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Rule of Life. 429
ent, if
there be no obstacle, to say Mass before all other
occupations of the day.
Besides the meditation one should not fail to make a
short preparation for Mass by reanimating one s faith in
the great mystery that one is about to celebrate; one
should make at least three acts: of love, of contrition,
and of desire to be united to Jesus Christ.
After Mass one should not omit to make thanksgiving,
of an hour or at least of half an hour, by applying one s
self during that time to the making of acts of love, of
the offering of one s self, and of petition. The time that
follows Mass is a time for amassing treasures of grace.
When one is in a state of interior dryness, not knowing
what to do with one s self, one may at least read out of
some book pious affections to Jesus Christ.
4. CONFESSIONS AND STUDY.
After having made his thanksgiving, 1 the priest shall
go to the confessional if he is a confessor. It must here
be observed that on days on which there is a great con
course of people, as on festivals, he may shorten his
thanksgiving in order to hear confessions; but this only
holds good for similar cases that are rare. Usually
the confessor should not omit his thanksgiving after
Mass in order that penitents may not be obliged to wait
for him. However, when there come to confession men
that are not accustomed to frequent the sacraments, it
will be better if he hears them before Mass; because
such persons have not the patience to wait; and if
they
do not confess on that day, God knows when they will
confess.
As for the priest who is not a confessor, he shall retire
in order to attend to his studies. He should occupy
1
We may remark that nothing is said about breakfast, because in
Italy, generally, no meal is taken as in the countries of the north, but
dinner is taken earlier. ED.