In
these last words we have the whole idea of Liturgical Prayer ; and,
in order that it should be properly understood, and secure in our
heart its true value, we propose to consider, somewhat at length, the
nature of prayer, especially in its relation to the recitation of the
Office.
We
cannot get a better definition of prayer than that found in our
catechism, which is the one given by the great Angelical doctor St.
Thomas : Prayer is the lifting up of the
heart
and mind to God. It is, in its simplest form, an act of the soul
which calls into play the powers of understanding and will, or, in
other words, the reason and the affections. The understanding has to
be directed to God; the will has to be moved towards Him. Faith must
illuminate our understanding so that we may know Him Whom we address
; while Hope and Charity must inflame our will so that we may love,
praise, adore, thank, and beseech Him in Whom we believe. There can
be no prayer, properly so-called, of the understanding without a
resulting motion of the will; neither can there be a prayer of the
will without the preliminary exercise of the understanding. Both must
be employed ; for, as God is One, so is the soul. He has made man to
His Own image and likeness. He does not wish us to have a dry
knowledge of Himself, but such an understanding as will make us turn
to Him as the sole Object that can adequately fill a creature's
heart. Again, He does not ask us to love Him blindly, not knowing Who
or What He is. He demands a reasonable service [Rom. xii. 2.], a love
based on knowledge. Without the use of reason we debase His service
into a mere superstition. Hence it can be seen, from the definition
of prayer, that it is the work of the soul acting through
understanding and will. It is well to get this principle deeply
rooted in the mind from the outset, for it proves how necessary it is
for each one, as far as means allow, to make a conscientious study of
the subject of prayer; and especially of the Liturgical Prayer. For
those bound to its recitation this must be a serious duty, since the
Office is a daily task, laid upon us by Holy Church under a grave
obligation.
Prayer
is divided into two great classes : mental prayer and vocal prayer.
Mental prayer is that in which the soul itself works without the aid
of any exterior instrument. Vocal prayer, as its very name implies,
calls in the use of the human voice as an external means of praying.
But there is this important point to bear in mind. If the soul can
pray without the help of the body, the body cannot pray without the
help of the soul. Vocal prayer must find an echo in the heart,
otherwise it is but an empty form, and merits the contempt which our
Lord shows for the prayers of the Pharisees, who expected to be heard
for their much speaking [Matthew
vi. 7].
It would be but a lip-service which He does not want : These people
know me with their lips and not with their hearts, says the Lord by
His prophet [Isaias xxix. 13]. This strict dependence of vocal prayer
on mental prayer is in keeping with our human nature. Our bodies can
only be said to act in a reasonable manner when prompted by the soul.
There is nothing in the nature of things that can prevent the soul
from acting, that is to say, from knowing and loving, without making
use of the organs of the body : a proof, by the way, making for the
immortality of the soul. It is on account of this truth that Holy
Church bids us, before beginning our Office, pray that we may say it
attentively and devoutly; that is, with due application of the body
and the soul.
Of
vocal prayer, which mainly concerns us in this book, the division is
two-fold—public and private ; and both have to be considered from
the point of view of the prayer itself, and the one who prays. Public
vocal prayer, strictly so-called, is that prayer which is the
official act of the whole body of the Church. Private vocal prayer is
that which individuals, by themselves or with others, say according
to their own private devotion. It, therefore, cannot be looked upon
as the public act of the whole body of the Church. Now as regards
those who pray : the individual may be either a public servant of the
Church who in her name is charged with making intercession ; or a
private individual [Though forsaking his own fancies, he may find
both his security and profit in following the formulas which are
publicly authorised by the Church, and thus unite himself with the
public praying of the Church] who bears no official position, and is
not appointed, like Aaron, to stand between the living and the dead
[Numbers xvi. 48]. Those who, either by their state or by vow
approved of by the Church, are charged with saying the Office,
whether it be the Divine Office or the Little Office of our Lady, say
it as public servants of the Church who, officially, stand before the
Throne of God and make intercession for the whole body of Christ's
Church.
