The Divine Office Part 8

CHAPTER IV.

SOME RULES OF ASCETIC THEOLOGY FOR THE PIOUS RECITATION OF THE BREVIARY.

There are many reasons why we should recite the Divine Office devoutly, for (1) the words which we read are holy; (2) He to Whom we speak is G.o.d; (3) we speak in the name of Holy Church; (4) we are the a.s.sociates of thousands on earth and in heaven who sing G.o.d's praises; (5) the purpose of our prayer is sublime; (6) it gives glory to G.o.d and draws down His grace and mercy on His Church; (7) and, finally, the recitation of the Office brings help and strength to those who repeat it fervently.

And, firstly, let us see what are the words of the Office. They are the words of G.o.d or of His Church. In the psalms, scripture lessons, gospel extracts, responses and antiphons, we have G.o.d's inspired word. In the prayers, sermons, homilies, hymns, and often in the responses and antiphons, as the Church is guided and a.s.sisted by the Holy Ghost, it may be, in a sense, true to say that these her words are divine. For what is more worthy of respect than the word of G.o.d? St. Augustine says that it is no less worthy of respect than the body of Jesus Christ. _Non minus est verb.u.m Dei quam corpus Christi_ (Sermon 300). How very careful should we be to treat the word of G.o.d with respect, worthily, attentively, and devoutly (_digne, attente ac devote_).

(2) To whom do we speak in our daily service of prayer? We speak to our Master, Whose very special work we are doing in offering up the great prayer. His adorable eyes are fixed upon us at this sacred duty. He listens to us, He reads our thoughts. He judges our intentions, our efforts and their fulfilment. He is the King of kings, the Almighty G.o.d.

Mindful of His presence and majesty should we not try earnestly to bless His Holy name and to free our hearts from vain, evil and wandering thoughts? We pray _ad benedicendum nomen sanctum tuum; munda quoque cor meum ab omnibus vanis perversis et alienis cogitationibus_.

(3) In whose name do we speak? It is a great honour to be an amba.s.sador for a great king and a mighty kingdom, guarding the interests of the fatherland in a foreign land. The priest is always such an amba.s.sador.

"For Christ, we are amba.s.sadors," says St. Paul. In this work of daily recitation of the Office, we are amba.s.sadors, not of some petty king or tiny state, but we represent the entire Church, the well-beloved spouse of Christ, to whose prayer He ever hearkens. _Sonet vox tua in auribus meis; vox enim tua dulcis est_ (Canticle of Canticles, ii. 14). And St.

Bernard says "_Sacerdos publica persona et totius Ecclesie os_." Hence, every priest is the amba.s.sador of Christ and of His Church, the guardian of His interests. And as it is the duty of amba.s.sadors to study carefully, to watch and further the interests of the kings whom they represent, it is a priest's duty to study carefully and further the interests of Christ's Church by the devout fulfilment of the great daily duty, the recitation of the Divine Office. History brands as traitors those amba.s.sadors who through ignorance of the language of the foreign court, or through want of vigilant attention, allow the interests of their royal masters to suffer. What a punishment awaits the days and years of ignorant, careless or inattentive fulfilment of the great official work of a priest--the Divine Office.

Who are a priest's a.s.sociates in this work? They are the thousands of priests and religious throughout the world who say the Hours, and who send up daily and nightly the great prayer of praise and thanksgiving to G.o.d. _Secundum nomen tuum, sic et laus tua in fines terrae_ (ps. 47, v.

ii). _Dies diei eructat verb.u.m et nox nocti indicat scientiam_ (ps. 18, v. 3). In this holy work of reciting the Hours, we are united with the angels and saints in heaven in honouring our common Creator; for, the Church herself reminds us of this ineffable honour in the hymn for the dedication of the Church:--

"Sed ilia sedes Coelitum Semper resultat laudibus Dumque trinum el unic.u.m Jugi canore jungimur Almae Sionis aemuli."

"That house on high--it ever rings With praises of the King of kings; For ever there, on harps divine, They hymn th' eternal One and Trine We, here below, the strain prolong;, And faintly echo Sion's song."

What are the ends for which the Office is said? (a) To glorify G.o.d, (b) to help holy Church, and (c) to sanctify ourselves.

