is the house of prayer, where every one ought to come to lay his secret wants before the Lord; where, in public calamities, he is appeased by the general prayers; where the assembled ministers lift up their hands for the sins of the people; and where the eyes of the Lord are ever open to our wants, and his ears attentive to our cries.
Not but we may address ourselves to him, as the apostle says, in every place; but the temple is the spot where he is more propit ious, and where he hath promised to be always present to receive our homages, and to lend a favourable ear to our requests. Yes, my brethren, it is here that we ought to come to join in lamentation with the church, over the scandals with which she is afflicted, over the divisions with which she is torn, and over the dangers which surround her; over the obstinacy of sinners, and the coldness of charity among believers: we come, with her, to solicit the mercies of the Lord upon his people; to entreat of him the cessation of wars and other public scourges; the extinction of schisms and errors; the knowledge and the love of righteousness and of truth for sinners; and perseverance for the just. You ought, therefore, to come with an attentive and collected mind, a prepared heart, and which offers nothing to the eyes of God that may avert the favours solicited by the church for you, and to appear with that exterior of a suppliant, which, of itself, shows that he prays and that he worships.
Nevertheless, my brethren, while the ministers are lifting up their hands here for you; are supplicating the Lord for the prosperity of your families, for abundance to your lands, for the preservation of your relations and children, who perhaps expose themselves for the welfare of their country, for the end of wars, dissensions, and all the miseries with which we are afflicted; while they are entreating remedies for your backslidings, and aids for your weakness; while they are speaking to the holy God in your favour, you deign not even to accompany their prayers with your attention and your respect. You dishonour the holy gravity of the church's lamentations by a spirit of inattention, and by indecencies which would hardly become even those criminal resorts where you listen to profane songs; and the only difference in your behaviour is, that, in the one, you are touched and rendered attentive by a lascivious harmony, while here you endure, with impatience, the divine songs of thanksgiving and in praise of the Lord.
Thus, my brethren, in place of the public prayers arresting the arm of the Lord, so long impending over our heads; in place of the supplications, which resound in every part of our temples, being able, as formerly, to suspend the scourges of Heaven, to bring back days of peace and of tranquillity, to reconcile nations and kings, and to attract peace from heaven to the earth; alas! the days of evil still endure; the times of trouble, of mourning, and of desolation, cease not; war and fury seem to have for ever taken up their abode among men; the desolate widow demands her husband; the afflicted father in vain looks out for his child; brother
