Prayer beads

“ Dare I hint at that worse time when, strung together somewhere in great black space, there was a flaming necklace, or ring, or starry circle of some kind, of which I was one of the beads! And when my only prayer was to be taken off from the rest and when it was such inexplicable agony and misery to be a part of the dreadful thing? ”

“ A streaming altar-flame, uprising rich with incense from hills and valleys lovely in the blue day and pomps of spring-time, thronged with the saints and saviors of all time, and echoing with the supplications and hosannas of mankind, might be the symbol of that prayer. ”

“ There are among them, of course, many who attribute all kinds of phenomena to natural rather than to miraculous causes. By them, also, beads, medals and scapulars are venerated, and proudly displayed over their tunics—often, too, rosary beads are to be seen twisted round rifle barrels—as outward symbols of the spirit of their religion, as aids to worship, as bringing more vividly before them the God they adore and the saints whose aid they invoke. ”

“ Incense is a symbol of prayers. "Let my prayer, O Lord" we say with the Psalmist "be directed as incense in thy sight". God had appointed it to be used in the Jewish worship, and St. John says, that an "angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God: and the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel". ”

“ The rosary is the most common and readily understood example of this manner of praying. While we are reciting the Our Father and the Hail Marys of each decade of the rosary, we meditate or reflect on some mystery connected with the life of Jesus Christ or of His blessed Mother.
It is also useful, in using the prayers of our prayer-book, to read them slowly and deliberately, making in the meantime practical reflections on their contents, or pausing from time to time to meditate a little and apply the words of the prayers to our own wants. ”

“ The slight bow is made to the cross in the sacristy before proceeding to the altar and on return thereto; each time the holy name is mentioned; at the Gloria Patri at the end of the psalms Judica and Lavabo; at the words "Let us pray"; at the word "God" in the beginning of the Creed; at the word "worshipped" in the Creed; at the words, "and when he had given thanks"; at the Agnus Dei; in the Gloria in excelsis, at the word "God" in the beginning, and at the words "We worship thee," "We give thanks to thee," "receive our prayer," and "O Christ"; during the prayer, "Let the homage," etc. ”

“ Linger at the sacred altar of prayer until you feel particles of glory drop in richness into your soul, scattering sweetness throughout the whole and relating you to the world above. In the early morning hour, when the still, balmy breath of nature plays around, let your soul fly away on the wings of prayer with its message of love and praise to its Maker. Jesus went out a great while before day to hold communion with God. There is no time better suited for prayer. The world is hushed in slumber. ”

“ Thou art truly called the "lover of souls," for Thou hast sacrificed Thy life for our salvation; Thou hast said: "My delights are to be with the children of men;" and Thy death-bed gift to us was the Holy Eucharist. I behold the tabernacle surmounted by a cross, and this reminds me, dear Lord and Saviour, that the Blessed Sacrament is a memorial of Thy passion and death. I love that infinite goodness which induced Thee to institute this holy Sacrament of the Altar, the grandest memorial of all Thy works, wherein Thou dost communicate Thyself so wonderfully to Thy creatures. ”

“ The symbolism of incense as representing prayer in frequent in Scripture, and most natural. What could more beautifully express the upward aspirations of the soul, or the delight of God in these, than the incense sending up its wreaths of fragrant smoke? Incense gives no fragrance nor smoke till it is kindled; and the censer has to be constantly swung to keep up the glow, without which there will be no 'odour of a sweet smell.' So cold prayers are no prayers, but are scentless, and unapt to rise. The heart must be as a coal of fire, if the prayer is to come up before God with acceptance. ”

“ Kneeling is a very ancient token of profound respect; it was paid to Joseph in Egypt, Gen. XLI, 43; to Elias, 4 Kings I, 13 etc.
Footnote 23: (return)
"O that an angel" says St. Ambrose, "would appear to us also, when incensing the altar, and offering sacrifice". Expl. in. Luc. l. 1, c. 25, n. 9.
Footnote 24: (return)
Incense is, as we shall see in c. 2; an emblem of prayer, and in this sense it is offered to the B. Sacrament, to Christ represented by the crucifix, and adored on the altar. The gospel is incensed to signify the sweet odour which it communicates to our souls ”

“ Many acts and prayers contained elsewhere in this book may be substituted occasionally for those given in the following methods of assisting at Mass, especially such as relate to the Passion, the Blessed Sacrament, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
You may also very appropriately recite the Rosary during Mass, and in particular the Eucharistic Rosary in which we meditate on the life, passion, and death of Our Lord in connection with the sacred mysteries of the altar. Formulate your own prayers occasionally.
Converse with God in a familiar manner. Prayer is the elevation of the soul to God. ”

“ Among the characteristic ceremonies of this day, is the procession, at which branches of palm, or of some other similar tree, are carried. In the Middle Ages, this was fairly common; not so, however, the blessing of the palms. [130] In the Roman ritual, this blessing is performed with much ceremony. It resembles in form the ordo missæ, consisting of an introit, collect, epistle, gospel, another prayer and a preface, followed by the actual blessing comprising five more prayers, sprinkling with holy water and incensation. ”

“ The putting out of all the lights in the Church symbolizes the abrogation of the old law, and the new fire represents the preaching of the New, whereby the Light of the World fulfilled all the figures of ancient prophecy. The five grains of incense represent the perfumes prepared by Magdalen and her holy companions for the embalming of the body of Jesus. The prayer said by the celebrant when blessing the incense shows a real connection between it and the light, and teaches us the power these several sacred objects have against the spirits of evil. ”