(a) "To glorify G.o.d," that is, to adore His infinite majesty, to thank Him for his innumerable and constant blessings, to satisfy His justice in expiating the sins of the world and to beg His grace and mercy. The ends for which the Office are said are the same as those for which Ma.s.s is offered, for the Office is the supplement of the Ma.s.s (Tronson).

(b) "To help holy Church." The Church militant has many and great needs.

It is her mission to extend the Kingdom of Christ, and to do this great work she needs freedom from hostile laws, strength and courage to withstand tyrants and persecution, unity and peace amongst her children and pastors, zeal in her ministers and recruits for her militant forces.

To obtain these results the Church relies very much on the devout recitation of the Office. Doubtless, it is for these purposes that the Church has confided to the care of her chosen ministers this public official prayer and has laid no such obligation on the laity. St.

Alphonsus did not hesitate to say that if priests and religious said the Office as they should say it, the Church should not be in the deplorable state that it then was in. This Doctor of the Church adds "that by devout saying of the Office many sinners could be drawn from the slavery of the devil and many souls would love G.o.d with more fervour." The wants of the Church are greater now than they were ever before. Each devoutly-said Hour draws down G.o.d's blessing on His Church. What a vast number of blessings come from a life of daily recitation offered worthily, attentively and devoutly (_digne, attente, ac devote_).

(c) "The benefit of the person who recites the Hours." The third end for which the canonical Hours are offered is for the benefit of the person who recites them. St. Alphonsus wrote, "If they said the Office as they ought, priests themselves should not be always the same, always imperfect, p.r.o.ne to anger, greedy, attached to self-interest and to vanities.... But if they recited the Office, not as they say it with distractions and irreverences, but with devotion and recollection, uniting the affections of the heart with so many pet.i.tions which they present to G.o.d, they should certainly not be so weak as they are, but would acquire fervour and strength to resist all temptations and to lead a life worthy of priests."

Another blessing springs from the attentive recitation of the Breviary--viz., the daily withdrawal from the world and its cares which must be banished from the soul which speaks with G.o.d. For, as St.

Alphonsus writes, the saying of the Hours devoutly, gives occasion to pious souls to elicit many acts of virtue, acts of faith, of hope, of charity, of humility, etc. For one psalm, says the saint, moves all the powers of the soul and causes us to elicit a hundred acts. And in the Breviary are found the most beautiful formulae of adoration and praise, the psalms above all other parts of the Office being wonderfully rich in magnificent praise of G.o.d's attributes. Where can such sublime forms of prayer and praise be found as in Psalms, 8, 9, 17, 18, 21, 23, 28, 29, 33, 45, 46, 49, 54--to name but a few?

Finally, the attentive recitation of the Breviary is a source of light and of grace and of merit. How many lights in prayer spring from these divine words; how many maxims enter the soul, how many beautiful prayers are said, and if they be well said, they would obtain for priests treasures of grace, according to Christ's infallible promise, "Ask and you shall receive"? A person can merit several degrees of glory by one devout recitation of the Office, what an abundance of merit may be gained by the devout recitations in a life of twenty, thirty or forty years! And it was this thought of lost opportunities and of the great treasures within the reach of priests, which caused St. Alphonsus when an old man, to study the Breviary psalms and to write his well-known work.

Nor was St. Alphonsus alone in his opinion of the great means of sanctification which the Breviary affords to priests. St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was asked by Monsignor Claver, Bishop of Potenza, to point out a means for the greater sanctification of the priests of his diocese. The saint replied, "Monsignor, if you wish to sanctify your priests strive to procure two things for them, that they say the Office piously and that they say Ma.s.s with fervour. Nothing more is necessary to ensure their salvation" (_Life of St. Joseph Cupertino_ by Bernini).

The words of the wonderful Franciscan, whose life was a marvel of piety, were repeated a century later by St. Leonard of Port Maurice (1671-1751) and are often quoted as his own.

In every age of the Church earnest souls drew great sweetness and consolation from reading the psalms or from reading the canonical Hours.

Writers dealing with this part of priestly work quote the words of eminent servants of G.o.d, They quote St. Augustine, St. Gregory n.a.z.ianzan, St. Bernard, St. Catherine of Bologna, St. Philip Neri, St.

Francis De Sales and St. Alphonsus. It would make this section of this book too long to quote the words of these saints. But the words of St.

