Marmion Opus Dei

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CHRIST
THE
IDEAL OF THE MONK
SPIRITUAL CONFERENCES
ON THE MONASTIC AND RELIGIOUS LIFE
BY
THE RIGHT REV. D. COLUMBA MARMION, O. S. B.
ABBOT OF MA.REDSOUS ABDEY
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY A NUN OF TYBURN CONVENT
Guirid by the Gospel
let us walk in the path. of
St. Beaediot, R",/
-
SANDS & COMPANY
LONDON AND EDINBURGH.
B. HERDER BOOK CO
17, SOUTH BROADWAY, ST. LOUIS, MO
1926
290 CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MONK
that I am tellbg the truth... What I aim at showing is the reason,
opinion, why obedience furnishes the readiest Or the best way for
at so blessed a state. That reason is this: as we are never absolute
of our own will, so as to employ it purely and simply for God, till
it wholly to reason, obedience is the true means of bringing about
tion; which can never be brought about by much reasoning,
nature and self-love can furnish so much on their side that we shall
to an end, and very often will make that which is most reasonable,
no liking for it, to seem folly because we have no inclination to do
Foundations, cb. V. Translated from the Spanish by David Lewis.
chapter should be read,
THE LIFE OF UNION WITH CHRIST
(...et secuti sumus te).
XIII. - THE OPUS DEI, Divine Praise .
. - God has made all things for His glory; how the Divine
Office procures this glory for God: St. Benedict rightly calls
it the Opus Dei. - I. Ultimate basis of the excellence of the
Office: the canticle of the Word in the bosom of the
Divinity and in creation. - II. The Word Incarnate has
bequeathed to the Church, His Bride, the mission of per
petuating His canticle. - III. The Church confides a more
important part of this mission to some chosen souls.
lV. The Divine Office becomes, through the heart and voice
of man, the hymn of all creation. - V. It forms a parti- '
cular homage of the virtues of faith, hope and charity_
VI. This homage is invested with a special spJendo.ur when it
Is offered in suffering: Sacrificium laudis.
HEN we would judge of the absolute value of
anything or any work we ought to try to do so
from God's point of view. God alone is the
, truth is the light in which God, Eternal Wisdom,
all things; these are worth what they are in God's
tion. That is the infallible criterion of judgment,
which we expose ours.elves to deception. It is a
familiar to us that our holiness is of the supernatural
that is to say above the rights, exigencies and
of our nature; all then that relates to this sllper
order, of which God alone is the Author, surpasses
transcendency, all our human conceptions. God's
and ways are not ours; He Himself tells us
enim cogitationes meae, vestrae: neque
viae meae, dicit Dominus 1. Between our ways
s there is the infinite: Sicut exaltantur cael a terra 2.
is .why, in order to know the truth ahout things of the
tural domain, we must see them as God sees them,
with the eyes of faiti1. Faith is the light that reveals
293
the Divine thoughts to us and makes us penetrate into
designs. Lacking this light, there is but darkness and
in regard to spiritual things.
Now one capital truth God has granted lIS to know
His designs is that He has created everything and
everything for His glory: Unt:vcrsa propter semetipsum
est Domimts 1. God gives us all tnings; He gives
in the person of His Well-Beloved Son Jesus, and with
He gives us all good things; He has prepared for
all eternity an infinite beatitude in the fellowship
adorable Trinity. But there is one thing thaL He
jealously for Himself, that He neither will nor can
that is His glory: Ega Dominus; gloriam meam
dabo 2.
This being so, things are of value only in the meaSUIll
which they procure this glory for God. There
works which, of their own nature, have no direct
with this glory; for example, in the intellectual
devote oneself to literary work, to teaching; and,
manual order, to sweep the cloisters or work in the
or kitchen; transformed by the love wherewith
done, these works become pleasing to God;
procure His glory indirectly, not of themselves, fine
that is to say by reason of the right intention of the one
performs them in view of pleasing God 3.
Other works go to procure this glory directly;
agreeahle to God not only on account of the love
one who accomplishes them but in themselves: fine
their direct end, like the elements that compose
supernatural: such are Holy Mass and the adminis
the Sacraments. It is quite evident that in
abstraction made of the interior dispositions of the
performs them, these works surpass, from God's ,
view, all other works.
The Divine Office belon8s to this second group.
only in our intention, but by reason of its nature, its
position, and the elements of which it is cons
rela tes entirely to God; of itself, fiJU operis, it has
view. With the Holy Sacrifice, around which it gra
it forms the most complete expression of religion; it
excellence "the work of God, " OPt'S Dei, Opus
1. Provo XVI, 4-; see what we have said on this subject in the
on humility. - 2. Isa. XLII, 8. - 3. We are speaking, of
supematt<ral order; it is evident that every upright act, m
of itself a certain glory to God, from the fact thatit en ters
natural order willed by Him.
THE OPUS DEI, DIVINE PRAISE
the beautiful name by which our Holy Father calls it.
the Divine Office contains petitions, prayers of
tion, but this is not its dominant element; before
Divine Office is praise, and this praise is perfectly
up in the doxology which ends each psalm: Gloria
et Filio et SpiritHi Sancto. The direct aim of the
is to confess and exalt the Divine perfections, to
in them, and thank God for them: Gratias agimltS
rJI-hm-htcr magnam gloriam t1.tam 1. I t proceeds from this
: "Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive' glory and
" : Dignus es, Domine, Deus noster, gloriam accipere
2 This is the cry of the elect in heaven:
'.Iua.Ling God's.infinite perfections, they are necessarily
praise and adoration : Magnus Dominus et laudabilis
3
we, as religious, are seeking God; it was for this we
to the monastery; what is more natural therefore
to adopt the Divine Office as our principal work, by
we especially devote ourselves to God's service?
we " to seek Him truly, " - si revera Demn quaerit',
occupy ourselves first of all witn Him, with His
and His works? Et laudabunt Dominum qui
eum
5
. But in return, the more that we find Him,
He reveals Himself to us, the more we feel the
of celebrating His perfections and works: Quaerentes
invenient cum, et invenicntes lawiabwl'tt eum 6.
after having pointed out the purpose of our life,
ving established the authority of the head of the
and defined the cenobitical life, after ha ving shown
ity and obedience achieve the work of removing
from the path of perfection, St. Benedict speaks
the Divine Office. He devotes numerous chapters
ting it; he makes the Divine Office, not the end
n the exclusive nor characteristic work of the monk,
principal work to which the others, in the order of
and action,are to be subordinate: Nihil Operi
aeponatur 7. He establishes a school of the Lord's
: Dominici schola servitii 8, and the Divine Office
tes, in this school the first" service of our devotion" :
. servitium
9
Doubtless, as we have already said,
wenemct does not exclude other works, and history as
tradition for which we ought to have a humble respect,
of the Mass. - 2 . Apoc. IV, II. - 3. Ps. XLVII, I. - 4. Rule,
- 5. Ps. XXI, 27. - 6. S. Augustin. Con!ess. I. I, ch. I. P. L. 32,
- 7. Rule, ch. XLlII. - 8. Prologue of the Rule. - 9. Rule, cb.
CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MONK
294
shows us that in the course of ages cur Order has filled
missions in the varied domain of Christian civilisa
but it remains none the less true that the work which first
all claims our attention and energies is the Divine
This same Divine Praise is also, apart from the Sacrame
the surest means for us monks of entering into -con
with God_ The Divine Office which gives so much glory
the Lord becomes for each of us an extremely fruitful
of sanctification. We will reserve this second point
next conference; let us now endeavour to sec how the
Dei constitutes an infinitely pleasing homage of praise
God.
To comprehend its excellence, we have to form a conceot.
of its source, its nature, its elements and its end. We
of course, come to this study with eyes of faith; faith
can help us to penetrate into the truth. St . Paul
that only the Spirit of God is capable of searching into
deep things of God 1; while the natural . spirit, not
below the surface of things, falls frequently into error.
Our love of the Divine Office depending moreover on
esteem we have for it, and on our faith in its value,
is supremely useful to us that this faith should be
lightened and this esteem well and solidly grounded.
I.
It is in lifting up our minds by faith - a faith full
reverence -- even to the heights of the Adorable
that we shall find the very fountainhead of praise.
have the right to seek our examples thus high, for by
we are no longer strangers but SOIlS belonging,
Christ, to the family of God: .TIlon estis hospites et
sed estis cives sanctorum et domestici Dei 2.
i What has Christ granted us to know of this ineffable
of God in Three Persons ' .
The Word, says St. Paul, is" the brightness of His (Fa
glory, and the figure of His substance 3." The Word,
Son, is essentially, the glory of His Father. From
eternity, this Son in a single infinite Word which is Himself"
expresses, the Father's perfection, and this is the essen
glory that the Father receives. The Eternal Word
Divine canticle singing the Father's praise. In 1Jrinci1Jid
erat Verbum., et Verbum erat apudDeum,
I. I Cor. H, IO-II. - 2. Eph. H, 19. - 3. Hebr. I, 3.
THE OPUS DEI, DIVINE PRAISE 295
From aU eternity He gives, has given and will
. in this infinite and unique act whIch is Himself, eternal
adequate glory to His Father. This glory consists in
infinite knowledge that the Son has of His Father, of
perfections of His Father, and in the infinite appreciation
He utters concerning them: an appreciation equal
God, worthy of God; God has no need of any other
Word sees also in His Father the eternal decrees of
Wisdom and Bounty, all the merciful designs which are
t in the creation, in the Redemption, in the institution
Eucharist, and- realised da,ily in the sanctification of
: Quod factum est in ipso vita est 2,' He contemplates all
objects and glorifies His Father for them: Quam magni
sunt opera ttta, Domine! omnia i'n sapientia fecisti
3
.
is the infinite hymn tha[ ever resounds in sinu
and ever ravishes the Father. The Word is the
e that God inwardly sings to Himself, the Canticle
up from the depths of the Divinity, the Living
wherein God eternally delights, because it is the
finite expression of His perfection.
The mystery of the Divine Life which we have just searched
with all reverence, bears in it,:elf the fundamental reason
value of the Divine Office.
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us":
Verbum caro factum est,et habitavit in nobis 5. But never
us forget this truth that we sing at Christmastide: Id
fuit permOinsit,' quod non erat assumpsit 6. In taking
.human nature, the Divine Word is. not lessened; He
what He i.; - the Eternal Word, and conseql1ently
remains the glorification of His Father. How
, as He ha;, united a human nature to Himself, in the
ty of His Divine Person, this Sacred Humanity enters,
ugh the Word, into participation of the work of glori
Christ's Humanity is like the temple 7 where the
ord sings the Divine canticle which glorifies the Father;
rather, the Sacred Humanity is carried along in the
t of the Divine Life. Did not the Word Incarnate,
Jesus say: Ego vivo propter PatTem 8, "I live by the
ather." All His activity tends to procure His Father's
I. Joan. I I. - 2. Ibid. I, 3-4. - 3. Ps. cm, 24 - 4. Joan. I, 18. - 5
I, 14. - 6. Antiphon of Lauds for the Feast of the Circumcision_
s image is evidently only an imperfect comparison, for the union of
Word with a human nature is not accidental like that of the temple and
adorer; it is a personal and substantial union. - 8. Joan. VI, 58.
