The Divine Office - Rev. E. J. Quigley
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 God 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
God 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. God, 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 xxxi. 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 God, as St.
Paul wishes us, "May the God 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 God" (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 God'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
dicuntur_ (Intit. 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 God, 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 God" (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 God is a work of sublime importance
which needs preparation, so that it may be done attentively.
Third. We must invoke God'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 God, 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 God'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 God--_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).
2. St. Paul recommends us to offer our prayers through Jesus Christ. "By
him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that
is to say, the fruit of lips confessing to His name" (Heb. xiii. 15).
3. The Church wishes this union with Christ and mentions it several
times in her prayers, _Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum_. She
expresses her wish in the preparatory prayer, _Aperi, Domine_; she
wishes the words and sentiments of the psalms to be applied to Jesus,
the Saviour, whom David typified, and to whom the psalms in great
number relate. And in the frequent repetition of the _Pater Noster_, we
speak Christ's sentiments and words.
4. The lives of the saints furnish many examples and precepts of this
union with Christ in our prayer. To the examples of St. Gertrude and St.
Bernard many others can be added. Several such examples are quoted by
Bacquez in his work on the Office.
5. The remembrance of the sublime work of the Office should aid in its
fervent recitation. Priests should remember the words of St. Alphonsus:
"After the sacrifice of the Mass the Church possesses no treasure so
great as the Divine Office." "It is God's Church, the Spouse of Christ,
who has done me the honour of choosing me for this great work--me, in
preference to a hundred others. She puts into my hand her holy book of
heavenly language, and asks me to read its words before God, to unite
with the angels and saints in honouring God."
6. To propose some particular intention before the recitation of the
Hours begins, and to renew it during the recitation is an excellent
means of guarding against distractions and mechanical routine. It
sustains during the prayer the fervour with which it was begun. St.
Bonaventure said to priests "Give _great_ attention to the signs
(_i.e._, to the directions, about kneeling, standing, sign of cross,
etc.), _greater_ attention to the words, and the _greatest_ attention to
the (particular) intention."
But what intention ought we to have?
We should have general intentions and particular intentions. We must
have the general intentions of the Church, whose ambassadors we are. We
must pray that God be known and adored, loved and thanked and praised.
We must pray that the Church have freedom, that she may be exalted, that
the kingdom of Christ may spread and flourish, that the Pope and clergy
of the world may be blessed and guided by God, that holy souls may be
confirmed in virtue and that sinners may be converted.
We should have also some particular intentions in reading our Hours.
Thus, we may pray to obtain a more lively faith, a greater hope, a more
ardent charity, greater meekness and humility, greater patience,
detachment from the world, greater fraternal charity, help in keeping
vows--in a word, an increase of virtues, especially those in which we
may have great wants. Again, a priest may and should beg God to help him
and guide him by his light and grace, in doubts, in trouble, in crosses,
in his daily work as a priest, in his parish, in his schools, in his
college. Particularly and fervently should a priest pray for success in
his religious instruction in school, in church, in the pulpit. For St.
Augustine tells us that success in this matter depends more on prayer
than on preaching (_De Doc. Christ., Lib_. 4, chap. 15). And at every
Hour a priest should pray for a happy death.
Before saying his Hours, a priest may form a special intention of
praying for others, his superiors, his parents, his brothers and
sisters, his benefactors, his friends, his enemies, for those who have
asked for prayers, for some one in sorrow, for some one in sin, for a
soul in purgatory. Of course, these prayers benefit the priest who
offers them, for as St. Gregory the Great said so well, "_Plus enim pro
se valere preces suas efficit qui has et pro aliis impendit_" (Moral
II. 25).
AIDS DURING THE RECITATION.
