Offprint of the book “Fruits of prayer”.

MOTHER TRINIDAD DE LA SANTA MADRE IGLESIA

OUR GOD CLOSE TO US

TO PRAY IS…

1.176. To pray is to keep silence in order to perceive Love. (17-3-63)

1.177. To pray is not so much to do things within, but rather to try to stop acting in the human way, so that the Lord may act in the divine way. (17-3-63)

1.178.  To pray is to try to empty oneself of all which is from here, so that God may fill us with that which is from there. (17-3-63)

1.179.  To pray is to love Love, or to try to love Him as best one knows and can. (17-3-63)

1.180.  To pray is to accompany Jesus in His loneliness and to rejoice in His joy. (17-3-63)

1.181.  To pray is to adore in silence, in total prostration, before the majesty of the Eternal. (17-3-63)

1.182.  To pray is to be with Love, because He likes being accompanied by those He loves. (17-3-63)

1.183.  To pray is to try to exercise one’s priesthood “between the porch and the altar”. (17-3-63)

1.184.  Prayer is the appointment God makes with the soul to convey to it His delicious mystery of eternal love; and those who do not keep this appointment do not receive the divine life that is given to those who, leaning upon the chest of the Master, learn the intimate secret that the beloved Disciple grasped in His loving appointment. (11-11-63)

1.185.  A time spent in prayer is communication of divine wisdom, fitting-in into the eternal plans, acknowledgment of our nothingness, adoration of the Immense and petition to Him who can do all. (18-8-73)

1.186.  Going to pray is as simple as going to eat. Some days the food is tasty, other days it is tasteless; some days one is hungry, other days one has no wish to eat; but we always go to eat so as to nourish our body with the nourishment that gives us life. Prayer is the nourishment of the soul, since in it Life is given to us in the different manners of its self-gift or its self-communication. Those who do not eat die, as do those who do not pray! (18-8-73)

1.187.  A time of prayer spent in dryness is like time spent with Jesus in Gethsemane, just as prayer that delights is like being with Jesus in Mount Tabor. On both occasions we are with Him. And, when is our love greater…? Therefore, do not leave praying when you feel the shiver of Calvary, the loneliness of Christ’s death or the abandonment of Gethsemane, since Jesus is there. Seek Him wherever He is and however He is, for if you persevere, like the Apostles at Pentecost, at last you will find Him. (18-8-73)

1.188.  To pray is to love. That is why, those who love, pray; since both love and the Beloved rest in prayer. (18-8-73)

1.189.  For me, to pray is to be alone with God; and the more I am with Him, the more deeply I long to possess Him. (9-10-74)

1.190.   Sometimes prayer is just holding out until the fixed time arrives, because no matter how hard we try, we do not manage a single good thought. Dear soul, that very thing, in addition to being a prayer, is a sacrifice that greatly pleases the Lord, since He looks not on our fervour, but on our good will. (16-4-67)

1.191.  When you can do nothing in prayer, hold out, for the Lord will come at the least expected moment. (16-4-67)

1.192. To pray is to be with the Lord as best one can, provided that one always does one’s best to be in His company. (11-4-67)

1.193. When there is nothing you can do in your prayer, try to remain with the Lord during the time you promised Him, since He does not look on fervour or on the manner of your stay, but rather on the effort of your will, which is love. (11-4-67)

1.194.  When you are in prayer and there is no reading nor any kind of reflection or action that helps you to retreat into yourself, but instead you remain absent-minded and distracted, offer up those distractions to the Lord, and try to keep Him company, but without a sense of tension; and be in peace, for the Lord is with You. (11-4-67)

1.195. When in prayer you perceive that you are with the Lord and you feel at ease with that amorous “doing nothing,” don’t worry, because your prayer is very good. (11-4-67)

1.196.  If during prayer you cannot keep silence, nor read, nor think… because you are distracted, try to gently reject your distractions, and endure the full time of your prayer as best you can, for in this way you show your love to the Lord, and He rests and rejoices in You. (11-4-67)

