all the
powers of the soul and causes us to elicit a hundred acts. And in the
Breviary are found the most beautiful formulae of adoration and praise,
the psalms above all other parts of the Office being wonderfully rich in
magnificent praise of God's attributes. Where can such sublime forms of
prayer and praise be found as in Psalms, 8, 9, 17, 18, 21, 23, 28, 29,
33, 45, 46, 49, 54--to name but a few?

Finally, the attentive recitation of the Breviary is a source of light
and of grace and of merit. How many lights in prayer spring from these
divine words; how many maxims enter the soul, how many beautiful prayers
are said, and if they be well said, they would obtain for priests
treasures of grace, according to Christ's infallible promise, "Ask and
you shall receive"? A person can merit several degrees of glory by one
devout recitation of the Office, what an abundance of merit may be
gained by the devout recitations in a life of twenty, thirty or forty
years! And it was this thought of lost opportunities and of the great
treasures within the reach of priests, which caused St. Alphonsus when
an old man, to study the Breviary psalms and to write his
well-known work.

Nor was St. Alphonsus alone in his opinion of the great means of
sanctification which the Breviary affords to priests. St. Joseph of
Cupertino (1603-1663) was asked by Monsignor Claver, Bishop of Potenza,
to point out a means for the greater sanctification of the priests of
his diocese. The saint replied, "Monsignor, if you wish to sanctify your
priests strive to procure two things for them, that they say the Office
piously and that they say Mass with fervour. Nothing more is necessary
to ensure their salvation" (_Life of St. Joseph Cupertino_ by Bernini).
The words of the wonderful Franciscan, whose life was a marvel of piety,
were repeated a century later by St. Leonard of Port Maurice (1671-1751)
and are often quoted as his own.

In every age of the Church earnest souls drew great sweetness and
consolation from reading the psalms or from reading the canonical Hours.
Writers dealing with this part of priestly work quote the words of
eminent servants of God, They quote St. Augustine, St. Gregory
Nazianzan, St. Bernard, St. Catherine of Bologna, St. Philip Neri, St.
Francis De Sales and St. Alphonsus. It would make this section of this
book too long to quote the words of these saints. But the words of St.
Francis De Sales seem to have a special force. "Som