When
performing this duty, even when alone, they cease to be private
individuals : they are invested with the public character of
ambassadors to the heavenly court. He is constituted in those things
which appertain to God [Heb. v. i]. But although invested with a
public character, those who recite the Office do not lose the merit
of their own personal action according to the words of the Apostle :
Who sows in blessings the same also shall reap in blessings ; [2 Cor.
ix. 6] or that other saying : From the fruit of his month shall a man
be filled with good things [Prov. xiii]. And there is no prayer so
efficacious as that of the Office, for it has a peculiar and great
merit before God for a reason we shall give below. "A single
psalm said well excites all the powers of our soul and makes us
produce a hundred acts of virtue. One hour said with devotion implies
at the bottom of the heart a thousand good desires, a thousand pious
affections": thus St. Alphonsus. Is it any wonder that St.
Benedict tells his monks : " Let nothing be preferred to the
work of God " ? [Holy Rule, Cap. 43]
But
there is a deeper view of the public prayer of the Church and of
those who are privileged to take part therein. We must look more
closely into the matter and endeavour to search out honey and oil out
of the Rock [Deut. xxii. 13]. Now the Rock was Christ [I Cor. x. 4];
and He, the same yesterday, to-day and for evermore [Heb. xiii. 8],
is the soul of the Liturgical prayer. It is Jesus Christ Who prays in
us ; it is He Who prays by us ; it is He Who prays with us. This is
the great truth which gives the value to Liturgical prayer and sets
it so far above any private devotions. It is this sublime truth which
makes St. Alphonsus say that one Pater Noster said in the Office is
worth a thousand said out of private devotion.
We
must go back to our baptismal Creed for the foundation of all this.
We profess our belief in the Almighty Father, in the Incarnate Son,
and the Holy Ghost; and then in the mystical Body of Christ,
quickened by the Abiding Presence, the Holy Catholic Church, which is
the Communion of Saints. This is the doctrine of the Mystical Body
which the Holy Ghost by St. Paul thus explains :—
For
as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that
one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one
Spirit are we all baptised into one Body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink
of one Spirit. . . . Now ye are the Body of Christ and members in
particular [Cor. xii. 12, 13, 27],
And
again :—
For
there is one Body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all (That) speaking the truth in love (we) may grow up in all
things into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom all the body
fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint
supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several
part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself
in love [Eph. iv. 4, 5, 6, 15, 16].
And
once more :—
And
He is before all things and in Him all things consist. And He is the
Head of the Body, the Church. . . . for it pleased the Father that in
Him should all fulness dwell [Col. i. 17,18].
On
these words of the Apostle the whole structure of the Liturgical
prayer is built. It is the outward manifestation of the real life of
the Church, the mystical Body of God the Son. And in this way our
Divine Lord has united to Himself, as members of a body to the head,
all those who live by grace. This forms what is called the Mystical
Body of Christ. As He has a real human body born of the Virgin Mary
so He has also a Mystical Body begotten by grace born of the Water
and the Blood [I John v. 6] and quickened at Pentecost by the coming
of the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver. Those who are members of
His Body live with His life and act through with Him according to the
saying : I live; no longer I but Christ lives in me [Gal. ii. 20] ;
and that other : Of His fulness we all have received [John i. 16].
When this Mystical Body acts it is always in union with its Divine
Head, Jesus Christ. Its acts become His acts, for they are guided by
His Spirit. They are thus invested with a dignity and a worth far
beyond their natural power. They become the acts of the Infinite God
Himself. On the other hand, when Jesus Christ works He acts as the
Head of the Church, of that Mystical body which He has united so
closely to Himself and which only exists in Him. He makes use of the
Body Mystical for carrying out His Own gracious ends; and plays on it
as a skilful harper who touches the strings of a well-tuned
instrument and is sure that they will respond to the feelings which
sweep over his soul.
What,
then, is the work of Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church ? He is
the great Adorer of His Father, or, as the saintly founder of St.
