SIXTH DAY.—LOVE OF POVERTY.
Love of poverty is an active sincere love. The lack of possessions, the desire not to have any, giving to the poor what we have, or what we do not need, is poverty. Practice self-denial. Save to give to the poor, to build hospitals, orphan asylums, churches. Have Masses said for the poor suffering souls in Purgatory.
PRAYER FOR POVERTY.
Thou hast said, O Lord, "Blessed is he who understands the poor." Let me have that knowledge. It is the practical way to show my love for my neighbor in distress. Let me also, like Thyself, be a good Samaritan, doing good and relieving want. Not only should I be poor in spirit, but I must also love to be poor in fact, for the poor are the brethren of Christ.
[Litany and prayers to Blessed Vianney.]
SEVENTH DAY.—MORTIFICATION.
This day shall be devoted to the virtue of mortification. Put away the comforts of eating and drinking, the extravagance of living, personal luxuries. Live simply and like a poor man. Be simple in dress, but be well dressed. Be abstemious at your table. Especially guard against over indulgence in drink. Abstemiousness in drink is a very commendable virtue. Deny yourself many things that are unnecessary. Do not yield to all the promptings of the appetite. Be temperate.
PRAYER TO OBTAIN THE GRACE OF MORTIFICATION.
Thou hast commanded the mortification of the flesh from the beginning, O Lord. From the beginning, the desires of the flesh have been the bane of a good life. When shall Thy grace, O Lord, inspire me with some degree of that firmness and faithful adherence to Thee. Suffer not my heart to be overcome by that inconstancy which is so natural to it, nor allow my life to be a perpetual succession of evil practices and infidelities. Grant that my heart may be all Thine, at all times and forever. And that by mortification I may merit eternal happiness.
[Litany and prayers to Blessed Vianney.]