St. Ambrose was the bishop of Milan, Italy who baptized St. Augustine in the second half of the 4th century AD.  This excerpt on prayer highlights the value of engaging the prayer of the whole body of Christ, the Church, rather than simply praying by yourself.

"Offer to God a sacrifice of praise and pay your vows to the Most High.

To praise God is both to make your vow and to fulfill it. That is why the Samaritan in the story is placed above his companions: with nine other lepers he was cured of his leprosy by the command of the Lord, but he alone came back to Christ, praised the greatness of God and gave thanks. Jesus said of him: There was none of these who returned and thanked God, except this foreigner. And he said to him: Rise up and go on your way, for your faith has made you whole.

The Lord Jesus also taught you about the goodness of the Father, who knows how to give good things: and so you should ask for good things from the One who is good. Jesus told us to pray urgently and often, so that our prayers should not be long and tedious but short, earnest and frequent. Long elaborate prayers overflow with pointless phrases, and long gaps between prayers eventually stretch out into complete neglect.

Next he advises that when you ask forgiveness for yourself then you must take special care to grant it also to others. In that way your action can add its voice   as you pray. The apostle also teaches that when you pray you must be free from anger and from disagreement with anyone, so that your prayer is not disturbed or broken into.

The apostle teaches us to pray anywhere, while the Savior says Go into your room – but you must understand that this “room” is not the room with four walls that confines your body when you are in it, but the secret space within you in which your thoughts are enclosed and where your sensations arrive. That is your prayer-room, always with you wherever you are, always secret wherever you are, with your only witness being God.

Above all, you must pray for the whole people: that is, for the whole body, for every part of your mother the Church, whose distinguishing feature is mutual love. If you ask for something for yourself then you will be praying for yourself only – and you must remember that more grace comes to one who prays for others than to any ordinary sinner. If each person prays for all people, then all people are effectively praying for each.

In conclusion, if you ask for something for yourself alone, you will be the only one asking for it; but if you ask for benefits for all, all in their turn will be asking for them for you.  For you are in fact one of the “all”.  Thus it is a great reward, as each person’s prayers acquire the weight of the prayers of everyone. There is nothing presumptuous about thinking like this: on the contrary, it is a sign of greater humility and more abundant fruitfulness."

THE SAINT MONICA SODALITY PRAYER

Please recite this prayer DAILY for your intentions and

 in union with all those also saying this prayer:

Eternal and merciful Father, I give You thanks for the gift of Your Divine Son Who suffered, died and rose for all mankind.  I thank You also for my Catholic Faith and ask Your help that I may grow in fidelity by prayer, by works of charity and penance, by reflection on Your Word, and by regular participation in the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.

You gave Saint Monica a spirit of selfless love manifested in her constant prayer for the conversion of her son Augustine.  Inspired by boundless confidence in Your power to move hearts, and by the success of her prayer. I ask the grace to imitate her constancy in my prayer for [name(s)] who no longer share in the intimate life of Your Catholic family.  Grant through my prayer and witness that (he/she/they) may be open to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit, and return to loving union with Your Church.  Grant also that my prayer be ever hopeful and that I may never judge another, for You alone can read hearts.  I ask this through Christ, our Lord.  Amen. 

Printed with Diocesan Approval, Diocese of Cleveland 1986

Saint Monica Sodality prays for dear souls to return

 to the Catholic Faith, and for conversion of sinners.

HOW CAN WE BRING THEM TO JESUS?

As parents come to the altar during Mass to receive Communion and bring their infants and toddlers to be blessed by the priest, so too, can we bring to the altar, spiritually, those we are praying to return to the Catholic Faith and return to union with us, their family.  The Holy Mass is the most powerful prayer given to us by God.  So let us bring all our needs and intentions and unite them with Jesus who offers Himself to the Father.

          The ways we can bring them to Jesus along with the Holy Mass is to recite the Saint Monica Sodality Prayer every day, to say the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet for their intention, and by writing their names on the petitions slips found at the Petition Box near St. Michael statue at the church entrance.  These petition slips will be placed in a covered album and brought to the altar during the monthly Mass which is offered for the intention of the St. Monica Sodality.  And, when possible, we can ask them to attend Mass with us.

 WHO CAN WE BRING TO JESUS?

Jesus healed the paralytic because He saw the faith of those who brought him.  We assume they are his friends, but they could easily have been family, or even strangers who took pity on him. 

          At first, we generally ask the intercession of St. Monica and St. Augustine for a person we love most dearly.  Soon, we begin to pray for family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.  And each time we pray the St. Monica Sodality Prayer, we are also praying for total strangers on whom we can take pity because we know their only true happiness is to be united with God, the Catholic Church and their loved ones who are also praying the St. Monica Sodality Prayer.          

God creates us out of love, we return His love in our acts of mercy.  Each act offered for love of another strengthens us to persevere and increases the depth of our love.

HOW CAN WE PREPARE OURSELVES TO RECEIVE JESUS?

Traditionally, the month of December is dedicated to

the Divine Infancy of Jesus.  And the virtue is Union.

Union of persons is agreement of mind and heart and will with the one it loves.  Supernaturally it is union of the soul with God.  In growth in the spiritual life, it is the last stage of sanctity which follows the purgative and illuminative way.  In it one is constantly aware of God's presence, and becomes habitually conformed to the will of God.  

This beautiful prayer can be used during Advent as an efficacious preparation for Christmas:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.  In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother.  Amen.

Also, this short Novena may be said December 16 to December 25:

O sweet little Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, born in a stable for love of us, please help me to make my heart ready for Your coming.  O holy, happy Mary, Mother of God, pray to your little Son for me.  Ask Him to