296
glory. This theandric activity remains that of a
nature; it glorifies God in a human fashion; but, as
emanates from a Divine" Person, " as it depends upon
Word, the praises it supplies, human in their
become the praises of the Word, and acquire on this account
a:n infinite value.
When Christ prayed, when He recited the when,
as the Gospel says, He spent the night in prayer: Erat
noctans in oratione Dei 1, these were the human accents of a
God; of an absolute simplicity in eternity, the canticle of
the Word was multiplied, detailed, upon the lips of His
Manhood. Thus this same canticle which, from all eternity.
the Word causes to resound in the sanctuary of the Godhead,
was prolonged and sung upon earth when the Word became
incarnate.
Henceforward it will be prolonged for ever in creation.
For ever, Christ's Humanity will therein sing, to the glory
of the Father, a canticle of human expression but of
incommensurable price and comequently alone worthy of
God: this is the Opus Christi. On the last day of His life,
Christ summed up allHisworkins<l.ying toHisFather:Ego
te clarificavi super terram 2. His whole life was but a continual
praise to His Father's glory. This was His essential work;
for Him, nothing came before the glorification of His Father.
Certainly, He glorified Him by all His actions, in spending
Himself for souls . in giving Himself to them as no apostle
has ever done, in going about doing good evcrywhere ; but
these were secondary forms of His praise. Above all,
Christ, the Word Incarnate, praised His Father in exalting the
Divine perfections in ineffable communings. Who shall tell
us how worshipped the Father and how fnll this
worship was of profound adoration! What incense of praise
was that which went up unceasingly from His blessed soul to
God His Father! Jesus contemplates the Divine perfections
in all tneir splendour and this is the source of ineffablc praise.
-He rendered to His Father, in the name of the human race
to which He authentically belongs, all the duties of adoration,
praise and complacency which we owe to God. The perfect
knowledge, the sublime comprehension that He had of
the inspired canticles made His praise infinitely worthy of
God.
Christ also contemplated the creation : in Him, the Divine
Word, the creation was full of life: In Ipso vita erato It was
needful that the whole order of created things should be
I. Luc. VI , 12. - 2 . Joan. XVII, {.
once perfectly comprehended by a human soul; Christ
exulted in looking upon the wonders of nature, as
God in the d<l.Ys of creation contemplated the
and beauty of the work come forth from His hands:
De'us cuncta quae fecerat." et erant valde bona 1. With
did Christ, seeing in creatures the reflection of the
s perfections, constitute Himself their High Priest, in
to bring all things back to His Father! Hence was
in the soul of Jesus that perfect worship which it
Christ to offer as the supreme High Priest in
the Father finds all His deligh P.
II.
Sut, as you know, Christ does not separate Himself from
Mystical Body. Before ascending into Heaven, He
ths His riches and mission to His Church. Christ,
ting Himself to the Churc:h, gives her His power of
and praising the Father; this is the Wurgy. It is
praise of the Church united to Jesus, supported by
; or rather it is the praise of Christ, the Incarnate
ord, passing through the lips of the Chnrch.
Seeing her, the Angels ask each other: "Who is this
t cometh up from the desert flowing with delights leaning
her Beloved 3 ?" It is the Church, we reply, her
and charm come to her from the Bridegroom Himsel!,
arms uphold her; her voice is ever sweet and her face
f
Dowered with (he riches of Christ, the Churcn, His Bride,
introduced by Him into the palace of the King of Heaven,
the Father's presence, and there, united to Jesus Cnrist,
sings - as she will do until the end of ages - the canticle
in sinu Patris by the Word, and brough t by Him to
The Apocalypse shows us the elect adoring" Him that
si tteth on the throne, " and exalting His ineffable perfections:
es, Domine Deus noster, acc-ipere gloriam et honorem
emf>," that is the choir of the Church Glorious. Here
is formed the choir of the Church Militant, called also
take her place one day in the ranks of the blessed; but
choir is united, by faith and love, with that of Heaven,
res,ounds too before the throne of God; for the Church
one in Christ, her Divine Head. In Heaven, says St. Au-
I. Gen. I, 31. - 2. Cf. Mgr. Gay. Elevation 99 Si1/-g to th.e Lord a new
g for He hath. done wonderful tll-j"gs. - 3 Cant. VIII, 5 - 4 Ibid. II, 14
5. Apoc. IV, IO-II ; ct. V, 12-13 ;
298
gustine, satisfied love sings the Alleluia in the plenitude
eternal enjoyment; here below, yearning love seeks to
press the ardour of its desires; Modo cantat amor ewm' .. ~
tunc cantabit arnor fruens
1
. But it is the same choir
parts, the choir of one Church, singing the
canticle of Divine glory animfl.tE'd, bol"h here on earth and
in Heaven, by the same supreme High Prie;t, Christ Jes
The office is the official voice of the Bride of Christ.
Church, by her faith, confidence and love and by her
with Jesus, bridges the space that separates her from
and sings His praise, like the Word Incarnate, in the
of the Divinity. She sings, united to Christ, under God
very gaze; because of her title of Bride, she always merits
to' be heard. The great work, the triumph of the Divinity
of Jesus, is to raise us, poor mortals, even up to His Father.
God has given to the Sacred Humanity of the Word the
power of drawing us with It where this Humanity Itselr is :
Ascendo ad Patrem met,m et Patrern vestrum, Deum meum et
Deum vestrum 2: " I ascend to My Father and to your Father,
to My God and your God." And again: Pater, vola %d 1 ~ b l
ego sum, et ilti sint mecum 3.' " Father, I will that where
am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with
Me." After death, we shall be - we truly hope to be
in a real and immutable way, where the Saviour is; but even
now we are there by faith. The Word dwells in us by
fai th : C h,istum ha btare per /idem in cordi bl'('s vestris 4. WI
are especially united to the Word Incarnate when we join
ourselves to Him in order to sing, through Him and with
Him; the glory of His Father.
Such is the fundamental reason of the transcendency of
the Opus Dei; such is the incommunicable and untransferable
privilege attached to this prayer, the Work of God, accom
plished with Christ, in His name, by the Church, His Bride.
III.
The Church associates all her children in this praise. There
is a part of the public worship which ordinary Christians
themselves must perform if they are to be counted among
the disciples of Jesus. However, the Church has not content
ed herself with this worship common to all. In the same
way as she chooses some from among her children to associate
more particularly and preferably with the eternal Priesthood
r. Sermo CCLV, 5. P. L. 38, II83. - 2. J oan. xx, 17. - 3.
- 4. Eph. 1II, 17.
her Spouse, so she confides to some chosen ones a more
nt and special share in her mission of praise: this
x is formed of priests and religious orders invested
the functions of the choir. The Church, in her name
that of her Bridegroom, deputes them as her ambassadors
God's throne. --
bassador does not present himself in his own private
ty, he stands in the place of his sovereign or of his
; these are involved when he speaks in virtue of his
Therefore he has a right to all the honours and
which would be given to his sovereign, and there
obligation that these shonld be granted to him.
ons and arguments that he brings to bear in his
cQlDlomatic interviews have not only a private value resulting
the qualities and talents of the man, but they acquire
a special weight, more or less powerful, according to the
of the country or the rank of the sovereign repre
by him. This is not a simple fiction, but is a
and juridical reality which defines the very rNe
of the ambassador.
It is proportionately the same with those whom the Church,
the Bride of Christ, deputes in her name to hold her place
before God, that is to say the priests and religious obliged to
the Divine Office in virtue of the rules approved by ecclesias
tical authority. They stand before the Father as ambassa
appointed by the Church, whose homage they offer,
whose interests they represent. And a3 the Church is
1's Bride, these ambassadors share in the privileges
conferred upon the Church by her supernatural dignity, as,
the Spouse of Jesus. When we are in choir, we bear a twofold
personality: our own individual perso_uality, that of our
misery, our frailty, our faults, but also that of members ot
Christ's Mystical Body deputed by the Church. In this
second capacity we have to guard the numerous and varied
interests of Christendom. If We know how to use our power,
we are sure, in spite of our imperfections, of being pleasing
to God and heard by Him. For, when we are acquitting
ourselves of our official functions, all our miseries are as it
were veiled by the prestige with which the Bride of Christ
invests us . The Father sees us, during these hours of the
IJivine Office, no longer as souls coming before Him with
th,eir private interests and personal merits, but as ambassa
qor
s
of the. Bride of His Well-Beloved Son, treating of the
c-ause of souls with every right to do so ; we are officially
invested with the dignity and power of the Bride \of Jesus,
300
CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MON K
and with those of Jesus Himself. Moreover, Christ
is in the midst of US; He has formally promised to be
He is the supreme Hierarch Who receives our prayers
gathers up our praises to bear th.em to the throne of
I Ad thronttm gratiae
1
Therefore, in God's sight, this
}
surpasses, in value and efficacy, all other praise, all
prayer, all other work 2.
Thi:; truth is absolutely beyond doubt, and the
who lived in God's light, so understood it. St.
of Pazzi put assistance in choir before all the private
tions that pious persons can make; and when one of
nuns asked to be dispensed from choir in order to
up to mental prayer, she replied: "No, my
should certainly deceive you in giving you such a
for it Would be making you believe that this private devotj
would honour God more and render you more pleasing
the Divine Majesty, while in comparison \vith this pu
office which you sing mth your sisters, private prayer is
but a small thi
ng
3." St. Alphonsus Ligu-ori relates, while
making this opinion this own, the saying of a wise religiou!> :
"If time is lacking to us, it is much better to shorten
mental prayer, and give more time to the Divine Office
that we may be enabled to recite it mth the devotion due
to it 4. "
Such is the opinion of the saints, such is the language of
faith. There is no work that Comes anywhere near the
Divine Office. All other works are opera hominum. This
is truly" the Work of God" pre-eminently, because it is a
work of praise that comes from God through the Word
Incarnate and is offered by the Church, in Christ's Name.
IV.
Another reason of the transcendency of the Divine Praise
is that it directly tends to procure God's glory.
Doubtless, as we have said, God finds His essential glory
in Himself independently of any creature: Deus meus es
bonorum meorttm non eges 5. But from tne moment that
there are creatures, "it is truly meet and just" that they
should praise God, magnify His name and give thanks ' to
Him; this is in the right order of things, it is justice; it is
from this principle that the virtue of religion is born: Vere
1. Hebr. IV. r6 . - 2. Evidently supposing that the degree of love be the
same, and setting apart the Sacraments. - .1, Lite by P. Cepari, S. j. _
{. L'O/fice meprise; (E".Dres c01npll:les. Paris, IS36, t. XI, p. 39. _ 5. Ps. xv,
2.
