Fr John Hardon gives the following definition of "devotion" in his Modern Catholic Dictionary:

"The disposition of will to do promptly what concerns the worship and service of God. Although devotion is primarily a disposition or attitude of the will, acts of the will that proceed from such disposition are also expressions of devotion. Essential to devotion is readiness to do whatever gives honor to God, whether in public or private prayer (worship) or in doing the will of God (service). A person who is thus disposed is said to be devoted. His devotedness is ultimately rooted in a great love for God, which in spiritual theology is often called devotion. (Etym. Latin devotio, state, act, or expression of being devoted; from devovere, to vow.) "

St Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church, says something very similar in his "Introduction to the Devout Life" (St Francis lived several centuries before Fr Hardon; thus, Fr Hardon likely drew on St Francis de Sales, at least somewhat, in his definition). St Francis points out that a person might do all sorts of things, things that are in of themselves (objectively) good -- like fasting, prayers, reception of the sacraments, almsgiving, and so on -- and yet still not have true devotion. True devotion, St Francis de Sales says, presupposes love of God.

This is not really something difficult to understand. Imagine a husband who makes a very modest income but he really wants to give his wife the best present he can for her birthday. He puts his whole heart, mind, soul, and strength into that gift and at a quiet moment when it's just the two of them, he presents his gift to her. Now imagine a wealthy man who simply tells one of his staff to pick out and purchase something expensive for his wife's birthday, then forgets about it until the big party with all of his wealthy friends, at which point he makes a big show of the expensive gift -- mainly just to show off and impress others with what a great guy he is and how wealthy he is. Who really loved his wife? Which wife, if they have any integrity at all, would be most grateful to her husband? Who had true devotion to their wife?

We understand, then, what it means to be truly devoted to someone -- to be always ready to serve them and do our best for them with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength; to put them first and foremost; they are always on my mind. The same is true for true devotion to God.

A person cannot get to Heaven without true devotion. That necessarily means that there will be temptations aimed at corrupting it. If we are to develop and grow in true devotion, eliminate any of the following from your thoughts, motives, and intentions:

• Any inclination to "keep a resume" in my mind -- a resume, that is, of all the great things I have done. Oh I have said this many rosaries, or I do all of this every day, or I have made this many Holy Hours, or I have given much to the poor, or I have received this "grace" and that "grace," and on and on. This is what our Lord meant when He said: when you give alms, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. This renders all devotional practices useless, since I am now doing them only to pat myself on the back, not out of love of our Lord. A person would be much better off doing less but doing it sincerely and with simplicity. This is a very common temptation when a person begins to enter into conversion. The original intention was good, but the tempter is very clever. He doesn't try to thwart what you are doing -- he simply convinces you of your greatness for doing, thus corrupting the whole thing. Don't stop with the devotional practices. Instead, purify your intention by turning away from this habit of thought. The Lord judges the heart.

• Any tendency to think of devotional practices as some sort of magic potion. This is also not uncommon. Devotional practices are not like taking a pill -- I just do it (go through the motions) and something I want automatically happens without any more (or real) effort on my part. There is no devotional practice that can substitute for real interior conversion. Relation with God is not like a business relation: here's my money, now you give me what I paid for; or: I'll do this for you (God), and now you do this for me. Is that all there is, something like a business relation? Is relation with God no different, no more personal, than that with the checkout person at the gas station? Is that fulfilling? Suppose a married couple did that in their marriage. What kind of marriage would that be? Would they know the heights of true love in a good marriage? They would not. We cannot expect that in our relation with God either. This is very common. People will so often say something like: I've prayed this many rosaries or novenas or whatever it is, and what I wanted did not come through. This is not true devotion. It is treating God like a vending machine. God is not a vending machine! Our Lord Himself rebuked the Israelites over and over again for this mentality -- read Psalm 50 as just one example. God gives us grace and He multiplies it with true devotional practices, but He doesn't just wave a magic wand and make everything better. We have to go through the hard work of conversion and purification using the grace (help) that He gives.

A person is indeed in a very sorry state if they think they are beyond such temptations because, in that case, it is virtually certain that they are already trapped by one or more of them. We have to examine ourselves carefully -- including our thoughts, motives, and intentions -- and not be afraid of the truth about ourselves. Hidden faults are the only ones to fear. Our Lord is pleased when we examine ourselves carefully and seek to do better because it is the only way to progress towards Him. He already knows our faults; He wishes us to see them and acknowledge them because this is the only to be rid of them.

What are "Devotions" or Devotional Practices or Prayers?

There are numerous prayers and practices in Catholicism that are called "devotions" or devotional prayers or practices, which are distinct from liturgy (the sacraments, for example) as well as sacramentals (Holy Water, for example). In regard to practices, true devotion will involve the use of all 3 -- again, not in some sort of rote or mechanical way, but as a means to both express and grow in knowledge and love of God. To put it simply, "devotions" are meant to foster true devotion.

Many (not all, but many) "devotional" prayers and practices (or just "devotions" for short) came through the mystics of the Church, which then worked their way through the Magisterium of the Church, thus receiving Church approval. Devotion to Divine Mercy through St Faustina is one such example. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is another such example, coming especially through St Margaret Mary Alocoque.

In short, we might say that "devotions" are more akin to personal prayer (if you will) and tend to be governed less by the Magisterium of the Church (although the Magisterium is not entirely hands-off on those either), while liturgy (or liturgical prayer -- like all of the sacraments) is the formal and public prayer of the Church, which is governed very directly by the Magisterium of the Church. We need both. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states the following:

"Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful" (CCC 1674). "In addition to the liturgy, Christian life is nourished by various forms of popular piety" (CCC 1679).

Examples of the some of the more popular devotions in the Church are given below. As you can see, they might involve personal prayer and/or some particular practice(s). The rosary, for example, is a devotional prayer and "only" involves praying the prayers of the rosary. The First Saturday Devotion, however, involves Mass, Confession, and some meditation time.