have no certain knowledge, whether they will be useful or prejudicial to our eternal interests, such as good health, long life, prosperity in business, and the like temporal advantages, though we are permitted, and it is sometimes also expedient, to petition for them, yet when we ask for them, we must only do it in the second place, that is, after having asked for spiritual blessings with perfect submission to God's holy will, and with the condition that they be pleasing to God and beneficial to our souls.

SECTION II.

Of devotion in our prayers.

The consideration that during prayer we are addressing that great Being who fills heaven and earth with the majesty of His glory, ought to of reverence and devotion. any great personage upon Holiness the Pope, how respectful would be our deportment, how modest and recollected our whole behaviour! What, then, should be our conduct when we present ourselves before the God of heaven, our great Lord and Master!

inspire us with a deep feeling Were we in the presence of earth, as, for example, his

The devotion which ought to accompany our prayer is twofold, exterior and interior. Exterior devotion consists in the proper and becoming posture of the body, and in keeping a strict guard upon our senses, more particula ly the eyes; since there is so close a connexion between body and soul, that, unless we mortify ourselves exteriority, we cannot obtain interior recollection. This was well known to all the Saints, and hence they were most viigilant over their senses during prayer. St. Francis of Salles, during the whole of the time he was at prayer, even when

he was alone and unobserved by others, remained before God in an attitude the most edifying, with an air of the sweetest composure, insensible to all around him, and exhibiting the most profound reverence and devotion. The venerable Berkmas was accustomed to pray on his knees, with his eyes closed, his hands clasped on his breast, his countenance beaming with such an angelic sweetness, and lighted up with such a heavenly ardour, that many persons placed themselves on their knees beside him in order to observe him, and to enkindle in their own souls that heavenly flame which burnt so ardently in his heart. It is related of St. Rosa of Lima, that, as soon as she entered the church, she would retire to some secret corner, and there would remain, with her eyes fixed on the adorable sacrament of the altar for hours together, motionless as a statue, insensible to all that passed around her. Of St. Aloysius we read, that he practised such a watchfulness over his senses, and particularly over his eyes, during prayer, that his countenance seemed more like that of an angel than of a man. By this strict guard which he kept over his senses, he attained to such an eminent gift of interior recollection, that in giving an account of his conscience to his director, he once said, that he thought that during the space of six months he had not been distracted in his prayers so much as would fill the space of one ‘Hail Mary.'

Interior devotion consists in the proper attention of the mind, and in the pious affections of the heart to God. This interior devotion is necessary to the very nature of prayer, which, according to the doctrine of the Saints, essentially implies the raising of our mind and heart to God. St. Cyprian says it is an intolerable disrespect in the eyes of God, and a kind of mockery, to perform the

act of prayer merely with our lips, having our mind and heart far from God. St. Augustine compares the prayer of those persons who pray in this manner to the barking of dogs. And St. Gregory says, 'How can you expect that God will hear you, when you do not hear yourself?' Whoever, therefore, wishes that his prayers should be pleasing to God, and profitable to his soul, must take care, as much as human infirmity permits, to exclude from his mind and heart all wilful distractions, and to fix his thoughts and affections upon his sovereign Lord. If he wilfully neglect to do this, if he knowingly allow his mind and heart to wander from God, and to be drawn after the consideration and the love of creatures, let him be sure that his prayer will be of no avail to him, since Almighty God rejects the prayer of those "who honour Him by their lips, but their heart is far from Him.”

SECTION III.

Of humility in our prayers.

The third condition which should accompany our prayers, in order to render them acceptable in the sight of God, and profitable to our souls, is the spirit of humility. "The prayer of him that humbles himself," says the Wise Man, "shall pierce the clouds, and it will not depart until the Most High behold." God treats the proud with scorn, and refuses to grant their petitions; but to the humble He is sweet and liberal, and imparts His favours and blessings in abundance. "God resisteth the proud," says the Apostle St. James, "and gives His grace to the humble." We have a most striking proof of this truth in

2 Ecclus. xxxv. 21.

1 Matt, xv. 8.

3 James iv. 6.

the conduct of God towards the Pharisee and the Publican of the Gospel; for the proud Pharisee returned from his prayer with added guilt, and became more abominable in the eyes of God; whereas the humble Publican, notwithstanding his own persuasion of his extreme misery and unworthiness, found favour and mercy before God, and returned home renewed and justified.

This humility consists, 1st, in a deep and sincere feeling of the awful majesty of Him whom we are addressing in our prayers; of the greatness and power of God, the immortal King of Glory, the sovereign Lord of the Universe, before whom the angels veil their faces, and the heavens themselves are not without spot. 2dly, It consists in a sincere and true appreciation of our own misery and unworthiness. For reason of which, far from meriting any favour from God, we deserve to be for ever cast away from His face, and deprived of His grace. When we call to mind the original corruption in which we are born, and then add to this our past infidelities, our base ingratitude to God, and the many insults we have offered to Him, we must surely feel convinced that we are unworthy to stand in His presence, that we can claim no right that He should hear our prayers, but that we rather deserve that He should drive us away, and inflict upon us a severe punishment. If we approach God in our prayers, animated by this spirit of humility, we may be sure that He will look down upon us with His merciful eyes, and impart His blessings to us. For,' as St. Augustine says, 'when we humble ourselves, God descends and unites Himself to us; but when we raise ourselves on high by pride, God withdraws Himself, and leaves us to our own misery.' He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. "God has regard," says holy David, "to the prayer of

991 "A contrite and humble heart, O God,

the humble,"

Thou wilt not despise."

SECTION IV.

Of confidence in our prayers.

mercy shall "Ask," says

The promise

Another condition which must accompany our prayers is, a firm confidence that we shall obtain the object of our petitions, if it be conducive to God's honour and glory, and to our own sanctification. "Blessed is the man," says holy David, "that trusteth in Thee; encompass him that hopeth in the Lord."3 St. James, "in faith, nothing wavering." of our Saviour is the sufficient reason for which we must have a firm confidence in all our prayers, for He has engaged His word, that, whatever we shall ask of His Father in His name, it shall be granted to us. "Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall ask from My Father in My name, it shall be granted you." Let us, then, `approach to God with a filial confidence, for "no one ever hoped in the Lord and was confounded." Though indeed we ought to be filled with confusion when we think of our own unworthiness, yet the consideration of the goodness of God, of the promise of our Saviour, and of the merits of His sacred passion and death, ought to inspire us with the greatest confidence, and fill us with the liveliest hope.

This confidence that we shall attain the object of our petitions, through the infinite mercy and goodness of God, is absolutely necessary to the good success of our prayers. This is clearly proved by the doctrine of Christ, who, 3 Psalm xxxi. 10.

1 Psalm ci. 18. ✦ James i. 6.

2 Psalm 1. 19.

5 John xiv. 13.