St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696–1787)
Alphonsus did not leave ordinary people with good intentions. He left them an order for the day, the prayers to say in it, and a short list of what to do when they failed. This is that order, drawn together from four of his texts and cut to one sheet: the daily rule he wrote for laypeople, the Acts he told them to make morning and night, the spine of the Brief Practice for Perfection, and his sermon on charity in speech.
The words are his own, cut but not altered. Nothing here is paraphrased.
Print it
Set for one sheet of letter paper, printed on both sides. The day’s order on the front; the week, the year, and the standing rules on the back.
Download the PDFMy God, I adore You, I love You with all my heart, and I thank You for all Your benefits, and especially for having preserved me this night. I offer You all that I shall do and suffer this day, in union with the actions and sufferings of Jesus and Mary. I resolve, O Lord, to flee today from every offense against You; but do You keep Your hand over me, that I may not betray You. Most Holy Mary, guard me beneath your mantle. My Guardian Angel and my holy Advocates, assist me.
Then one Our Father, Hail Mary, and Creed; and three Hail Marys in honor of the purity of Mary.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Morally necessary to persevere. Whoever practices mental prayer will not remain long in sin: he will either leave sin, or leave prayer.
The preparation. Three acts. Of the presence of God: “My God, I believe You to be present with me, and I adore You.” Of humility: “At this moment I ought to be in Hell; Lord, I repent of having offended You.” Of petition for light: “Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus and Mary, give me light in this meditation.” Then a Hail Mary, and a Glory be to the Guardian Angel.
The meditation. Read the point, and meditate often on the Passion. Pause where you feel the most devotion. The fruit consists not so much in thinking as in stirring up affections — humility, confidence, love, sorrow, resignation — in asking above all for perseverance and the divine love, and in making one resolution.
The conclusion. “I thank You, my God, for the light You have given me. I resolve to keep the resolutions I have made. I ask You for the grace to fulfill them.” Never omit to commend the holy souls in Purgatory and poor sinners.
Do not abandon your meditation for coldness or weariness.
Daily if you can, offered for the four ends:
Eternal Father, in this Mass I offer You Jesus Christ, with all the merits of his Passion: to honor Your majesty; to thank You for the benefits You have granted me; in satisfaction for my sins, and for all the living and the dead in Your grace; and to obtain the graces necessary for salvation.
At the elevation of the Host: “My God, for love of Jesus, grant me pardon and holy perseverance.”
At the Chalice: “By the blood of Jesus Christ, grant that I may always love You in this life and in the next.”
At the priest’s communion, make a spiritual communion: “My Jesus, I love You and desire You in my soul; I embrace You, and I do not wish ever again to be separated from You.”
Half an hour each day, or at least a quarter; best of all from the lives of the saints.
Each day; then a visit to our Lady before some devout image, asking the same graces.
Lord, I thank You for having left Yourself for our love in this Sacrament. I love You with all my heart, O sovereign Good above every good; and because I love You, I repent of all the displeasures I have given You, great and small. I ask You for perseverance in Your grace, and for Your holy love.
Said often, these keep the soul in his presence.
After the examination of conscience:
Faith
My God, infallible Truth, because You have revealed them to the holy Church, I believe all the things that the holy Church proposes for me to believe. I believe that You are my God, Creator of all things; that for all eternity You reward the just with Paradise, and punish sinners with Hell. I believe that You are one in essence and three in Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe in the Incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. I thank You for having made me a Christian, and I profess that in this holy faith I wish to live and die.
Hope
My God, trusting in Your promises, because You are powerful, faithful, and merciful, I hope, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of my sins, final perseverance, and the glory of Paradise.
Charity and Contrition
My God, because You are infinite goodness, worthy of infinite love, I love You with all my heart above all things. And for all my sins, because I have offended You, infinite goodness, I repent of them with all my heart, and am deeply sorry for them. I resolve to die rather than ever displease You again, with Your grace, which I seek from You now and always. And I further resolve to receive the holy sacraments in life and in death.
Confess and communicate at least once, and more often if you can. After Communion remain half an hour in devout acts. Before confession:
I thank You, my God, for having waited for me until now. I hope, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for the pardon of all the offenses I have committed against You; for which, since I have deserved Hell and have lost Paradise, I am sorry and repent with all my heart; but above all, because I have offended You, infinite Goodness. I resolve for the future to die rather than offend You again.
One day of retreat each month, with confession and Communion. Each year, eight days given to prayer and spiritual reading, withdrawn from distracting conversation. Hear sermons whenever you can. Try also, if your state permits, to enter some pious confraternity where the sacraments are frequented. Whoever goes to a confraternity to administer, to rule, or to dispute, will reap more harm than profit.
Choose a good one, let him direct you in your spiritual exercises and in temporal matters of importance, and do not leave him without grave cause. If you have never made a general confession, make one, as a most efficacious means of setting your life in order.
