Francis Xavier Lasance

“ Faith is our beacon -light in the storms of life. Faith is our strength and consolation in adversity. Faith is certainly a supernatural treasure of such value that no earthly good whatever can compensate for its loss. Purity of heart is the fairest ornament of a young man; faith is his most precious treasure. It resembles the bright light of the sun, which cheers and enlivens the face of nature, and without which the earth would be dark and dreary, cold and unfruitful. Infinitely more sad, however, would be our life without the bright rays of the true faith. ”

“ Therefore it is not wonderful that you, endowed as you were with all the qualities of a good child, with obedience, innocence, love of learning, modesty, and with harmless merriment, should have been the joy and delight of your parents and teachers, a spectacle to God, to angels, and to men! Yes, fair and golden were the days of your first youth, which you spent under the parental roof, beneath an unclouded sky. ”

“ Now, illumined with lively faith, with the outpouring of my whole soul and the fervor of my heart, I humbly beseech Thee, through the infinite merits of Thy painful sufferings, give me strength and courage to destroy every evil passion which sways my heart, to bless Thee in my greatest afflictions, to glorify Thee by the exact fulfilment of all my duties, supremely to hate all sin, and thus to become a saint. ”

“ He has grown up good and pious, innocent of evil, a spectacle to men and angels. Now death is approaching; the bystanders are dissolved in tears, the dying man alone is calm; he even smiles, a ray of celestial brightness hovers around his wasted features, he exclaims with his final gasp: "Jesus, I am Thine in life and in death! Jesus, mercy!" Now tell me, can God answer the prayer of this angel in the flesh by dooming him to annihilation? ”

“ Look upon us in Thy loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in the imitation of Thy holy family; that having revered Thee and loved Thee faithfully on earth, we may bless and praise Thee eternally in heaven. O Mary, most sweet Mother, to thy intercession we have recourse, knowing that thy divine Son will hear thy prayers. And do thou, O glorious patriarch, St. Joseph, assist us by thy powerful mediation, and offer, by the hand of Mary, our prayers to Jesus. ”

“ Such a young man we may behold going forth into a hostile world carrying his head very high, and full of self-reliance, but when he comes into the society of those whose beliefs differ from those which he professes, or who mock at religion, what then becomes of his courage? His heart at once sinks into his boots, so that, out of a wretched feeling of human respect, he eats meat on fast days, in order that he may not be jeered and laughed at. He never dares to make the sign of the cross or say grace before meals in the presence of those whose opinions differ from his own. ”

“ He restricts himself for the sake of others, accommodates himself to their tastes, is indulgent where he can be; he praises what is praiseworthy, and knows how to soften a necessary rebuke by sympathy and friendly interest. Cheerful without excess, he is obliging, affable, polite, without cringing; modest with superiors, benign with his equals, and condescending to inferiors.
O the power of love! O holy violence of self-denial.
Shall not such politeness, arising from such motives, and purchased at the price of such sacrifices, bear on its brows the stamp of genuine virtue? ”

“ And if at a period when as yet no evil concupiscence had stirred within the human breast, the eyes could work irretrievable ruin, how great, how terrible must be the result after the fall, when the enemy in our eyes works in concert with the enemy in our heart! When we see what came of a mere love of eating we may judge what a much stronger passion will do - unchaste, sensual desire kindled by bold, unguarded glances, and suffered to burst into fierce flames. ”

“ But the greatest torments of hell affect not so much the bodies as the soul of the damned. Think for a moment what pain home-sickness inflicts upon the soul of him who endures it, and then consider the lot of him who is condemned to hell. The reprobate will know and feel what he has lost by his sins. The pain of loss is immeasurably great. Never shall he enjoy the beatific vision of God; never shall he enter heaven, the home of the saints, the place of everlasting happiness and joy. What horror, what torment, what despair, will seize upon the souls of the damned! ”

“ O SACRED Heart of Jesus, filled with infinite love, broken by my ingratitude, pierced by my sins, yet loving me still, accept the consecration that I make to Thee, of all that I am and all that I have. Take every faculty of my soul and body, and draw me, day by day, nearer and nearer to Thy sacred side, and there as I can bear the lesson teach me Thy blessed ways! Amen.
Indulgenced Prayer to the Eucharistic Jesus
Dear Jesus, in the Sacrament of the Altar, be forever thanked and praised. Love, worthy of all celestial and terrestrial love! ”

“ Upon it there lies a young man who is about to draw his last breath, but who has been a grief to his family, a disgrace to his relatives. Ever since his boyhood he has been the slave of vice, and he has now become the deplorable victim of his evil passions. There he lies — there he dies — in despair. Now tell me again, can we inscribe upon the bier of the chaste young man, adorned as he was with virtue, words implying his life to have been a delusion? And can we eulogize the miserable victim of vice by affirming that he did nothing wrong? ”

“ The fear of God is honor and renown; With it the Christian wins a conqueror's crown, His portion in this world is peace and joy, In heaven 'tis bliss without alloy.
Ever bear in mind the maxim that has caused the conversion of so many sinners, and made so many saints — the memorable maxim that was enunciated by Jesus Christ Himself: "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?" ”

“ Who drifts into unbelief? Is it the men who spent their youth in prayer and study, and then as priests of God set an example to the world of a pure and blameless life? Is it the virgins consecrated to God who devote themselves in the solitude of the cloister to the contemplation of eternal truths? Is it the courageous youths who do their utmost to safeguard me virtue of chastity, and are careful to cleanse their consciences by a frequent reception of the sacraments? ”

