prayer is meant both vocal and mental prayer. Read attentively what is said in this book on mental prayer or meditation. Try to make at least a short meditation every day, or a spiritual reading with pious reflections and devout affections from a book like "The Following of Christ," or "The Lives of the Saints."
With the Royal Psalmist you should be able to say: "I had in mind the eternal years." (Ps. lx. 6).
" In all thy works, remember thy last end, and thou shall never sin." (Ecclus. vii. 40).
" We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come." (Heb. xiv 14).
" The number of the days of men at the most are a hundred years: As a drop of water of the sea are they esteemed: And as a pebble of the sands, so are a few years compared to eternity." (Ecclus. xviii. 8).
Say a little prayer daily for the grace of a happy death, e.g. the " Memorare," or " Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony!" "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. "
Cultivate a tender love and a fervent devotion to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, and to the Mother of Jesus, the ever Blessed Virgin Mary. Cultivate a practical devotion by imitating the virtues of Jesus and Mary in your daily life.
