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PRINCIPAL ACTS OF PRAYER

CHAPTER III

SECOND PRELIMINARY ACT: ADORATION

ADORATION is an act of the virtue of religion by which we confess God's infinite perfection and consequently our absolute dependance. This virtue of religion is con- nected with the cardinal virtue of justice, and so we pay to God this supreme honor of adoration because it is just to do so.

The necessity for making an act of adora- tion at the very beginning of prayer is evident. The first act of a subject when admitted to the audience of an earthly king should be a profound inclination. For a much stronger reason ought we, when admitted to the presence of God, King of Heaven, and Lord of all things, to pay Him the respect and supreme honor which are His due. The homage of which God alone is worthy is called adoration.

Let us not seek to excuse ourselves from rendering this homage by saying that prayer is a familiar intercourse between God and the soul, like that of father with son, for neither