From the prayers of Bl. Alphonse Marie

Prayer before receiving the sacrament of reconciliation

“My God and Saviour, I now wish to receive the sacrament of penance. Grant the necessary light to my confessor, that he may guide me according to your will on the path you have appointed for me.”

Shortly before confession one should turn urgently to God with these words:
“My Divine Spouse, I rely on you: whatever my confessor tells me, I want to receive as if you yourself had said it to me. But now, my Divine Spouse, open my heart, that I may know what I am to say. My Jesus, I am so wretched that I do not know myself; help me to look into my own heart and to recognise what displeases you in me. Grant me, my Jesus, sincerity and resolve to tell everything. Jesus, my Divine Spouse, have mercy on me!”

Prayer before the sacrament of reconciliation and a petition for the confessor

“Jesus, my Divine Spouse, the moment is now coming
when I am to reveal all my inner self to the confessor you have appointed for me. Help me to lay before him not only the bad,
but also all the good inclinations with which you have endowed me,
so that he may guide me in such a way that pride and selfishness may find no more place in my heart.
Jesus, my Divine Spouse, give the necessary light to my confessor,
that he may know your most holy will. I leave myself entirely to you, my Jesus, and in your name I want to obey my confessor.
Lead him according to your most holy will.
My Jesus, whatever I hear from the lips of my confessor I want to hold to exactly and to receive as if you yourself commanded it. Come to my help, my Jesus, through my confessor; let him know your most holy will. I leave myself entirely to you and I want to listen to my confessor.”

“I want to obey my confessor,
for when I obey him, I am in fact obeying you.”

“Jesus, my Divine Spouse, have mercy on me and grant me the grace to know myself better. I also want to know, my Jesus, all your graces and benefits, so that I may thank you for them with all my heart, my Love. Jesus, my Divine Spouse, see how wretched I am; without your grace I know nothing and can do nothing. Therefore I ask you for the grace to be sincere with the spiritual director you have given me. Jesus, my Love, give my confessor the grace to know your holy will. Show him the way along which he is to lead me, enlighten him, my Love, and grant that he may help me to recognise all my passions. Put into his mouth the words that will touch my heart, give him your grace and help, that he may warn me against pride and selfishness. My Divine Spouse, I will keep asking you until you have mercy on me through my confessor. See, Jesus, my Love, I want to know your will in the words of my confessor, so speak to me through his lips. Grant him the necessary light and help him; I want to obey him.”

“See, my Divine Spouse, he is after all your servant, to whom I lay all this open. I cannot guide myself, and so I must have a guide. Jesus, I must be able to subdue my own will.”

“My Jesus, I feel moved to meditate on this mystery, but how shall I manage it without your special grace, help and support? See how weak and wretched I am!
Speak but one single word to my heart! Show me your will! Would that I might impress deeply on my heart what I have now resolved. I cannot do it myself; you must do it for me, my Jesus. Have mercy on me!”

Then let us repeat this prayer several times:
“My Jesus, I will not leave until you have mercy on me. Even though I do not deserve that you should hear me, do not look at my unworthiness. I long to love you, but that I may be able to do so, let me feel and know at least a little of your love and your mercy. Teach me, teach me, my Jesus!”

Prayer after a meditation in which God granted us an extraordinary grace and light

“My Jesus, I owe you so much gratitude! I shall never cease thanking you for this teaching. I want always to have you before my eyes and to place you deeply in my heart. I am afraid of being unfaithful to your grace so easily. You know my weakness. Have mercy on me, admonish me more and more! I ask you, my Jesus, that I may perceive this admonition ever more distinctly and clearly. For you it is easy to impress it deeply on my heart and soul; it costs you nothing, my God.

Have mercy on me! Please, give me this grace, otherwise I shall not rise from my knees, for I do not want to lose this grace of yours so easily.”

Prayer after a meditation in dryness

“See, my Jesus, I am now ending my meditation. The time is up, but I have managed to do so little in the time appointed for it. How could I have been so cold and unfeeling during this meditation before you! I feel so far from you… Jesus, have mercy on me!