Sulpice was wont to say, the Sole Religious [Religion in its real
meaning is that bond which binds the creature to the Creator (Religo
—I bind)]. Through the Incarnation, God is able to receive from
Creation a homage and a worship which perfectly befit Him, and which
otherwise could never have been found. Finite creatures, be they the
holiest and highest, can never worship God as He deserves; for to Him
is due a worship without bounds. How, then, can creatures, who are
limited on all sides, pay such a homage ? No one but God Himself, the
Infinite One, can offer a worship which has the perfection that is
required. It was therefore necessary, if He is to have a fitting
worship, that God the Son, of the very same substance and equal to
His Father in all things, should become Man, so that as the God-Man
He, in His created nature, and in the name of all creation, should
pay a homage which, on account of His Own Divine Person, is infinite
and worthy of all acceptance by the Eternal Father. But while on the
one hand God receives from Jesus Christ a worship without ending,
according to the words : Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be
praised [Ps. xlvii. i] ; on the other, the life of the God-Man is
also destined for us, to supply the wants of our race. He is decreed
to be our Head in order to enable us through Him to worship our
Maker. Not only during the thirty-three years of His mortal life was
He to worship His Father, but that homage has to be paid for
evermore. The life of Jesus now in Heaven is concerned with the same
work : Living for ever to make intercession for us [Heb. vii. 25]. He
is the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world [Apoc. xiii. 8] ;
the Eternal Sacrifice to which we are associated. The Mystical Body
ever needs to pour forth its homage to the Eternal; and Jesus Christ,
her Divine Head, is ever making intercession for us in Her name. We
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous [John
ii. i]. This position of our Lord, as the Mystical Head of the
Church, the Adorer of the Father in the name of His brethren, must be
understood if we are to appreciate the Liturgical prayer at its
proper value, and to understand our share therein. Let us, then, with
the eye of faith, penetrate within the veil and, with adoring look,
gaze on the worship of heaven. Let us enter into His courts with
praise [Ps. c. 4] and listen to the morning stars singing together
and the Sons of God shouting for joy [Job xxxviii. 7]. The Beloved
disciple, St. John, shall be our guide.
And
after this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven; and the
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with
me; which said: Come up hither and I will show thee things which must
be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a
Throne was set in heaven and One sat on the Throne. And He that sat
was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a
rainbow round about the Throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
And
round about the Throne were four and twenty seats; and sitting upon
the seats I saw four and twenty elders, sitting clothed in white
raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
And
out of the Throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices :
and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne which
are the seven Spirits of God.
And
before the Throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in
the midst of the Throne, and round about the Throne, were four living
creatures, full of eyes, before and behind.
And
the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living
creature like a calf, and the third living creature had a face as a
man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying-eagle.
And
the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him : and
they were full of eyes within : and they rest not day or night,
saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is
to come.
And
when those living creatures gave glory and honour and thanks to Him
that sat on the Throne, Who liveth for ever and ever, the four and
twenty elders fell down before Him that sat on the Throne, and
worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns
before the Throne, saying: Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory
and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy
pleasure they were and arc created [Apoc. iv. i-iv].
And I
beheld, and lo, in the midst of the Throne and of the four living
creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as if it
were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And He came and took
the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the Throne.
And
when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four
and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them
harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the
saints. And they sang a New Song: Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation; and hast made us unto God kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the earth.
And I
beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the Throne
and the living creatures and the elders : and the number of them was
ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying,
with a loud voice : Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory,
and blessing.
And
every creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all that arc in them, heard I saying,
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth
upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever: and the four
living creatures said: Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down
and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever [Apoc. v. 6-14].
And
the four and twenty elders who sat before God on their seats, fell
upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying: We give Thee thanks, 0
Lord God Almighty, Who art, and wast, and art to come, because Thou
hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.
And
the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His
temple the ark of His testimony : and there were lightning, and
voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. And there
appeared a great sign in heaven : a Woman clothed with the sun, and
the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars
[Apoc. xi. 16-19].
And I
looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an
hundred and forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written
in their foreheads. And I heard a Voice from heaven, as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the
voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sang as it were a
New Song before the Throne, and before the four living creatures, and
the elders : And no man could learn that Song but the hundred and
forty and four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These were
they who were not defiled with women for they are virgins. These are
they who follow the Lamb whither-soever He goeth. These were
purchased from among men, the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb ;
and in their mouth was found no guile, for they are with-out blemish
before the Throne of God [Apoc. xiv. 1-5],
And
after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the
testimony in heaven was opened. . . And the temple was filled with
smoke from the Glory of God, and from His power [Apoc. xv. 5, 8].