3
0r
et t:st, aeqUt,m et salutare, nos tibi semper t:t
gratias agert: 1.
, in creation, there are many beings who do not know
They assuredly praise Him after their manner by the
fact of their obedience to the laws that He ordained
m on their coming forth from nothingnf'ss: Caeli
nt gloriam Dei et opera manumn ejus anmtntiat firma
2 However the heavens do not know their own
, any more than they know their Crea tor. Whence is
song of inanimate creation to take life? Upon our own
the lips of humanity. Hear what Bossuet so admirably
; .he text is rather long but it renders the idea very
. "The inanimate creature cannot see, it is seen;
cannot love, it urges us to do so; and this God Whom
knows not, it does not allow us to ignore. Thus imper
and in its own manner it glorifies the Heavenly Father.
n order that it may consummate its adoration, man
be its mediator. He must lend a voice, an understand-
and a heart burning with love, to all visible nature that
may love, in man and through him, the invisible beauty
the Creator. This is why he is placed in the midst of the
himSelf the world in brief... a great world in the
world, because although the world contains him, he
a mind and a heart greater than the world; in order
contemplating the whole universe and gathering it up
himself, he may offer, sanctify, and consecrate it to the
ving God 3. "
acquit ourselves of this sublime r6le each day at the
Office. The Church wills that every creature should
life upon the lips of the priest or religious, so that
creature may praise i Is Lord: B enedicite omnia opera
lJommi Domino, laudate et s-uperexaltate eum in saecula 4.
Upon our lips as in the Word, in ipso vita erat, all these
creatures become animate that they may sing the Creator's
perfections. "Come," we say to all these creatures, " come;
you know not God, but you may know Him through the
medium of my understanding, and sing to Him through my
lips. Come, sun, moon, stars that He has sown in the
firmament; come, cold and light, mountains and valleys,
seas. and rivers, plants and flowers, come and magnify Him
Who created you. 0 my God I love Thee so much that I
I. Preface of the Mass. - 2. Ps. XVIII, 2. - 3. Sermon for the Feast of tlte
Anmmc',atOon, r662. 3
rd
point. The great orator has taken up this idea again
and developed it in his Sermon on the worship due to God, April 2
nd
I666.
- {. Canticle for S\lnday Lauds; Dan. III , 57.
"
302 CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE :MONK
would have the wnole earth adore and praise Thee " :
terra adoret Te et psallat Tibi l! Through our lips, all
praise of creation rises up to God.
It rises up to Him because Christ, the Divine Word,
His own this praise which we, guided by the Church, offer
Him. Man is the mediator of creation; but, says B
man himself neeos a medi ator and this
is Christ the Word Incarnate. We lend our lips to C
so that, through Him, our praise may be accepted in
Bosom of the Father: Per ipsum et wm ipso et .in ipso
tibi Dco Patri omnipote-nti in unit ate Spiritus sancti,
honor et gloria 3. All things are ours, and we are
and Christ is His Father's: Omnia vestra sunt, vas
Christi, Christus autem Dei
4
. " Rej oice, 0 human
thou lendest thy heart to the visihle world that it may
its Almighty Creator, and J esus Christ lends thee His
Heart wherewith thou mayest worthily love the One
can only be worthily loved by another llimself
Through the Divine Praise, we associate creation and
ourselves, as intimately as possible, with the eternal praise
that the Word gives to His Father. This participation in
the eternal, thrice-holy canticle is r ealised above all in the
doxology of the Gloria, repeated at the end of each psalm,
and again in many other parts of the Office. As we bow down
to give" glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost U we unite ourselves to that ineffable glory
that the Holy Trinity finds in Itself from all eternity: Sicut
erat i'n principio et nunc et semper et in saeculorum.
It is like the echo of the infinite mutual complacency of the
Divine Persons in the plenitude and bliss of their adorable
fellowshi p.
What work equals this in greatness? What work is
pleasing to God? None; let us be deeply convinced of
The Opus Dei is what is most precious in the inheritance
of our Order: Funes ceciderunt mihi in praeclaris, etenim
hereditas mea praeclara est mt'hi 6. There are no other houts
when we can do more for God's glory than those we spend
in choir, in union with the Divine Word praising His Father;
pernoctans in oratione Dei 7. There is no work more pleasing
to the Father than that whereby we join, in order to glorify
Him, in the canticle .mng in sinu Patris by " the Son of
His love 8. " There is no work that better pleases the Son
than this which we borrow from Him and that is like t he
I. Ps. LXV,,.. - 2. Continuation of passage quoted. - 3. Canon of the
Mass. - 4 . I Cor. III, 22-23. - 5. Bossuet, ibid. - 6. Ps. XV, 6. - 7. Luc. VI,
12. - 8. Col. I, 13.'
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0
3
ex[enslOn of Hi., very essence as the Word, the splendour of
te glory. Neither is there any work that glorifies the
more: for by the formulas that He has Himself inspired,
our love under its most delicate forms, admiration
renewed, and unending complacency. Gloria
o et S1J1'rihti Sancto.
When this wor'k is performed with all the faIth, all the
cit can fidence and all the love whereof our soul i3
it surpasses every other work, and therefore our
Patriarch .. filled with the spirit of all the just 1, "
nothing to rank before this work: Nihil Operi Dei
2 ,' without being exclusive,it come.; before every
with us. Although we are not Canons Regular, we
put this work in the second place, because it concerns
directly and we came to the monastery especially to
God. Ardent love of the Divine Praise is one of the
t indubitable signs that we "are truly seeking God" :
revera Deum quaerit ... si sollicit,us est ad opus Dei 3.
v.
What further renders the Divine Praise extremely pleasing
God is that itcollstitutes a homage of those vircues of
hope and love which are the specific virtues of our
as children of God_
Everything here - let us repeat it - is to be judged
from the point of view of faith. To gather togethpr several
hours day by day to praise God is a homage of onr fai th ;
thereby confess and proclaim that this Unseen God is
worthy of adoration and praise. The acts of reverence,
thanksgiving and complacency that we accomplish in the
of this work consecrated solely to extolling God, are,
all, acts of faith. Faith alone gives its meaning to
the Divine Office. Those whose faith is null, pity men who
pass a part of their life in chanting God's praises; they do
not comprehend how people c:J.n, at certain hours, occupy
themselves solely with the Infinite Being: Ut quid perditio
haec 4. Where faith is weak, the Divine Office is undervalued
and other works are preferred before it . Souls which, like
that of our Blessed, Patriarch are bathed in "the deifying
Jight6" of faith, give tne first place to Divine Praise; they
do so at least in their estimation, even if, in consequence of
their state in life, they cannot devote themselves to it .
Divine Praise becomes uninterrupted when the eternal
I . S. Greg. Dialog. Lib. II, C. VIII . - 2. Rule, ch. XLIII. - 3. Ibid. ch.
1-"111. {. Matth. XXVI, 8. - 5. Prologue of the Rule.
3
0
4
light of VlSlOn succeeds the obscure light of faith:
fine laudant.
In the second place, our praise is a homage of ho
During the divine psalmody we rest upon the intinite
of Christ J esus. We hope for everything from the
tions of our Divine High Priest. In fact no prayer of
Office terminates without explicitly seeking its s
Our Lord: Per Dominum nostrum Jesmn Christt'""
make our claim through this All-Powerful Mediator Who
" lives and reigns for ever with the Father, " and pleads
with Him unceasingly in order to render Him propitious to
us : Semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis 1.
In leaving everything in order to hasten to the choir, it
is like saying to God: "There is nothing of which I am
more certain than of Thy goodness; I come to .
and bless Thee, leaving in Thy hands the care of
rest. I have nothing more at heart than to praise Thee,
being persuaded that if I leave every other work for
this, Thou wilt know how to take better care than if could
do of my dearest interests; I want only to think of Thee,
knowing that Thou wilt think of me." To go to the choir
every day, and several times a day, in this disposition of
soul; to put in practice the" one thing necessary", Unum
est necessarium
2
, to lay aside all our cares, all that regards
our personal work, so as to occupy ourselves during several
hours with Him alone, what an evident proof of our absolute
can tidence in Him!
Finally, our prCt.ise contains above all a homage of love.
In it every form of love finds expression, especially in the
Psalms which form the most considerable element of
Divine Office. Admiration, complacency, delight, the love
of benevolence, contrite love, grateful love, all these affections
find a place in an almost uninterrupted manner. Love
confesses, admires, exalts the Divine perfections. Compla
cency whereby we rejoice in the joy and beatitude of the
person beloved is one of the pures t and most perfect forms
of love. When we truly love, we find nc sweeter joy than
in praising and glorifying. St. Francis of Assisi composing
his "Canticle, " St. Teresa writing her "Exclamations,"
such is the soul overflowing with love, and seeking t o express
it. Such is also the love that transported the Psalmist.
With the sacred writer, the soul passes in review all the Divine
1. Hebr. VII, 25. - 2. Luc. X, 42.
3
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5
ons in order to exalt them : Exaltare Domine, in
tua, cantabimus et psallemus virtHtes tuas ... 1 N arrabo
mirabilia tua 2. "Exalt ye the Lord our God, and
His footstool, for it is holy": Exaltate Domi1Hf.m
nostrum ... quoniam Sanctus Dominus Deus noster 3.
shall walk before Him'; the searcher of hearts
reins is God 5." "The mercies of the Lord I will sing
ever 6." "0 Lord God of has ts, who is like to Thee?
art mighty 0 Lord, and Thy truth is round about
7." "How great are Thy works, 0 Lord? Thou hast
all things in wisdom" : Quam mag-nificata sunt opera
Domine, omnia t'n sapientia fecisti 8. Then the soul
to God to express its grateful love: "I will sing to
Lord Who giveth me good things" : Cantabo Domino
bona trt' but'! mihi 9. "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul: and
all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the
o my sonl, and never forget all He hath done for
Who forgiveth all thy ini'll1ities; Who healeth all
diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction:
crowneth thee with mercy and compassion, Who satis
th thy with good things. " Then feeling inca pable
glorifying God as He should be glorified, the soul invites
Angels to unite in praising Him: Benedicite Domino omnes
ngeli ejus, benedicite omnes virtutes ejus 10. At other times,
with the sacred singer, the soul convokes peoples
na tions to join in this praise: Regna terrae cantate Deo 11,
"from the ris.ing of the SUll until the going down of
same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praic;c 12, admir
... in the whole earth 13." Yet again, the soul pours
its joy and gladness before God in being admitted to
Him : Exsultabunt labia mea cum cantavero tibi ... If.et
exsultationis laudabit os meum IS. This joy is so deep
overflowing that the soul asks God for power to praise
. unceasingly : Repleatur os meum laude ut cantem gloriam
... 16 Psattam Deo meo quamdiu luero
l7
.
