This is an abbreviated version of the "Rule of Life" found in "My Prayer Book" by Fr. Lasance.
1. Have a fixed hour for rising.
7-8 hours sleep is usually sufficient. Beware of beginning your day by sacrificing to sloth hours every moment of which may avail you for eternity.
2. Give as much time as possible each day to prayer.
Determine this time according to your occupation and the advice of your director. Let your heart take much more part in this holy exercise than your mind; let the mysteries of the life and passion of your Savior be the usual subject.
3. Daily mass if possible.
Do not voluntarily deprive yourself, even for a day, of the inestimable happiness of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
4. Give a certain time each day to the reading of a good book.
Read it in the presence of God, who speaks to you Himself. Reflect upon what you read; relish it; ask God to give you the grace to carry out the good desires with which He inspires you by means of this reading.
5. Say your rosary every day.
Either alone, or with others. As you recite it, meditate affectionately on the mysteries of Our Savior and His mother. This is the easiest and often the most fruitful of meditations.
6. Daily adoration.
Make a daily visit, if possible, to the Blessed Sacrament. Go to Our Lord with the simplicity of a child; confide to His heart your joys, your sorrows, your temptations, your faults. Make acts of adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, supplication, and spiritual communion.
7. Penance.
The life of a Christian should be a continual exercise of penance. Mortify yourself in common and ordinary things; nothing is more necessary in order to establish in your soul the empire of grace and destroy that of nature. Resist your inclination to do useless things. Keep careful guard over your eyes. Withold a clever word likely to wound. Speak little and with moderation. Be silent under affliction. Bear your cross with resignation.
8. Be devoted to your duties.
Devote yourself to your work as well as to the fulfillment of your duties with a pure intention to please God and to be useful to your neighbor. Even the most indifferent actions, when done with a fervent intention, gain merit for heaven.
9. Mortify yourself in food.
Let no meal pass without offering a slight mortification to your Savior, who accepted the bitter draught on the Cross for love of you.
10. Go to bed at a fixed hour.
And before doing so, make your examination of the day. Let there be family prayer, if possible, before bed.
11. Confession every 2 weeks.
Go to confession at least every fortnight; prepare yourself beforehand and excite in yourself sincere contrition for your faults.
12. Receive communion frequently.
Bring to this great action all the devotion and care of which you are capable. Approach the Holy Table with a humble and contrite heart, and an ardent desire to be united to Jesus.
13. Be kind and considerate
Especially in your relations with the members of your family and those around you. Endeavor to make piety loved through you. Avoid the spirit of criticism and jealousy.
14. Be polite and courteous
When you go out in the world, avoid unseemly levity and repellent austerity. Endeavor to revive politeness in social intercourse - be thoughtful, considerate, simple, modest, and bear the humility and charity of Christ.
15. Avoid bad entertainment.
Be inflexible in regard to dangerous books and movies. Moderate even innocent pleasures.
16. Charity and good works
If God has placed you in a position to give yourself to good works, let the be your pleasant recreation. Remember that in helping the poor and afflicted, you are helping Jesus Christ Himself. Regulate your expenses, moderate your attachment to things of this world, and remember that you will be judged by a God who for love of you bore poverty, humility, and suffering.
17. Prepare yourself for death.
Select a day each month to prepare yourself for death, and on that day perform each duty as though it is the last of your life. Go to Confession and receive Communion as viaticum.
18. Devotion to the sacred heart
Nourish your soul with this devotion- faithful devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is regarded as a certain means of salvation. Have a devotion also to the Immaculate Heart, to St. Joseph, to the holy angels, the saint whose name you received at baptism, and finally, pray frequently for the dying and the souls in purgatory.
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