precepts, and taught by divine instruction, we presume to say, Our Father, &c. Seeing, therefore, the necessity of prayer to the Christian, and at the solicitation of his disciples, " Lord teach us to pray," [1] the Son of God gave them a prescribed form of prayer, and encouraged them to hope, that the objects of their petitions would be granted. He himself was to them a model of prayer: he not only prayed assiduously, but watched whole nights in prayer. [2] The Apostles, also, did not omit to deliver precepts on the subject: on this duty St. Peter, [3] and St. John [4] are incessant in their admonitions to the faithful; and St. Paul, not unmindful of its importance, frequently admonishes us of the salutary necessity of prayer. [5] Besides, so various are our temporal and spiritual necessities, so numerous the blessings which we expect to receive, that we must have recourse to prayer as the best organ to communicate our wants, and the surest channel through which to receive whatever succour we need. Of God nothing is due to us: it is ours, therefore, to supplicate his goodness. He has constituted prayer as a necessary means for the accomplishment of our desires; and its necessity becomes still more obvious, when we reflect, that there are blessings which we cannot hope to obtain otherwise than through prayer. Holy prayer, such is its efficacy, is a most powerful means of casting out demons: this kind of demon is not cast out but by prayer and fasting." [6]
Those, therefore, who do not practise assiduous prayer, rob themselves of the means of obtaining from God gifts of singular value. To succeed in obtaining the object of your desires, not enough that you ask that which is good; your intreaties must also be assiduous: "Every one that asketh," says St. Jerome, "receiveth: if, therefore, it will not be given you, it is because you do not ask it: ask, therefore, and you shall receive. " [7]
But prayer is not only a necessary, but also, a most pleasing and salutary exercise of devotion, from which we reap an abundant harvest of spiritual fruit. On these fruits of prayer, the pastor will consult spiritual writers, and, when necessary for the instruction of the faithful, will draw copiously upon their labours. We have, however, made a selection from their accumulated treasures, which appeared to us to suit the present purpose.
The first fruit which we receive from prayer is, that by prayer we honour God; prayer is, in some sort, a proof of religion; and is compared, in Scripture, to incense: " Let my prayer," says David, " be directed as incense in thy sight." [8] By prayer we confess our subjection to God, whom we acknowledge and proclaim to be the author of all good; in whom alone we centre all our hopes; who alone is our refuge, in all dangers; and whose protecting care is the bulwark of our sal-
