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True prayer should lead us to love God and to serve our neighbour in our daily duties and in ordinary acts of kindness

Each person who genuinely experiences God in contemplation and is able to describe such things is like someone who has glimpsed bright scenes through Gaps in a 'cloud' which is Divine Life and Eternity. We cannot 'see' the whole picture.

As we travel towards Heaven, Christ is like a signal-man whom we rely on to send our messages to those waiting to meet us at our destination. Through Christ, we can be certain that our prayers reach God the Father, and the Saints.

As we praise God at Mass, with and through Christ, we praise Him with the whole Church, which includes the Saints of Heaven - here encircling the altar - and the Holy Souls.

The work of intercession is very important. By a single prayer we can - by God's grace - help a person in need just as when a man trapped in a gravel pit is helped when a rope is thrown down.

Some people begrudge having to look after sick relations. They even bang the dinner plates on the table. That's what it's like when we pray to God with resentment, or are angry about having to confess our sins.

It is a cause for sadness, that many people never pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - amongst whom might be their own friends and relations. It is not a light matter, either, that many do not themselves believe that they might need purification after death; it's as if they imagine they will all be perfect, ready for Heaven!

He had been transformed by his Holy Communion and by the prayer of a friend. On his forehead shone a new gem, which radiated an extraordinary light: sign of a particular virtue.

Whenever we 'show' the Lord in Prayer all our problems, hopes, sins, and resolutions, we make acts of trust in Him. By such acts, we are building a stairway which brings us even closer to Him - by His grace.

Those who, for love of God, have endured spiritual darkness in patience are brought at last to 'fly' in prayer far above everyday concerns. No-one reaches such blissful contemplation except those who rise up through the grace of Christ. It cannot be achieved by merely human efforts.

Someone who has been brought 'high' in prayer, and asked by the Lord to guide others, is like a climber on a mountainside who can call out to those below: "Come this way" or "Don't follow that ridge".

Someone who has been brought 'high' in prayer, and asked by the Lord to guide others, is like a climber on a mountainside who can call out to those below: "Come this way" or "Don't follow that ridge".

Someone who seeks for the 'historical Jesus' can meet Him through prayer and love. It's as if the Heart of Jesus Who is now alive and risen, is like a time-tunnel through which we can touch Him in His earthly life too.

Sincere praise, offered through Jesus, in the Spirit, to the Father of light, flies swiftly to the 'heart' of Heaven, as when an arrow pierces a cloud. Our prayers are worthwhile and effective.

Those who enter Heaven find, as if in a foreign country, beauty excitement and novelty. A contemplative who has seen Heaven in prayer, and returns to speak of it, is like someone who sends picture postcards to her friends, from a foreign city.

The Lord lifts some people 'high' in prayer, to see the glory of Heaven. By His Will, He causes them to reflect some of the glory back to others on earth, through their witness, as if they are a mirror.

When we pray, we approach the palace of our Heavenly King. Are we His friends or enemies? If a servant asks us for the password and we know it - it is 'Jesus' - our requests are granted.

When we pray to Christ, and also ask for the prayers of His Mother Mary and the Saints and holy Angels, we can be sure of their assistance. Indeed, grace pours upon our needy friends, when we intercede for them, just like a torrent of spring water in a fast-flowing river.

God sees every good effort of human beings to serve Him. Sincere people in many religions reach out towards Heaven, to praise their Creator, however they picture Him, and in the hope of contact with Him. Yet the Catholic Faith is different from other religions in that, at every Mass, Heaven is laid open above us. Christ's power and Christ's intercession allow us to reach the Father, in the Spirit, through baptism and faith and the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Because Jesus Christ is God as well as man, and Present amongst us at Mass, He is powerful enough to push aside the 'cloud' that separates earth and Heaven, and His perfect praise - joined with our praises - is offered to and accepted by God our Father.