LENTEN BOOTCAMP DAY 26 – CONTINENCE
DAY 26 – MARY, SINGULAR VESSEL OF DEVOTION, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE FRUIT OF CONTINENCE!
Becoming “Masters of Mental Prayer.” Each day, during Lent, we will practice “Mental Prayer,” as we reflect on, and desire the greatest gifts, so God may show each one of us a “More Excellent Way” (1 Cor. 12:13). Do your best to find a minimum of 15 minutes each day. By the regular practice of Mental Prayer, you will become more attuned to the “Still Small Voice.”
GUIDE TO MENTAL PRAYER: HERE
GOD’S WORD
A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. (Proverbs 25:28)
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27).
HEROES’ WORDS
He who is chaste in flesh should not be proud, for he should know that he owes the gift of continence to another. –Pope St. Clement I
I thought that continence was a matter of our own strength, and I knew that I had not the strength: for in my utter foolishness I did not know the word of Your Scripture that none can be continent unless You give it. –St. Augustine
Great are those two gifts, wisdom and continence: wisdom, forsooth, whereby we are formed in the knowledge of God; continence whereby we are not conformed to this world. –St. Augustine
MEDITATION
Self-Control (or Continence): The virtue by which a person controls the unruly movements of sexual desire or other bodily emotions. It is connected with the virtue of temperance. It generally means the chastity to be observed by the unmarried. But it may also refer to the abstinence, in marriage, voluntarily agreed upon by both parties or forced by circumstances to abstain from marital intercourse. (Fr. John Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary).
BY THY HOLY AND IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, OH MARY, DELIVER US FROM EVIL. AMEN – OUR LADY OF AMERICA