1.197.  To pray is to listen to the Beloved in whatever way He may prefer to utter Himself, in light or in darkness… Listen to Him and wait, because the Lord will come, even if now He might be hiding. (16-4-67)

1.198.  Lord, I see You alone, because even those of us who are with You do not live for Your problems, but for our own, which drown us today and tomorrow are no more, and we leave You alone with Your eternal and never-ending realities… Lord, I want to be with You! (25-10-68)

1.199.  Today my prayer is just to be, nothing more, before the Lord; it is the greatest thing I can do: to be with God in whatever way He wishes. (13-1-73)

1.200.  I like being dry in prayer because, when I finish, I have done what I had to do, having sought no other thing but that. (13-1-73)

1.201.  The immolation of prayer sometimes lies in fulfilling it the whole time without leaving out one single minute; that last minute usually is the most precious, because it is the most difficult. (13-1-73)

1.202.  How precious is the last minute of prayer! And, how many times do we not fulfil it because we do not know how to consummate our prayer on hard days! (13-1-73)

1.203.  “The Master is here and is calling You”; go in, do not make Him wait! Keep silence so you can listen to the lament of His love deep within you, because He is calling for you with sweet and deep nostalgic yearnings. (18-1-77)

1.204.  Jesus, I have so much to say to You that, deeply immersed in Your silence, I pour out my soul to You in deep adoration. (18-3-63)

1.205.  When you do not know how to pray or when you cannot pray, go to your inner room and, in silence, adore the Trinity living Its life within you. (8-3-67)

THE NEED TO PRAY

1.206.  Prayer is as necessary for man, as it is necessary for man to find God; it is the principal means to find Him, and whoever does not seek Him in it will hardly find Him. (18-8-73)

1.207. There are those who say they have found God, and who do not feel the need to pray, nor to enter into contact with the Good they found in order to live in the relishing of His closeness. Those who say so are bragging; they do not know what realities they are dealing with. (18-8-73)

1.208.  When man discovers love, he seeks the company of the beloved. How is it possible that whoever discovers Infinite Love might not feel the need to spend long periods of time with Him, in the silence of His contact, to love and to be loved? (18-8-73)

1.209.  Prayer is the loving romance between God and the soul. How can we say that we love God, if we do not ceaselessly seek periods of intimacy and communication with Him? (18-8-73)

1.210. When I do not pray, I am between life and death, like a fish out of water, and it is then that I sigh all the more for Eternity… Love, show Yourself to me! (27-9-63)

1.211.  Do you feel the need to give life to souls? Pray and fill yourself with the life that the Word, in the Tabernacle and in your soul, wants to communicate to you today; because if you do not do so, you deceive both God and souls, since you have nothing to give them. (15-10-63)

1.212. You need to give life, and you do not go to receive life from the Life…? Where shall you go for life in order to communicate it? (15-10-63)

1.213.  Every day the Lord has something new to teach you; that is why, on the day that, through slackness, you do not keep His appointment of love, your soul loses divine wisdom. (11-11-63)

1.214.  Love likes to stay with those He loves; therefore, try to be with Him as long as you can. (6-1-64)

1.215.  The Father says one single Word, and that is His Word; He has one single Word to speak to your priestly soul, and it is the Word; but He needs you to listen to Him, so that, by becoming like Him, you may break forth manifesting the secret which this infinite Word communicates to the soul in the silence of prayer. (1-2-64)

1.216.  To the extent that you pray, you will be fruitful; the Lord desires prayer more than action; and action always as the fruit of prayer. (1-2-64)

1.217.  To the extent that you pray, God will accomplish His sanctifying work in you, and to that very extent He will accomplish it through you outwards, in the souls entrusted to you. (1-2-64)

1.218. Those who do not know of prayer, do not know of God with a knowledge –achieved through “tasting”– which is the utmost knowledge, even if they exhaust themselves in apostolic undertakings. (24-9-66)

