Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/227

 a soul  of  this  description  is  a  thousand  times  more  instructed  in the  knowledge  of  prayer  than  all  the  teachers  themselves,  and  maysay,  with  the  prophet,  "  I  have  more  understanding  than  all  my teachers." He speaks  to  his  God  as  a  friend  to  a  friend;  he  is sorry  for  having  offended  him;  he  upbraids  himself  for  not  having, as yet,  sufficient  force  to  renounce  all  to  please  him;  he  takes  no pride  in  the  sublimity  of  his  thoughts;  he  leaves  his  heart  to  speak, and gives  way  to  all  its  tenderness  before  the  only  object  of  his love. Even when  his  mind  wanders,  his  heart  watches  and  speaks for him:  his  very  disgusts  become  a  prayer,  through  the  feelings which are  then  excited  in  his  heart:  he  is  tenderly  affected,  he sighs,  he  is  displeased  with,  and  a  burden  to,  himself:  he  feels  the weight of  his  bonds,  he  exerts  himself  as  if  to  break  and  throw them off;  he  a  thousand  times  renews  his  protestations  of  fidelity; he blushes  and  is  ashamed  at  always  promising,  and  yet  being  continually faithless:  such  is  the  whole  secret  and  the  whole  science of prayer. And what  is  there  in  all  this  beyond  the  reach  of  every believing soul?

Who had  instructed  the  poor  woman  of  Canaan  in  prayer? A stranger, and  a  daughter  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  who  was  unacquainted with the  wonders  of  the  law  and  the  oracles  of  the  prophets;  who had not  yet  heard  from  the  mouth  of  the  Saviour  the  words  of  eternal life;  who  was  still  under  the  shadows  of  ignorance  and  of  death: she prays,  however;  her  love,  her  confidence,  the  desire  of  being granted, teach  her  to  pray;  her  heart  being  touched,  constitutes the whole  merit  and  the  whole  sublimity  of  her  prayer.

And surely,  if,  in  order  to  pray,  it  were  requisite  to  rise  to  those sublime states  of  prayer  to  which  God  exalteth  some  holy  souls; if it  were  necessary  to  be  wrapped  in  ecstasy,  and  transported  even up to  heaven,  like  Paul,  there  to  hear  those  ineffable  secrets  which God exposeth  not  to  man,  and  which  it  is  not  permitted,  even  to man  himself,  to  reveal;  or,  like  Moses  upon  the  holy  mountain,  to be  placed  upon  a  cloud  of  glory,  and,  face  to  face,  to  see  God; that is  to  say,  if  it  were  necessary  to  have  attained  to  that  degree of intimate  union  with  the  Lord,  in  which  the  soul,  as  if  already freed from  its  body,  springs  up  even  into  the  bosom  of  its  God; contemplates at  leisure  his  infinite  perfections;  forgets,  as  I  may say, its  members  which  are  still  upon  the  earth;  is  no  longer  disturbed, nor  even  diverted  by  the  phantoms  of  the  senses;  is  fixed, and as  if  absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  the  wonders  and  the grandeur of  God;  and  already  participating  in  his  eternity,  could count a  whole  age  passed  in  that  blessed  state,  as  only  a  short and rapid  moment;  if,  I  say,  it  were  necessary,  in  order  to  pray, to be  favoured  with  these  rare  and  excellent  gifts  of  the  Holy Spirit, you  might  tell  us,  like  those  new  believers,  of  whom  St. Paul  makes  mention,  that  you  have  not  yet  received  them,  and that you  know  not  what  is  even  that  Spirit  which  communicates them.

But prayer  is  not  a  special  gift  set  apart  for  privileged  souls alone; it  is  a  common  duty  imposed  upon  every  believer;  it  is  not