“ O Mother of the Word incarnate! despise not my petitions, but, in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen
His Holiness, Pope Pius IX, by a rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Dec. n, 1846, granted to all the faithful every time that, with at least contrite heart and devotion, they shall say this payer, an indulgence of three hundred days.
Prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori to the Blessed Viring Mary
MOST holy and immaculate Virgin! O my Mother! thou who art the Mother of my Lord, the queen of the world, the advocate, hope, and refuge of sinners! ”

“ Thus, wherever we look around us in the immense, the boundless universe, we everywhere perceive object, design, and order. Can not we then comprehend, by means of our common-sense, that all this is not the work of chance, and was not brought into being by unintelligent, unreasoning forces and laws? Must we not rather exclaim in the inspired language of David: "The heavens show forth the glory of God "? Yes, let us say with grateful joyous hearts : There is a God; an omnipotent, an all-wise, an infinitely good and bountiful God! ”

“ ALMIGHTY and eternal God, I adore Thee, and I thank Thee for all the benefits which Thou, in Thy infinite goodness and mercy, hast conferred upon me. I thank Thee especially for having preserved and protected me this night.
ACT OF FAITH
MY GOD, I believe in Thee, because Thou art Truth itself, and, as Thou hast revealed them to her, I believe all the sacred truths which the holy Catholic Church believes and teaches. ”

“ What can be more unkind than to communicate our low spirits to others, to go about the world like demons, poisoning the fountains of joy? Have I more light because I have managed to involve those I love in the same gloom as myself? Is it not pleasant to see the sun shining on the mountains, even though we have none of it down in our valley? ”

“ To seek God's glory means peace and happiness to man. His glory and our happiness are inseparably united. This is man's destiny, as the little catechism teaches: "To know God, to love Him, to serve Him and to be happy with Him forever." This is true philosophy: Man tends naturally to happiness as to his last end, "a state of freedom from all evil and enjoyment of every good that can be desired, joined with the certainty of its everlasting duration." ”

“ If we long to possess Jesus, we must draw Mary to us. The Rosary is the sweet and powerful means of finding Jesus through His Mother. What, in truth, does Jesus eucharistic long for? What does He desire in abiding with us, except to live always in our thoughts, in our love? 'Do this in commemoration of Me,' did He say when giving us the Eucharist. Now, the Rosary responds to the same desire. As the Blessed Sacrament contains Jesus, with all the graces and virtues of His past states, so the Rosary calls up before the mind's eye all His mysteries. ”

“ O MY God, trusting in Thy promises and relying on Thy infinite power and goodness I hope to obtain pardon for my sins, the assistance of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
ACT OF LOVE
O MY God, I love Thee with my whole heart and above all things, because Thou art the Supreme Good and worthy of all my love. I am sorry for having displeased Thy infinite goodness by my sins. I desire to do Thy holy will and to love thee more and more. For the love of Thee I will love my neighbor as myself. ”

“ GOD of goodness and mercy, we commend to Thy all-powerful protection our home, our family, and all that we possess. Bless us all as Thou didst bless the holy family of Nazareth.
O Jesus, our most holy Redeemer, by the love with which Thou didst become man in order to save us, by the mercy through which Thou didst die for us upon the cross, we entreat Thee to bless our home, our family, our household. Preserve us from all evil and from the snares of men; preserve us from lightning and hail and fire, from flood and from the rage of the elements ”

“ Let others seek happiness in their wealth, in their talents: let them trust to the purity of their lives, the severity of their mortifications, to the number of their good works, the fervor of their prayers; as for me, O my God, in my very confidence lies all my hope. “For Thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope.” This confidence can never be vain. “No one has hoped in the Lord and has been confounded.” I am assured, therefore, of my eternal happiness, for I firmly hope for it, and all my hope is in Thee. ”

“ Who is it, for instance, who mocks at confession and communion, or despises and rails at the commands of the Church? It is the man addicted to vice, who finds it difficult to confess the shameful deeds which he commits over and over again. Who begins to, doubt about eternal punishment? The man addicted to vice, who trembles at the thought of hell, and heartily wishes that such a place did not exist. It is vice, the sinful gratification of the passions, which has produced heresies, and it is vice which keeps them alive. ”

“ Proper recreation and rest renew the body and maintain its power of endurance. Recreation is also good for the soul. As a gentle rain at night revives and refreshes the thirsty earth parched by the heat of the midday sun, even so innocent amusements recruit and refresh the mind fatigued with the duties of one's calling. ”

“ Hard work reveals our weakness and humbles us. Real hard work is not work done with facility and zest, as when a healthy lad runs his mile. Real hard work is gone through in spite of reluctance and pain, and occasional inability to proceed: it is as the limping, hobbling gait of a lame man. The advantages that men are born with, or come in for without labor, or possess henceforth in comfortable security without further need of effort, such are the advantages most likely to turn a man's head with vainglory. Still, labor as we may, some of us will never attain success in this world. ”

“ My first piece of advice is: take counsel of yourself. But you must do this calmly, without prejudice. Your heart should resemble a delicately balanced pair of scales; you must weigh all things fairly. You must not try to discover where and how you can most speedily grow rich and enjoy the vanities and amusements of the world. A young man who should take counsel of himself in such a fashion as this, and look at things from a purely material point of view, without reference to God and to his eternal salvation, would be greatly in danger of making a bad choice. ”

“ It is sad, my friend, but only too true, that when a young man has yielded to temptation, and become acquainted with vice, when after his grievous fall he does not at once arise and break with an iron will the fetters which habit is beginning to forge, the unhappy victim will fall again and again, sinking ever deeper and deeper, until ere long he will despair of being able to extricate himself from the slavery of impurity. ”

“ The brighter and more transparent is the glass of a window, the more readily do the rays of the sun penetrate into the room; but the dimmer the glass, the darker will the apartment be. The soul may be compared to glass, to a mirror, into which the beams of divine grace shine, and in which they are reflected. ”