1.219.  Do you want to know how you are doing in your life of piety? Look at how you wish to pray. Is prayer a burden for you? Bad sign! Do you sigh for it? You will find God, if you fulfil your desire. (24-9-66)

1.220.  Many of those who boast of being Christians, have lost contact with God in the Eucharist, in their souls and in the world. That is why confusion invades us. (4-7-69)

1.221.  I need the silence of the Tabernacle more that the thirsty need the waters of the crystalline stream! (11-3-75)

1.222. In order to live and not to die, singing and speaking the great deeds of the Lord, I need to pray… to pray… to pray! Immersed in the profound silence of the vibrant concerts of Love, in the innermost recesses of my spirit, parched with thirst for the face of the living God, towards Whom I tend with irresistible force. (11-3-75)

1.223.  The Lord speaks to you with eternal charity, on the cross, in the Eucharist and in your soul. Listen to Him, that you may know of eternal life. (1-2-64)

THE IMPORTANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAYER

1.224.  Those who have discovered the science of prayer have found happiness, because it is in prayer that God is discovered, He is the fullness of all the capacities of the created being to possess the Infinite One. (18-11-68)

1.225. Those who deem themselves to be wise, very rarely agree with one another. The man of prayer, on the other hand, thinks more and more in the manner of God, and that is why he understands those who, like him, pray; because, leaning upon the divine criterion, they find the peace, the security, the stability that makes them break forth into the joy of mutual agreement. (18-11-68)

1.226.  If two persons of prayer do not essentially agree, it is because one of them has not found, even if he or she prays, the science of prayer; since God is the Unalterable One, who always thinks the same way, and the way He is is the way He communicates Himself to those who truly seek Him. (18-11-68)

1.227. Lord, teach me to pray in order to grasp Your thinking, so I may not err nor make others err. (18-11-68)

1.228.  God wishes many things concerning us, which He does not realize because, in His redeeming will, He has willed to submit them to the influence of our prayer; therefore, even if these things are good and convenient for us, unless we ask Him for them, they often remain unrealized. (6-12-73)

1.229.  God can do everything by Himself, without needing us for anything; yet, as of the moment when he willed to associate us to Him, He made many things depend on the way we are and we act and, what is more, on the petition of our prayer. (6-12-73)

1.230. How many good things does God will for us, that He does not grant us, because we do not ask Him for them! “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (6-12-73)

1.231.  The main posture of my soul, my most fruitful apostolate, the best way to please God: To pray, to pray, to pray… (10-12-64)

1.232.  The most strenuous effort of the devil is intended to take from us our time for prayer by any means, because prayer is the nourishment of the soul. (14-4-67)

1.233. Those who succeed in being centered in their life of prayer, run along the path of perfection. (14-4-67)

1.234. The most strenuous effort of the enemy is intended to make you give up prayer, since in it is the victory of your soul. Be steadfast in your periods of time spent with God, and you will overcome every difficulty. (17-4-67)

1.235.  In so far as I pray, Love gives Himself to me; therefore, if I do not pray, I lose great wealth. (1-2-64)

1.236.  Pray untiringly, dear soul, for, in prayer, God is given to those who persevere in the pursuit of encountering Him. (18-8-73)

1.237. My hours of Tabernacle are life, glory, fruitfulness; because when I pray I glorify God, I communicate life to souls and I fulfil my deep longings for the Church. That is why I seek prayer. (19-3-73)

1.238.  The prayer of Christians is the irresistible magnet that causes to spring forth from the breast of God overflowing streams of graces and mercies for all men. (6-12-73)

1.239. When man prays, he enters into contact with God, and God, in His pleasing will, pours Himself out in loving self-gift. (6-12-73)

1.240. If I pray, I can do everything; if I do not, I faint in the weakness of my own strength. (6-12-73)

1.241. For those who pray, everything is possible through the infinite might of He who can do everything; for those who do not pray, in the weakness of their power, everything fades away. (6-12-73)

