attentively, and devoutly (_digne, attente ac devote_).

(2) To whom do we speak in our daily service of prayer? We speak to our
Master, Whose very special work we are doing in offering up the great
prayer. His adorable eyes are fixed upon us at this sacred duty. He
listens to us, He reads our thoughts. He judges our intentions, our
efforts and their fulfilment. He is the King of kings, the Almighty God.
Mindful of His presence and majesty should we not try earnestly to bless
His Holy name and to free our hearts from vain, evil and wandering
thoughts? We pray _ad benedicendum nomen sanctum tuum; munda quoque cor
meum ab omnibus vanis perversis et alienis cogitationibus_.

(3) In whose name do we speak? It is a great honour to be an ambassador
for a great king and a mighty kingdom, guarding the interests of the
fatherland in a foreign land. The priest is always such an ambassador.
"For Christ, we are ambassadors," says St. Paul. In this work of daily
recitation of the Office, we are ambassadors, not of some petty king or
tiny state, but we represent the entire Church, the well-beloved spouse
of Christ, to whose prayer He ever hearkens. _Sonet vox tua in auribus
meis; vox enim tua dulcis est_ (Canticle of Canticles, ii. 14). And St.
Bernard says "_Sacerdos publica persona et totius Ecclesie os_." Hence,
every priest is the ambassador of Christ and of His Church, the guardian
of His interests. And as it is the duty of ambassadors to study
carefully, to watch and further the interests of the kings whom they
represent, it is a priest's duty to study carefully and further the
interests of Christ's Church by the devout fulfilment of the great daily
duty, the recitation of the Divine Office. History brands as traitors
those ambassadors who through ignorance of the language of the foreign
court, or through want of vigilant attention, allow the interests of
their royal masters to suffer. What a punishment awaits the days and