Search Page

It is important that when we pray for other people, we pray with confidence and hope. God has foreseen everything that will ever happen. He has already taken account of our prayers, in His plans for souls, and our world. We should trust that when we ask, He helps.

We have an astonishing power when we pray with Jesus, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The whole Church is united in offering praise and thanks, to the delight of God the Father.

We have an astonishing power when we pray with Jesus, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The whole Church is united in offering praise and thanks, to the delight of God the Father.

We have an astonishing power when we pray with Jesus, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The whole Church is united in offering praise and thanks, to the delight of God the Father.

By our Baptism, and the indwelling of God, we are given the gift of prayer. When we pray in Jesus' name to the Father we are certain of being heard. It's as if we have a megaphone - but we make a clearer 'sound' if, by penance, we keep it free from dust.

When we pray in the name of Jesus to our Heavenly Father it is as though the 'door' to Heaven opens. The Father hears us; and the light of the glory of Heaven shines upon us.

The Lord wants us all to know that when we pray through and with Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we pray to the Father, in the Spirit, amidst the Saints, the Angels and the Holy Souls, who are united with us in our praise and thanksgiving.

Whether we are healthy or disabled, Christ told me that when we pray before the tabernacle, where He dwells, it is as though each of us is like a child sitting on the steps beneath His Heavenly throne, enjoying His company as He enjoys our conversation.

God our Father is kind and merciful; yet when we pray to the Father in the name of Christ, our Brother, we're like a little boy in the world, who asks his older brother to come with him while he asks for a special favour, or asks pardon for thoughtless behaviour. He can be certain that his brother will explain things perfectly, and ensure gifts, or forgiveness.

When we pray for the Faithful Departed we not only help them to be drawn closer to the light of Heaven - by the grace of Christ - we also bring them the consolation of knowing that they are not forgotten: that their friends and relations on earth hold them in their hearts, and long for them to find joy, on entering Heaven's glory.

When we pray for the living, and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, we cast our minds over our families and towns, to pray for everyone; and when we do so by accepting our sufferings in patience, as penance for ourselves and for others, we do the powerful work that Christ did on the Cross, as He offered Himself, and prayed to the Father for sinners.

When we pray in the name of Christ for the poor or the needy, our prayers reach Heaven as swiftly as when shopkeepers once sent money speeding in a metal capsule from one department to the next - so great is God's concern for them. As scripture says: "The Lord hears the cry of the poor".

When we pray at Mass, as the wine is consecrated, and is changed into the Precious Blood of Christ, we can be certain that the very Saviour Who once shed His Blood for our sakes on Calvary, is with us now, in our church, in a re-presentation of His Saving Work. He prays for us now (here at Douai Abbey), just as He once prayed for sinners from the Cross.

We are right to be confident when we ask the Saints of Heaven to pray for us or for people in need. Their prayers rise up like incense to the throne of God, and bring down upon us graces from Heaven. This is especially true when we pray at the shrine of a Saint: a shrine blessed by the Church.

When we pray with faith, in the name of Jesus, trusting in His merits and in the Father's goodness, our prayer of faith has a power greater than that of the greatest rocket. Our prayer pierces Heaven, and is granted, for Jesus' sake.

It is true that our prayers are sometimes granted when we pray in Jesus' name for a sick person to be made well again; yet even more important than good health is Eternal Salvation. That should be the other aim of our intercessions - and one of the reasons for requesting the powerfully effective sacrament of the Sick, for ourselves or for sick people we know.

Some people refuse to be helped towards salvation and joy. When we pray in the name of Jesus we should be confident that the Father will hear our prayers and grant many of our wishes: if they are in accordance with His Will; but it can happen that certain persons refuse to benefit from our intercessions. If they are people who insist on walking away from God, refusing to co-operate with His graces, we cannot raise them up to Heaven by our prayer. God has given them free will; and some condemn themselves.

Throughout history, people have called out to a god or 'gods' in the hope of being heard, but uncertain of it. If we belong to Christ by Baptism, and live in a state of grace, we can be certain that every prayer we offer is heard, and is answered in a way that is best for us. It's as if, when we pray, Jesus lowers a pail from Heaven, to draw up our prayers and petitions, as if up a well-lit shaft. Then He reads each prayer, in person, to God the Father. This is only one of the joys and privileges of being brothers and sisters of Christ, and adopted 'children of God'.

Few of us sufficiently appreciate our good fortune. To be baptised, and purified, and a member of the Church, is to be guaranteed a hearing, when we pray. It's as if each of us is held in Christ's arms, as He says to the Father: 'She is Mine. Hear her. Do as she asks!' The state of such a person is more secure that the state of a person who does not know Christ but calls out in prayer, uncertain that he is heard.

God wants us all to help one another, yet there are souls in the depths of Purgatory who have never been prayed for by their Protestant relations who do not believe either in Purgatory or in prayer for the deceased. But when we pray for the dead it's as if we let down a rope, to help people to rise up towards Heaven. We need to share reminders about the importance of such prayer.