it daily," says St. Alphonsus, "that we may obtain it for that day/' If we neglect prayer a single day, we may fail to obtain it, and may then fall into sin and die in sin. But if we pray daily for perseverance, we shall most assuredly obtain it, according to the Saviour's promise.
"All the reprobate," says St. Alphonsus, "have been lost in consequence of their neglect of prayer; and all the saints have become saints by prayer; had they neglected prayer, they could not have become saints and should not even be saved. I would wish to do nothing else than write and speak always on this great means of prayer; for, on the one hand, I see that the Scriptures, the Old as well as the New Testament, exhort us so often to pray, to ask and cry out if we wish for the divine graces. 'Cry to Me, and I will hear thee' (Jer. xxxiii. 3). 'Call on Me, and I will deliver thee' (Ps. xlix. 15). 'All things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you' (Mark xi. 24). 'You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you' (John XV. 7). 'If you shall ask Ale anything in My name, that I will do' (John xiv. 14). There are a thousand similar passages. I know not how the Lord could better declare
