Preface

"Pray for me," the well-known spiritual writer, Father Cordovani, once wrote in a letter to a friend, "that I may not die without having led some soul to sanctity and without having written some book which will continue to preach the Gospel long after my voice has been silenced for ever."

In writing these pages I have desired likewise to do a little good, first of all for myself and secondly for those who may wish to read and reflect upon them. I hoped to accomplish something for myself in that I wrote down these short daily meditations in order to be able to remember them more easily and to be able to turn to them whenever the opportunity should arise. Then, on the advice of enlightened friends, I decided to publish them in the hope that they might prove useful to others.

It was my intention to produce an edifying rather than an erudite work. This explains the simple style and the repitition of certain ideas. I have found it convenient to return to these ideas at regular intervals in order to impress them more deeply on the mind and heart of the reader.

There are many well-written books of meditations, but they are either too long and therefore inaccessible to many classes of people who complain that they have not got time to read them, or they are written in an antiquated style which is not acceptable today. The result is that many persons, including some who are genuinely holy, never make a meditation at all, and this is a very great loss.

I have done my best to be concise and, at the same time, to offer an abundance of ideas, in the hope that the reader of these pages may derive from them material for useful reflections and for profitable resolutions.

May God and the Blessed Virgin bless my labour so that it may be the source of good for many souls.

- Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Introduction

These meditations of Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885-1971) were first published in Italian in 1959 by Casa Editrice Marietti, Turin, Italy and translated in 1964 by Desmond Williams and Brian Powers for The Newman Press.

If it is found that I am infringing on copyright laws I will delete this blog right away but this book seems to be out of print so perhaps the greater good would exonerate me from any offense against a man-made law (I am completely open to correction).

Throughout the posts I shall put my own emphasis on certain passages in bold. I shall also provide titles for some of the meditations which did not have one in the original text. These titles will be followed with a star. Ultimately, I am hoping that these meditations will help others to continue growing in their union with God which is the most important matter this side of eternity.

"Mental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion, but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him who, we know, loves us."

- St. Teresa of Avila