St. Alphonsus' Meditation

St. Alphonsus' 
Manner of Making Mental Prayer 
 

I.

In the PREPARATION the following acts may be made: 
My God, I believe that You are here present, and I adore You with all my heart.

I deserve at this moment to be burning in hell for my sins*; O my God, I am sorry for having offended You; pardon me.

Eternal Father, grant me light in this meditation, that I may profit by it.

Then say a Hail Mary to the divine Mother, and a Glory be to the Father, etc., in honor of St. Joseph, of your guardian angel, and of your holy patron.

II.

Then read the MEDITATION [ie. the psalms, New Testament, or other spiritual reading]; yet whilst reading we should stop at those passages in which the soul finds that it is receiving nourishment; and we should try to produce acts of humility, of thanksgiving, especially of contrition and love, of resignation and self-offering. We should say:

O Lord! dispose of me as You please; help me to know all that You require of me: I wish to please You in all things.

We should especially apply ourselves to making petitions, in asking God to grant us holy perseverance, his love, light, and strength, that we mostly need in order to do his holy will, and to pray always.

III.

The CONCLUSION is made thus: We make the resolution to avoid some particular sin into which we fall the most often. We should finish by saying an Our Father and, a Hail Mary, and never forget, in meditation, to recommend to God the souls in Purgatory, and all poor sinners.