Page:MeditationsOnTheMysteriesOfOurHolyV1.djvu/34



By what has been said, it appears that the essence or nature of mental prayer properly consists in speaking within ourselves to God our Lord, for two principal ends.

1. The first is, to praise Him and bless Him for what He is; and to give Him thanks for the benefits and rewards He bestows upon us, exercising that sovereign manner of prayer which St. Paul counsels us, saying, " Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father by him." In which words the holy Apostle points at four divine affections, with which we may speak in our hearts to God our Lord for the end aforesaid, that is to say, psalms, hymns, spiritual canticles, and thanksgiving.

i. Interior " psalms" are acts of the love of God, with effectual desires and determinations to serve and obey Him, in which we offer ourselves to keep most perfectly His commandments and counsels. This is that music which David calls the " psaltery " "of ten strings:" for as he that plays on the psaltery, or harp, handles all its ten strings at one time, at other times some of them, and sometimes all of them together, so in prayer making this music to God, we are to have fervent desires to exercise the virtues of obedience, humility, patience, and the rest, now one, then another, and sometimes all together; as likewise stedfast purpose to keep God's commandments and His counsels, laying hand now upon one, then upon another, and sometimes upon all together.