Five Daily Devotions and Practices to Help Us On Our Journey

Devotions, when done well and with the right intentions, can increase our piety and love for Jesus and our neighbor. This past Sunday in his homily, our priest pointed out five devotions or practices that we should make an effort to incorporate into our daily lives. They are: daily recitation of the rosary, fasting on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes a day, use of holy water daily, and the recitation of three Hail Marys twice a day for purity. While all of these practices are beneficial when put together, one does not have to do them all or we can choose to incorporate them slowly.

1.     Daily recitation of the rosary: Our Lady emphasized to the children of Fatima the importance of reciting the rosary daily for the conversion of sinners and the world and meditating on the mysteries of the rosary helps us to enter more deeply into the life of Christ through the eyes of Mary and moves us to receive the graces needed to act as He would in our everyday lives. The rosary is a powerful weapon against Satan and through it Our Lady has promised that Her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

2.     Fasting on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays: The Church defines fasting as eating one big meal a day, plus two smaller meals not to equal the size of a big meal. It is also beneficial to fast from other material things on these days in order to discipline ourselves. Since ancient times, Christians fasted on Wednesdays to commemorate the betrayal of Judas on Spy Wednesday, Fridays to commemorate the Passion and Death of Jesus, and Saturdays to acknowledge that Jesus is still in the tomb and has not yet risen, as Christ told the disciples of John the Baptist when He said that there will be a time that the Bridegroom is taken from His disciples, and then they will fast (Luke 5:35). It is also a tradition to fast on the vigil of a solemnity, and since Sundays count as solemnities, one would fast on Saturday. Fasting puts our bodies under subjection, and points us beyond the material things to the spiritual and forces us to focus on what matters most, that Christ is our ultimate nourishment.

3.     Spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes a day: Spiritual reading, whether it’s a book on the lives of the saints or Scripture reading, which our priest emphasized, is really about moving our will more than our intellect. It’s important to learn about our faith and about Jesus, but if we’re not doing more than that, it’s a waste. Spiritual reading is meant to move us to want to better our lives and become more like Christ, and if we really internalize what we read, we will feel a desire to practice virtue and eliminate sin from our lives. Spending time reading about the life of Christ in Scripture will help us better understand Him and learn how to imitate Him.

4.     Use of holy water daily: Having a holy water font in our houses by the door we use the most will encourage us to remember and consciously live out our baptismal promises each day, as well as safeguard us from the evils of the world both as we leave the house and return home from being in the world. Signing ourselves with this water arms us with the protection against the snares of the devil. Holy water undergoes an exorcism (you can find the prayer to read online) that drives away the devil and sanctifies it to protect those who bless themselves.

5.     Recitation of three Hail Marys twice daily for purity: Our Lady was the model of purity and chastity, and She wishes for Her children to be pure as well in order to be in the company of the saints after death. Upon rising in the morning, and before going to bed, we should kneel at our bedside and recite an Our Father followed by three Hail Marys. At the end of each Hail Mary, a prayer such as the one that I use should be recited: “By Thy pure and immaculate Conception, O Mary, make my body pure and my soul holy. My Mother, free me this day (or night) from mortal sin.” The exact words don’t matter so much, what matters is that we implore Mary as our Mother to keep us pure and safe from mortal sin, particularly from sins of impurity. She will hear the pleas of Her children and will be more than happy to come to our aid if we truly want Her to.

These devotions and practices are meant to help us on our journey toward growing closer to God and are not to be seen as merely things to be checked off of a to do list just to say that we did them. As our priest told us, how much we love God can be seen in our love for our neighbor, and if these devotions are not helping us grow in charity toward our neighbor, and thus toward God, we’re doing them wrong. We must really examine ourselves and see if the devotions we practice are really making us more charitable, and if not, examine how we can improve our use of them. These five devotions are important, but even more important is how we are growing in love toward God and others.