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ARTICLE VIII.—THE DIRECTION OF THE SCRUPULOUS.
Persons who are scrupulous about the recitation of the Hours should
have help from their confessors, who should deal specifically with any
of the scruples which arise in the daily task. Scruples generally
concern the necessary intention, the necessary attention,
pronunciation, and the time necessary for a good and faithful
recitation of the canonical Hours. How should a confessor deal with
scruples about intention? A confessor should tell a cleric, scrupulous
in this point, that his fear is groundless and that by the very act of
taking up his Breviary he expresses his intention of praying, of saying
his Hours; that it is not necessary that such intention be actual or
reflexive, it is sufficient if it be virtual, and that such an
intention does exist every time one opens the Breviary to say his Hours. The saying slowly and deliberately the prayer "Aperi Domine" is a great aid to the scrupulous in forming a right intention and in dispelling their vain fears.
Clerics troubled about attention are helped and comforted by their
confessor repeating to them what they well know themselves, about
voluntary and involuntary distractions, and the telling of the anxious
ones that this very anxiety and anguish show that their fear of losing
attention in their prayer is a true and real sign of its existence. In
dealing with scruples about vocal and integral pronunciation a
confessor should advise that no stopping should be made in the saying
of the psalms, etc., but that the recitation should be continued
quietly, without restraining the voice, without impatience, and without
scrutiny of the pronunciation of the part said, "God is a father, full
of goodness, not an exacting taskmaster, and He is more honoured by
moderate care than by a disturbing solicitude." Above all things, a
confessor should remember that it is important to forbid scrupulous
persons to repeat the whole or even the part of an Hour. An effort
should be made by him to tranquilise the troubled soul with the
principle that the precepts of the Church do not bind him to repeat the
Hours with such inconvenience as leads to bodily and mental illness.
The Church is our mother and does not wish her children to be troubled
and solicitous, but to pray in peace.
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