I. A suitable place should be selected. The Psalmist sang "_In omni loco
dominationis ejus, benedic, anima mea, Domino_" (Ps. 102, 22). Our Lord
wishes us to pray always; St. Paul says (I. Tim. ii.) that we should
pray in every place, and theologians teach that a priest may validly and
licitly say his Hours walking in the fields, in his room, or in any
suitable place. The most suitable place is the church. For it is a house
of prayer (St. Matt. xxi. 43), and the Holy Ghost asks us to go there to
pray, "_in templo ejus omnes dicent gloriam_" (Ps. 28, 9). The Apostles,
going to the temple to pray at the sixth and at the ninth hour, show us
how suitable is the place holier than the temple--the church. The
practice of the saints impresses on us the suitability of the church for
the Church's official prayer. In the life of every modern saint we find
recommended and practised the saying of the Hours at the altar. Perhaps,
the example which is best known to missionary priests, is the example of
the Cure d'Ars, who in the early days of his priestly life always said
his Breviary kneeling in the sanctuary. His parishioners liked from time
to time to slip into the church to watch him. "Often," says an
eye-witness, "he paused while praying, his looks fixed on the
Tabernacle, with eyes in which were painted so lively a faith that one
might suppose our Lord was visible to his gaze. Later, his church being
continually filled with an attentive crowd following his least
movements, he took pains to avoid everything that might excite their
admiration. Yet still, he might be frequently found, after a long day
passed in the sacred tribunal, reciting his Hours on his knees, either
in the sacristy or in a corner of the choir, a few steps from the altar;
so strong was the attraction that drew him to unite his prayer to that
of our Lord, so great was the love and respect inspired by the presence
and infinite majesty of his Divine Master" (_Life of Cure d'Ars_,
by Monnin).
Every priest must feel that the church benches, or the sanctuary, with
their silence, their every part awakening and reminding the soul that
this is the house of God, this is the gate of Heaven, are places most
suitable for prayer and are great aids to fervent prayer. The thought of
the presence of Christ with His adoring angels, to whose songs of praise
the priest should unite himself, should help wonderfully in the devout
recitation of the Hours. St. Alphonsus recommends that priests saying
the Breviary should say it before a crucifix or before a statue or
picture of the Blessed Virgin, so that gazing from time to time on these
holy objects may foster or renew pious thoughts.
II. A great aid to pious recitation of the Hours is to take up a
respectful position. The Office is a prayer, an elevation of the soul to
God, and should be treated as such; and as everyone knows, the union of
soul and body is such that in vocal prayer both are employed. If the
body take up a lazy or unbecoming position in prayer, it is an insult
to God to Whom prayer is offered, and is a certain source of distraction
and faulty prayer. Habit does much in this matter, and where a priest
labours to correct an inclination to take up a too comfortable position
in saying his Hours, he is striving to pray well.
Priests, young and old, say writers on this point, should be vigilant in
this aid to fervent prayer. The well-known words of St. Teresa
recommending a comfortable attitude in prayer do not clash with this
doctrine. In the _Selva_, St. Alphonsus writes: "It is related that
while two religious recited Matins a devil appeared, caused an
intolerable stench, and through mockery said, 'To the prayer which you
offer such incense is suited'--_ad talem orationem tale debetur
incensum_."
Which attitude is the best? Seeing the examples of the saints, St.
Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Francis de Sales, St. John de
la Salle, the Cure d'Ars, and of many other saintly men, the best
attitude in reciting the Hours is kneeling. Other saints accustomed
themselves to recite their Hours standing, with head uncovered. Others
followed, in private recitation, all the positions--sitting, kneeling,
standing--required in choir. The practice is said to aid in banishing
distractions, and contributes greatly to attention and devotion. Of
course, in private recitation no one is bound to any of these practices.
But they have proved useful to many in practising devout prayer.
Everyone is bound to pray with fervour, and a respectful attitude is a
big help towards that end.
Slow, deliberate pronunciation is another aid to the fervent saying of
the Hours of the Breviary. The lives of saintly men show their practice
in this matter. Knowing that they were the ambassadors of the Church in
presenting her praise, thanks and wants to God, they read with care and
attention. From their slow and deliberate reading of the holy words,
their souls drew out the sublime thoughts and sentiments which their
lips expressed. In rapid reading, the mind and heart have not time to
think well on the meaning of the words and of the sentiments, and hence,
no holy thoughts fill the soul, no acts of virtue are elicited, no
prayer of petition is offered, no holy resolutions are formed. Indeed,
very often--to quote the words of a venerable author--priests seem to
say with their lips and to express by their rapid reading, not _Deus in
adjutorium meum intende_, O God, make haste to help me! but _Domine ad
festinandum me adjuva_--"O God, help me to hasten?" Wise old Rodriguez
advises readers of spiritual books to observe a hen drinking and to
imitate her slow and deliberate sipping, by reading in small quantities,
with pauses. Sometimes priests acquire the habit of hurried reading,
quite unconsciously, and afterwards labour hard, and in vain, too, to
correct it. It is important for beginners in the Breviary to go at a
slow pace, as the trot and the gallop are fatal to good and pious
recitation. Sometimes priests excuse this hurried reading, as they wish
to save time! Why do priests wish to save time? "For study," some may
say; but the obligation of the Divine Office precedes all obligations of
study, and its devout recitation is of far greater importance to the
priest and to the Church than is any other or every other study. Some
priests gallop through the Hours, to gain time for other ministerial
work, they say. But they forget that the primary work--after the
celebration of Mass--and the _most important work_ of a priest, is the
great official prayer of the Church. Who amongst priests leads the life
of ceaseless toil which the Cure d'Ars led? And we have read how he said
his Hours. St. Francis Xavier found time to preach to his many
neophytes, to teach them, to baptize them, and yet he did not use the
permission given him to shorten his Breviary prayer. He read the whole
Office daily and added to it prayers to obtain the grace of better
attention and devotion.
