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 our prayer  is  wanting  in  confidence  and  trust, which want  originates  in  the  feeble  faith  of  the person praying,  or  in  too  little  reliance  on  the promises of  Christ  and  in  the  merits  of  His  redemption. Thus there  is  nothing  to  surprise  us if  we  are  not  heard.

Again, we  must  never  forget  that  very  many, and generally  the  most  precious  gifts  of  divine grace are  bestowed  secretly. Remember the  many and great  benefits  conferred  daily  and  hourly  by God  on  mankind,  universally  and  individually. Considering them,  it  is  presumption  to  maintain that in  a  special  case  the  prayer  of  the  Church,  or of  a  community,  or  of  an  individual,  was  not granted. The opposite  is  fully  proved  by  the goodness, bounty,  and  mercy  which  God  shows so profusely  to  us.

We must,  moreover,  never  lose  sight  of  the principle that  the  promises  made  to  prayer  concern directly  only  the  supernatural  order  of  salvation. To the  goods  of  the  temporal  order  they are applicable  only  relatively. If we,  therefore, experience that  our  prayers  relative  to  temporal things remain  unheard,  we  must,  instead  of  doubting the  divine  promises,  be  firmly  convinced  that the attainment  of  the  object  for  which  we  prayed was, under  the  circumstances,  not  conducive  to our  real  welfare. We must,  moreover,  be  convinced that  God,  in  order  not  to  leave  our  peti-