prayer. This union with Christ is sought for by Himself, by the
Apostles, by the Church, and is practised ever by God's saints. The
words of the prayer should be reduced to action.

1. Christ our model in all things is our model in prayer, and so He
teaches us that when we pray we must say "Our Father, Who art in
Heaven," that is, to use His very words and sentiments. And this desire
of our Lord, that souls should be united to Him in prayer, has often
been manifested by Him to His saints. To St. Gertrude He said, "My
daughter, behold My Heart; look upon It in future as supplying your own
defects. When you would pray, ask It to help you to give My Father the
homage you owe Him. I shall be ever ready to second you as soon as you
call Me to your aid." St. Bernard, schooled in this practice by the Holy
Ghost, knew all its sweetness: "David," he says, "rejoiced of old to
have found his heart to pray to his Master and his God--_Invenit servus
tuus cor tuum ut oraret te oratione hac_ (II. Kings viii. 27). And I,
that I may pray, have found the heart of my King and my Brother, of my
sweet Saviour; shall I not then also pray? Yes, certainly, for I am,
too, happy, as I have, if not the Heart of Jesus in place of mine, at
least have I mine in that of Jesus" (Bacquez, p. 191).

2. St. Paul recommends us to offer our prayers through Jesus Christ. "By
him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that
is to say, the fruit of lips confessing to His name" (Heb. xiii. 15).

3. The Church wishes this union with Christ and mentions it several
times in her prayers, _Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum_. She
expresses her wish in the preparatory prayer, _Aperi, Domine_; she
wishes the words and sentiments of the psalms to be applied to Jesus,
the Saviour, whom David typified, and to whom the psalms in great