How can i have a deeper spiritual life?

[Zooey]

Do you pray the Rosary often?

of course:thumbsup:

Have you considered making rosaries??? If you go to rosaryarmy.com/ you will find instructions for making hand knotted rosaries, & the address of where to buy the best twine.
We have a forum to help you get started,( as well as for fellowship together). It is truly amazing to see what is, in essence, string (very nice string, but still!), turn into rosaries that can be sent to RA for free distribution, or donated to various missions, given out at nursing homes & to shut-ins, etc…
The motto of RA is: Make them; Pray them; Give them away. It is an awesome thing to be able to make a rosary as a gift for someone else. The only “price” RA asks of those who request free rosaries, is to pray for this apostolate.
I can tell you, from my experience, that it is astonishing & humbling, to know that your hands have created the means for someone else to pray with. I promise you, it is going to give a spititual lift beyond all imagining, to just try it!!
And then, you can gather up some rosaries, & take them to, say, the elderly and/or handicapped at a nursing home, & pray the rosary with them ; give them to children in your local church, & teach them to pray the rosary. Send them to various mission groups who cannot keep up with the demand for rosaries in 3rd world countries. Send them to our armed forces, at home & abroad…with instructions on how to pray them.

I gotta stop now. I could talk all night & all day, about what a blessing this has been for me. I feel closer to our Lord, & to the Blessed Virgin, every time I sit & tie the knots…

 

[quiet52]

ok, i want to have a deeper spiritual life. what do i mean? i want to draw closer to God and the Blessed Virgin. what i basically want is to enrich my spiritual life through deeper devotion to Christ and His Blessed Mother. so how do i do this beside prayer? and attending Mass?
its not just Catholic books that i want, i want to know how people can enrichen their spiritual life by devotion. how do you do it?

– by being a Christ to others – in small random ways, or in a committed way, such as through a parish or diocesan ministry (extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, lay hospital or hospice minister, catechist, parish bereavement committee, parish hospitality committee) – some way to help build up the Body of Christ.

– using Catholic Internet sites which can serve as a springboard for further reflection, prayer and growth.

– various devotional and prayer books & booklets

on my coffee table right now:
–The Confessions by St. Augustine
–My Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis
– My Daily Bread by Anthony J. Paone, SJ

 

[TraditionalCath]

Have you considered making rosaries??? If you go to rosaryarmy.com/ you will find instructions for making hand knotted rosaries, & the address of where to buy the best twine.
We have a forum to help you get started,( as well as for fellowship together). It is truly amazing to see what is, in essence, string (very nice string, but still!), turn into rosaries that can be sent to RA for free distribution, or donated to various missions, given out at nursing homes & to shut-ins, etc…
The motto of RA is: Make them; Pray them; Give them away. It is an awesome thing to be able to make a rosary as a gift for someone else. The only “price” RA asks of those who request free rosaries, is to pray for this apostolate.
I can tell you, from my experience, that it is astonishing & humbling, to know that your hands have created the means for someone else to pray with. I promise you, it is going to give a spititual lift beyond all imagining, to just try it!!
And then, you can gather up some rosaries, & take them to, say, the elderly and/or handicapped at a nursing home, & pray the rosary with them ; give them to children in your local church, & teach them to pray the rosary. Send them to various mission groups who cannot keep up with the demand for rosaries in 3rd world countries. Send them to our armed forces, at home & abroad…with instructions on how to pray them.

I gotta stop now. I could talk all night & all day, about what a blessing this has been for me. I feel closer to our Lord, & to the Blessed Virgin, every time I sit & tie the knots…

as a matter of fact, i do occasionally make them.

 

[Joysong]

Dear T.C.,

Praying over your thread, I felt it was also important to add this little help for those who are following along, from St. Teresa of Avila.

See, then, sisters, how important it is for us to love one another and to be at peace. The good Jesus might have put everything else before our love for one another, and said: “Forgive us, Lord, because we are doing a great deal of penance, or because we are praying often, and fasting, and because we have left all for Thy sake and love Thee greatly.” But He has never said: “Because we would lose our lives for Thy sake”; or any of these other things which He might have said. He simply says: “Because we forgive.”

Note particularly, sisters, that He says: “As we forgive.” As I have said, He takes this for granted. And observe especially with regard to it that unless, after experiencing the favours granted by God in the prayer that I have called perfect contemplation, a person is very resolute, and makes a point, if the occasion arises, of forgiving, not these mere nothings which people call wrongs, but any wrong, however grave, you need not think much of that person’s prayer. For wrongs have no effect upon a soul whom God draws to Himself in such sublime prayer as this, nor does it care if it is highly esteemed or no.

I cannot believe that a soul which has approached so nearly to Mercy Itself, and has learned to know itself and the greatness of God’s pardon, will not immediately and readily forgive, and be mollified and remain on good terms with a person who has done it wrong.

I repeat that I know many persons to whom Our Lord has granted the grace of raising them to supernatural experiences and of giving them this prayer, or contemplation, which has been described; and although I may notice other faults and imperfections in them, I have never seen such a person who had this particular fault, nor do I believe such a person exists, if the favours he has received are of God.

If one is resolute in prayer and all other practices such as mass and frequency in the sacraments, but fails to forgive any and all wrongs, their foundation will be built on sand. Those who are close to God will quickly discern whether a person is giving lip service or truly walks in His ways, by the manner in which they forgive others. I know a person who proclaims much for God’s service, but who has no credibility because of the failure to forgive. It is an unmistakeable sign, and one we need to pay close attention to if any of us wishes to draw closer to God. There is no such thing as loving Him, while failing to love our neighbor.

Carole

 

[TraditionalCath]

not just that, but one must remember that Jesus said, love your neighbor as yourself.

when we walk in Christ’s foot steps, we must remember that not only are we to forgive, but we are at the same time to love our neighbor as well.

how can we claim we follow in His footsteps if we are not doing as He commanded us to do?

to really devote yourself to Christ, you must follow in His footsteps.

 

[TraditionalCath]

okay, so iam buying True Devotion to Mary. is there a prayer in there to devote yourself to the Blessed virgin?