Day 4

Prayer

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me to keep You at the front of my thoughts, words and actions at all times.

My Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power. I love you. Thank you for loving me first.

+ Amen +

Reading

And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

– Luke 2:22-24

Reflection

Dear Mom’s greatest joy was her interior prayer life. It was a life that consisted of silence, homeliness, prayer and praises.

And this life brought her joy because she knew that by it, she loved God, glorified God and desired to be with God.

Now living under her roof as her children, we must do the same.

And for inspiration, we turn to Catholic religious orders. Their day is so filled with prayer that they are forced to slow down and schedule their activities around prayer. In other words, they are either in prayer or working in preparation for the next prayer.

They do not schedule prayer around life, they schedule life around prayer. And furthermore, they point their prayer, thoughts, words, actions and endeavors to God.

Let us do the same.

The Minim

In The Little Marian Way, the minimum standard we should maintain for our prayer life is called the “Minim” and consists of enrolling and wearing the Brown Scapular, reciting the Rosary daily, reciting the Three Hail Mary Devotion every morning and evening, and calling upon the saints for help.

Brown Scapular

In every Catholic religious order, members wear a uniform called a “habit”. This habit represents their new life of prayer. We too must adopt a habit, and it is called the Brown Scapular.

The Brown Scapular is a tiny brown cloth necklace that we wear under our clothes. Wearing it is a prayer to Dear Mom saying we belong to her and trust her. In this way, we begin living in prayer.

This devotion was delivered by Dear Mom to St. Simon Stock in 1251 and she made a promise to those who enrolled themselves into the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular, wore the scapular daily and practiced the authorized observances.

Her promise was that they will not be damned.

Prayer to God the Father

Every religious order commits to saying certain prayers throughout the day. For us, the first of these prayers that we will prioritize is the prayer to God Our Beloved Father.

Just as Dear Mom loved God, so must we. Our whole life, our whole being, our whole identity must be centered around God. We must love God so much, it is as if we hate everything else (Luke 14:26).

God is the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. By loving Christ, we love God. By loving the Holy Spirit, we love God. By loving God, we love the Holy Trinity.

That said, is it not tragic that we build a relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit, but not with the Father to Whom Christ directed all His love?

Is it not tragic that Christ loves the Father and desires to bring us to the Father, and yet, even by having a special devotion to Christ, our Father is a stranger to us?

Is it not tragic that the love between the Father and the Son is so complete, it is altogether another Person, the Holy Spirit, and yet, even by having a special devotion to the Holy Spirit, we do not even look at our Father?

Is it not tragic that the prayer Christ taught us, the “Our Father” points to the Father, that the Mass points to the Father, that the Church directs her prayers to the Father, and yet, even by partaking in these prayers, our hearts rarely speak to our Father?

As a child of Dear Mom, we must develop a more loving relationship with our Dear Dad.

He is not the wrathful judge or the distant king, but our tender Father. He wants us to love Him because then we can know His love for us, a love so deep, it is unfathomable.

Recognizing this, we must begin to say daily a prayer to Our Father that is inspired by the revelation of God the Father to Bl. Mother Eugenia.

The Rosary

The second of these prayers is the Rosary, which by now you have said for 3 days.

Since we have already talked about it, let me simply say: to say the Rosary with devotion is to rescue souls and go to Heaven.

It is a challenge and requires intense mental stamina, so I recommend saying the Rosary as part of your wake up prayers.

The combination of the Rosary and Brown Scapular is truly powerful. Hear these words from Dear Mom herself and St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, a doctor of the Church:

“One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I will save the world.” – Dear Mom to St. Dominic¹

“Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven.”
– St. Alphonsus de Ligouri¹

The Three Hail Mary Devotion

The third of these prayers we will say is the Three Hail Mary Devotion. It is very simple and takes 1 minute.

Every morning, and every evening, recite 3 Hail Mary’s and end with the following prayer, “O my Mother, preserve me this day (or night) from mortal sin.” This prayer signifies our total consecration to Dear Mom for the glory of God the Holy Trinity.

This devotion was delivered by Dear Mom to St. Mechtilde around the year 1270; and she also promised that for those who recite this devotion daily until death, she will visit them in their last hour and they will have a good death.¹

Calling Upon the Saints

The third prayer we will say daily is the invocation of the saints:

St. Joseph, pray for us.
St. Anne, pray for us.
St. Therese, pray for us.
My Guardian Angel, pray for us.

St. Joseph

We call upon St. Joseph because he truly is the most blessed and treasured of saints after Mary.

He was the guardian father of Christ, the one who protected Him from being killed by Herod and the one who taught Him carpentry.

He is the chaste spouse of Dear Mom, her just husband, her loyal protector, and the one whom she places so close to the center of her heart.

He is the guardian of the Holy Family, whom we become a part of when we become children of Mary. As such, he becomes our guardian father.

He is the patron of the Church, whom we are a part of; the patron of those who work, which we are all called to do; and the patron of the dying, which all of us will experience; and so he is our patron.

St. Joseph must never be forgotten. Though he is silent, he exercises great power in protecting his children.

St. Anne

We call upon St. Anne because she is the grandmother of Christ and the mother of Mary. She has a special love for us because she is now our grandmother as well.

St. Thérèse

We call upon St. Thérèse because she is the patroness of The Little Way, the shortcut to Heaven, the path where we become little children who do small things with great love for God and who trust God like children trust their parents.

Our Guardian Angel

We call upon Our Guardian Angel because when God asked our angel if he would preserve and protect us throughout our lives, he personally said “Yes!” out of love of God. Our angel loves us and wishes for us to be in Heaven.

The Rule

The Minim is only the minimum standard for our life of prayer. The standard of The Little Marian Way is called the Rule and it fills our day with prayer. We will discuss the Rule on the last day.

Life of Prayer

By practicing a life of prayer, our lives itself become prayer; and we also become mirrors of Dear Mom. She was humble, silent and poor. When we practice a life of prayer; we become humble, because Dear Mom helps us build this virtue; we become silent, because we are in prayer; and we become poor, because we yearn for God more than the world.

Today’s Task