Flee idleness, bad companions, immodest conversations, and above all the dangerous occasions. Be very careful with your eyes. Whoever does not flee the occasion in which he is accustomed to fall will find it morally impossible to keep himself in the grace of God. He that loves danger shall perish in it (Ecclus. 3:27).
Do not trust in yourself, nor in any resolution you have made, but solely in the divine help. Do not argue with the temptation. Renew the resolve to die rather than lose God; then at once, without reasoning, make the sign of the Cross and call on the names of Jesus and Mary, and do not cease until it ceases. We have no strength of our own here; God gives it readily to whoever prays, and whoever does not pray almost always falls.
If the fault is venial: an act of love and of sorrow, a resolve to amend, and regain your peace at once. To be disturbed over the fault committed is the greatest fault one can commit, for a disturbed soul can do no good. If the fault has been grave: an act of contrition at once, and confession as soon as you can.
Hast thou heard a word against thy neighbor? let it die with thee (Ecclus. 19:10). Give no hint of it to others, by any half-spoken word, by any nod of the head, or by any sign. They have a great account to render to God who, hearing someone speak ill of another, go and report it to the person who was spoken against.
When you hear someone speak ill of another, take care not to draw him on to say more; either rebuke him, or change the subject, or withdraw from that conversation. At least show that the talk displeases you, by keeping silent and putting on a sorrowful look, or by turning your face away. If you cannot excuse the act, excuse the intention.
In every adversity — sickness, loss, persecution — conform yourself to the divine will and quiet yourself, saying: Thus God wills; thus I will. Whoever does not resign himself doubles his evils: he must suffer them either way, and then suffer besides the punishment his impatience earned.
Never omit the three Hail Marys morning and night. Read each day some small part of a book that treats of her. Pray the Litany and the Rosary, with meditation on the mysteries. Ask her blessing on leaving and entering the house, and greet her before every image you meet. Fast on Saturdays, and on the vigils of her seven feasts, as your confessor shall direct; and make the novenas of those feasts, of Christmas, of Pentecost, and of your holy patron.
Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed; then one Our Father, three Hail Marys and a Glory be. Each of the five decades is one mystery: name it, think on it for a moment, then pray an Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory be, and the Fatima prayer. End with the Hail, Holy Queen.
The Joyful mysteries on Monday and Thursday; the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday; the Glorious on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Joyful Mysteries · Monday and Thursday
The Sorrowful Mysteries · Tuesday and Friday
The Glorious Mysteries · Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday
The Our Father, Hail Mary and Creed are given above, with the morning prayers.
Glory be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The Fatima prayer
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell; lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.
Taught by Our Lady at Fatima in 1917, and prayed after each decade since.
Hail, Holy Queen
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
℣. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
℟. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection, hath purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech thee, that meditating upon these mysteries in the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray. Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we thy servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body; and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, may be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
“All perfection consists in putting into practice two things: detachment from creatures, and union with God.” All of it is in the one teaching of Jesus Christ: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matt. 16:24).
Every imperfection is born of three disordered loves, and each has its answering virtue:
Union with God is had by loving Him above all and continually, offering Him every action, even eating and rest; by mental prayer; by Communion, and by frequent spiritual communions; by prayer, since ordinarily God gives his help only to those who ask; and by the remembrance of his presence, who in every place sees us, hears us, and stands within us. All the harm comes to us from not remembering that God is present.
The counsel not to excuse yourself is never absolute. Alphonsus attaches the same exception every time he gives it, and elsewhere he treats the other side of it — what is owed to someone whose good name has been taken away.
Brief Practice for Perfection · Volume II
Not excuse or defend oneself even when accused wrongly, except in case of scandal or impediment to the greater glory of God.
The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ · Volume III
Here is the fair rule that St. Philip Neri gave for when anyone sees himself blamed: “He who wishes to become truly holy must never excuse himself, even though what he is charged with be false.” From this is to be excepted only the case in which a defense should seem necessary to remove scandal.
A Catechism of St. Alphonsus, on the Eighth Commandment · Volume I
He who has taken away his neighbor's good name — it is not enough that he confess it, but he must restore the good name taken away. When the infamy is false, the detractor is bound to retract. And as there is the obligation of restoring the good name, so also the honor must be restored, by asking his pardon; and when other persons were present, before those same persons the restitution of honor must be made.
So the silence he asks for is a counsel of humility, not a rule that a person must let a lie stand. Where silence would scandalize others or hinder the good, he says plainly to speak; and the one who did the harm is under an obligation in justice to undo it.
Alphonsus asked for penance of ordinary people, and he asked for it in steps. Almost every counsel below carries its own floor — “or at least” — so that someone who cannot do the first thing is given the second instead of being left with nothing.
What he asks of everyone
A Rule of Life, Volume I — this is on the printed sheet
At table
Brief Practice for Perfection, Volume II
Only under a director
Brief Practice for Perfection — where Alphonsus adds the condition himself
“To think that God admits to His friendship people who love their ease is nonsense.” — St. Teresa, quoted by Alphonsus in the same place.
May Jesus, our Love, live forever, and Mary, our Hope.