1.242. I know that, when I am before God, my power has no limits, and God rests comfortably in my soul in this land of loneliness and love- lessness. How powerful are we men when we pray! (3-10-74)

1.243. Prayer embraces everything within the sphere of its range, because the soul, become one with the Infinite One, partakes in the all-embracing perfection of God Himself and possesses His diverse attributes, being powerful with His power, strong with His strength… (3-10-74)

1.244. One hour of prayer in aridity seeking to please the Lord is of greater advantage for the glory of God and the good of the soul than many hours of consolations, because a purer love is shown in the former. (11-4-67)

1.245. To pray does not mean to be consoled, but to be with God as best one can, yet seeking to give Him greater glory. (11-4-67)

IN PRAYER GOD AND HIS PLANS ARE LEARNED

1.246. The life of prayer will be that which will bring us inside the Divine Bosom, wherein we will grasp the eternal utterance of God in our innermost self, since prayer is the appointment God keeps with the soul. (12-11-63)

1.247. When the soul remains in peace and in deep prayer, the Word of the Father, in His eternal silence, is uttered to it in the love of the Holy Spirit. (1-2-64)

1.248. In the savouring of silent prayer, when the priestly soul is loving the One it loves, it perceives the mystery that, in His sacred silence, the Infinite Being is Himself, flowing in three Divine Persons. (5-10-64)

1.249. If I pray, I listen to what the depths of the Being enclose in the mystery of their containing all, without any concept breaking forth into word. (15-9-74)

1.250. There is no greater happiness than closeness to Infinite Happiness, which is given to me in prayer; therefore, when I do not pray, I stray from Happiness and, then, how foolish I am! (23-1-69)

1.251. In the loving silence of silent prayer, immersed into the self-being of the Being, impelled by the infinitely gentle and delicate current of the Holy Spirit, the soul, enamoured of the Eternal Sun, plunges into that secret and hidden point wherein the Trinity is Itself three divine Persons, loving Themselves and being loved, kissing Themselves and being kissed, at that virginally veiled instant wherein the Eternal Fruitfulness, breaking forth into luminous fatherhood, is begetting the Word in the concealment of His mysterious secret. One love and three Lovers, who are kissing Themselves, in Their being Themselves fruitful virginity breaking into Fatherhood and Sonship, with a personal Kiss of infinite Love. (28-4-61)

1.252. The science of happiness, peace, balance and true charity lies in prayer, because in it one learns God, who is divine and human science, in Whom and from Whom every perfection and happiness resides and flows forth. (29-11-68)

1.253. Those who pray, in the light of God, know how to give its true meaning to everything; those who do not pray, in the poverty of their lowly understanding, live disconcerted, in danger of disorienting those around them. (6-12-73)

1.254. In time spent in prayer near the Tabernacle, one can learn more wisdom than at a full theology course in a university lecture hall; because in prayer the mysteries of God are known by savouring them, while in study they are learned intellectually. (6-12-73)

1.255. When, while in contact with God, He penetrates the soul with His thought, communicating to it some of His mysteries, even if only for a moment, the soul remains so filled with wisdom that, in that communication, it has learnt incalculably more than it could have over a long time, through studying, with its own efforts. (6-12-73)

1.256. One communication from God fills the soul so over-abundantly with wisdom that it enables the soul not only to understand what God has relishingly spoken to it, but also to give meaning to many other mysteries. (6-12-73)

1.257. When I pray, I seek silence, and I find God; when I am weak in prayer, I lose the taste of the Divine. (1-2-64)

1.258. Lord, my mission is not to scrutinize Your mysteries, but to listen to what You wish to tell me, in order to rekindle, revive and unravel the dogma of the Church. (8-1-65)

1.259. I do not seek to scrutinize Your thoughts, but to be open to You, so that, whenever You wish, You can take me, through love, to enter into them. (8-1-65)

