Prayer and Devotion
Prayer
Its Necessity, Its Power, Its Conditions
- By Father Ferreol Girardey, C.Ss.R.
- Introduction by Father Thomas P. Brown, C.Ss.R.
Father Ferreol Girardey, C.Ss.R., writes about the need for prayer, the grounds for confidence in it, and the habits that make it sincere.
Read the opening
Preface and Chapter I. Introduction: 3,830 words, about 7 percent of the book, free in the press's own transcription. Read them here.
- Source edition
- 1916, B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis
- Manualist edition
- July 2026
- Source scan
- Internet Archive
Prayer begins with a practical question: if grace is needed for the Christian life, how is that grace sought? Father Girardey answers by examining petition, confidence, perseverance, and the dispositions of the person who prays.
The Manualist Press edition follows the 1920 B. Herder printing of the 1916 edition. It retains the preface by Father Thomas P. Brown, C.Ss.R.
From the text
Prayer, humble and persevering Prayer of Petition, is the wonderful key, placed by God in our hands, that will infallibly open to us the treasury that contains all the special graces of God.
Why this book
Father Girardey treats prayer as a practice for daily life. His argument is direct, and he returns often to the need for humility and perseverance.
Restoration note
The text was reconstructed from the public-domain edition and checked against the scan before the print and Kindle files were prepared.
Source note
First published in 1916 (copyright 1916, nihil obstat and imprimatur August 1916). The text was transcribed from the 1920 B. Herder Book Co. printing, scanned at the Internet Archive.
Approvals in the source edition
These approvals belong to the identified historical edition. They are not presented as current approval of the Manualist Press edition.
- Permission to publish — Thomas P. Brown, C.Ss.R. , Provincial Superior, St. Louis Province of the Redemptorists (Easter Sunday, 23 April 1916)
- Nihil obstat — F. G. Holweck , Censor Librorum, St. Louis (3 August 1916)
- Imprimatur — Joannes J. Glennon , Archbishop of St. Louis (4 August 1916) Copyright 1916 by Joseph Gummersbach. The scan used for this edition is the 1920 printing.
