Page:Prayerbookforrel00lasa 0.djvu/46



HIS justly  celebrated  sentence  of  St.  Alphonsus Liguori, who  may  well  be  called  the  "  Doctor  of Prayer,"  finds  a  fitting  place  at  the  beginning  of  this book of  devotions  for  Religious. It was  neither  lightly nor by  chance  that  St.  Alphonsus  wrote  these  solemn words. Their truth  had  been  impressed  upon  his  mind during his  long  experience  as  a  missionary  priest,  and  in confirmation  of  it  many  proofs  from  Holy  Writ  and  from tradition are  adduced  by  the  holy  Doctor  in  his  treatise on prayer.

St. Alphonsus  writes:  " Prayer  is  a  sure  and  indispensable means  of  obtaining  salvation  and  all  the  graces leading  thereto.  Convinced  as  I  am  of  the  necessity  of prayer,  I  say  that  all  books  treating  of  spiritual  subjects, all  preachers  in  their  sermons,  all  confessors  in  every confession  which  they  hear,  should  attach  the  greatest importance  to  inculcating  the  necessity  of  constant prayer  on  the  minds  of  their  readers  and  hearers,  and they  should  never  tire  of  impressing  it  on  them  and  of repeating  over  and  over  again:  Pray,  pray  always; if  you  pray,  you  will  certainly  save  your  souls;  if  you  do not  pray,  you  will  certainly  lose  them.  It  is  true  that many  excellent  ways  of  persevering  in  the  grace  of  God may  be  recommended  to  souls;  for  instance,  avoiding occasions  of  sin,  frequenting  the  sacraments,  resisting temptation, listening  to  sermons,  meditating  on  the