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Dear Father Angelo,
I am an 18 year old girl grown up in a christian family, although not very practicing. Personally, since I was a child I have always felt the presence of God near me, already as I was going to catechism aged 10-11 I would recite a few prayers, sure, I would not pray everyday because at the time I still lacked the understanding of what it means to be true christians. However I did it because it brought me peace. In the following years I started having fears and insecurities that made me pray more. At around 16 years of age I decided to take my christian life more seriously, during all the summer I felt God very close to me, I started praying and trusting in Him more and a lot of my fears had not gone, but at least  had diminished, in September I decided to recite theRosary every day and to pray morning and evening. At the beginning I managed to do this then prayer started feeling like a duty and as a habit and I stopped praying. Therefore the old insecurities I had came back and I started to become fixated on these things and to think that I would never achieve anything in life. (…). What do I need to do to regain the fervor again?

Priest’s answer

Dearly beloved
1. I hope that the moment of apathy has now passed and it has been replaced by fervor.
But what to do when there are such moments or periods? I have the impression that, perhaps in different forms, everyone goes through them.
A priori I am convinced that God allows them so that our spiritual life regains fervor. The temptation to flatten out is always there.
Saint Bernard said that God sometimes seems to hide. But he does so only so that we seek him with renewed fervor.

2. A good method to recover fervor is undoubtedly to put oneself in front of the Gospel. Sometimes even just one of Jesus’ words is enough for everything to flare up again, like a spark.
This happens especially when the word of the Lord that has been read or heard is kept in the heart and one immediately tries to put it into practice. When you put the Gospel into practice it is as if you throw a seed into the ground. Little by little this seed germinates and brings life. Jesus said: “I am the life” (Gv 10,10).

3. Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus had an even simpler method.
In her autobiography, called Story of a Soul, she says: “Sometimes when my mind is in such a great aridity that it is impossible to draw forth one single thought to unite me with God, I very slowly recite an “Our Father” and then the angelic salutation; then these prayers give me great delight; they nourish my soul much more than if I had recited them precipitately a hundred times.…” (Story of a Soul, 318).

4. Try to do this too: while you say the word “Father”, think of God who is your Father, who loves you with the most tender love and who even in that moment provides you with everything: starting with what surrounds you. It is He who preserves it for you and gives it to you as a sign of his love.

5. Saint Teresa recited this prayer “very slowly”. She let every word of that divine prayer penetrate like water into her heart.

Therefore, after saying “Our”, do not quickly move on to saying “Father”.

5. Saint Francis said that when he recited the Our Father, he was enchanted at the first words and could no longer continue. He remained in an attitude of love: of a love that he received from God the Father, and of a love that in turn gave back.

6.Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus says that this also happened to her when she recited “the angel’s greeting” very slowly. The angel’s greeting is: Hail Mary.

Even with this prayer, which in its first part comes from Heaven, she is capable of rekindling the fire.

7. In the same passage Saint Teresa continues her writing like this: “The Blessed Virgin shows me she is not displeased with me, for she never fails to protect me as soon as I invoke her. If some disturbance overtakes me, some embarrassment, I turn very quickly to her and as the most tender of Mothers she always takes care of my interests. How many times, when speaking to the novices, has it happened that I invoked her and felt the benefits of her motherly protection!” (Story of a soul, 318).
Don’t think that Our Lady has this attitude only towards saints.She has it for everyone, even poor sinners. Therefore learn to turn towards Her frequently and from within your heart call Her to rekindle the fervor.
It doesn’t take much to do this. It is a brief moment and the surprise is that of finding yourself experiencing her maternal love even in the smallest things.

Do the same too. 
I bless you, I wish you all good things, and I remember you in my prayers.
Father Angelo