, and has He not daily, to endure in this Sacrament on the part of those very men for whose love He remains upon their altars on earth! Of this He indeed conlplained to His dear servant Sister Margaret Alacoque, as the author of the Book of Devotion to the Heart of Jesus relates. One day, as she was in prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament, Jesus showed her His Heart on a throne of flames, crowned with thorns, and surmounted by a cross, and thus addressed her: "Behold that Heart, which has loved men so much, and which has spared Itself nothing; and has even gone so far as to consume Itself, thereby to show them Its love; but in return the greater part of men only show Me ingratitude, and this by the irreverences, tepidity, sacrileges, and contempt which they offer Me in this Sacrament of Love; and that which I feel the most acutely is, that they are hearts consecrated to Me." Jesus then expressed His wish, that the first Fridtty after the Octave of Corpus Christi should be dedicated as a particular festival in honour of His adorable Heart; and that on that day all souls who loved Him should endeavour, by their homage, and by the affections of their souls, to make amends for the insults which men have offered Him in this Sacrament of the Altar; and at the same time He promised abundant graces to all who should thus honour Him.

Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary

<p>In the ascetical writings of the holy Bishop and Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, there is a characteristic charm and an irresistible attraction. Whoever reads them with the proper dispositions will discover in them an indefinable something that appeals to the heart and stirs it to its very depths. We imagine we see the loving personality of the holy Bishop before us, and hear the words of eternal life from his very lips. According to a beautiful legend, the visitor at the shrine of St. John at Ephesus can hear the pulsations of the Saint's heart enclosed in the tomb. The heart of Alphonsus still throbs in his ascetical writings, where the whole being of the Saint seems enshrined. Little wonder therefore that the reverence and love entertained towards him in life should have passed to his edifying works, the reflex of his very self. There are few ascetical writers more widely known and more sincerely loved than St. Alphonsus.The present volume is made up of choice selections from the various ascetical writings of the Saint. The order of virtues considered is that followed by the spiritual sons of St. Alphonsus in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. For each month of the year is assigned a particular virtue to which they are to devote their especial attention. This is a practice highly recommended by the masters of the spiritual life, and is fraught with the happiest results. It is hoped that the faithful will derive spiritual profit and pleasure from this course in "The School of Christian Perfection."Saint Alphonsus Mary de Liguori was born in 1696 near Naples, Italy, to a noble Neopolitan family. He was the son of a captain of the royal galleys. St. Alphonsus received a doctorate in both canon and civil law at the age of sixteen, and practiced law very successfully for eight years. But he abandoned the practice of law to become a priest, being ordained in 1726.In 1732 St. Alphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Redemptorists. This order was established in the face of huge difficulties; it was even divided by a schism at the time of St. Alphonsus' death. The Redemptorists have become famous for giving "missions" to enkindle and rejuvenate souls with true religious fervor.In 1762 St. Alphonsus was obliged to become Bishop of St. Agatha. As bishop he reformed his small but slack diocese, but chronic ill health forced him to retire and he devoted himself anew to ascetical and moral theology. His experience in a lay profession, combined with natural common sense and sweetness of disposition, helped much to make him the best known of all moral theologians.St. Alphonsus wrote numerous books, including his Moral Theology; of his many excellent devotional works, the masterpiece entitled The Glories of Mary is the most famous. He also spent much time combating anticlericalism and the heresy of Jansenism, and he was involved in several controversies regarding probabilism.During the last years of his life St. Alphonsus suffered from ill health, especially from rheumatism which left him partially paralyzed. He experienced the dark night of the soul for several years toward the end of his life, but this period of suffering was followed by a period of peace and light during which he experienced visions and ecstasies, performed miracles, and made prophecies that later came true.St. Alphonsus died in 1787, within two months of his 91st birthday. He was canonized in 1839, and in 1871 Pope Pius IX declared him a Doctor of the Church. His body rests in the church of his fathers at Pagani di Nocera.</p>

The School of Christian Perfection

St. Alphonsus was born in the village of Marianella near Naples, Italy, September 27, 1696. At a tender age his pious mother inspired him with the deepest sentiments of piety. The education he received under the auspices of his father, aided by his own intellect, produced in him such results that at the early age of sixteen, he graduated in law. Shortly after, he was admitted to the Neopolitan bar. In 1723, he lost a case, and God made use of his disappointment to wean his heart from the world. In spite of all opposition he now entered the ecclesiastical state. In 1726, he was ordained a priest. He exercised the ministry at various places with great fruit, zealously laboring for his own sanctification. In 1732, God called him to found the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, with the object of laboring for the salvation of the most abandoned souls. Amid untold difficulties and innumerable trials, St. Alphonsus succeeded in establishing his Congregation, which became his glory and crown, but also his cross. The holy founder labored incessantly at the work of the missions until, about 1756, he was appointed Bishop of St. Agatha, a diocese he governed until 1775, when broken by age and infirmity, he resigned this office to retire to his convent where he died. Few saints have labored as much, either by word or by writing, as St. Alphonsus. He was a prolific and popular author, the utility of whose works will never cease. His last years were characterized by intense suffering, which he bore with resignation, adding voluntary mortifications to his other pains. His happy death occurred at Nocera de Pagani, August 1, 1787.

The Great Means Of Salvation And Of Perfection: Bonus Book -Uniformity with God's Will - Includes Prayers of St Alphonsus

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