Where could love find accents as burning and ever new as
At every instant in the psalms this love is mani
and diffused. A truly extraordinary conde3cension
Divine Goodness has more than once shown to what an
nt these praises are agreeable to God. We see Our Lord
pelgning with infinite kindness to teach ignorant souls the
t . Ps. xx, 14. - 2. Ibid. IX, 2. - 3 Ibid. MCVU!, 5, 9 - 4 Ibid. LXXXIV,
_ 5. Ibid. vll, 10. - 6. Ibid. LXXXVIII, 1. - 7. Ibid. 9 - S. Ibid.
24. - 9'. Ibid. xu, 6. - 10. Ibid. ClI, 1'5,20-21. - II. Ibid. LXVII,
. 12. [bid. CXll, 3. - 13. Ibid. VIII, 1. - 14. Ibid. LXX, 23 - IS Ibid.
6. - 16. Ibid. LXX, 8. - 17. Ibid. CXLIV, 2.
3
Latin tongue, so that having this knowledge they
able to penetrate into the meJ.ning of the sacred
A like trait is met with in the life of a certain BeneUH..
nun, the Blessed Bonomo. "Often, during her ecs
says a biographer, "she was heard reciting the
Office; but a curious thing was that she pronounced
verses alternatively, as if the inhabitants of Hee>ven
repeating the psalms with her; she recit.ed the whole wit
omitting a single syllable, whatever was the Office of
1))
day .
Then, do not let us forget that in the Divine Office the
exalts these perfections as is befitting, in a manner
worthy of God, a manner which He has Himself
Left to ourselves, we could not rend('r due homage to
Divine attribute; God alone can tell us how we can
ought to praise Him; God alone knows how worthy
of being magnified, blessed, glorified; and it is the
Spirit, the Spirit of Love, Who places upon our lips the
formulas we are to use in singing to God. These
in theIr origin, are not of earth, they come to us from
from the innermost depths of the Godhead and of
And when we appropriate them to ourselves with
above all when we recite or sing them in union wi
Divine Word, our canticle becomes infinitely pleasing to
because it is presented to Him by the Word in person.
St. Gertrude had the revelation of this truth in one
her visions. As Vespers were being intoned on the F
of the Holy Trinity, Christ, holding His Heart in His h
like a melodious lyre. presented it to the glorious T
Upon this lyre the fervour of souls and all the words of '
sacred canticles resounded before the Lord in a hymn
heavenl y delight!.
VI.
One circumstance often occurs in our monastic life
enhance funner this homage of love: it is when we have
offer it to the Lord in suffering.
I. Dom du Bourg. Vae exlalique du XVII" siecle, w. Bse
benedictine," p. II and 52. We likewise see S' Catherine of Siena
Lord to teach her to read in order to be able to chant the Psalms
of God during the Canonical Hours. Often, too, Our Lord walked up
with her in her cell amI recited the Office with the Saint. It was
religious might have done. Lile 131. Raymund of Capua. - 2. The
01 Divine Love. 13k. IV, ch. 41. S' Gertrude often expresses this idea.
Ibid..Bk. II, ch. 23 ; 13k. III, ch. 25 ; 13k. IV, ch. 48 and 51 ; cf. Dolan, 5t
Great. Ch. II. The Office.
3
0
7
Suffering gives to love a special splendour and a singular
; to love God in suffering is truly the height of self
'nhl"i:lOn ; our Divine Saviour loved His Father with immense
at each instant of His life, but this love shone out in an
l0U4wmparable way during His Passion, when Christ endured
rable sufferings for love of His Father: Ut cognoscat
quia Patrcm 1.
The Divine Office can become, and even frequently does
for certain souls, a veritable sacrifice. In this case
expression Sacrificimll laudis 2 truly takes on a special
of meaning. This can happen in various ways; to
with we must not spare ourselves; we must give all :
we have. To use our voice unsparingly, to submit
manifold and varied details of the ceremonial,
Iy to accept and follow the indications of tne cantor,
when our opinion differs from his on such and such a
of musical interpretativn: all this requires continual
on. We must keep our imagination from wandering,
this requires generosIty. Frequently renewed efforts
' needed to overcome our natural apathy or levity;
are so many sacrifices pleasing to God.
Next come the sufferings that the common life necl:ssarily
entails. Certainly common life is a stimulus; the fact of
being together in our stalls excites fervour, but it allows
of a number of inevitable small sacrifices, often repeated:
homines /ragilcs... qui jaci'lmt imJiccm ang1tstias 3.
possi!->ility of tiny annoyances jarring upon us is inherent
our poor human nature; this is true even of prayer in
.I,u,nmon. A ceremony awkwardly performed, false movemen ts
choir, a melody badly rendered, discord in the rhythm
those around us, all this can set our nerves on edge,
when, ill addition, fatigue Qr an ailing state of
weighs upon the body and superexcites the sensihility.
we have to hymn God's glory under these conditions
is room for a real sacrifice, a veritable immolation.
Heaven, when we possess God, we shall praise Him in
eternal harmony of overflowing gla.dness ; here below, in
valley of tears, it may happen that we have to praise
in suffering; but our sufferings add a new degree of
to our praise, and prove the sincerity of ou.r seeking
God '. Jesus sang tbe praises of His Father not only
I. Joan. XIV, 31. - 2. Ps. XLIX, 23. - 3. S. Augustin. Scrmo LXIX, C.
P. L. 38, 440. - 4. Laudemlls el modo Dominum, quallt"m possumus,_
is gemilibus; quia w.udando eum tkskiera"lus e .. m, .t rondu". t."emus :
tenueY1mus, sublra/.-(ur omnis Cem-itus et remallebit sow. et pura et aelerna;
S. Augustin. Enarr. in Psalm. LXXXVI, c. 9. P. L. 37, II09
30 8 CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MONK
upon Thabor, but on the Cross. St. Augustine
explicitly 1 that upon Golgotha Our Lord recited t ~ ~ .
that begins with these words: Deus, Deus 11Ieus resptce ~ n
q'uare me dereliqusti 2. . This striking Messianic
expressed not only the circumstances of the Passion,
also tHe affections of Our Blessed Saviour's soul. In
darkness of Calvary, in the midst of indescribable t
Christ Jesus recited" the Office," and, at that
because He was suffering, he gave, much more than
on Thabor, infinite glory to His Father.
We too, following His example, must praise God, not
when the Holy Spirit replenishes us with His consolati
but likewise when we suffer. Loving souls follow
everywhere, as well and even more willingly to
to the Mount of the Transfiguration. Who remai
foot of the Cross witq Jesus? His Virgin-Mother who
Him wi th a love into which not the least self-seeking en
Magdalen whom Jesus had forgiven much because
much; St. John who possessed the secrets of the
Heart . These three stayed there near to Jesus;
remained " in their stalls" when the soul of Christ,
supreme High Priest, sang its sorrowful canticle for
world's salvation. The other Apostles, Peter himself,
had so loudly protested his love, would willingly have rer
ed on Thabor, where it was good to be : Bonum est nos
esse,' /aciamus hic tria tabernac1.(,la 3, but not at the foot
the Cross.
Christ Jesus Who loves us, Who has chosen us in
to so many others to associate us in His work
allows us sometimes to feel, by the sufferings that
in common brings with it, by the desolations and
to which it may subject us, what it is to chant the
\ with Him on Calvary. If really you seek God solely,
" -: is to say His Holy Will, and not His con.-;olations, prove
by continuing even then, and even especially at such momen!.:>"
to sing ex TOTO corde vestro " do not run away, stay with
as long as He will have it so, near the Cross. The Cross is
raised, as a reminder, upon the altar that the choir surrounds.
Let us then repeat with the Psalmist: Benedicam Domimltn
in omni tempore, semper laus ejus in ore mea 4. "I
bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be
my mouth. " Whether He fills my soul with the s
x. S. Augustin. Enarr. in Psc>im LXXXV, C. I. - 2. Ps. XXI. - 3.
XVII, 4. - 4. Ps. XXXIII, 2.
THE OPUS DEI, DIVHIE PRAISE
3
0
9
His Spirit of Love, or leaves it like a desert land where
is no water
1
, I will ever praise Him with all the energy
y heart, because He is my God, my Lord and my King,
is worthy of all praise: Exaltabo te, Deus meus Rex
benedicam nomini tuo 2, confitebor tibi Domine Deus meus
toto corde meo, et glorificabo nomen ttlUm in aeternum 3.
Recited in these dispositions, the Divine Office becomes
sacrificium laudis pre-eminently, the most agreeable
ifice to God, because, united to Christ's Sacrifice, it
titutes the most perfect homage that the creature can
Him : Sacrificizem laudis honorificabit me. Moreover,
not allowing Himself to' be out-done in generosity, the
sacrifice of praise becomes for the one who accomplishes
the way of salvation and beatitude: Et ittic iter quo oslen
itti salutare Dei 4.
I. Ps. LXII, 3. - 2. Ibid. CXLIV, 1. - 3. Ibid. LXXXV, 12. - 4. Ibid.
23
XIV. - THE OPUS DEI, Means of Union with God.
SUMMARY. - Divine praise, the Opus Dei, is likewise a means of
with God and of sanctification. - I. It furnishes
forms of prayer and impetration. - II. It provides _. ,
tunities of practising the virtues well. - III. It MMtitlltp,
the best manner of being made one with Christ.
In which the Divine Office ought to be accomplished: i
preparation; intentions to be formulated. - V. Att
the soul during the Divine Office: to pray worthily,
attention, and devotion. - VI. Final exhortation. '
I
F the Opus Del were presented exclusively as a
rendered to the Divine perfections in union with C
Jesus, it would already, and on this ground, emineuu)'
merit all our fervour. In the last conference we tried to
what a lofty work the Divine praise constitutes; it is
Opus Dei by excE:llence, the voice of the Church
herself officially to the Father, being entitled, as
Bride, to offer Him her adorations; it is the homage
soul wherein faith is active, hope assured and love
It is for these reasons that liturgical prayer is so pleasmg
to God: Laudabo nome'n Dei cum cantico, et -blacebit
super vit'ulum novellum 1.
Worship is also a conversation, an exchange; man,
full of needs, asks at the same time that he adores;
God gives more than He receives. This is why the
Dei is an abundant source of precious graces for the
After having said in the Psalm, that the sacrifice of
is pleasing to Him, God, Who is magnificence itself an
bestows the hundredfold, adds that this sacrifice becomes
for him who offers it, a way of salvation: Et illic i,
ostendam itli salutare Dei. It is impossible indeed
soul to come near to God, to come before Him in the
of His Son Jesus, and, findingstrength in the infinite
of this supreme High Priest, to offer unceasing hOIlldKe
God, without the Father delighting in this soul and
special graces upon it. When He sees in us "the
His love 2, " - and He sees Him during the Divine
celebrated in the aforesaid dispositions - the Father
Whom comes down "every perfect. gift 3," cannot
; I. ,Ps. LXVlll, 31-32. - 2. Col. I, 13. - 3. Jac. I, 17.
