PREFACE.

PRAYER is one of the principal duties, and one of the greatest consolations of a Christian life.

Watch and pray, is a command of our Divine Saviour, which his true followers have never ceased to observe from the very origin of religion. "When the fires of impious persecution prevented the erection of temples in which this homage could be solemnly paid to the God of infinite power and mercy, the Christian looked upon the universe as his temple. On sea and on land, in the desert and in the cultivated field, in the prisons of Rome as well as in the privacy of domestic retirement, did he offer the tribute of his praise. His prayer, like his faith, was known from one extremity of the earth to

the other. But, though the life of the primitive Christians was a continual prayer, there were certain periods more particularly appropriated to this holy exercise. Several fathers of the church make mention of the seven hours which are now termed canonical hours; and we learn from Cassian, that, in the monasteries of the East, the religious were assembled at six different times in the day for the purpose of chanting the praises of the Almighty." This holy practice of devoting a considerable time to prayer still subsists in the church, and her ministers are required, under a serious obligation, to recite daily the ecclesiastical office, commonly called the breviary, because it is an abridgment of the office formerly used, and is a summary, as it were, of the most instructive and edifying passages in the holy scripture and in the

See Collet, Traite de l'Office Divin.

writings of the ancient fathers. It is distributed into seven portions, which, in Catholic countries, are chanted at different hours of the day. The object of the church, in establishing this discipline among her clergy, was to remind them of one of their most essential duties, the practice of fervent and frequent prayer, by which they are bound to honor the majesty of God, and to appear before him as intercessors in behalf of the people whom he has confided to their care. The clergy, therefore, are called, in a special manner, to the performance of this duty, by the very nature of their holy and sublime vocation: but the laity have a similar obligation to discharge. The temptations to which they are continually exposed amid the distractions of the world; the efforts that are constantly requisite to overcome their evil inclinations; the strength which they need from above to support them under the various

trials incident to a life of virtue, abundantly suffice to make known the necessity of prayer. To facilitate the practice of this important duty, and to furnish the pious Christian with a method of devotion similar to the public office of the church, is the end of the present publication. It has been compiled chiefly from the inestimable and justly celebrated work, called Austin's Devotions in the Ancient Way of Offices, very extensively and favourably known among the Catholics of Great Britain. Mr. Austin was an Englishman by birth, and was educated in the principles of Protestantism; but having embraced the Catholic faith, he devoted his time particularly to the study of the sacred sciences. Gifted with a strong mind and peculiar taste for literary pursuits, his learning was of a varied and extensive character. Though he had read profoundly in law, mathematics, and philosophy, he excelled in the more

important and useful parts of divinity. His acquirements, however, as a scholar, were not superior to his religion and piety as a Christian. His attention was always fixed on the great concerns of eternity, and his writings abundantly testify that the pure and holy faith which he professed, was vividly illustrated in his life and actions. He died in 1669. The varied form in which his "Devotions" are arranged, combining the exercise of prayer with the advantages of solid instruction, the fervid strain in which the sublime truths of religion are proposed to our consideration, the impressive and animated style in which the great maxims of Christian morality are conveyed to the mind, all unite to render the work a most useful course of practical devotion, and to recommend it highly to the piety of the faithful. The Secular's Office is principally an extract from it, with such alterations and additions as were thought necessary