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ROM its very nature we can understand how rich in benefits is prayer. It honors God and helps us both in soul and body. We are God’s children, and as a child honors its father by speaking reverently to him, by manifesting its love for him, by showing that it depends upon him for its needs and by begging forgiveness of offenses committed, so do we in these various ways give honor to God through prayer. Moreover, by this holy exercise we obtain for ourselves all we need both spiritually and temporally; we are strengthened against temptation and our natural weaknesses; our life is ennobled and filled with virtues and we are better fitted for heaven. In the words of St. Lawrence Justinian, prayer “pleases God, gets what it asks, overcomes enemies, changes man.” Rightly, then, has it been called incense ascending before the throne of God, or a golden key which unlocks for us the treasures of heaven.

OD has not merely counseled, but has commanded us to have recourse to prayer: “We ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke xviii. 1); “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matt. vii. 7). Again, we are dependent creatures, and as such are bound to render honor and gratitude to the Author of our being. We are frail creatures, subject to all kinds of infirmities and unable to do anything meritorious of eternal life