THE OPUS DEI, MEANS OF UNION WITH GOD 31 I
us with heavenly favours. In one of her collects,
t's Bride logically links together thcse two
of the Divine Office: " Grant, 0 Lord, to the people
rnn",,,,,r,, ted to Thee to find the sO'urce of increase in the
of pious devotion, that, being taught by the
rites, they may be filled with favours so much the
precious, according as they become more pleasing to
Divine Majestyl." Gor!, being moreover the first Author
our sanctification, the daily and repeated contact that
have with Him in the Divinc Praise veritably constitutes
us an inexhaustible principle of union and holiness.
This principle is true for every soul, even for those of
lie Christians; the faithful who, although in it more
manner, take part in Divine worship with faith
devotion, imbibe the Christian spirit as from its fount.
is what Pius X, of holy memory has so explicitly said:
The active participation of the faithful in the sacrE:d mys
"ies and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church
the first and indispensable source whence is drawn the
Christian spirit 2. "
t is it not manifest that this truth is to be applied
more appropriately to those who, like us, have the
incss of the monastic vocation? Besides the means
fication that are common to all the members of
Mystical Body, such as the Sacraments, there exists,
to speak, in each Order, a special means corresponding to
institution and to which souls belonging to this Order
preferably to be attached, so as to arrive at perfection.
Christian predestination, God has engrafted for us
Benedictine predestination; we must not think indeed
t God has left our monastic vocation to chance; every
lellrnous vocation, constituting a signal grace, is the fruit of
finite and privileged love which Christ Jesus bears to
soul: I ntuittts eum dilexit eum 3; and it is only by an act
His oovereign and Divine will that the Word gives us this
;immense grace. We definitely responded to this call on the
of our profession; but do not let us lose sight of the
that we have made profession secundum Regulam
N. Benedicti 4. The particular character like the singular
of the holiness that God expects of us, should be
from the monastic code of our great Patriarch. It
1. P,oficiat, quaesumus, Domine, plebs tibi dicata piae aevotiollis a//ectu:
slUris actionibus erud'ita, QUANTO MAJESTATI TUAE FIT GRATIOR, TANTO
POTIORIBUS AUGEATUR (Saturday in Passion Week. - 2. Motl' proprio'
22
nd
. 1903. - 3. Marc. x, 2I. - 4. Ceremonial of Monastic Profes
3I 2 CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MONK
is not in following the Rule of St. Augustine or the insti
of the Carthusians, however great and lofty they be,
we shall arrive at the perfection that Christ
us. To a particular vocation, a special perfection, or
a special form of holiness, ought to respond.
Now our Holy Father ordains that among all the n{)"i tiv;;
works of piety that ilis monks are to perform, none
precedence of the Divine Office : Nihil OperiDei praepOllaHm
Doubtless, it is right to repeat that this work is not in
case exclusive of the others; but being the one which,
the Rule of St. Benedict, is given the first place, it becomes
by that fact, for us monks, a very sure and authentic
of attaining that form of perfection which God willed
when He called us to the cloister. Thus if it is averred
we are pleasing to God in the measure that we give
selves up to this work, it will not be less truly averred
the Divine Praise constitutes one of the most infaUible
of realising in ourselves the eternal and special idea
God has of our perfection.
Let us then explain how the Divine Office is a means
union with God and uf sanctification; it will next
for us to point out the requisite conditions in order
this means may produce all its fruits in our souls.
1.
One of the most important truths of the spiritual life
incontestably the necessity of prayer for obtaining the
help: " Ask, " said Our Lord, "and it shall be given
seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be
to you 3." Our needs are immense, and without
grace we can' do nothing. How are we to obtain
help? By prayer: Petite et aeeipietis 4 " onmis {'nim qui
aeeipit 5. Now, the Divine Office con tains wonderful
cations as pressing as they are varied. Undoub
we have seen, it is first and before all a Divine Praise,
cry of the soul that, full of faith and love, admires
magnifies God's perfections: Afagnus Dominus et laudaOlls
nimis 6. We do not come to the choir primarily to
no ; we come to praise God, to glorify Him, to think
His glory, to lend material creation our lips with
sing, and Ollr heart with which to love God: The first
I. "Positive" in opposition to works of a rather" negative" character.1
such as the exercise of the virtues of poverty, humility, etc., which se
above all to remove obstacles. - 2. Rule, ch. XLIII. - 3. Matth. VII, 7.
4 Joan. XVI, 24 - 5. Luc. Xl, 10. - 6. Ps. LVlllX. 2.
THE OpUS DEI, MEANS OF UNION WITH GOD 3I3
end of the Divine Office is the glory of the Creator:
, Dominu.s noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum
universa terra I! The dominant idea of the Opus Dei is
from these words of the Psalmist, as it is summed
the ever recurring doxology of the Gloria.
the Divine Office contains, however, numberless forms
prayer and supplication. The psalms, for example, ex
not only admiration, joy, exultation of soul ill presence
God's admirable perfections; all the needs of the soul are
found therein set forth as it were in God's sight. We
with the Psalmist, beseech forgiveness of our sins:
ve mercy on me, 0 God, according to Thy great mercy.
according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot
my iniquity. Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
cleanse me from my sin ... Turn away Thy face from
sins, and blot out all my iniquities ... Cast me not away
Thy face ; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me I.
sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember:
fttventutis meae et i gnorantias meas ne memineris 3 ;
oeeultis 1'/leis 1twnda me, et ab alienis paree servo tuo '.
of the depths I have cried to Thee, 0 Lord... if Thou,
Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord who shall stand. Hope,
o my soul, hope in Thy Lord, for His Redemption
, and He shall redeem thee from all thy ini
: Et eopiosa apud eum redemptio 5. Thou shalt wash
and I shall be made whiter than snow. To my hearing
shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have
humbled shall rejoice .. . Restore unto me the joy of
s2Jvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit. ..
, Thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare
6 "
the soul is in troubl e, in distress, when beset by
tion, when sadness overpowers it, when discouragement
takes possession of it, it has but to open the inspired Book:
" 0 God come to my assistance; 0 Lord, make haste to
help me
l
. Why, 0 Lord, are they multiplied that afflict
? many are they who. rise up against me. Many say
to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God. But
Thou, 0 Lord, art my protector, m.y glory, and the lifter
of my head... Arise, 0 Lord, save me 8." Why art
sad, 0 my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me ?
Hope in God, for I will still give praise to Him: the salvation
of my countenance, and my God 9. And let all them
1. Ps. VIII, 2. - 2.. Ibid. L, 3-4, II, 13. - 3. Ibid. XXIV, 7 - 4- Ibid. XVI.II,
13-
1
4. _ 5. Ibid. CXXIX, I , 3, 5-8. - 6. Ibid. L, 9-10, 14, 17 - 7. IbId.
2. - 8. Ibid. III, 2-4, 7. - 9. Ibid. XLII, 5
3
I
4
be glad that hope in Thee ... 0 Lord, Thou hast crown",
us, as with a shield of Thy good will" : Et laetentur
qui sperant in te... Scuto bonae volU1:tatis tuac coronasti nos
" In the Lord I put my trust, how then do you say to
soul: Get thee away from hence to the mountain 2 ?
o Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to
when I lift up my hands to Thy holy temple .. . Save, 0
Thy people, and bless Thy inheritance: and rule them
exalt them for ever
s
. "
Does the soul need light? strength? courage?
wherewith to invoke God flow endlessly to our lips: "
soul is as earth without water unto Thee 4. Send
Thy light and Thy truth, they have conducted me,
brought me unto Thy holy hill, and into Thy ta
And I will go to the altar of God: to God Who giveth j
to my youth. To Thee, 0 God my God I will give
upon the harp" : Confitebor tibi in cithara Deus, Detts
Then, above all, the holy longings of the soul to
one day to God rise ardently from the sacred poesy,
expression of its thirst for the divine nlfeting: For U
have I in Heaven? and besides Thee what do I
upon earth?... Thou art the God of my heart, and
God that is my portion for ever" : Quid milzl est in'eaelo
a te, quid volui super terram 6 ?.. "As the hart
after the fountains of water; so my soul
Thee... when shall I come and appear before the face
God 7? I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear "
Satiabor cum apparuert"t gloria tua 8! Thus, the soul's
intense desires, its deepest aspirations, its most
and extensive needs find wonderful forms of express
nished by the Holy Spirit. And each soul can appronri
to itself these forms as if they had been made for
alone.
To the inspired texts are to be added the "Collects "
the prayers composed by the Church herself, where are
gathered up the supplications that the Bride of Jesus
in her children's name, in union with her Divine
They are ordinarily vcry concise, but contain, in their bre
the true pith of doctrine. As you know their structure
almost always the same: the Church addresses her homage.:
to the power and goodness of the Eternal F ~ t h e r ,
petition in correlation with the Feast of the day, the
. 1. Ps. v, 12-13. - 2. Ibid. x, 2. - 3. Ibia. XXVII, 2, 9. - 4. Ibid.
6. - 5. Ibid. XLII, 3-4. - 6. Ibid. XLXII. 25-26. - 7. Ibid. XLI, 2'3. ,
Ibid. XVI, 15.
THE OPUS DEI, MEANS OF UNION WITH GOD 3
I
5
a condensed, but often profound form; finally, the
of the infinite merits of Christ Jesus, the Beloved
equal to His Father, Who lives and reigns with Him
the Spirit, in the heavens: Per Domimtm nostrutn
Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivum et regnat...
How should a like prayer fail to be powerful with God?
could God refuse His grace to whomsoever beseeches
according to the words He Himself has inspired 1 ?
loves all that comes from Himself or from His Son,
so this prayer which we address to Him in the name
Son is most pleasing to Him, and efficacious for U5 :
ego seiebam quia semper me a'udis 2.
On this head, the Divine Office possesses great power of
fication. I am certain that a monk who gives hi.mself
it with devotion cannot fail to obtain from it an
iaDunuance of divine help for every circumstance of his life.
is so much the more true in that the devout recitation
the Office familiarises us with these holy forms of prayer:
y then, in the course of the day, these arise
from his soul under the form of " ejaculatory .. prayers,
but ardent aspirations, whereby the soul is lifted up
to remain united to Him. St. Catherine of Siena
a special devotion to the Deus, in adiutorium meum inten
.. she often repeated it during the daya. So many verses
the Psalms, after having served us in choir can thus
lbecome, outside the Divine Office, bonds of union between
and ourselves, uprisings from the heart to beseech His
or to tell Him that it is our will never to turn away
Him: " It is good for me to adhere to my God, to put
hope in the Lord God 4. Preserve me, 0 Lord, for I have
my trust in Thee. I have said to the Lord, Thou art
God 5. When my strength shall fail, do not Thou forsake
My soul hath coveted to long for Thy justi fications,
all times ... I have stuck to Thy testimonies, 0 Lord:
me not to shame 7 . ..
