May 26th
Chapter Twenty-Three of the Imitation of Mary, by Thomas a Kempis
How to Pray and Meditate According to Mary's Example

Before undertaking a work of piety, before beginning an ordinary task, lift your heart to heaven; invoke Jesus and Mary and  confide yourself to their protection.  Offer to God both yourself and your actions: your works will then become meritorious; they will be, at the same time, pleasing to God, useful to your neighbor, and profitable to yourself.

Let your intention be always pure, and let your will be directed toward the good.  Work in silence and speak rarely, but let your prayer unceasingly rise to God daily through the thrice holy name of Jesus.  Begin here below to chant, to love, to praise Jesus through the intercession of His Mother Mary.  Praise often their glory and their name so as to merit to reign with them in heaven.

To praise Jesus is to possess sweetness and charm in your soul: to praise Mary is to possess beauty.  When your soul is happy, sing: when it is sad, pray.  The more often you exercise yourself in praise the more you will feel love deepen within you, and the more you will see devotion grow.  Do not forget: you will not be forgotten.  Be attentive, vigilant over yourself, and you will find in this way zeal and attention.  You must bleed from the blows of a trial, you must be weighed down by adversity, in order to experience the joy of union with God and better to appreciate His grace.

Happy is he who knows how to listen to the counsel of Jesus and Mary for his own amendment!  He will find joy if he has known tears, because pity in the divine Heart of Jesus surpasses the horror of our sins, and the heart of Mary is a limitless treasure of mercy and compassion for us.

O Mary, receive, at the return of its exile, my poor soul distraught among the perils of this world; lead it yourself to the gate of heaven in order to introduce it to the joys of paradise.  Place me near you and say to Jesus the sweet and consoling word, the word of pardon.  You who have received from the mouth of an angel the gratifying Ave of the salutation, grant me the power often to repeat reverently your name so full of sweetness.  Receive, O Mary, my Queen and Mother, the fervent prayer of your servant and shed upon him from your throne on high, looks of tenderness and mercy.