Page:The Catholic prayer book.djvu/270

 will scarcely be able for any length of time to avoid mortal sin, for he will live in continual distraction, and will not be conscious of his own wants He will make no account of the dangers which surround him ; he will not exert himself to employ the means to escape from them, and finally, recognising no longer how necessary prayer is to his salvation, he will abandon it, and so be lost.

The world is filled with sins, and hell with damned souls, because Christians no longer meditate upon eternal truths. u With desolation is all the land made desolate ; because there is none that considereth in the heart." (Jer. xii.) But, on the contrary, he who often thinks of death, judgment, and eternity, will abandon sin ; otherwise he must leave off meditating, for it is impossible that meditation and sin should be found in company. "Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." (Eccl. vii. 40.)

It is God that speaks to you in meditation, and God speaks to you much better than any preacher can. It is through meditation that the saints have been sanctified, for it is in meditation we learn to turn away our hearts from all sinful attachment to this world, and to direct them towards God.

Before meditation, place yourself devoutly upon your knees. If you are able to remain kneeling without injury to your health, it should be done, but if it is likely to prove injurious, you may stand or sit.

Then begin the preparation to your meditation, in which you must never forget to place yourself, first of all, in the presence of God. This may be done by repeating the following Acts: "O my God! I am