Each soul can thus choose from among 30 many formulas
which most aptly express its innermost aspirations,
which best help it to remain united to Our Lord.
it has no need to seek them. When the Divine Office
recited with fervour, it is the Holy Spirit Who throws
Divine light upon some text of the Psalms or of the
1. We evidently do not give the word, " inspired" the same sense when it
the elements, of diverse origin, of the Divine Offi.ce. - 2. Joan., XI,
Life by Drane, 1" part., ch. v. - 2. - 4. Ps. LXXII, 28. - 5 Ps. xv,
_ 6. Ps. LXX, 9. - 7. Ps, CXVllI, 20, 31.
31 6
Liturgy; this text then particularly strikes the soul, and
this vivid, penetrating and effectual action of the
of J esus, it hereafter becomes a principle of light and
and like a wellspring of living water where the soul
constantly allay its thirst, renew its strength, and find
secret of patience and inward gladness: Psalterum
gaudium meum 1.
II.
It is not only in itself and directly that the Divine
is a means of sanctification; it also gives us the OccaSIOn
practising many virtues several times a day. Now
practice, according to the Council of Trent 2, is a source
union with God and of progress in perfection.
When a soul is in God's friendship, each act of virtue
'-J
makes increases grace in it, and this is above all true
charity which is the queen of every virtue. Now, the Di
Office recited wilh fervour, is a continual exercise of
most varied virtues. We saw, in the last conference,
frequency with which acts of faith, hope, and charity
in the course of the Divine Office; charity especially
out in it ; it finds the purest and most perfect expression
lhe Opus Dei, namely, complacency in God; and this
placency is manifested at almost each moment in accen
admiration and joy3. When, for example, we have
Matins and Lauds with devotion, we have made numerous
acts of perfect love.
To the theological virtues, which are the specific virtues
our state of children of God, must be joined the virtue
religion. Religion has no purer manifestation than t he
Divine Office gravitating around the Eucharistic Sacrifice
-.
which is its crown. The Divine Praise encompassing the
altar, where the holy oblation is offered, is the purest
expression of the virtue of religion; it is also the most
pleasing to God, because this expression is ddermined by
the Holy Spirit and by the Church, Christ's Bride; worship
finds its plenitude in the Divine Office 4.
1. S. Augustin. Enarrat . i n Psalm. 137, n. 3, P. L. 37, col. 1775. _ 2.
VI., C. 10-11. - 3 " It is a great mistake to imagine that a sacrifice is oDly
valuable and agreeable to God if it is sad and mortifying to nature. The
Holy Bible testimony that God receives flowers ilnd fruits as' well as
blood, and JOY well as tears. There are certainly many tears in
sacrifice of praise which is named the Psalter, bnt how joy overflows j,
and how often one is made a\':are of a jubilant and ravished soul!"
Gay. Entretie,1S sur les mystcres du Rosa-ire, 1. 80-81. __ 4. Cf. LottUl,
L'dme du culte, la vertu de religiot,.
THE OPUS DEI, MEANS OJ' UNION WITH GOD 317
is in the Divine Office too that we learn reverence towards
; the Liturgy is the best school of respect; all within
regulated by the Church herself in view of magnifying
Sovereign Majesty. When the soul performs all the
, even the smallest, ..:arefully and lovingly, it is
y formed to that inward reverence which is, as we
the very root of humility. It is impossible for
to be devoutly assiduous at the "Work of God"
gaining in a short time a great knowledge of the divine
, and without that rt"spect and reverence springing
in his from this con tern pIa tion.
We have likewise seen how the Divine Office is moreover
school where, on account of the common life, may be
. ;ed the virtue of patience and self-forgetfulness.
. ___ 5 the virtues most necessary to our state as children
God, faith and confidence, humility, love, and religion,
each day not only the means of being exercised, but of
maintail1ed, and strengthened; the Divine Office hence
an abundant source of holiness.
lIT.
The sanctifying power of the Divine Office however goes
r than this. Not content with being t he best form
of impttration for our spiritual necessities and giving
the opportunity of daily practising lofty virtues, this
. : constitutes for us the best way of being made one
Christ 1. We must never forget this capital truth of
. ritual life : all is summed up, for the monk as for the
Christian, in being united, in faith and love to Christ
in order to imitate Him. Christ being the very
form 2" of our predes tina tion, is at the same time the
ideal of all holine:.;s for us. He is the centre of monasticism
as of Christianity: to contemplate Christ, to imitate Him,
to unite our wiII to His will in order to please His Father,
that is the sum total of all perfection. The Father has
placed all things in His beloved Son ; we find in Him all
the treasures of redemption ,justification, wisdom, heavenly
knowledge, sanctification; for us everything lies in con
templating Him and drawing near to Him. For the thought
of Jesus, the looking upon Jesus, are not only holy, but
sanctifying.
And nowhere can we better contemplate Our Lord in His
I. See a remarkable commentary on this thought in D. Festugi')re. La
liturgie catilolique, essai de synthese, en. XIII. La L-it-urgie comme source tt cause
de vie religj.euse, pp. III, sq. - 2. Cf. Rom. VII, 29.
3
1B CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE MONK
P erson and in His mysteries, than in following the Ii
cycle established by the Church, His Bride, she herself
in this by the Holy Spirit. From Advent to
the liturgy is Christoccntric; in it all leads back to
all converges towards Him; it is a representation,
living representation of His mysteries: His Incarnation,
most sweet Nativity, His hidden life, His public life,
sorrowful Passion, the triumph of His Resurrection,
admirable Ascension ; the Mission of the Holy Spirit.
Church leads us by the hand in Jesus' footsteps; we
only to listen, only to open the eyes of fait>t: we
following Jesus.
The mysteries of Jesus thus contemplated with faith
love, give rise within us to the affections that we
have felt had we been present at the Birth of Jesus, had
followed Him to Egypt, been with Him at Nazareth,
His discourses, in the Garden of Gethsemani, upon
Way of Sorrows, and at Calvary; as we should have
if we had been present at His Resurrection, and Ascension
This is what was said by a holy Benedictine, Mother Deleloc
" At Christmastide, during all those solemnities of our
viour's Birth, I received great favours; His Majesty
gave me a vivid light so that I knew these divine Tnmt"..i ....
as if they wr:re then really taking "
Indeed, although Christ is no longer upon earth,
the historical reality of His mysteries has gone by, He
remains our Head and the virtue of His actions and of
life is ever fruitful: ]c'suP Christus her; et hodie.' ipse et
saecttla 3. It is as the Head of the human race, and
the human race, that He has lived these mysteries:
fore, simply by contemplating them with faith, the s
moulded little by little upon Christ, its Ideal, and is
transformed into Him, by entering into the sentiments
by His Divine Heart when He lived each of His mysteries.
Jesus lives the reality of His mysteries in us, and when
we have faith, and rest lovingly united to Him, He draws
us ''lith Him, making us partakers of the virtue proper to
each of these states. Each year, as the soul follows
Liturgical cycle, it shares ever more intimately in these
mysteries, and is identified more and more with Christ;
with His thoughts, His feelings, His life. Hoc mim
in vobis, quod et in Christo]esu, 4. Gradually it is transfonlled
into the likeness of the Divine Model; not only because
1. See the development of this idea in our work : in His Mysterit&.
1
st
Conference: Christ's Mysteries a,e our mysteries. -- z. La M&e Jea
Dcleloe, p. 247, Collection" Pax ". 3. Hebr. XHI, 8. - 4. Philip. II, 5.
1
9
Model is represented in each stage of His terrestrial
, but above all because a divine virtue goes out
these mysteries to sanctify ns, according to the measure
faith, and to make of the soul the living reproduction
Who is our Elder Brother. Does not all our pre
all our holiness consist in being made conform
to Christ for the glory of His Father?
t is this custom of following, under the Church's guidance,
mysteries of Jesus that gives to Benedictine spirituality
a specifically Christian character: the piety of the soul,
II the very piety of the Bride of Christ, becomes
lucid. It is a fact of experience that with souls,
say the Divine Office devoutly, who let themselves be
ished with the truths of the Psalms and follow Our
step by step in each of His mysteries, the spiritual
is very limpid, sane, and at the same time abundant
fruitful; in these souls piety is exempt from all compli
nor is there anything forced about it. If we try to
te or arrange our own spiritual life, there is danger of
ting much of ourself into it much that is human, and
is the risk at times of not taking the way that God
us to follow in order that we mav attain to Him.
in the footsteps of the Church, there is no risk of
y. The secret of the safety, as of the simplicity
th, of Benedictine spirituality lies in the fact that
borrows not from ever fallible man, but from the Chtirch,
the Holy Spirit, all its elements even to its framework,
is nothing else than the representation of the life of
hrist .
This is a point of extreme importance. Our holiness
d is of the supernatural order, absolutely transcendent,
its source, not in us, but in God. Now, says St. Paul,
know not how we ought to pray, we know not, in
this unique affair of our sanctification, what is befitting;
but the Spirit of Jesus, Who is in us since our Baptism,
directs the Church, Who is as it were the Soul of the
Body, prays in us with ineffahle groanings 1.
the Liturgical Office, everything is inspired by this
Spirit or created under His action. The Holy Spirit,
of the psalms, deeply ingraves in the docile and
t soul, the truths whereof they give admirable formulas,
He fills the soul with the affections that the sacred canticles
3
20 CHRIST, THE IDEAL OF THE 1rIONK
express. Little by little HIe soul lives on these truths,
nourished on these sentiments which make it see and
all things as God sees and judges them; it lives
in the supernatural sphere; it cleaves to Him Who
unique object of all our religion, the One Who is
unceasingly before our eyes in the reality of His
and the power of His grace .
There is no surer way than this of keeping united to ]
and consequently going to God. The Church, guided
the Holy Spirit, leads us to Christ, Christ leads us to
Father and makes us pleasing to Him: what incomparable
security and what powerful fecundity of the inner life this
spiritual way guarantees to us !
IV.
The Divine Office will produce its precious fruits in ' us
only if it be well accomplished; it does not act in the manner
of the Sacraments, ex opere operato; its fruitfulness depends
in great part on thc dispositions of the soul. It is a divinl
work, extremely acceptable to God; it is a privileged means
of union and sanctification; - on condition however that
we bring the necessary dispositions. What are these dis po
si bons ?
Before the Office, we mus t first of all, prepare our
selves. The perfection with which we acquic ourselves of
the Work of God depends ill great part on the preparation
of the heart; it is the heart which God looks at first of all:
Praeparationem cordis eorum al,divit auris tua 1. "Whatever
good work thou undertakest," our holy Patriarch 'says,
speaking to us in general, "beseech God with most earnest
prayer to vouchsafe to bring to a good end" : Quidquid agen
dum i'lchoas bonum, a Deo perfici INSTANTISSIMA ORATIONE
deposcas 2. If this recommendation exteilds to all Oll[ under
takings, how much more expressly is it to be applied to a
work which dcmands of us faith, love, patience, the sense
of reverence, and which is for us the "work" by excellence,
because it is " the Work of God?" If we do not beg the
hel p of God before giving ourselves to toe Divine Praise, we
sln ll never accomplish, it well. Not to recollect
before the Office, but to let our minds wander, then begin ex
and imagine that fervour will be born of itself in
the soul, is to be under a singular illusion. Scripture tells us :
" Before prayer prepare thy soul: and be not as a man that
x. Ps. x, 17. - 2. Prologue of the Rule.
