THE HOURS OF OUR LADY #26 [Continued]

It's been a while but,

We continue with our posting of the Introduction to The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

(The translation of the Psalms and the brief introductory comments on the Psalms of this Little Office of the Blessed Virgin are taken largely from: The Psalms and Canticles by George O'Neill, S.J. [Bruce Publishing Co. 1937.] The late Father O'Neill's work has long been out of print.)

[Continued]

INTRODUCTION

"Nothing different in kind is expected of us. It is enough that we accommodate the sacred language of the Psalms to our own personal needs, and express them through its medium. Our individual devotional sentiments are not suppressed, but handed over, as it were, to the guidance of divine expression. Such a practice repays us by its education in praise and prayer. Growing familiarity with words of sacred origin as repeatedly applied to ourselves, gradually enriches and elevates our habitual ideas of praising God and praying to Him more acceptably. With the constant aid of Divine grace, such experience will in time prove to be its own reward." (W. H. McClellan, S.J., The Psalms). 

Through original sin we have lost the art of talking to God as we ought. One has only to consider the model prayer that our Lord gave us (the Our Father) and note how different is its way of talking to God from that which we should have followed if we had not been taught. Even when we come to speak to God of our own needs we must even then be thinking mostly of His interests. The Psalms teach us how to pray -- the sentiments that should animate us when we raise our minds and hearts to God. "For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself pleads for us with unutterable groanings." (Romans 8, 26)

 

[To be continued]