St. Augustine, How is the Liturgy the Source and Summit of Prayer?
Question 039. How is the liturgy the “source and the summit”? Man’s soul struggles onward towards that it loves so that it might rest upon reaching it. When the soul finds its delight in God, there she finds true, certain, eternal rest, for which it has vainly sought in other objects. from St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer by Fr. Ermatinger. The end of man is the praise and glory of God. This [...]
St. Augustine, Is Vocal Prayer Necessary?
Question 038. If contemplation is the height of all prayer, why should we use vocal prayer? At certain stipulated times, we employ words in our prayer to God. And it is by signs such as these that we correct ourselves and discover the degree of progress obtained in this desire, in order to burn even more and achieve an increase in strength. According to the proportion of the ardor of our desire before a prayer [...]
St. Augustine, How Does Prayer Impact the Soul?
Question 037. What effects does prayer bring about in the soul? Prayer produces a certain conversion of the heart towards him who is already ready to give inasmuch as we are in condition to receive. And in this conversion a purification of the interior eye is wrought in such a way that those things in the temporal order which we used to desire are excluded. In this way the inner eye, having become pure, can [...]