THE OPUS MEANS OF UNION WITH GOD 321
th God" : Anle praepara animam t'uam, et
esse quasi homo qui te1ttat Deum 1. What is "to tempt
? " It is to undertake an action without being assured
means of carrying it out . If we begin the Divine
without preparation, we cannot recite it as is befitting;
xpect the necessary dispositions to come to us from on
without first using the means of producing t.hem within
is to cempt God.
The first disposition required of us then is that we prepare
soul by most fervent prayer: instantissima oratione. It
with this object in view tha.t we assemble at the" station"
the dois ter before entering the Church . The silence of
station ought to be inviolable. It is important that
one should respect the recollection of his brethren and
trouble (even by words which are necessary bui might
said at other moments) tne work of a soul that is preparing
to be united to God. The moments which pass at the
ion are golden moments . Experience proves that fervour
during the Divine Office is to be very exactly measured by the
immedia.te preparation. Almost infallibly, if we do not
prepare ourselves, we come out from the" \Vork of God" as
we en tered, with, moreover, the culpa bili ty of our negligence.
In what then does this preparation consist 2? As soon as
the bell calls us, venite ado remus s, we ought to leave every
other work: Mox exoccupatis manibus, et quod agebartt
;,mperfectum relinquentes 4; direct our thoughts towards God
and say to Him by a movement of the heart: "Behold I
come, 0 my God, to glorify Thee; may I give myself alto
gether to Thy work!" We ought secondly, if needs be by
a generous and vigorous effort of the mind, to put from llS
every irrelevant preoccupation, every distracting thought,
and gather up our energies that all may be concentrated
upon the work about to begin: our intellect, our will, our
heart; our imagination, in order that our whole being, body
and soul, may praise the Lord. We should be able to say
in all truth: Benedic artima mea Domino, et OMNIA, QUAE
INTRA ME SUNT, nomini sancto ejus 5; to say like David,
the sacred singer: Fortitudinem meam ad te cltstodiam 0:
I will keep my strength for Thee, 0 Lord, and for Thy
service ; I wish to consecrate to Thy praise every power
within me.
1. Eccli. XVlll, 23. - 2. We speak of the immediate preparation, supposing
the remote preparation to be understood and admitted. The remote
preparation is, in the moral order, purity of heart and the habit of the
presence of God, and, in the intellectual order, knowledge of the sacred texts,
of the rubri cs and Ghant etc. 3. Ps. X CIV, 6. - 4. Rule, ch. v. - s Ps. Cll,
1. - 6. Ps. LVIII, 10.
Cllrlll, I ue ot the lJQuk.
21
3
Then let us unite ourselves, by a spiritual communion of
faith and love, to the Word Incarnate. We must have
recourse to Christ Jesus; in this as in all things He is ollr
Model and our Head. Christ Tesus loved the Psalms. We
see Him, in the Gospel, more 'than once making use of
'-J
inspired songs, for example, the magnificent psalm
Dominus Domino mea 1, wherein is exalted the
Christ, the Son of God, triumphant over Hi:> enemies.
Divine lips have recited these canticles" in such a manm:c
that manifestly His soul took possession of the sacred
as belonging to Himself 2." We then recited the
Him, as now He recites them in us 3, in virtue of that mar
vellous union which grace establishes between Christ and
His members. This is what Our Lord Himself made Saint
Mechtilde understand. One day when she asked Him
He had really celebrated the Hours upon earth, He
deigned to reply to her: " I did not recite them as you do;
however, at these hours, I rendered homage to God the
Father. All that is observed among .My disciples, I Myself
inaugurated, as for example Baptism. I observed and ac
com plished these things for Christians, thus sanctifying and
perfecting the works of those who believe in Me." Our Divine
Saviour gave the following counsel to the Saint: "In be
ginning the Hours, let these words then be said with tne
heart and even with the lips: Lord, in union with the atten
tion wherewith when upon earth Thou didst observe the
Canonical Hours in honour of the Father I celebrate this
Hour in Thy honour. Secondly let all our attention be kept
for God. And when this practice having been often repeated
has become a ha.bit, thIs exercise will be so lofty and noble
in the sight of God the Father, that it will seem to make bllt
one with that which I Mvself practised 4. "
I. Ps. CIX. - 2 . D. Festugiere, I. c., pp. Il4-IlS. - 3. Oramtls ergo ad
illlim, per ilium, in i/lo, et dicimus cum ;'1/0 et dicit nobiscum; dicimus in illo,
dicit in nobis psalm;' hujus orationem. S. Augustin. Ena". in Ps. LXXXV, I
P. L. 37, col. 1082. All this I should be read. - 4. Th. Book of SPecial
Grace, 3'd part, ch. 3 r. Our Lord deigned still more explicitly to teach tbe
same doctrine to another Benedictine nun, Mother Deleloe. "One day, ..
this holy nun relates, " the WellBeloved drawing my hea.rt close to Him,
it st"cmed to me that truly this m_ost lovable Spouse plunged it with warm
caresses and demonstrations of 10"e into the recesscs of His Divine Heart, as
in a furnace of infinite Love. It was then given me to understand how this
favour was granted me by the WellBeloved, in order that my soul which
belonged entirely to His Majesty, should not come alone into thc presence
of the Eternal Father to confess and love Him, but that being accompanied
by this Di\'ine Saviour, united to Him, and a5 it were altogether tra!lsiormed
into tbe unique object of His delight, it should love and hono
Di vine Majesty the more, - with and by the mos t adorable of His
begotten SOD, my Beloved, - and be more acceptably received, through
THE OPUS DEI, MEANS OF UNION WITH GOD 32 3
We must not forget that if Christ Jesus recited the psalms,
was" not only individually but, moreover, as the Head
humanity, morally identifying Himself with all An.am's
being touched at Heart with every peril, struggle and
with every regret and hope of men, uttering to His
her, at the same time as His own prayer, the supreme
universal prayer of all humanity 1." This truth applies
all the prayer of Jesus, to all His works, and to His
rificc.
This is why, with its every movement, the Liturgy finds
its support in Christ J esus, the Son of dilection. All its
end in recalling Christ's merits and Divinity: Per
'iJotmnum Nostrum Jesum Chrt'stum ... At the Mass, which
the centre of the liturgy and of all our religion, the" Ca
" that most sacred part of the holy oblation, begins
t solemnly by having recourse to Christ's mediation:
Father most clement, we beseech Thee: accept these
through Jesus Christ Thy Son and Our Lord." It ends
the same thought, still more explicitly formulated: Per
et cum Ipso, et in Ipso: it is through Christ, with
and in Christ that we can render all honour and all
glory to the Father. Why so much insistence? Because
the Father has appointed His Son as the one universal
Mediator. St. Paul, who penetrated so far into the mystery
of Christ, exhorts us in these terms: " By Him therefore let
us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is to say,
fruit ()f lips confessing to His Name" : PER IPSU'\f ergo
hastiam laudis semper Deo, id est fntctutn labiorum
con(itentiu1n nomi'lti ejus 2.
In Christ Jesus, we find our best support; He supplies
r our deficiencies. Let us entreat Him to ' be in us the
that praises His Father. In the Sacred Humanity,
personal principle of every work was the Word; let us
t Him also to take the initiative in all our praises;
us unite ourselves to Him in the infinite love wherebv,
the Trinity, He glorifies His Father, and in that immense
He bears to the Church, His Mystical Body, Christu.s
't Ecclesiam a. Let us further unite ourselves to Him,
Him for the glory that He gives to the (hllrch
nt , which is 'without spot or wrinkle in holy
non habens maclllam aut rltg.'lnt 4,' let liS beseech
to increase the glory of His Blessed Mother, of His
b}' the Sovereign Bounty." La Mere Deleloe, p. 231. Collectioo
Pax XVI"
r. D. I. c. p. lIS. - 2. Hebr. XIII, Ij. -,3. Eph. v, 2S. - 4
Ibid. 27.
Angels and of Hi, Saints; then let U5 unice OUI love
Hi3 love for the Church suffering, in order that we
help those of His members wbo are waiting in the
of expiation; let us unite ourselves to Him in that
which He made at the Last Supper for all His Chu
below: Pater, rago pro eis qtti credit'Uri sunt in me 1.
As the ages sHcceed one another, Christ leaves His
to accomplish a part of the prayer that He recited when
on the point of offering His sacrifice. Although this
is of in fini te efficacy, Our Lord wills us to join our own to
it. One day our Divine Saviour, casting His gaze upon the
multitude of souls to be redeemed, said to His Apostles
whom He was about to send to preach the Gospel: Ro
dominum messis ut mitt at operarios. i 1 ~ messem suam 2, "
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send la
into His harvest." The Apostles might have replied:
"Lord, why dost Thou tell us to pray? Does not Thy
prayer suffice?" No, it does not suffice: Rogate: " Pray, "
you also. Christ Jesus chooses to have need of our prayers
as of those of His Apostles. Let us think, at the moments
when we are recollecting ourselves at the "station" that
from the depths of the tabernacle, Christ is about to say
us : Rogate Dominum messis: "Lend Me your lips and hearts
that I may prolong My prayer here below while in Heaven
I offer My merits to the Father. Prayer first of all: the
labourers will only come afterwards and their work will
bear fruit only in the measure that My Father, attentive
to your prayer, which is Mine, will pour down the heavenly
dew of His grace upon earth. "
Before beginning the Divine Office, let us then cast a
glance over the world: the Church, the Spouse of Christ, is
ever in travail of redemption. Let us behold the Sovereign
Pontiff, the pastors of dioceses and parishes, the religious
Orders, the missionaries who carry the good word to the
heathen in order to extend the Kingdom of Jesus; let us
behold, in spirit, the sick in the hospitals, the dying whose
eternal salvation is about to be decided at this very moment ;
let us think of prisoners. of the poor, of those who suffer,
of souls in temptation; of sinners who wish to return to
God but are weighed down by the burden of their chains ;
of the just who ardently long to advance in divine love.
Is it not tllis that the Church herself does on Good Friday ?
Remembering the sacrifice for the redemption of the Whole
world, and feeling herself strong in the very strength of
1. Joan. XVII, zo. - 2. Luc. X, 2.
.viour, the Church lets her motherly gale travel over the
series of souls who have need of help from on high.
sne offers special supplications for each. Let us imitate
example of our mother and approach God with
,wl1Iidence. for at this moment we are the mouth of the
Church: Tutiu,s Ecclesiae OSl .
