II.  A great aid to pious recitation of the Hours is to take up a respectful position.  The Office is a prayer, an elevation of the soul to God, and should be treated as such; and as everyone knows, the union of soul and body is such that in vocal prayer both are employed.  If the body take up a lazy or unbecoming position in prayer, it is an insult to God to Whom prayer is offered, and is a certain source of distraction and faulty prayer.  Habit does much in this matter, and where a priest labours to correct an inclination to take up a too comfortable position in saying his Hours, he is striving to pray well.

Priests, young and old, say writers on this point, should be vigilant in this aid to fervent prayer.  The well-known words of St. Teresa recommending a comfortable attitude in prayer do not clash with this doctrine.  In the Selva, St. Alphonsus writes:  “It is related that while two religious recited Matins a devil appeared, caused an intolerable stench, and through mockery said, ’To the prayer which you offer such incense is suited’—­ad talem orationem tale debetur incensum.”

Which attitude is the best?  Seeing the examples of the saints, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Francis de Sales, St. John de la Salle, the Cure d’Ars, and of many other saintly men, the best attitude in reciting the Hours is kneeling.  Other saints accustomed themselves to recite their Hours standing, with head uncovered.  Others followed, in private recitation, all the positions—­sitting, kneeling, standing—­required in choir.  The practice is said to aid in banishing distractions, and contributes greatly to attention and devotion.  Of course, in private recitation no one is bound to any of these practices.  But they have proved useful to many in practising devout prayer.  Everyone is bound to pray with fervour, and a respectful attitude is a big help towards that end.

Slow, deliberate pronunciation is another aid to the fervent saying of the Hours of the Breviary.  The lives of saintly men show their practice in this matter.  Knowing that they were the ambassadors of the Church in presenting her praise, thanks and wants to God, they read with care and attention.  From their slow and deliberate reading of the holy words, their souls drew out the sublime thoughts and sentiments which their lips expressed.  In rapid reading, the mind and heart have not time to think well on the meaning of the words and of the sentiments, and hence, no holy thoughts fill the soul, no acts of virtue are elicited, no prayer of petition is offered, no holy resolutions are formed.  Indeed, very often—­to quote the words of a venerable author—­priests seem to say with their lips and to express by their rapid reading, not Deus in adjutorium meum intende, O God, make haste to help me! but Domine ad festinandum me adjuva—­“O God, help me to hasten?” Wise old Rodriguez advises readers of spiritual books to observe a hen