Accept my thanks, my God; for now I can give you nothing more. Jesus, you see my weakness; apart from that I have nothing else. Jesus, I greatly desire to know and understand how I should behave in this situation, so as to fulfil your will. Let me know your will.”

“My Divine Spouse, how can thoughts of pride, conceit and selfishness reach me? Do not allow, my Love, that by these I should constantly renew your suffering. Jesus, have mercy on me and help me to know your will! You see, my Divine Spouse, that I do not know myself at all.

Mary, my Mother, pray for me, that I may learn to recognise all my passions. I shall not cease to ask you for this.

Jesus, if you will not hear me, then you must hear your Mother, from whom I shall not depart, for in everything I want to know only your most holy will. I want to give up everything and to lay aside all that displeases you, my Love. I no longer want to listen to myself, but only to you.”

“Jesus, my Divine Spouse, see, I am in danger of being unfaithful to you. Give me the grace to subdue my own will and to follow your will, for I can no longer endure it. Impatience and faint-heartedness have suddenly overcome me, but I do not want to resist your will; I want only to fulfil it, so help me and strengthen me, otherwise I am lost. My Jesus, look upon my misery and weakness! See how weak I am! Mary, my Mother, intercede for me! See, my Mother, you obtained from your Son so many graces for Saint Teresa. Look upon me, your weak servant! Since the age of fourteen I have felt a great desire to follow this saint; day by day I feel ever more aversion to the world and to myself. Just look, Mary, my Mother, how I suffer. I have no desire for prayer, and yet I long for it. How heavy is my suffering! My Mother, is it perhaps presumptuous to want to follow this saint? My Mother, I do not ask for the extraordinary graces with which this saint was endowed. I ask only this: that I may follow her in love. I ask especially that I may remain faithful to Jesus, my Divine Spouse. I rely entirely on you, my Mother!

My Jesus, I cannot go on living without loving you.”

“Heavenly Father, you have given me a love of solitude and silence, you want me to hold to this, so let your will be done!”

“My Jesus, my Divine Spouse, you want me to bear everything in silence; help me, I want to do your will!”

So as not to trust in herself alone but to keep her trust in God alone, she prayed this prayer: “See, my crucified Love, I come to you with fear and trembling, have mercy on me! My fear is so great that I am afraid of saying or doing something against your will. That means, my God, that without you I can do nothing, and from now on I leave myself entirely to you. I surrender myself completely to you, my Love. Give me light, that I may always know your will and carry it out exactly. I fear nothing so much, my Love, as failing to do your will. Of nothing in the world am I so afraid as of that.”

“Jesus, my Divine Spouse, if only I could love you as I long to show in my heart. Help me to overcome the world, my desires and myself, and to keep your most holy will constantly before my eyes, so that I may do nothing other than what pleases you, my Divine Spouse.”

“My Jesus, my Divine Spouse, let me know your will. Show me the way I am to walk! Although I try to fulfil only your will and not my own, it still happens that I seek only myself. Open my eyes, my Jesus, have mercy on me! I surrender myself completely to you.”

1. “My God, grant that at every moment I may meditate ever more on your love for us in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar! You see, my Divine Spouse, that I nourish within me a great desire to leave the world and everything else, so that I may devote myself entirely to you.”
2. “Grant me the grace to know myself better, and also all the obstacles that stand in the way of your grace as it flows towards me. Help me to keep it always before my eyes, so that I may be able to lay it open to my confessor. Help me also, through my confessor, to remove all obstacles!”
3. “I asked my Divine Spouse that I might love him still more in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar. From that moment I felt ever more drawn by love for the Eucharist.”

“My Jesus, teach me to accept my poverty and wretchedness! My Jesus, I ask you for the grace of constancy, the grace of perseverance and of complete surrender to your most holy will! I greatly desire to know your most holy will, even if I should suffer in doing so. I ask for nothing else but what pleases you, and I deserve nothing but suffering. Amen.”