I was saying in the preceding conference that, in choir.
are the Church's ambassadors. Now what is the most
quality of an ambassador? To be clever?
to have a large fortune at his disposal? to
influence? to shine by his personal talents? to be
lofl"" .M1./1 grata with th_e sovereign to whom he is sent? All
useful and necessary; all these qualities would
te without any doubt to the success of his mission,
they would be insufficient and sterile, they would even
te from the end in view did not the ambassador
himself first of all, and as perfectly as he possibly
with the intentions and opinions of the sovereign who
him. with the interests of the country he represents.
Church deputes us to the King of kings, to the throne
God. We must then identify ourselves with her views
and wishes; the Church confides to us her interests, which
those of souls. those of eternity. This is not a trivial
! Let us then take into our hearts all the needs, all
necessities of the Church - so dear to Jesus since she
purchased by His Blood - the anguish of souls in pain.
perils of those who are at this moment grappling with
devil, the anxieties of those who have to direct us ; in
that all may receive God's help. This is what was
by the holy Sister Mechtilde of Magdebourg. She took
Christendom in the arms of her soul to present it to the
I Father that it might be saved. "Let be, ,. said
Lord to her, "it is too heavy for thee. "" No, Lord, ,.
d the Saint, "I will lift it up and bear it to Thy feet
Thine own arms, that so Thou mayest bear it Thyself
u'pon the Cross 2 !" An example of the faith of great souls
\vhich constrains them to put the dogma of the Communion
of saints into the highest and most perfect practice.
Let us imitate these models, and we may be assured that
light, consolation, help. and the grace of forgiveness will
down abundantly from the throne of rpercy upon the
Church. Remember what 'Our Lord Himself said:
Amen, amen, I say to you; if you ask the Father
1. S. Bern. Senen. Sumo xx. - 2 The Light 01 the Divinity. b. U, eh. 12.
anything in My Name, He will give it you 1." Rely
this promise, ask much, ask in all confidence, and the F
from Whom "every perfect gift comes down 2, will II
His hands to fill every soul with blessings 3. For it is
we who pray, who intercede at this moment; it is the
it is Chlist, our Head, the supreme High Priest Who prays
in us, <;tnd stands before His Father to plead the cause of
the souls He has redeemed: Ut appareat vultui Dei PRO
NOBIS... 4 Semper vivens ad interpellandum PRO NOBIS 5.
I t is true that men of the world shrug their shoulders
when they learn that we stay such long hours in choir
praising God. For them, nothing is worth anything unless
it is exterior, unless the results can be touched or fel t,
unless it is something that is talked about, that is successful
and brilliant; but, says St. Paul, in his inspired energetic
language, the sensual man, whose natural reason is his only
guide, cannot understand the things of God: Animalis homo
non percipit quae sunt Spiritus Dei 6 " the supernatural sense
i3 lacking to him. For him, these hours are lost and wasted
hours; but to the eyes of faith, in the sight of God, - and
who is just and true as God? - these hours are rich in
graces for the Church, and of great weight for souls as regards
eternity. It is at these hours we fulfil the most excellent
apostolic work, even towards our neighbour; we obtain for
him the grace of God, we give him God: this is the greatest
good for a soul. St. Bernard, that great monk and apostle,
consumed with zeal, says, "all apostleship demands three
things: the word, example, prayer. But of these three
prayer is the most important, because it is prayer which
obtains the grace and efficacy of the word and example 7. "
Indeed "unless the Lord build the house, they labour in
vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watch
eth in vain that keepeth iiB." It is truly God \Vho holds
the eternal destinies of souls within His hands: In manibus
tuis sortes meae
9
; and when we fervently recite the Divine
Office for the whole Church, in union with Christ J esus, we
labour for the sal vation and sanctifica tion of souls in a mea
sure we cannot compass 10.
r. Joan. XVI, 23 - 2. Jac. I, 17. - 3. Cf. Ps. eXLIv, 16. - 4. Hebr. IX,
24 - 5 Ibid. VII, 25. - 6. I Cor. II, 14. - 7. Man-ent tria haec: verbu.m,
exemplum, oratio; maior autem h.is est oratio; nam, etsi virtus sit opus,
et oper;, tamen el voei gratiam etJicaciamque promcretur orat,:o. Epistola,201,
n. 3 P. L. 182, co. 370. A discip!e of SI Bernard, Dom Chautard, AbbototSept.
Fons, has written on this subject a most valuable work translated into English
under the title of "The Tru.e Apostolate", which we cannot sufficiently
recommend. - 8. PS, ex.xvI, 1. - 9. PS, xxx, 16. - 10. See La Vie con
templative et son role apostolfque, by a monk.
The "Work of God" is an eminently apostolic: work,
although this does not appear outwardly; this character of
the Office is perceived by faith alone, but for those who
have faith, how much the value of this work is enhanced!
Sister of Charity can count the number of sick persons
has assisted, the number of the dying for whose conversion
has laboured; a missionary can verify the success of
preaching, take into account the good that he does, and
in find encouragement for his efforts and motives for
thanksgiving. We cannot keep any such register. It is in
t he obscurity of faith that, during the Divine Office, we wo,rk
for souls; it is in heaven alone that we shall see all the
gl ory we have given to God by devoutly singing His praises,
all the good we have gained for the Church and for souls;
b,elow we cannot gauge it ; this is one sacrifice the more that
faith asks of us. But although the apostolic efficacy of the
Work of God well performed does not appear to our bodily
eyes, it is no less cieep and far-reaching.
Let these great thoughts occupy our minds at the moment
of beginning the Divine Office; they enlarge the horizon
of the soul; they increase its energies tenfold, they prevent
routine. When we habitually act in this spirit of faith,
when we thus forget our personal pain and troubles, in order
to occupy ourselves with the needs and interests of souls,
we go out of self; we praise God with fervour, in spite of
the weariness that may befall us, in spite of the repugnance
which God sometimes permits us to feel; and let us be assured
that if we think, before all things, of God's glory and of
Christ's Mystical Body, Jesus will think of us and will pour
down blessings upon our souls surpassing all our hopes and
desires. Has He not promised this Himself? "Give
and it shall be given to you" : Date, et dabitur vobis 1
v.
After having formulated our intentions, in a few rapid but
intense acts, let us ask God "earnestly" instantissima
oratione, to open our lips that we may praise His holy name;
to cleanse our hearts from vain, perverse, or simply irrelevant
thoughts; to enlighten our understanding, to enkindle our
love, that we may praise Him worthily, with attention and
devotion. This is all contained in the prayer Aperi which
we recite before each Office; we snould endeavour to say it
with humility and fervour, for it points out the
1. Luc VI, 38.
3
that we ought to have during the work of God:
attente et devote.
To pray worthily, - that is to observe faithfully the
monial,. the rubrics, the rules of chanting, all that
the protocol imposed lJy the King of kings upon those
present themselves before Him. If, being admitted to
court of an earthly sovereign, we did not trouble
about etiquette, we should be quite reasonably taxed
being guilty of great disrespect. The Church, under
Holy Spirit's action, has arranged the ceremonial of
prayer with extreme care. By this she manifests
reverence she bears to her Divine Spouse. Under the
Covenant, God Himself gave the details of the worship t o
be paid to Him, and we see that He shed blessings 1
the Jewish people in the measure that they observed
ordinances. And yet, what was the immediate object of t
worship? The ark of the covenant, containing the tables of
the Law, and the manna. It was but a figure, a symbol, an
imperfect shadow - egena elementa, to speak in the language
of St. Paull. Ours is the true tabernacle, for it contains tha
true Manna of souls; it contains the One Who alone is
holy: Tu solus sanctus, Jesu Christe
2
The Divine Office
is celebrated around the tabernacle, under the eyes of
Christ. The Father lovingly beholds a soul who seeks
procure the glory of His Beloved Son Jesus: Et clarificavl,
et iterum clarificabo 3; therefore all is pleasing to Him that
composes or enhances the worship whereof Jesus is the centre.
Let us then take care not to exempt ourselves from the cere.
monial nor to recite or chant the Office according to
own fancies or caprices; this would be wanting in respect
to God ; it would be exposing ourselves to a wrong kind
of familiarity which could only be harmful to us. God
remains God, that is to say the Infinite Being, full of in
communicable majesty, even when He admits us to praise
Him. Neither let us say that the rubrics are small matters;
yes, these things are materially small; but they are great
by reason of the love with which we should observe them ;
great because they so closely concern God's honour ; a soul
who loves Our Lord shows this love by putting as much
fidelity into small things as into great actions, for nothing
is really small which is according to the Divine good pleasure.
Let us pray attentively. Attention mnst be distinguished
from intention, although the one is not without influence
I. Cf. Gal. IV; 9. - 2. GLoria of the Mass. - 3. Joan. xu, 28.
2
9
he other. We have just now pointed out the intentions
t to have in the course of the divine psalmody.
, too, is very necessary, for the Divine ' Praise is a
action, performed by a being endowed with reason
will. Failing this attention, we should fill the mecha
r6le of a series of well tuned phonographs; we should
like the praying-wheels of the monks of Thibet.
But what is the kind of attention required? St. Thomas
first : the attentio ad verba, the mental appli
to pronounce the words well; it is this that beginners
to strive after first of all; secondly, the attentio ad
attention to the meaning of the words; finally,
attentio ad Deum,' this is, according to St. Thomas,
most necessary".: Quae quidem est maxime necessaria 1.
r holy Lawgiver combines the whole in a sufficiently
manner in his beautiful chapter De
He first of aU lays down the principle:
r., Mtmus divittam esse praesentiam, maxime tamen ... cum ad
divinum assistimus. "We believe," he says, "that
is present everywhere, but especially, maxime, when
are assisting at the Divine Office. " From this principle
draws two conclusions; we must sing God's praises with
test reverence: Ideo semper memores simus qtt.od ait
!-propneza: servite Domino in timore; with understanding,
ikrtowing well what we are doing and saying; Et iterum:
sapienter. Then at the end of the chapter, he links
r the two dispositions with these words: Ergo
qualiter oporteat in conspectu Divinitatis esse, et sic
ad psallend-u1n ut me"s ]astra concordet voGi "ostrae 2 :
us consider with what reverence we ought to behave
's presence, and so assist at the psalmody that our
be in accord with our lips. " We should weigh this
[(lH.Clllng carefully.
We are first of all told that during the Office, we ought
to remain interiorly prostrate in adoration before God. God
is Infinite Holiness, "the Lord God of all things," our
Blessed Father reminds us in the chapter De reverentia ora
#onis 3. When Abraham, the father of believers, spoke to
the Lord, he called himself dust and ashes 4. When Moses
conversed with God, such was his profound sense of the Divine
Majesty that he durst not raise his eyes to look upon Him:
1. Trip/.ex attentio orati01.i vocal'; potest adhiberi : una qlddam qua aUendit-u,.
44 ,verba, aliquis in eis erret ; secunda qua aUmditur ad se;.sum 1!erborum;
lertia q.ua attend'itur ad finem oraUonis sc. ad Dettm et ad rem pro qua oratur.
1, q. a. 13. _ 2 . Rule, ell. XI X. - 3 Rule, eh. xx. - 4 Gen. XVIU,

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