Francis De Sales seem to have a special force. "Sometimes I am so low-spirited," wrote the Saint, "by business and events, that I do not know where to turn nor at what end to begin: but during the Office nothing annoys me, I have not even distractions, I imagine that I am in heaven singing with the angels the praises of my Creator; and on leaving the choir I find often that the mighty problems which had given me trouble are cleared away and, solved in an Instant." Biographies of G.o.d's servants record many great favours bestowed on priests who recite the Breviary piously. Cardinal Bona, recording a vision vouchsafed to St. Bernard, tells how the saint saw an angel beside each choir monk, recording his disposition of soul. Some angels wrote in letters of gold, others in letters of silver, others in ink, others in water, and others held their pens but wrote nothing. Our Lord explained to the saint the meaning of the vision; the writing in gold typified charity and the fervour of the recitation; the writing in silver denoted devotion but little charity or fervour; the words in ink-writing signified careful attention to the full verbal recitation but to little else; the words written in water meant distraction and little attention to the meaning or to the words; and the angels who wrote nothing watched the insolence of those who were voluntarily distracted. The vision has furnished the theme of much pious writing and a theme for Christian painters. It shows how G.o.d watches over the daily work of priests, while His angels record in golden or silvern letters the work of pious recitation, or perhaps hold their pens at rest.

What means should be used to promote pious recitation?

ARTICLE II.--THE MEANS TO ADOPT FOR THE PIOUS RECITATION OF THE BREVIARY.

A.--THE MEANS TO ADOPT BEFORE THE RECITATION.

Preparation is necessary before beginning every prayer, for the Holy Ghost says, "Before prayer prepare thy soul, and be not as a man that tempteth G.o.d" (Ecclesias. 18. 23). This preparation necessary before other prayers is above all necessary before the recitation of the Divine Office, which is the greatest of all prayers. Two kinds of preparation are necessary, the remote and the proximate.

The remote preparation demands the removal of all obstacles which impede prayer, and the greatest of all prayers, the Church's official prayer.

The chief or capital obstacles which impede or prevent a pious recitation of the Breviary are: sin, the pa.s.sions, the absorbing thoughts of creatures and the ignorance of the Divine Office. And the means to remove these obstacles are to purify the conscience, science, to mortify the pa.s.sions, to guard the sense and to have an intelligent knowledge of the duty and requirements of a proper fulfilment of the daily task of the saying of the Canonical Hours.

The first means is to purify the conscience from sin, for sin hinders prayer. But what effect has sin on the recitation of the Office? The Office is a prayer, an elevation of the soul to G.o.d, and as all writers on ascetics teach, sin is a chain that binds us to earth; it is, says St. Francis, as birdlime which impedes the soul in its flight upwards.

Prayer is a conversation with G.o.d, but a soul loving sin cannot converse with G.o.d; "_Peccatores Deus non audit_" (St. John, ix. 31). Prayer is an intimate union with G.o.d, but a soul resting in sin can have no intimate union with G.o.d; there can be no intimate union between light and darkness, between sanct.i.ty and sin, between good and evil; in a word, between Christ and Belial. _Quae partic.i.p.atio, quae societas lucis ad tenebras? Quae conventio Christi el Belial?_

The second means of procuring fervent prayer is the mortification of the pa.s.sions. It is not enough to secure fervour in prayer that our souls should be free from sin; we must struggle to master our pa.s.sions. This point is important--for a soul upset by its pa.s.sions, anger, pride, etc., cannot with fervour recite the Hours, for it cannot converse with G.o.d, it cannot elevate itself to G.o.d, it can have no true union with G.o.d. It cannot converse with G.o.d, for G.o.d will not converse with an unmortified soul for three reasons. First, He will not speak if there be no one to listen, for the Holy Ghost tells us "Where there is no hearing, pour not out words" (Eccli. x.x.xii. 6). G.o.d wishes a soul in converse with Him to be calm and still, for G.o.d is not in the earthquake (3 Kings, xix. ii.). Again, even if G.o.d speaks to an unmortified soul, it cannot hear Him as the pa.s.sions fix its attention on worldly matters.

And even when such a soul tries to listen and to understand, the pa.s.sions surging and warring drown all sound and sense of holy things.

For, "the animal man perceiveth not these things that are of the spirit of G.o.d, for it is foolishness to him and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined" (I. Cor. ii. 14). The human soul cannot truly unite itself to G.o.d if the pa.s.sions are not conquered, because by their very nature they are opposed to G.o.d and hence inspire estrangement from, and disgust for, holy things.

