Recommended Book: First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians - Kindle Edition (get Kindle app for phone) (paid link)

Let us pray, then, and let us always be asking for grace, if we wish to be saved. Let prayer be our most delightful occupation; let prayer be the exercise of our whole life. And when we are asking for particular graces, let us always pray for the grace to continue to pray for the future; because if we leave off praying we shall be lost. There is nothing easier than prayer. What does it cost us to say, Lord, stand by me! Lord, help me! give me Thy love! and the like? What can be easier than this? But if we do not do so, we cannot be saved. Let us pray, then, and let us always shelter ourselves behind the intercession of Mary: "Let us seek for grace, and let us seek it through Mary," says St. Bernard. And when we recommend ourselves to Mary, let us be sure that she hears us and obtains for us whatever we want. She cannot lack either the power or the will to help us, as the same saint says: "Neither means nor will can be wanting to her." And St. Augustine addresses her: "Remember, O most pious Lady, that it has never been heard that any one who fled to thy protection was forsaken." Remember that the case has never occurred of a person having recourse to thee, and having been abandoned. Ah, no, says St. Bonaventure, he who invokes Mary, finds salvation; and therefore he calls her "the salvation of those who invoke her." Let us, then, in our prayers always invoke Jesus and Mary; and let us never neglect to pray.

I have done. But before concluding, I cannot help saying how grieved I feel when I see that though the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers so often recommend the practice of prayer, yet so few other religious writers, or confessors, or preachers, ever speak of it; or if they do speak of it, just touch upon it in a cursory way, and leave it. But I, seeing the necessity of prayer, say, that the great lesson which all spiritual books should inculcate on their readers, all preachers on their hearers, and all confessors on their penitents, is this, to pray always; thus they should admonish them to pray; pray, and never give up praying. If you pray, you will be certainly saved; if you do not pray, you will be certainly damned.

A Prayer to obtain Final Perseverance

Eternal Father, I humbly adore Thee, and thank Thee for having created me, and for having redeemed me through Jesus Christ. I thank Thee most sincerely for having made me a Christian, by giving me the true faith, and by adopting me as Thy son, in the sacrament of baptism. I thank Thee for having, after the numberless sins I had committed, waited for my repentance, and for having pardoned (as I humbly hope) all the offences which I have offered to Thee, and for which I am now sincerely sorry, because they have been displeasing to Thee, who art infinite goodness. I thank Thee for having preserved me from so many relapses, of which I would have been guilty if Thou hadst not protected me. But my enemies still continue, and will continue till death, to combat against me, and to endeavor to make me their slave. If Thou dost not constantly guard and succor me with thy aid, I, a miserable creature, shall return to sin, and shall certainly lose Thy grace. I beseech Thee, then, for the love of Jesus Christ, to grant me holy perseverance unto death. Jesus, Thy Son, has promised that Thou wilt grant whatsoever we ask in his name. Through the merits, then, of Jesus Christ, I beg, for myself and for all the just, the grace never again to be separated from Thy love, but to love Thee forever, in time and eternity. Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.

About Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Amazon recommendation: The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for All the Sundays of the Year (paid link)

Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696 - 1787) was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He is especially known for:

• Founding the Redemptorists religious congregation in 1732, which today has over 5,000 members and ministers in 78 countries.
• Being a prolific writer, authoring over 60 Latin and Italian works on spirituality, theology and moral theology. Some of his best known writings are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross.
• Promoting devotion to Mary and the Stations of the Cross, now a popular devotion practiced by Catholics worldwide.
• Pioneering advances in moral theology, allowing for nuanced judgments of moral acts while upholding absolute moral norms. His system influenced the field greatly.
• Composing beautiful sacred music, such as the Christmas hymn "Tu scendi dalle stelle" ("You Come Down from the Stars").
• Being named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871 for his theological writings and contributions.
• Canonized as a Catholic saint in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI. His feast day is August 1st.

St. Alphonsus was an influential, multi-talented figure who made major impacts on Catholic spirituality, music, theology and moral philosophy over his long career in the Church.