3. Prayers to obtain the Virtue of the Month.
JANUARY.— FAITH.
St. Teresa says that all sins spring from want of faith. She was right, for it is impossible to live estranged from God if we keep constantly before our eyes the truths of our faith, the greatness of God, the love He bears us, the benefits He has bestowed on us, and especially the work of our Redemption, the Passion of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Most Holy Sacrament. The same effect is produced by frequently meditating on death, judgment, hell, eternity. This is why we must frequently renew the spirit of faith in ourselves, by calling to mind the eternal maxims. The saints did this, and it was thus they won their heavenly crown.
Act of Faith.
MY God, I believe all that the holy Church teaches me to believe, because Thou, Who art infallible truth, hast revealed it. I believe that Thou art the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, Who eternally rewardest the just in paradise and chastisest sinners in hell. I believe that Thou art one God in essence, but three in person, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: three in person, but one only God. I believe that God the Son, the second Person, in order to save us and redeem us from our sins, became man, and died upon the cross. I believe that the most holy Virgin Mary was conceived without sin, that she is truly Mother of God, and that she was ever a virgin. I believe that Jesus Christ, the third day after His death, rose again by His own power, and, after forty days, ascended to heaven, where He is seated on the right hand of the Eternal Father, equal to Him in majesty and glory. I believe that, at the last day, Jesus Christ shall come to judge all men who shall then rise from their graves. I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Church, out of which there is no redemption. I believe in the communion of the