Sometimes the reading of the Hours is hurried for a motive less
praiseworthy than the motives of study or of priestly work. _Producitur
somnus, producitur mensa, produncuntur confabulationes, lusus, nugae
nugarum; solius supremae Magestratis, cultus summa qua potest celeritate
deproperatur_ (Kugler, _De Spiritu Eccles_.), "On this, God complained
one day to St. Bridget, saying that some priests lose so much time every
day in conversing with friends on worldly affairs; and afterwards, in
conversing with Him, while they recite the Office, they are so hurried
that they dishonour Him more than they glorify Him" (St. Alphonsus,
_Selva_). In the hurried reading of the Office, time, a few minutes
perhaps, is gained, but what is lost? Does the loss of all the lights
and graces and blessings of the Office compensate for the time gained?
It is important that all who read the Breviary hurriedly, or who may be
tempted to acquire the habit, should weigh well the words read therein
(Friday's Vespers) "_Labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos; cadent super
eos carbones_" (Ps. 139). "The labour of their lips shall overwhelm
them; burning coals shall fall upon them."
To acquire this important habit, the practice of reading at a slow pace
the words of the Breviary, authors suggest several little hints. One is,
never to start reading the Hours unless there be _ample_ time for
finishing the Hour or Hours intended to be then and there read. The
practice of squeezing the small Hours into scraps of time (e.g., in
the intervals between hearing confessions in the confessional, at a
session) is fatal to careful and pious reading. Another hint is, to read
everything, every word (_e.g., Pater Noster, Ave, Credo_), and to repeat
nothing from memory, because the printed words meeting the eyes and the
spoken words reaching the ears help to fix the attention and there is
less risk of their passing unnoticed. This was the practice of St.
Charles Borromeo. St. Philip Neri never recited from memory even in
saying the small Hours. St. Vincent de Paul always spent a great time in
saying his Breviary. His intense fervour was helped by his careful
reading of every word, and this practice of keeping his eyes fixed
steadily on the printed matter of the book he recommended to his
congregation of priests. Some holy priests maintained that they could
recite from memory with greater fervour than from the reading of the
pages of the Breviary; but the practice is not one for the many. Another
hint to help pious recitation is to _earnestly wish_ to say the Office
worthily, attentively and devoutly. This wish must bring up before the
mind the thought of how displeasing to God and how great is the daily
loss--not to speak of a lifetime's loss-to the soul of a priest who
prays carelessly, tepidly and mechanically. But in spite of all
precautions, it may be noticed during the recitation of the Hours that,
without our own fault, the words are said too quickly. It is advised,
then, to pause and to say mentally what the Venerable Boudon was wont to
say to his soul in similar circumstances: "To punish and mortify thee, I
will go more slowly; I will devote to my office to-day a longer time"
(Bacquez).
IV. To prevent distractions and to banish them are no easy matters. It
is impossible to avoid all distractions. Involuntary distractions do not
hinder merit; still it is important that an effort be made to diminish
and repress the quality of such disturbing elements in prayer.
First of all, we can never totally avoid all distractions, nor can we
entirely and completely remove them when they enter our souls. The human
soul cannot pray for any notable time without distraction. The greatest
saints knew this well. St. Augustine wrote, "_Vult se tenere ut stet, et
quodammodo fugit a se nec invenit cancellos quibus se includat_" (in
Psalm 95). St. Thomas wrote "_Vix unum Pater noster potest homo dicere
quin mens ad alia fertur_." The author of the _Imitation of Christ_
wrote, "For I confess truly that I am accustomed to be very much
distracted. For oftentimes I am not there where I am bodily standing or
sitting, but am rather there where my thoughts carry me" (Bk. iii. c.
48). The same writer wrote, "And I, a wretch and the vilest of men.... I
can hardly spend one half hour as I ought." St. Teresa wrote, "I am not
less distracted than you are during Office, and try to think that it
arises from weakness of head. Do not fear to think so, too. Does not our
Lord know, that when we perform this duty we would wish to do it with
the greatest possible attention?"