1.260. To be with You in prayer is all that the loving soul desires; to be with You until I find You so that I can know of Your love. (25-1-67)

1.261. There is no need for much shouting in order to sing to God… In prayer one learns Christ. (26-3-59)

1.262. My song is hushed silence of adoration at the foot of the Tabernacle. My song is to say to Jesus, as best I can, “yes”, in the slow dying of my ‘I’. My song is wailing and sobbing with and for the Church. (20-9-74)

1.263. How near God is, and how little do we feel Him, because we are not souls of prayer…! (24-9-66)

1.264. Prayer shows to one God and His ways, and, in it, the soul finds the strength and love to listen to the Lord and to follow Him. (24-9-66)

1.265. Dear soul, pray, love, that you may know Love and may comfort Him in His love, a love unloved and unknown. (16-3-63).

1.266. God… Remoteness… Yearnings… Love invites me to pray, and prayer leads me to silence. (8-8-71)

1.267. The silence of the Being is uttered to the soul in the adoring silence of a simple prayer, through the profound peace of the Holy Spirit. (26-12-74)

1.268. The adoring man who finds his own simple way to pray, listens, without noises from down here, to the silent notes of the silence of the Being. (26-12-74)

JOY, REST, AND STRENGTH FOR THE SOUL

1.269. How well one is when one is with God in prayer, in love, in silence; with no other concern but to love Him; close to the Tabernacle, in tender endearment; listening to the loving concert of His speech in mystery! How well one is when one is with God, breathing the secret of His love, in silence! (30-7-71)

1.270. Sometimes prayer is so nourishing, that, when I have to tear myself from it, I feel like a little child who, hungry and thirsty and feeding at his mother’s breasts, were to be violently snatched away. (28-10-74)

1.271. How sweet is the sacred silence of prayer in the deep relishing of the contact with the Holy Spirit who, in His passing over the soul, speaks to it, in penetrating love, of infinity of Being, of foretastes of Eternity, of union with the Father and the Son, of intimacy with Mary and of closeness to our loved ones! (31-3-75)

1.272. The kiss of the Holy Spirit in the soul is complete fullness of love and peace in the most joyful relishing of Eternity. (6-1-75)

1.273. How relishingly delightful is our Holy Spirit, in secret joy of silent communication, Who makes us live, in exile, moments of Heaven with deep nostalgic yearnings for He-Who-Is Eternal! (31-3-75)

1.274. How deep it is to know, through the loving Kiss of the Holy Spirit, that God is happy with us! For, in the innermost recesses of our tiny being, He speaks to us His divine complacency in eternal self-gift… (31-3-75)

1.275. When I pray, all my sorrows recede; therefore, when I sorrow, I must pray so as to be happy. (16-7-71)

1.276. Prayer is the harbour where, in my journeying, I take rest so as to regain new strength in my course towards the Sun. (3-5-73)

REST FOR THE LORD

1.277. The Lord is thirsty from so much waiting for someone to whom He can speak His infinite love… Immerse yourself deeply into the cavity of Christ’s side that you may discover the mystery contained within Him, and thus sing Him to all souls. (1-2-64)

1.278. Insofar as you rest upon the chest of Christ, you will make Him rest; therefore, go, rest upon His divine side, for Love is tired from His need to unveil His secret to you…! (1-2-64)

1.279. I came to be with You, and I had my wish, because I was with You; I came that You might find enjoyment, and I succeeded, because Your love rejoiced. What happened within me, I do not know, because I do not even want to think about it. I was with You and I gave You joy; I do not know anything else, nor does it matter to me. (2-12-66)

1.280. Lord, when I look at You, You look at me, and then my heart leaps for joy, delirious with love. (23-9-63)

1.281. Love says with nostalgic longings: There are only five minutes left before you go… And the distracted soul in prayer: There are only five minutes to go. So is God, and so are we…! What five minutes represent for one who loves…! (30-11-66)