Thirdly, the senses must be guarded. Our five senses can impede the recitation of the Office because they present to our souls images of the things which occupy them, and they can draw our will towards the pleasures which correspond with these objects. It is necessary for the worthy, attentive and devout saying of the Office that each sense be guarded. The sense of sight should be guarded from gazing at objects at hand, persons, books, landscape, etc. The sense of hearing should be guarded in flying from the company of evil speakers, calumniators, detractors, those who speak of worldly affairs or who give evil counsel.

It is necessary, too, to guard the tongue from evil speech. "I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me" (Psalm 38, 2); and it is well to guard against too frequent or too long conversations, which fill the soul with thoughts disturbing to a prayerful disposition.

The sense of touch should likewise be guarded, for St. Thomas says that the sense of touch is the maintenance of the other senses (1 P. q. 76, a. 75). And when the foundations of a house commence to fall asunder, the walls, the frame and the roof totter and fall. So it is with the senses; when the sense of touch is disturbed the other senses quickly complete the ruin.

What knowledge is needed for the valid and for the licit recitation of the Hours? Must the person know the meaning of the words read? No such knowledge is necessary, for G.o.d hears the prayer of the ignorant and illiterate and of the babes. To the chief priests and scribes, who hearing the children crying out the Saviour's praise in the temple, Christ said "Yea, have you not read 'Out of the mouths of infants and sucklings thou hast perfected praise'" (St. Matth. xxi. 15-16), St.

Augustine defended from the sneers of the learned, those who prayed to G.o.d in rude and barbarous words, or words which they did not understand.

"_Noverint non esse vocem ad aures Dei nisi animi affectum_" (_De Catech._ Rud. C.I.). The Church has bound religious, both men and women, to say the Office in choir, even though they may not understand Latin.

Nevertheless, it is highly desirable that those who understand Latin should understand what they read daily in the Breviary. G.o.d, the Church, the practice of the saints, our own intelligence, our spiritual advantage, demand that every priest should read with knowledge so that with more certainty he may read attentively and devoutly.

For (1) the Holy Ghost warns us to sing wisely, _Psallite sapienter_ (Ps. 46.8); (2) that priests may sing wisely, may say the daily Office piously is the reason and end of liturgical studies of the psalms and of the Breviary in theological colleges; (3) the saints who wrote so piously and so learnedly on the psalms and on psalmody are for ever impressing this matter of intelligent recitation. St. Augustine wrote, "_Et quare dicta sunt, nisi ut sciantur? Quare sonuerunt nisi ut audiantur? Quare audita sunt nisi ut intelligantur_" (Tract x.x.xi. in Joan). Again, commenting on psalm 146, he writes, "David teaches that we sing wisely; let us not seek the mere sound for the ear, but a light for the soul." St. Thomas Aquinas commenting on "For I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is without fruit" (I. Cor. xiv. 14) wrote "_Constat quod plus lucratur qui orat. Nam, ille qui intelligit reficitur quantum ad intellectum et quantum ad affectum; sed mens ejus qui non intelligit est sine fructu refectionis_." And (4) our own intellect tells us that the Breviary should be read intelligently and devoutly. One of the ends of the Church in imposing the Divine Office as an obligation is, that by honouring the holy mysteries, or the holy memories of the saints, we may raise our hearts and souls to G.o.d, as St.

Paul wishes us, "May the G.o.d of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind towards one another according to Jesus Christ, that with one mind and one mouth you may glorify G.o.d" (Rom. xv. 5-6), an effect that cannot be produced by the recital of words which are not understood. It is almost impossible to avoid very grave distractions and to sustain attention if there be not a good knowledge of the matter and form of the Hours recited.

It seems irrational that, priests should spend daily more than an hour reading words that they understand not at all, or very imperfectly; and that the beautiful and sublime thought and language of the book of psalms, which are admired by all educated men, should be, to those who read them every day for years, nothing but a tinkling cymbal, _vox et praeterea nihil_. This is often the case even with priests who practise piously and methodically mental prayer. And yet nowhere are such beautiful acts of faith and confidence in G.o.d's power expressed as in the Psalms (e.g., 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 19, 25, 27, 30, 34, 43, 54, 55, 56, etc.); no more sublime expressions of praise exist than in the Psalms 8, 9, 17, 18, 20, 21, etc. Time spent in studying the history of the Breviary, the structure and the growth of the contents of each Hour, the meanings of the prayers and hymns, is time well spent.

