Page:Withgodbookofpra00las.djvu/101

 it daily,"  says  St.  Alphonsus,  "that  we  may obtain it  for  that  day/'  If  we  neglect  prayer a single  day,  we  may  fail  to  obtain  it,  and  may then fall  into  sin  and  die  in  sin. But if  we pray  daily  for  perseverance,  we  shall  most assuredly obtain  it,  according  to  the  Saviour's promise.

"All the  reprobate,"  says  St.  Alphonsus, "have been  lost  in  consequence  of  their neglect  of  prayer;  and  all  the  saints  have become  saints  by  prayer;  had  they  neglected prayer,  they  could  not  have  become  saints and  should  not  even  be  saved.  I  would  wish to  do  nothing  else  than  write  and  speak  always on  this  great  means  of  prayer;  for,  on  the  one hand,  I  see  that  the  Scriptures,  the  Old  as well  as  the  New  Testament,  exhort  us  so  often to  pray,  to  ask  and  cry  out  if  we  wish  for  the divine  graces.  'Cry  to  Me,  and  I  will  hear thee'  (Jer.  xxxiii.  3).  'Call  on  Me,  and  I  will deliver  thee'  (Ps.  xlix.  15).  'All  things  whatsoever you  ask  when  you  pray,  believe  that you  shall  receive,  and  they  shall  come  unto you'  (Mark  xi.  24).  'You  shall  ask  whatever you  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you' (John  XV.  7).  'If  you  shall  ask  Ale  anything in My  name,  that  I  will  do'  (John  xiv.  14). There are  a  thousand  similar  passages. I know not  how  the  Lord  could  better  declare