the mystical temple of god 600 heavenly love they buffet the ears of their Creator with frequent prayers, and the purer and closer to heaven they are, the more quickly they receive from the Lord what they request. On this altar they burn only incense, and not the flesh of victims; because such men no longer in offering have the need to kill the sins of the flesh and the enticements of the evil intents, but offer only the incense of prayers and spiritual desires in the sight of their Creator through the fire of interior love.”75 Such souls as these, steadfast in their zeal for prayer, can help the whole Church more in one moment than all preachers with their sermons, Teachers with their lectures, [and] confessors with the administration of penance. They can rouse the dead to life, recall the wicked to righteousness; they can destroy whole armies, avert famine, chase away disease, and do all things being supported in their prayer by two arms, faith and charity. It seems that the writer of Deuteronomy spoke of such men: “They will set incense on your rage, and a holocaust on your altar” (cf. 33:10). The normal interpreter explaining this for me said: “The prayer of the saints is a most sweet incense to the Lord, by which the anger of the Lord is calmed” (when the people sin), “because cleansed of all earthly filth and purified by heavenly desire, it blazes before the face of God and the flame of devotion flies up like a holocaust from the altar of a loving heart.”76 And so, O Christian! Arrange for yourself fixed prayers, which you should never discontinue, the prayers to be approved, what I would advise for your benefit, by the counsel of a prudent and devout man. Make it your habit also to recall with devotion the Lord’s Passion, the four last things, the life of Jesus Christ, the most holy Virgin and the saints admitted to Heaven, so that by practicing this devotion you may be purified, enlightened, and centered on the imitation of those whose company you wish to join when you die. 75 Venerable Bede, On the Temple, Bk. I, vv. 1109-1018, 1172. 76 We do not know who “the normal interpreter” is, nor from which work this quotation comes.
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