B.--THE IMMEDIATE PREPARATION FOR THE RECITATION OF THE HOURS.

First. It is necessary to foresee from the reading of the _Ordo_ what is to be said, and to mark all the psalms, lessons, responses, antiphons and prayers. By this practice, St. Bonaventure says, all is recited and recited in order. _Libri et alia necessaria ad officium praeparantur et legenda studiose ante praevisa, quando et quomodo sint dicenda dic.u.n.tur_ (Int.i.t. Novit, p. I., c. 4). Unless this matter be arranged before the prayer, _Aperi_ is begun, a priest is certain to suffer from distractions, to run the risk of violating the rubrics and to lose some of the spiritual profit which arises from preparation. This point of preparation is attended to by all thoughtful priests and it was ever the practice of the great students and lovers of liturgy.

Second. It is necessary to recollect ourselves. This is simply to draw off from profane thoughts the mind and the heart, and to apply them to the sublime work of conversing with G.o.d, which we do in the Divine Office. This recollecting of our wandering thoughts before prayer is impressed on us by Holy Scripture, by the example of the saints, and by our own common sense. Holy Scripture warns us "Before prayer prepare thy soul and be not as a man that tempteth G.o.d" (Ecclus. 18. 23). And as typical of the preparation made by saintly priests, the example of St.

Charles Borromeo may be mentioned. The saint always spent a quarter of an hour in preparatory prayer before beginning the Church's official prayer. The Venerable John D'Avila made the same practice general amongst his disciples. This holy man narrates, how one day he met a priest of the Society of Jesus, who asked him to recite the Hours with him, and that before beginning their prayer the Jesuit fell on his knees, saying, "There are some who speak of saying the Office as if it were a trifle. Come, they say, let us say our Hours together, and so immediately begin. This is showing very little appreciation for so holy a duty, for it well merits a few moments at least of recollection"

(Bacquez). Our own common sense tells us not to rush heedlessly to begin any important work. To converse with G.o.d is a work of sublime importance which needs preparation, so that it may be done attentively.

Third. We must invoke G.o.d's aid by prayer. No prayer is more suitable than the prayer given as a preparatory prayer in the Breviary, "_Aperi, Domine, os meum_ ... Open Thou, O Lord, my mouth to bless Thy holy name; cleanse my heart from vain, evil and wandering thoughts; enlighten my understanding, inflame my will, that so I may worthily, attentively and devoutly recite this Office and deserve to be heard in the presence of Thy Divine Majesty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. O Lord, in union with that divine intention wherewith Thou whilst here on earth didst Thyself praise G.o.d, I offer these Hours to Thee."

Fourth. To unite ourselves with Jesus Christ. In the prefatory prayer "_Aperi, Domine_," we say "_Domine, in unione_," etc. In Baptism, Christians are united to Jesus, to His life, to His spirit. He is the Head of the Church and we are its members. And this union should be a real, explicit, vivifying union when we fulfil our ministry of social prayer. This union with Christ is sought for by Himself, by the Apostles, by the Church, and is practised ever by G.o.d's saints. The words of the prayer should be reduced to action.

1. Christ our model in all things is our model in prayer, and so He teaches us that when we pray we must say "Our Father, Who art in Heaven," that is, to use His very words and sentiments. And this desire of our Lord, that souls should be united to Him in prayer, has often been manifested by Him to His saints. To St. Gertrude He said, "My daughter, behold My Heart; look upon It in future as supplying your own defects. When you would pray, ask It to help you to give My Father the homage you owe Him. I shall be ever ready to second you as soon as you call Me to your aid." St. Bernard, schooled in this practice by the Holy Ghost, knew all its sweetness: "David," he says, "rejoiced of old to have found his heart to pray to his Master and his G.o.d--_Invenit servus tuus cor tuum ut oraret te oratione hac_ (II. Kings viii. 27). And I, that I may pray, have found the heart of my King and my Brother, of my sweet Saviour; shall I not then also pray? Yes, certainly, for I am, too, happy, as I have, if not the Heart of Jesus in place of mine, at least have I mine in that of Jesus" (Bacquez, p. 191).