the little relish we have for piety, that hinders us from performing these things. St. Basil (Bas. Ser. Per.) says, we ought to be very exact in giving to Almighty God the time allotted for our spiritual exercises. And as, whenever it happens, that we have not bad time to eat and sleep in consequence of our being obliged to watch with a sick person, and to assist him in dying well, we take great care to refresh immediately our wearied bodies, and will be sure to find time for doing so; in like manner, in case we are hindered from making our prayer or examination of conscience at the usual hour, we must ardently desire to supply that omission, and to acquit ourselves of these duties as soon as we possibly can.
Whenever, during the time of the spiritual exercises, we are, through necessity, employed otherwise by our superiors, their intention is not that we neglect, but only that we defer for a while these spiritual exercises, and afterwards resume and fully perform them, according to the saying of the Wise Man: — w Let nothing hinder you from praying always." (Ecclus. xviii. 22.) He does not say, " hinder no man," but " let nothing hinder you t. e., let no business make you omit your prayers; and certainly nothing can make a good religious man omit them, because he will always find sufficient leisure for them.
In the book called Bibliotheca Patrum, it is written of St. Dorotheus, that though he was often obliged to go very late to bed, and occasionally to rise in the night in order to entertain strangers and passengers of whom he had the care, yet he never omitted rising to prayer, at the same hour with the other religious of the convent. When he perceived that, in consequence of his great fatigues, the brother whose office it was to call up the rest of the religious did not knock at the door of his cell, he requested of one of his companions to do him that kindness, though he lately had a violent fever, and was not quite recovered from it. Thus indeed he showed a real desire of not omitting his spiritual duties, and by not, on every trifling indisposition, dispensing with himself in them, he was enabled to observe his rule during the rest of the day. We read likewise in the same book, that an aged holy monk saw once an angel incensing all the religious who made haste to come to prayer, and incensing the very seats of those other religious, who, by reason of lawful avocations, could not be present at this duty : but the angel did not incense the seats of such as, through sloth, neglected to come to choir. This is very proper both to comfort those who,
