Faithfulness to Prayer Gradually Changes Us

This installment is from the mass of beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman which took place on September 19, 2010. The Holy Father spoke of the Cardinal Newman's understanding on the role of prayer in transforming us into the divine likeness.

"Cardinal Newman’s motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, or 'Heart speaks unto heart', gives us an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, experienced as the profound desire of the human heart to enter into intimate communion with the Heart of God. He reminds us that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms us into the divine likeness. As he wrote in one of his many fine sermons, 'a habit of prayer, the practice of turning to God and the unseen world in every season, in every place, in every emergency – prayer, I say, has what may be called a natural effect in spiritualizing and elevating the soul. A man is no longer what he was before; gradually … he has imbibed a new set of ideas, and become imbued with fresh principles' (Parochial and Plain Sermons, iv, 230-231)."

-- September 19, 2010 homily at the mass of beatification for John Henry Cardinal Newman.

From Zenit.

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Messages from the Holy Father are featured on a regular basis. These words of wisdom will include quotes from homilies or addresses given by the Holy Father along with a link to learn more about the full text and context of the address.