NECESSITY OF PRAYER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1242, 18 September 1875, Page 4

NECESSITY OF PRAYER.

Yesterday was observed as the Feast of the Holy Trinity in the Roman Catholic churches. At the Church of St. Francis Xavier, in West Sixteenth-st. , a Missa Cantata was celebrated at 10.30 a.m. On the Epiatle side oi the sanctuary, an altar had been erected for the statue of the Virgin, which was adorned with drapery and flowers. A reliquary containing the relics of St. Amantius, a Romau tribune who was martyred iv the third century of the Christian era, had been placed in front of the altar piece of the church. The relics consist of the complete skeleton of the martyr, which has been covered with wax and represents a life-size figure of the saint, clothed in rich garments and reclining in an attitude of repose. The relics were a gift from Pope Pius IX. by the Rev. P. F. Dealey, S. J., who conducted the first American pilgrimage to Rome. The Rev. Mr. Dealey preached the sermon, taking for his text the Gospel of the Day.

Thus it was, he said, that the Son of God announced, to the belief and veneration of the faithful, the adorable mystery of one God in three Divine Persons. This was always the first object of the adoration of Christians, and that it is, which the Church on thi3 great festival, invites us to honour by tributes of lively faith and inflamed devotion. Prayer is the very soul of confidence, and of complete faith in the origin and source of all faith. St. Paul tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the condition of things which do not appear. The thought of the Divine Father discloses to us God, not only as our sovereign good, but also as our sovereign being. Can we pray in the name of God the Father without remembering that He is the Father of men, that they are His creatures for whom He sacrificed His Beloved Son ] Can we pray to the Son without remembering that He is the only Son of God, whose love for men constrained Him to style Himself the Son of Man, our Redeemer and Mediator before His Father? Can we pray to the Holy Ghost without thinking that He is the Divine Spirit, who dwells in man by His inspirations, His calls, and His visitations ? How can we reflect on these Divine favours without entering into that sacred alliance which ought to encourage us to invoke the assistance of the three Divine Persons with such faith that our prayers will be heard ? If we pray in the name of the Father with lively faith, the fir3t emotion which we ought to experience is one of complete confidence. It is the same holy faith which assures us that the Eternal Father ordained that His only Son should be born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and also that we should be born children of the Church, for our salvation and eternal happiness. These thoughts in prayer must warm our hearts and enkindle in them a lively devotion.

If we pray in the name of the Son we should Jbe also full of confidence. For He was a man like ourselves. The Son of God and the wisdom of the Eternal Father is our nourishment and life. The Son of God, who is so deeply interested in the welfare of His Eternal Father, is also deeply interested in our welfare. When we pray to the Holy Ghost we petition also with confidence. He is the living source of love, and He produces in our hearts another source of graces and of gifts. Prayer is a necessary and essential duty of Christianity. To pray well is every Christian's chief duty and interest. All other acts of religion terminate in this ; they have no other object than to increase in heart the love of prayer. The Church places before and above all this high, sublime, and chief mystery of our religion, in order to show us the sacred union necessary for our salvation — the union of prayer with holy faith. Prayer should bejjpure, humble, holy, and if possible continual. If it proceeds from a lively faith, our prayer will be meritorious and our petitions granted*

The second use of faith is to regulate and direct our actions. The Gospel of the Day furnishes us with no less a pattern than our Blessed Saviour. We learn from tradition and the constant practices of the early Christians never to begin any action without signing ourselves with the sign of the cross in the name of the Blessed Trinity, to remind us of the Son ,of God crucified for us. His desire was to establish on earth a holy society of men resembling the Holy Trinity. The prayer of the Son for men was, "Holy Father grant that they may be one on earth as we also are one in heaven." He desired that that bond and force of character should be effected in our souls which the Divine Being operates in God — that we by imitation should be what He is in Divine essence — one ; that we may express in all the relations of life the unitable properties of the three Divine Persons — their holy intercourse and perfect unity, notwithstanding the distinctness of persona. If such was the conduct of men on this earth, we should soon see the

world reformed. Then we should behold again what was the glory of the Church in other days — the conformity of Christian morals with Christian belief. — Neiv York ! Trihine.