“ The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” [58] And then all but immediately he adds, “are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?” Can anything be clearer than that, to the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, he attaches the teaching which follows so directly as to the nature of the sacrifice and the altar? ”

“ While this universal hubbub of prayer was filling the church, the chaplain, still holding the reliquary in his hands by the stem beneath, bent over the altar, and, with the other chaplains and those of the bystanders who joined in, recited the Miserere and other psalms, and the Athanasian Creed, and various prayers. His face glowed with the intensity of his feelings. He kept his eyes earnestly fixed on the reliquary, from time to time moving it over from side to side, and examining it. ”

“ The table of show bread always supplied with twelve loaves, according to the number of the twelve tribes, set forth that Bread of life ever abundant for all, which nourishes the people of God in the earthly church, in preparation for the heavenly. Immediately before the veil, and before the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies stood the altar of incense, the fire of which, kindled with coals from the altar of burnt-offering, set forth the prayers of God’s people, made acceptable and fragrant before the throne, by virtue of the atonement and intercession of Christ. ”

“ In place of the pleasing variety of the old exercises of prayer—from the Office recited by the clergy with its daily commemoration of the Saints down to the multifarious devotions of the people, to say nothing of the great Sacrifice of the Altar, the very heart’s pulse of the Church—he recommends as a rule only the Our Father, the Creed and the Psalms—prayers indeed rich beyond all others and which will ever hold the first place among Christian devotions. ”

“ When the Litany has been said, then shall follow very devoutly the special prayers as commanded by the Fathers, and immediately after the communion and before the prayer is said, the garments of the novice, which have been folded and placed before the altar, shall be blessed with their proper prayers; and they shall be anointed and sprinkled with holy water by the abbot. After “Ite, missa est”277 the novice rises from the ground, and having put off his old garments which were not blessed he puts on those which have been blessed, while the abbot recites: Exuat te Dominus, etc. ”

“ The blood that runs in our veins is drawn from those who lie under the ancient and broken gravestones that call you God. And the wedded love of the mothers of our race for more than a thousand years has been, in your name, consecrated at the altar, and the fruits of their love in baptism offered to you. ”

“ Lower down, in the centre of the lower cross-beam, is a priest in sacerdotal vestments, ready to offer the Holy Sacrifice, standing in an attitude of astonishment and admiration, looking up at the cross borne by the two angels. On his breast is the monogram of Christ, and beneath that of the Virgin. On each side are lilies in full bloom, and above his head, in the centre of the upper cross-beam, stands a chalice, as on an altar, covered with the sacred linen veil. It is evident the artist intended to represent all the objects necessary to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. ”

“ This heavenly oblation of our Lord which is the means wherethrough we approach pure Divinity, is also the Sacrifice of the Church here on earth. The heavenly Altar and the earthly Altar are but one in that there is but one Priest and one Victim here and there. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is the Church's presentation of her Head as her means of approach to God, as the ground of all her prayers. These prayers make their appeal through Jesus Who died and rose again for us and is on the Right Hand of Power. We know of no other way of approach, we plead no other merit as the hope of our acceptance. ”

“ The baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire is a sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great purifier. It makes the substance which is subjected to it pure through and through, and not like anything cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. “Our God is a consuming fire.” Oh, beloved, let us give up to the fire all that is for the fire. Let all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery baptism. May God put upon all His pardoned children not the blood-mark only, but the fire-mark also. ”

“ We have room for only two or three extracts:
“Hymns are the exponents of the inmost piety of the Church. They are crystalline tears, or blossoms of joy, or holy prayers, or incarnated raptures. They are the jewels which the Church has worn; the pearls, the diamonds, and precious stones formed into amulets more potent against sorrow and sadness than the most famous charms of wizard or magician. And he who knows the way that hymns flowed knows where the blood of piety ran, and can trace its veins and arteries to the very heart.
Henry Ward Beecher in 1850. ”

“ To burn our incense upon this altar we must come very near to the mercy-seat, to the vail, to the holy of holies. Faith in the merits of a Redeemer emboldens us to take this place. It is most holy ground we stand on when we offer our praises and prayers upon this altar. We are close to God. The incense-cloud ascends, and penetrates the inner sanctuary. We gain a fellowship and communion with God. Faith brings us to cordial intimacy [Pg 183] with God. Such is the nature of that acceptable worship which was so vividly symbolized by the burning incense in the holy place before the mercy-seat. ”

“ The person in question was forthwith baptised, and immediately there was peace and calmness of mind and a sense of quiet communion with God.
Instances of this kind might be multiplied, but these are, perhaps, sufficient. "In everything," says the Apostle, "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (the Eucharist) let your requests be made known unto God." "Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." ”

“ The baptism of the river is when any one is baptized with water. Of wind, or spirit (flaminis sive spiritus, Lat.) , when a catechumen in a prison, or a desert, where there is no water, is truly contrite for his sins, and wishes for baptism. For such a one is justified by contrition, which includes the desire of baptism. Of blood, when any one not baptized dies a martyr for the faith; for he is baptized in his own blood, and cleansed from all his sins.
With the Holy Ghost and with fire. So it is in all the Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Egyptian, and Ethiopic versions. ”

“ The praying rosary is as small and dainty as those used by fashionable women in our own Roman Catholic churches. Besides the fan and the rosary every woman was provided with a neat and often handsomely-bound prayer book and a huge lighted cigar or cigarette. ”