Page:Prayerbookforrel00lasa 0.djvu/64

 done with  the  greatest  calmness,  stillness,  peace,  and tranquillity possible. The loss  of  that  interior  calmness disturbs recollection,  distracts  the  attention,  and  hinders the workings  of  the  Holy  Spirit. So that,  if  your  tranquillity is  disturbed,  you  must  endeavor  by  all  means  to restore  it  before  you  go  further,  even  though  the  whole time of  your  prayer  be  occupied  in  doing  this.

Another way  of  practising  interior  prayer  is  to  take some devout  book,  read  a  little  in  it,  and  then  reflect  upon what has  been  read,  and  make  acts  of  the  will  and  affections upon  it. When the  mind  grows  a  little  weary, take the  book  up  again,  and  read  a  little  more,  and  so  on. The same  can  be  done  with  any  vocal  prayer,  as  explained above. In this  way  we  turn  vocal  prayer  into  mental.

When the  time  for  ending  the  meditation  is  come,  it should  not  be  prolonged  because  the  soul  is  dissatisfied with its  success. That would  bring  on  weariness  and scruples. When something  happens  that  the  prayer must be  curtailed  or  even  omitted,  let  it  be  done  with liberty and  without  scruple;  only  not  out  of  a  spirit  of sloth  or  disgust. For the  rest  of  your  time,  endeavor  to keep  quietly  and  gently  recollected  in  God.

OCAL prayer  is  prayer  recited  with  the  lips,  and usually according  to  some  certain  formula. Although in itself  vocal  prayer  is  not  so  excellent  as  mental prayer, we  should,  nevertheless,  beware  of  underrating its usefulness  or  necessity. All true  Christians  frequently recite  vocal  prayers,  such  as  the  Our  Father, the Hail  Mary,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  acts  of  faith, hope, charity,  and  contrition. The Church  prescribes vocal prayer  very  strictly  to  her  priests  and  her  Religious,