And
after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven,
saying: Alleluia I Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto
the Lord our God. . . And the four and twenty elders and the four
living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sat on the Throne,
saying: Amen; Alleluia. And a Voice came out of the Throne saying:
Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small
and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,
saying, Alleluia : for the Lord our God the Almighty reigneth. Let us
be glad and rejoice, and give glory to Him : for the Marriage of the
Lamb is come, and His Spouse hath made herself ready [Apoc. Xix. 1,
4-7].
And I
heard a great Voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of
God with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His
people, and God Himself shall be with them, and shall be their God.
And
He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
He said unto me : Write : for these words are true and faithful. And
He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and
the End [Apoc. Xxi. 3,5,6].
In
this picture of the worship of heaven, which fills our heart with a
reverential awe, we have all the elements of the Liturgical prayer.
He Who sits upon the Throne is the object of all worship; the mystic
living creatures are continually pouring forth their adoration ; the
elders are for ever casting in abasement their crowns before the
Throne ; the glorious angelic host in their varied choirs, each a
very world of beauty, of intelligence and love, join in the mighty
song of praise ; the one Voice from all creation, animate and
inanimate, is always giving expression of their love and worship to
their Maker, harping as harpers on the mystical harp of the Heart of
the Lamb, Who has redeemed them to God and is in their midst as the
Leader and Director of all the adoration, and the Voice Himself which
comes from the Throne, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End. For it is deep down in the Heart of the Lamb that are found all
the prayers of the Saints. He first conceives them as the expression
of His own worship to the Father, and then instills them into our
souls ; thus causing us to have the same mind that is in Himself
[Phil. ii. 5]. He is the eternal Praise and the Glory of His Father.
It is through Him alone that we have access to the Throne of Mercy
[Eph ii. 18].
Thus
the public prayer of the Church is nothing else but the prayer which
the Divine Head of the Church is ever pouring forth on our behalf to
His Eternal Father. Sharing as we do in His life, forming but one
body with Him, He makes use of our souls as so many instruments by
which He can praise God. The words we utter are His in very truth ;
it is He Who prays in us and by us, if we place ourselves wholly at
His disposal. Hence no exaggeration can be found in the words we say
when we remember it is He Who is saying them, and that on His lips
they are perfectly exact and true. But if we are His instruments, we
are reasonable ones. To refer to a former simile, we are not like a
mute harp which is responsive only when the musician touches it, but
we are like a harp of living strings—of strings which willingly
place themselves under the master's power and share in his sentiment
as far as possible. We have to love God with our whole soul, with our
affections, and with our reason ; and so we must know what is our
part in the Divine worship the Head of the Church is always pouring
forth, and what part is His. Our part is a deliberate purpose of
praising God in union with Jesus Christ, and it is all summed up in
these glorious words said in the Mass just before the Pater Noster: "
In Him and with Him and by Him, is all honour and glory to Thee, God,
Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, through the ages of
ages."
M.
Olier has tried to bring out this great truth by means of a seal made
from the designs of the French artist Lebrun. The upper part
represents Heaven and the Holy Ghost, the source of all homage and of
every blessing of which God is the object here below. Beneath,
appears David with his heart enlightened, and transported by the
light of the Holy Ghost. In him we recognise the face of his son,
Jesus Christ, upon Whom the Holy Ghost reposes with all fulness, and
Whose every aim is directed to the glory of the Divine Majesty. The
harp the King holds in his hand, and which bears the words :
Magnificate Dominum mecum (" Praise the Lord with me "),
represents the soul of Our Lord, Who, by a never-ending love toward
His Father, desires that every word of His should be repeated by all
His brethren.
