Chapter 4
Section 4 of Guide for Catholic Young Women, Especially for Those Who Earn Their Own Living, by Rev. George Dichon. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapters 10-13 Chapter 10. Continuation But sometimes one gets up, as they say, wrong foot foremost.
That is, one feels so out of sorts, so cross and ill-natured, that one hardly knows what to do with oneself. At such times everything looks dark and is likely to go wrong, and many a poor girl who has not the habit of turning to God in prayer is turned all that day to evil, to passion, to dark and melancholy, and wicked thoughts. Many a one has lost a good place by simply giving way to such feelings.
It is on such occasions, and they will happen to everyone sometimes, that we see the power and loveliness of the habit of offering oneself with fervor to God in the morning. As soon as this dark and melancholy humor comes over one, this offering changes it all into a sweet and calm resignation to the holy will of God. The dreariness of the world inspires a longing for God in heaven,
and all that would foster sin and evil habits of passion now only draws and unites one more closely to God, according to Holy Scripture. All things work together for good to those who love the Lord. Romans 8.28 Then never mind how you feel in the morning.
If you are out of sorts, if you feel ill-humored and cross, if you feel even wicked and inclined to evil, if praying is burdensome to you, go right on, all the same. Cast yourself on God your Savior.
Tell him that at least you desire to be good, that you will not give way to these evil feelings, that you cannot help them, but you wish to be always mild and good and gentle. And ask the grace that you may go on and do your duty
and imitate your Lord the same as if you felt ever so devout. I cannot tell you how much you gain by such a course. These are the very times when we triumph over the devil, When we are dearest to God, advance the most in virtue, and go farthest in fixing the soul, so that it cannot be moved in all that is good. Then, on no account, though your occupation may give you little time, omit this offering of yourself to God in the morning, and unite yourself to him with fervor and with your whole soul.
All this is not so easy at first because you are not accustomed to it. But it will soon become easy, and you will get so used to it and so fond of it, that you would as soon lose your breakfast as to a minute. If called away suddenly from your prayers, your heart would continue to speak to God, though your hands and feet were occupied with something else, and you would perhaps pray with more fervor than if you had plenty of time at your own disposal. Chapter 11. Renewal of Good Intention Well now, suppose the day begun in this way,
and that with a cheerful and, so to speak, sweetened heart, you go about your daily labor or occupation. Many a long hour stretches out before you, and many a distracting thing will happen before the day closes. What shall we do in order not to forget or lose sight of these pious morning resolutions?
The Holy Apostle St. Paul tells us, we must pray without ceasing, And if we could carry out this precept, we should surely be in no danger, since the Lord has promised, and his promise will surely be fulfilled. Ask, and ye shall receive. Call on me, and I will help you. But who can pray without ceasing when work must go on?
When that work takes up one's time and attention completely, when one can hardly think of anything else, sometimes for a good while together, that certainly seems asking too much and more than we can do. Now I do not ask any more than you can do, nor any more than I know you will be glad to do, if you have made a good prayer in the morning.
I said that one should make a good intention in the morning to please God by all one's actions or sufferings during the day. That is beautifully expressed in some such words as these. O my God, I offer to thee all the thoughts, works, actions, and sufferings of this day, in union with those of Jesus Christ,
with the intention of doing everything only to please Thee. You see how beforehand, by a pious intention and desire of the heart, you have offered all that may happen during the day to the Lord, and joined all your actions to those of Jesus Christ. That is, you desire to behave in all things just as Jesus Christ would wish you to behave,
or, what is the same thing, to please Him and His Heavenly Father. Now that good desire is accepted by God and laid to your credit, And although afterwards you may do many things without actually thinking of God, such as eating, drinking, cooking, making beds, scrubbing, taking care of children, or any other duty, yet that morning's good intention spreads over them,
covers them all with the virtue of holy prayer, and makes them good in his sight. We pray without ceasing through these good intentions. Our sleep is a prayer if we make an intention to rest ourselves for God's glory, that we may be in better health and strength to serve him and do our duty. So our eating and drinking, by the same kind of intention,
is sanctified and made holy in the sight of God. Then, always make that good intention in the morning, and renew it from time to time during the day, saying, Let all my actions be to please my God. Or something else like it.
This will soon become natural to you. For having set out to talk with God, he will want to talk with you. God, the Holy Ghost, will, in his still and quiet way, put many a good thought and many a good desire into your heart,
many a holy sigh and devout prayer on your tongue. All you will have to do will be to listen to that still voice, which will continually be saying to you, Do this, it is pleasing to God. Let that alone, it will hurt your soul.
Pray now a little, that you may keep your soul fixed on your God, and many other such things. These short prayers, which the Holy Ghost will put in your mind from time to time, will keep your soul awake to God and attentive to please Him, so that you may with truth be said to pray without ceasing,
even if for some time you are not conscious of making an actual prayer. Especially in any time of temptation, when sin of any sort seems pleasant or good to you, will the voice of the Holy Ghost be heard in your soul. Child of God, beware.
That is a sinful thing. Pray, oh pray for grace to avoid it. Make a habit of attending to that voice within you, of shutting your eyes and ears and your whole mind to that evil temptation. Raise your soul quickly to God and cry out,
Lord Jesus, help me. Let me not fall into this or any sin. Or simply repeat with devout mind the holy names, Jesus, Mary. That cry will quickly reach heaven.
and God will send his help and put the temptation to flight. It is exceedingly important to get in the habit of praying short and fervent prayers at such times. By them we get a great victory over the enemies of the soul, and great strength to persevere, instead of being taken captive and led away in chains
to suffer all that the wicked enemy chooses to put upon us. Chapter 12. Of Prayer During the Day Besides the times of temptation, If at other times you feel devout and God stirs up in your heart a desire to pray
you need not feel afraid to give way to it If you could think of God the greater part of your time there is no harm but the greatest blessing and the greatest joy in so doing If you can think a good thought
or wish a good wish in the midst of your cooking or working or house cleaning or factory work be thankful to God for the favor and make the most of it It is certainly far better to remember God and eternal things than to be whirled about with a continual excitement in regards to matters of no consequence,
and to be forgetful of him, as some are, from morning till night, from day to day, from week to week, until they almost forget they are Christians. No, do you go on a different principle? Deepen and strengthen good thoughts on all occasions. Let the life of our Lord Jesus Christ here on earth be ever before you. Love to dwell on the particulars of his actions, as they are written down in the scriptures.
If your work comes hard, remember how he carried a heavy cross all the way up Mount Calvary. If anyone speaks evil of you, see him hanging on his cross, and the rabble underneath calling him every vile name they could think of. If tired and weary, think how he after a long weary travel had no place where he could lay his head. go over his blessed, humble, charitable conversations and discourses,
that you may always be learning something new, for your own increase in goodness and in the love of God. Sometimes it may nourish your soul to think of our Blessed Lady. Imagine her as she goes about the house, always ready to do everything that duty requires of her,
always so quiet and peaceable, always taking such delight in doing everything that could please her Maker, and in doing it in the most perfect manner, always so sweet and obliging to all her fellow creatures. She is indeed in a special way an example to you,
for it was in doing very much the same things that are required of you that she made herself so dear to God. Be sure to take advantage of all the usual opportunities of calling God to mind. For example, do not sit down to eat without blessing the food, and do not rise up without giving thanks for it.
Our meals in this way become a sort of station or stopping place, to recall to our minds what we are striving never to forget or lose sight of. They are very proper and suitable stations, too, since we should get ourselves in the habit of thanking God for all his mercies and all the means of sustaining this life,
which is given for gaining eternal life hereafter. End of section 4. Read by Melhart.
