Long beloved of Catholics worldwide, this book helps you conquer the obstacles that confront most people when they begin to try to pray regularly. Eugene Boylan discusses the nature and ways of prayer, the difficulties that you're likely to face if you don't pray, the purpose of meditation, and more. He examines all this not from a theoretical standpoint, but from the perspective of the individual Catholic who's trying to pray better. As such, this book offers you solid encouragement to press on in prayer.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

THERE is a process used for printing pictures in colour which involves the making of separate blocks for each elementary component colour in the picture. The prints from each of these blocks are superimposed on each other, and if the relative strength of each colour is correct, the result is quite natural. If, however, anyone shade is too weak, then there is a corresponding defect in final renedering of the true colour, which might perhaps be corrected by an extra printing of the weak component. Now, the purpose of these pages is something like that of the extra printing. It is not that the standard presentation of mental prayer is defective, but it would seem that the impression of mental prayer that many souls have received needs to be strengthened in certain "colours." That purpose explains the irregular extent of treatment which the reader will notice in these pages. The subject of methodical meditation is only outlined, as there are more than enough excellent books dealing with it in great detail. Besides, the souls for whom this book is primarily intended are those who cannot succeed with the usual methods of meditation, as well as, those who once were able to meditate but now find that it has become an impossibility to do so. In order to fit this "extra printing" into the general picture of prayer, the whole subject is, at least, outlined; certain phases which seem to need more detailed treatment being dealt with more extensively. But there is another reason why we have insisted on including a discussion of such states of prayer as those which we have called the prayer of faith, and why we beg the reader, whatever may be his position on the ladder of prayer, to read the whole work. Whatever may be said about the general law of the development of prayer when observed and averaged among a large number of different souls, most individuals find that their path of advance is extremely twisted and shows rapid and extensive variations. It would seem therefore that, except perhaps at the very beginning, an acquaintance with the nature and technique of all the different stages of prayer, is not only helpful at any stage, but even necessary at all of them. Despite the title of this work, it is not a scientific analysis or a classified catalogue of the various difficulties that may arise in prayer, with a complete practical solution of each one appended in its proper place. Its purpose is rather to discuss the nature and ways of prayer, not with scientific objectivity, but from the point of view of the individual, looking at it as it appears to him. In this way it is hoped to put the soul in position to deal with most of his own difficulties. Further, the primary purpose is not so much to instruct the reader as to encourage him to press on in prayer, and to induce him to seek further information from the works of more competent pens. That is why the treatment of the subject is so condensed; so much so, that it will need a second reading to extract all we have tried to say. This re-reading is all the more advisable from the fact that the earlier chapters will be more easily understood in light of those which follow. As the point is so well treated in many other works, it is assumed that the reader is aware of the necessity of mental prayer. A Christian who does not pray is like a man who neither thinks nor wills-a mere animal in the spiritual life. The pursuit of perfection is utterly impossible without mental prayer-which, of course, may be made quite unconsciously. In fact, it may be said that if a man does not pray he cannot save his soul.

This booklet clearly explains what mental prayer or "meditation" is and how to do it. Whereas larger books about this topic fail, this booklet succeeds in helping to seek a true understanding of mental prayer as a form of meditation. Takes the beginner step-by-step through the 3 basic aspects. Mental prayer is for all--so is this book.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Authentic prayer begins when we realize that we do not know how to pray. But what do we do after this realization? Pure Faith is a hardcover devotional written to help people deepen their interior life so that they can encounter God on a daily basis. It contains prayers for every occasion, prayers before and after Mass and Confession, prayers to various saints, and a wealth of advice on how to develop a rich prayer life.