O Jesus, Thou dost encourage me to strive for holiness: "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. 5:48). Now sanctity is union with God through love, and it is Holy Communion and prayer that bring about this loving union between God and my soul. I beg of Thee to give me a hunger and thirst for holiness. Through frequent Holy Communion and prayer, may that yearning be satisfied according to Thy promise, and may my soul be truly blessed!

0     Lord, Thou hast given me prayer as an unfailing means of salvation and holiness, and Thou didst promise that my prayers would be heard. "Ask, and it shaU be given you: seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." (Matt. 7:7-8). "All things, whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive; and they shall come unto you." (Mark 11:24). But this will happen on the condition that I abide in Thee [live in the state of Sanctifying Grace], for Thou also didst say, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7).

"Abide in me, and I in you" was Thy farewell appeal for my love the night before Thou didst die. Thou didst tell me why 1     should be united with Thee by love. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me." (John 15:4). I can do nothing without Thee. I need Thy help and Thy grace. Let me abide in Thee, and do Thou abide in me, that my prayers may be heard.

O Jesus, Thou dost tell me that it is through love that we abide in each other. "As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love." (John 15:9). In no other way can I be more intimately united with Thee in divine love than by the Sacrament of Thy love. Thou didst say, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him." (John 6:57). Give me the grace to receive Thee in Holy Communion often, so that my love for Thee may grow ever more fervent and my prayers may become more powerful.

O Lord, I believe that the special effect of Holy Communion is that It makes me grow in my love for Thee by giving me an increase of Sanctifying Grace. Through love, Thou dost take possession of my whole being. Thy first and greatest commandment is that I love Thee with my whole heart and above all things.

Through Holy Communion, help me to love Thee with my whole heart-witb undivided love, so that I may love nothing created except for Thy sake. Whatever is not loved and sought for Thy sake is worthless and only burdens the soul.

Through Holy Communion, help me to love Thee with my whole s0u/»with all my inclinations. Thou art always the same, and with utmost confidence I can rely wholly on Thee. Make me hate sin above every other evil, for only then will my soul be well disposed and blessed with Thy peace.

Through Holy Communion, help me to love Thee with my whole mind-so that I may value Thy good pleasure, Thy grace, Thy Heaven, above everything else-above my convenience, above all earthly treasures, above all knowledge and friendship, above health and life.

Through Holy Communion, help me to love Thee with all my strength-so that my eyes, ears, tongue, hands and feet, my imagination, memory, understanding and will may be consecrated to Thee and Thy service. How wretched would I be if possessing all these faculties of soul and body by the goodness of God, I should misuse them to offend Thee.

O Lord Jesus, the Eucharist is the most wonderful work of Thy love. Out of infinite love, Thou hast given me not only what Thou hast, but even what Thou art. At Holy Communion Thou dost give me Thy Body, Thy Blood, Thy Soul, Thy Divinity, Thy merits and Thy graces. Nowhere dost Thou bestow these graces more abundantly than in this Sacrament May such love awaken a return of love in my heart! I want to receive Thee in Holy Communion more frequently, so that I may abide in Thee and Thou in me. Then will my prayers be truly powerful, because they will come from a heart that is one with Thine own in deepest love and friendship. I shall pray to the Father in Thy Name and I shall be heard, for Thou didst say, "If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you." (John 16:23).

O Jesus, I can do nothing better than to present my prayers to Thee after Holy Communion. These moments are most precious, because then Thou art with me as God and Man for the very purpose of helping me and making me holy. Thou hast promised to hear my prayer; "If you ask me anything in my name, that I will do". (John 14:14). Thou dost come to my soul to apply to me the merits of Thy most holy life, of Thy painful sufferings, of Thy most bitter death. Thou dost come to enrich me with Thy heavenly treasures, to make my body pure and my soul holy, to help me live a life more like Thine own. May frequent Holy Communion teach me prayer-fulness and make me less unworthy of receiving the favors I ask for. Thy words give me great confidence: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you wiU, and it shall be done unto you". (John 15:7).

ARE YOU PRAYERFUL?

1. Are you in the habit of hurrying through your prayers or neglecting them?

2. Do you pray with confidence, perseverance, attention, resignation?

3. Do you ever speak to God in your heart while you work, walk, ride, wait; and do you make all that yon do a prayer, by willing it to be so?

4. Do you dream away your time during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or make a poor preparation for Holy Communion—or a half-hearted thanks-giving afterwards?

— NOVENA PRAYER —

Aspiration for the day: O Jesus, for love of Thee, with Thee and for Thee.
300 days (81)