God, it cannot elevate itself to God, it can have no true union with
God. It cannot converse with God, for God will not converse with an
unmortified soul for three reasons. First, He will not speak if there be
no one to listen, for the Holy Ghost tells us "Where there is no
hearing, pour not out words" (Eccli. xxxii. 6). God wishes a soul in
converse with Him to be calm and still, for God is not in the earthquake
(3 Kings, xix. ii.). Again, even if God speaks to an unmortified soul,
it cannot hear Him as the passions fix its attention on worldly matters.
And even when such a soul tries to listen and to understand, the
passions surging and warring drown all sound and sense of holy things.
For, "the animal man perceiveth not these things that are of the spirit
of God, for it is foolishness to him and he cannot understand, because
it is spiritually examined" (I. Cor. ii. 14). The human soul cannot truly
unite itself to God if the passions are not conquered, because by their
very nature they are opposed to God and hence inspire estrangement from,
and disgust for, holy things.

Thirdly, the senses must be guarded. Our five senses can impede the
recitation of the Office because they present to our souls images of the
things which occupy them, and they can draw our will towards the
pleasures which correspond with these objects. It is necessary for the
worthy, attentive and devout saying of the Office that each sense be
guarded. The sense of sight should be guarded from gazing at objects at
hand, persons, books, landscape, etc. The sense of hearing should be
guarded in flying from the company of evil speakers, calumniators,
detractors, those who speak of worldly affairs or who give evil counsel.
It is necessary, too, to guard the tongue from evil speech. "I have set
a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me" (Psalm 38, 2);
and it is well to guard against too frequent or too long conversations,
which fill the soul with thoughts disturbing to a prayerful disposition.