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 number relate. And in the frequent repetition of the _Pater Noster_, we speak Christ's sentiments and words. 4. The lives of the saints furnish many examples and precepts of this union with Christ in our prayer. To the examples of St. Gertrude and St. Bernard many others can be added. Several such examples are quoted by Bacquez in his work on the Office. 5. The remembrance of the sublime work of the Office should aid in its fervent recitation. Priests should remember the words of St. Alphonsus: "After the sacrifice of the Mass the Church possesses no treasure so great as the Divine Office." "It is God's Church, the Spouse of Christ, who has done me the honour of choosing me for this great work--me, in preference to a hundred others. She puts into my hand her holy book of heavenly language, and asks me to read its words before God, to unite with the angels and saints in honouring God."