Salvation depends on prayer. St. Alphonsus Liguori asserts this truth with terrifying clarity in this spiritual masterpiece, arguing that while God wishes all men to be saved, He has ordained prayer as the necessary means to obtain the graces required for final perseverance. Without this channel, the soul is cut off from divine aid; with it, heaven is open. Dear Reader, this is instruction meant for the serious soul: not theory, but direction; not sentiment, but guidance, distinguishing the fatal silence of the damned from the triumphant cries of the elect. Alphonsus writes for those who struggle, those who fall, and those who desire to rise again, explaining the indispensable conditions of effective prayer--humility, confidence, and perseverance--and refuting the errors that would deny the power of human petition.
