21 December 2019
Memorial of Saint Peter Canisius
Peter Canisius, a great Jesuit saint, died on this date in 1597. He was born in the Netherlands and made the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola under the direction of St. Peter Faber. He was canonized and declared a doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.
In his Catechismus Minor, section 109, Canisius defines prayer this way: “It is the raising of the mind to God in order to bless God, to avoid what is evil, or to obtain what is good for ourselves and for others.” He adds that, for prayer to be good, the soul must have fides (faith), fiducia (trust), humilitas (humility), status gratiae (the state of grace), intentio (purpose) and attentio(attention), and the body must have modestia (modesty) and reverentia (reverence). Do you already have all of these qualities? If not, pick the one you want the most and try asking God for it.