stly life always said
his Breviary kneeling in the sanctuary. His parishioners liked from time
to time to slip into the church to watch him. "Often," says an
eye-witness, "he paused while praying, his looks fixed on the
Tabernacle, with eyes in which were painted so lively a faith that one
might suppose our Lord was visible to his gaze. Later, his church being
continually filled with an attentive crowd following his least
movements, he took pains to avoid everything that might excite their
admiration. Yet still, he might be frequently found, after a long day
passed in the sacred tribunal, reciting his Hours on his knees, either
in the sacristy or in a corner of the choir, a few steps from the altar;
so strong was the attraction that drew him to unite his prayer to that
of our Lord, so great was the love and respect inspired by the presence
and infinite majesty of his Divine Master" (_Life of Cure d'Ars_,
by Monnin).

Every priest must feel that the church benches, or the sanctuary, with
their silence, their every part awakening and reminding the soul that
this is the house of God, this is the gate of Heaven, are places most
suitable for prayer and are great aids to fervent prayer. The thought of
the presence of Christ with His adoring angels, to whose songs of praise
the priest should unite himself, should help wonderfully in the devout
recitation of the Hours. St. Alphonsus recommends that priests saying
the Breviary should say it before a crucifix or before a statue or
picture of the Blessed Virgin, so that gazing from time to time on these
holy objects may foster or renew pious thoughts.

II. A great aid to pious recitation of the Hours is to take up a
respectful position. The Office is a prayer, an elevation of the soul to
God, and should be treated as such; and as everyone knows, the union of
soul and body is such that in vocal prayer both are employed. If the
body take up a lazy or unbecoming position in prayer, it is an insult
to God to Whom prayer is offered, and is a certain source of distraction
and faulty prayer. Habit does much in this matter, and where a priest
labours to correct an inclination to take up a too comfortable position
in saying his Hours, he is striving to pray well.

Priests, young and old, say writers on this point, should be vigilant in
this aid to fervent prayer. The well-known words of St. Teresa
recommending a comfortable attitude in prayer do not clash with this
doctrine. In the _Sel