Page:Withgodbookofpra00las.djvu/142

 through His  prophet  foretold  should  be  the privilege of  the  New  Law:  'In  that  day,' says He,  'I  will  pour  out  upon  the  house  of David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  prayer'  (Zach. xii.  10),  a  spirit  of  grace  that  will  urge  them to pray  without  ceasing,  and  a  spirit  of  prayer that will  incessantly  draw  down  on  them fresh graces;  a  double  spirit  that  will  keep up a  constant  communication  between  our heavenly Father  and  His  children. It is  this prayer of  the  heart  to  which  the  apostle  St. Paul  alludes  when  he  exhorts  the  faithful  to 'pray  without  ceasing'  (i  Thess.  v.  17),  and when he  assures  them  that  he  continually remembered them  in  his  prayers.

"It is  just  as  easy  and  quite  as  natural  to the  heart  to  pray  without  ceasing,  as  to  love always.  We  can  always  love  God,  though we  are  not  always  thinking  of  Him  nor  always telling  Him  we  love  Him.  It  suffices  that  we should  be  resolved  at  all  times,  not  only  never to  do  anything  contrary  to  this  love,  but ready  to  give  to  God,  on  every  occasion,  proof of  this  by  actions  inspired  by  grace.  Is  it  not thus  that  a  mother  loves  her  children,  a  wife her  husband,  a  friend  his  friend?  The cherished  object  never  comes  to  our  mind without  calling  forth  a  feeling  of  love;  we