Day 8 — Purity

Words of Padre Pio

"If it were possible for me, I would obtain from God only one thing: not to be allowed to enter Paradise until the last of my children, the last of the persons entrusted to me, had entered before me."

Meditation

Purity is something we are born with, but as we become aware, through the world's influence, we lose it. It is necessary to be pure in mind and body in order to be pure in soul. It demands daily training of the will, interior discipline, and constant recourse to God in prayer. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). The clean heart is open and humble; the impure one is presumptuous and closed, full of itself, incapable of welcoming truth.

Prayer of the Day

O tender son of the tenderest of Mothers! Your little Mother so often assisted you on your earthly way and always accompanied you to the altar for the celebration of Holy Mass; make us also, by praying the Rosary, honor the Blessed Virgin, that one day, like you, we may contemplate her in Paradise. O Lord, in imitation of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, set our hearts on fire with love for You! Amen.

Prayer to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (for all days)

Most beloved Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, you who bore on your body the stigmata of Our God Jesus Christ; you who also bore the cross for all of us, enduring the physical and moral sufferings that lashed your soul and body in a painful martyrdom: we beg you to intercede with almighty God that each of us may know how to accept the small and great crosses of life, transforming every suffering into a sure bond that binds us to eternal life.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, and Gloria.)