Engaged as we priests are in priestly ministry, or else
in teaching, or around our dear poor ones, let us see, nevertheless, that we do
not forget about prayer.
Above all, let us want always to keep in mind, and
display it in all our actions, those three blessed years of the public life of
Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amid the great fatigue He bore, in His evangelization of
the crowds, Jesus never forgot about prayer.
The image of the Divine Teacher Who, in the middle of preaching,
withdrew to the hillside to pray, should be our favorite image.
Let us remember, dear brothers, that though we are
working in an active life, the obligation of prayer does not cease for us. It
is prayer which raises us up to God, which allows us to speak to God, unites us
to God, sanctifies us in God. The better part is the only part necessary: the
duty to pray. It was Pope Innocent I who
wrote: ‘It is the duty of the priest to pray and to offer sacrifice’.
Many dangers surround us! In Catholic action too, and even in the
confessional, we find dangers. And much
dissipation is caused for us by external occupations! ‘Do you know’, wrote St.
Bernard to Pope Eugene III, his pupil, ‘do you know where external occupations
will lead you? If through them you neglect prayer and pious practices, external
activities will lead to a hardening of your hearts, and then... and then...’.
By our very priesthood, we priests are made men of
prayer. The Church is ‘domus orationis’ [house of prayer]; the priest must be ‘homo
orationis’ [a man of prayer].
Oh, if only we priests were all men of prayer, the
world, my dear brothers, the whole world would be converted. ‘omnipotens est
oratio’ [prayer is all-powerful]. The pure hands of the priest of Jesus Christ
are never raised towards Heaven without bringing down graces. Graces are
lacking because the prayers of priests are lacking.
Do we have the spirit of prayer? This spirit is extremely necessary for us
priests, and besides for Religious. St.
Paul says that the Holy Spirit prays in the hearts of the saints, gemitibus
inenarrabilibus. [groaning without words] Such is the spirit of prayer. It
prays in the depths of the soul.
A sign of having the spirit of prayer is to have our
breast and heart ablaze, burning with love for God and neighbour; to have our
thoughts always and generally inclined towards good and heavenly things, and to
be zealous for the glory of God.
Keep a habitual recollection of the spirit. Do not have
a taste, but a distaste for earthly things. Find peace and delight in holy and
divine things, in the Church and in the particular works of the priestly
ministry.
Finally, enjoy saying prayers, meditation, the Divine
Office, the Mass and praying.
The first way of obtaining the spirit of prayer is
certainly that of praying, and asking God for the grace of it. It will be also
very useful, too, that each one diligently and often examines himself on his
purity of intention in all that he does: whether what he seeks is always the
glory of God, or not; whether what he seeks is from God, or whether he seeks
himself, his own things and self-love, and not the love of the Lord. As long as we seek ourselves we will never
have the spirit of prayer. As long as we seek our own satisfaction, our own
well-being, our personal advantage, esteem, honor and special positions, our
hearts are already filled, and there is no longer any room or space there to
receive the spirit of God, which is the spirit of prayer. The spirit of prayer is that spirit which
draws us out of ourselves, destroying all earthly and finite things, and allows
God alone to reign.
The saints found their delight in praying; the grace of
graces: if we ask God incessantly for this, whole-heartedly, it will be given
to us, and we will become saints.
Praying teaches us the way to become men of prayer. It
certainly is costly to give ourselves to a life of prayer, but the more we practice
this exercise, the easier and nicer it becomes: it becomes an exercise of the
sweetest piety.
From a letter of
4-1-1938,
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