PERSEVERANCE AND TRUST IN PRAYER, AND GRATITUDE FOR THE BENEFITS RECEIVED THROUGH IT

I. Only after twenty years of supplications and mortifications, Saint Anne was heard. Do not be discouraged if God does not immediately grant you what you ask for: persevere in prayer; you will get what you ask for, as long as you ask for good things and ask with humility and confidence. “You delay listening, oh Lord, in order to teach us how to ask; You pretend not to hear, so that we persevere” (Saint Anselm). 

II. An angel came to announce to Saint Anne that her prayer had been accepted, and she believed without hesitation. Our Lord himself said that whatever we ask in His name, it will be granted to us (if it is convenient for your soul); and you still doubt it! God can and wants to grant you the graces that you ask for as long as they are good for you; He does not lack the power or the will for this, since He is omnipotent and wants more eagerly to give us the gift of His mercy than we ourselves want to have it. Therefore, pray, but do it with unshakeable faith; ask for what you want for the merits of Jesus Christ. Is it not true that you turn to God only after you have exhausted all worldly means?

III. Saint Anne, grateful for the favor that Heaven had granted her offered to God in the Temple her daughter that He had given her. Have you been grateful for the graces that you have received from Him? Perhaps you have forgotten them, perhaps you have misused them to offend God your benefactor? He who does not appreciate the benefits he has received, is not worthy of receiving new benefits (Saint Bernard).

IV. Pray and ask not only for you. Pray for your neighbor, for your family, for the poor, for the sick and for all those in need. Pray for the Church, for the rulers, for all the children conceived, for the souls of the faithful departed, in short, for everyone. God greatly appreciates the prayers of those who pray not only for themselves.

FRUITS:

Let’s ask as fruits of this meditation: perseverance and trust in prayer, and gratitude for the benefits received through it.

PRAYER

O God, who deigned to grant Saint Anne the grace to give the world the Mother of Your Only Begotten Son, by Your mercy, may the intercession of the one who gave birth to the Mother of our Redeemer help us obtain the fruits of this meditation. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ.