Untitled - Saints' Books

468 Appendix.
the Blessed Sacrament; when he is shut up there, he
asks, he prays, so to speak, that we go to speak to him.
But you will perhaps say, Two hours! that is too
much. How! it would be too much, two hours of men
tal prayer! Do you not then know what mental prayer
is? It consists in speaking familiarly with God, as a
friend speaks with a friend, says St. Teresa. In mental
prayer we find those wings so greatly desired by the
Royal Prophet, by the aid of which he raised himself up
to perfection: -Who will give me wings like a dove, and I
will fly and be at rest? 1 What perfection could we ever
acquire without mental prayer
? It is an excellent
school in which one learns the heavenly science of the
saints. Permit me still to say before finishing, So
many studies to which we devote ourselves, so many
languages that we wish to know, so much knowledge,
so many various sciences that we try to master, are
without doubt good: no one denies that; they may be
useful. It would, however, be better first to study Holy
Scripture, the Canons, Dogmatic Theology, to be ready
to satisfy also this modern erudition that is diffused
throughout the world. But what is above all neces
sary to us is the beautiful science of the saints, which
consists in loving God; a science that we learn, not in
books, but before the Crucifix, before the Blessed
Sacrament.
Mental prayer, then, dear Fathers, mental prayer!
The more we desire to labor for the salvation of souls,
the more we need light and strength, since we are to give
light and strength to others. What warmth and what
light can be communicated to other lamps by a lamp
that scarcely burns, that is in danger of being extin
?
guished Ah! would to God that it would not occur
daily that a priest who devotes himself to the salvation
5 "
Quis dabit mihi pennas sicut columbae, et volabo, et requiescam."
Ps. liv. 7.