conversing with Him, while they recite the Office, they are so hurried
that they dishonour Him more than they glorify Him" (St. Alphonsus,
_Selva_). In the hurried reading of the Office, time, a few minutes
perhaps, is gained, but what is lost? Does the loss of all the lights
and graces and blessings of the Office compensate for the time gained?
It is important that all who read the Breviary hurriedly, or who may be
tempted to acquire the habit, should weigh well the words read therein
(Friday's Vespers) "_Labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos; cadent super
eos carbones_" (Ps. 139). "The labour of their lips shall overwhelm
them; burning coals shall fall upon them."

To acquire this important habit, the practice of reading at a slow pace
the words of the Breviary, authors suggest several little hints. One is,
never to start reading the Hours unless there be _ample_ time for
finishing the Hour or Hours intended to be then and there read. The
practice of squeezing the small Hours into scraps of time (e.g., in
the intervals between hearing confessions in the confessional, at a
session) is fatal to careful and pious reading. Another hint is, to read
everything, every word (_e.g., Pater Noster, Ave, Credo_), and to repeat
nothing from memory, because the printed words meeting the eyes and the
spoken words reaching the ears help to fix the attention and there is
less risk of their passing unnoticed. This was the practice of St.
Charles Borromeo. St. Philip Neri never recited from memory even in
saying the small Hours. St. Vincent de Paul always spent a great time in
saying his Breviary. His intense fervour was helped by his careful
reading of every word, and this practice of keeping his eyes fixed
steadily on the printed matter of the book he recommended to his
congregation of priests. Some holy priests maintained that they could
recite from memory with greater fervour than from the reading of the
pages of the Breviary; but the practice is not one for the many. Another