Around
David, but a little lower down, are priests clad in their choral
dress, kneeling, with eyes raised heavenwards ; they also carry
harps, upon which is inscribed the second half of the verse,
Exaltemus nomen ejus in idipsum (" Let us exalt His name in the
selfsame"). These represent the ministers of the Church and
others charged with praising God in the name of their brethren; they
unite themselves to Our Lord's Spirit and join in His tribute of
praise. They wear the surplice, to show the purity required in those
whom Our Lord deigns to use as His instruments. They are on their
knees, to show that they ought to live in the spirit of worship.
Their eyes are cast to heaven, and on their harps are the words In
idipsum (" in the selfsame"), because their sole desire
should be to praise God in and through Jesus. On the lowest part of
the seal are the words of the Apocalypse: / heard a voice from heaven
as the voice of many waters, as of harpers harping on their harps. It
was a voice, not voices that were heard. Only one Voice goes up
before the Throne of God, only one worship does God attend to. It is
the Voice of Jesus which is heard for His reverence [Heb. v. 7.], "He
alone," says M. Olier, "has the right to intone the Song of
Zion, and to bid us, His children, join therein."
This,
then, is the life of our Blessed Lord in heaven. As our Head He gives
to His Father and to our Father, to His God and to our God [John.
Xxi. 1.], the worship we ourselves are not able to give. "As in
each man the head speaks, sees, and thinks for the whole man, and
thus makes up for the weakness of the rest of the body, so does Jesus
Christ supply for the defects of the body of the faithful, the bulk
of Christians, who of themselves are blind, insensible, and dumb. He
lays before God the wants of the entire body. He speaks for it, sees,
and hears for it—in a word, being its Head, He does everything for
it " [Bacquez: The Divine Office. p. 283.],
To
quote M. Olier, and applying his words to the public prayer of the
Church : "This is what Jesus Christ does invisibly in heaven.
This is what His ministers are called to do in a visible manner here
below ; or, rather, what our Lord does unceasingly through them on
earth. To this end He places in their hands the Office, the
expression of His sentiments, and of the duty of His members toward
the Father ; and whilst, as Head and High Priest, He communicates His
Spirit to enable them to perform it, His Church puts them under the
obligation of reciting it in His name. Thus the priest, the
representative of our Lord, is at the same time the living symbol of
the unity of the members of the Body Mystical. The Church,
represented in him, addresses herself by Jesus Christ to the Eternal
Father, and, by the power of the Holy Ghost, our Lord gives life to
the prayers of the Church and makes them worthy of God, even as in
the Mass He uses His priest to consecrate the mystery of His Body and
Blood and offer them as a victim meet for the divine regard."
This
intimate union which exists between the Head and the members of the
Body Mystical, and which makes us, as St. Paul says, One body and one
spirit [Eph. iv. 4.], is the fulfilment of our Lord's promise made
the night before He suffered : In that day ye shall know that I am in
My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you [John xiv. 20.]. And : Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe in Me
through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in
Me and I in Thee : they may also be one in us [Ibid. xvii. 20, 21.].
Not only was it His parting wish, but it was the subject of His last
discourse : Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide
in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the branches [Ibid. xv. 4, 5.].
This,
then, is our position when, in the name of the Church, we take up our
Office book and say our hours. As the Apostle says : We put on the
Lord Jesus Christ [Rom. xiii. 14.]. We become His mouthpiece, and
give voice to the feelings of adoration, thanksgiving, supplication,
and atonement which are for ever welling up from the Sacred Heart as
Jesus lifts up His five wounds before the Father and intercedes for
us. We give voice to that great cry which, amidst the toil and bustle
of the day, and in the stillness and solitude of the night, is ever
ascending from that same Sacred Heart in the countless tabernacles
where in sacramental life Jesus abides in our midst. His prayer is
ours; ours is His. Thou art my praise [Jeremiah xvii.], says the
Prophet. Christ is our life [Col. iii. 3.], says the Apostle. Not
only does He pray for us as our High Priest, but He also prays in us,
as our Head ; and, filling us with His feelings, He joins our hearts
to the homage He pays His Father. As the flame consumes every thread
of wick in the same light and fire, so does our Lord's Spirit spread
throughout the Church, enlightening each soul with the splendour of
the one faith, and consuming it with the ardour of the one charity.
