QUOTATION: Why Prayer?

Say not, But where is the need of disclosing to God all my wants, if he already sees and knows them better than I ? True, he knows them; but God makes as if he knew not the necessities about which you do not speak to him, and for which you seek not his aid. Our Saviour knew well that Lazarus was dead, and yet he made as if he knew it not, until the Magdalene had told him of it, and then he comforted her by raising her brother to life again.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Way of Salvation and Perfection

QUOTATION: Confidence in God

The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive what you ask.

--St. Albert the Great

QUOTATION: God is Merciful

Since God has given us his Son, whom he loved as himself, how can we fear that he will deny us any other good that we ask of him? If, therefore, he has given us his Son, he will not refuse us pardon for the offences which we have committed against him, provided we detest them; he will not refuse us the grace to resist temptations, if we implore it of him; he will not refuse us his holy love, if we desire it; he will not, finally, refuse us Paradise, if we do not render ourselves unworthy of it by falling into sin. Behold how Jesus himself assures us of this: If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ

QUOTATION: Petitioning God

The best time to ask and obtain favors from God is the time of the Elevation.

--St. John Bosco

QUOTATION: Petitioning God

You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.

--St. Teresa of Avila

QUOTATION: Foolish Prayers

So blind are we in this mortal life, and so unaware of what will happen, so uncertain of even how we will think tomorrow, that God could not take vengeance on a man more easily in this world than by granting his own foolish wishes.

-- St. Thomas More

QUOTATION: Petitions

You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.


--St. Teresa of Avila

QUOTATION: Prayer, Fasting, Mercy

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God's ear to yourself.

-- Saint Peter Chrysologus

QUOTATION: Prayer

For prayer to be effective, our petitions should be for benefits worthily to be expected from God.

-- St. Thomas Aquinas

QUOTATION: The Merits of Jesus Christ

Our wretchedness should not make us uneasy, for in Jesus crucified we shall find all richness and all grace (cf. 1 Cor 1:5, 7). The merits of Jesus Christ have enriched us with all the wealth of God and there is no grace we might desire that we cannot obtain by asking for it.

--St. Alphonsus de Liguori