1.282. I want to be with You because You enjoy being with me, and because it pleases me –even when I do not feel the pleasure– to be with You. (25-1-67)

1.283. Stay “between the porch and the altar” exercising your priesthood, that Love may find rest in your priestly soul. (16-3-63)

1.284. When in priestly posture you pray “between the porch and the altar,” God speaks His infinite love to you, He receives atonement for sins, His Father’s heart is comforted, Mary envelops you in Her love, and the whole Church, in Her members, receives your radiance… Pray, therefore, since all of us await your prayer so as to live from God and to love Him all the more. (16-3-63)

GOD DWELLS IN YOU

1.285. God is inside us; let us keep silence to listen to Him. God kisses us… God speaks to us… God loves us…! (25-1-75)

1.286. Lord, how many are those who seek You outside and do not find You, because You are inside, in the innermost depths of our recondite inner being! (13-4-76)

1.287. You are a living temple of the Trinity, and all of God, dwelling in you, asks for your loving response in return. (20-3-62)

1.288. Do you know that in your soul the Father is spelling out to you His whole being through His Word, for you alone, at the very instant in which He kisses you with His substantial Kiss of loving and mutual love? (18-12-60)

1.289. In our soul is Infinite Love with His sacred lulling, kissing us in the loving silence of His closeness; let us respond to Him. The Holy Spirit wills to work in our inner being. Let us try to perceive His loving fluttering by keeping silence. (13-3-75)

1.290. Do you know that you are God’s living temple…? Pay attention, then, at least you who know it! (11-9-62)

1.291. The Master is in your soul, and is calling out to you to join Him in supper today. How will you respond to such an appointment of love? (12-11-63)

1.292. How sweet it is to feel the Being within the soul, loving and asking for love, resting and giving rest…! This is a taste of eternal life while in exile. Let us adore the Being in our heart, because He is throbbing within our breast. (8-1-75)

1.293. Let us remember that God looks on us with loving affection; let us look on Him in response to His gift. God kisses us; let us kiss Him in our souls and in the Tabernacle. (9-7-75)

THERE IS NO SOLITUDE FOR CHRISTIANS

1.294. How near is Love, and in such mystery…! Wherever we go, He comes with us, following in our footsteps, because He is Love. When we go to the Tabernacle, He always longingly awaits us with nostalgia; when we enter into our heart, with infinite tenderness He kisses us; when we go through life, He protects us with His shadow and warms us with His fire; when we suffer, He embraces us on His cross; when we rejoice, He is the delight of our enjoyment. Therefore, let us always and everywhere be with the Lord, since He remained with us that we might be with Him. (11-3-76)

1.295. In the loneliness of my nothingness, I find the company of my All. (1-3-61)

1.296.  Solitude does not exist in Heaven; God Himself is Himself the Eternal Accompanied One; therefore, flee from that sad or melancholic solitude that can destroy your spiritual life. Do you not know that you must go to Heaven accompanied by the souls that the Lord entrusted to you? (21-1-63)

1.297. The soul that suffers because it thinks it is alone, has not known how to seek within itself the infinite joy of the Eternal Home, wherein the divine Accompanied One dwells to keep the soul company. (1-3-61)

1.298. Does solitude terrify you? Poor thing! Do you not know that, in the solitude of your spirit, the All dwells in the homely company of His being Himself Divine Family, and that there, in your soul, He is Himself only for you…? (1-3-61)

1.299. If solitude frightens you, that is because you do not live in the awareness of your being Church, which makes you the temple and the dwelling of the Most High in communication with all of God’s children. (1-3-61)

1.300. Are you suffering because you are alone? And yet, you do not suffer because you leave God alone in your soul…! (1-3-61)

1.301. Jesus, is it so, that when the loneliness of everybody and everything engulfs me, You are with me, overtaking and comforting this heartrending loneliness of mine? Thank you, Love, thank you! (18-4-61)