He maketh His ministers a flaming fire [Ps. ciii. 4.]. This is why
the Church always ends our prayers with the words, " Through
Christ our Lord"—to unite us with Him Who prays in us, and to
remind us of His promise that anything we ask the Father in His name
shall be presently granted to us [John. xv. 16.].
An
important result follows from the consideration of the doctrine of
the Mystical Body. It is one that fills us with great consolation. As
long as we keep our mind and heart lifted up to God—that is to say,
as long as we keep ourselves, as it were, basking in the sunshine of
His presence—the weaknesses of human nature, such as distractions,
cannot harm us or take away from the value of our prayer. Our Lord
continues to use us as His instruments until we, by a deliberate act
of our will, break off the union and, of set purpose, withdraw
ourselves from His influence.
That
great Benedictine soul, St. Gertrude, being once, in spite of all
efforts, more than ordinarily distracted, lost heart, and began to be
much troubled. Our Divine Master vouchsafed to appear to His servant
and consoled her by saying : Daughter, behold My Heart ; for the
future look to it and supply your defects. When you mould pray, ask
it to help you to give to My Father the worship you owe. I shall ever
be ready to second you as soon as you call Me to your aid. St.
Bernard learned the same lesson. " David rejoiced of old to have
found his heart to pray to his Master and to his God [2 Kings vii.
27.]. " And I have found the Heart of the King, of the Brother,
and Friend, of the loving Jesus. And therefore shall I not adore ?
Yea, I will pray. For His Heart is with me, yea, boldly will I say
it, for my Head is Christ" [Migne, P. L., vol. 184, p. 642.].
"The
Spirit of our Lord," says M. Olier, "is like a river that
flows into the vast bosom of the Eternal, and in the rapidity of its
course carries along everything it meets with. It is enough that by
our will we give ourselves to Him, and are sensitive under His touch.
He will then carry us along with Himself into the abyss of the
Divinity, there to be absorbed for ever."
To
sum up, then, the Liturgical Prayer, such as we have it in the
Office, and is laid upon us by the Church, is no private devotion,
but it is the Prayer which the Word Incarnate is ever pouring forth
on behalf of the Mystical Body of which He is the Head. Those who say
it are the willing instruments placed at His disposal by His Spouse,
the Church. We abide in Him and He in us. The words we speak, we
speak not of ourselves, but in His Person. In the Liturgical Prayer
we have the most perfect means of adoring, and thanking God, and of
making supplication, atonement, that the Eternal Wisdom could
provide. By Jesus Christ, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to His name [Heb. xiii. 15.]. From this point of view there is
nothing to be added to make us esteem and love our Office. No one who
knows what it is can hesitate in putting it far above any private
devotion ; for nothing can compare with it, save and except the Mass,
with which it is so closely connected that one cannot be understood
without the other [ The Sacrifice of Prayer to be perfect must never
be separated in thought from the great Eucharistic Sacrifice of the
New Law. The Office and the Mass form but one whole, and one can
understand the Office only when it is studied in the light of the
Altar ; for it is the setting of rich gold which surrounds and sets
forth the priceless jewel of the Mass. When we consider that the
Prayer of our Lord, like His Sacrifice, has the same four ends, viz.,
adoration, thanksgiving, supplication, and atonement, we can
immediately see that the Mass must be steadily kept in view in any
study of the Office we may undertake. The whole Office must,
therefore, always be referred to the Mass either as preparation or
thanksgiving, both for priests who have to say it, and for others who
take part in the offering by their presence.]. Therefore, to spend
time over our Office, to taste more and more of its sweetness, to
find in it food for our souls, to form all our spiritual life on it,
to get the matter for our mental prayer from it, to make its phrases
those with which we habitually approach the Throne of Mercy, to make
it regulate our whole life, even if, for this purpose, we have to
abandon our self-willed and private devotions, which, valuable in
themselves for others, are perhaps not fitted for us, into whose
hands the Church puts the Office book as her public servants ; to do
all this is surely the highest wisdom.
From - The Little Office of Our Lady; a treatise theoretical, practical, and exegetical - Taunton, Ethelred L. (Ethelred Luke), 1857-1907
