Jan 1: MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Let us always desire the blessed life from the LORD GOD and always pray for it. For this very reason we turn our mind to the task of prayer at appointed hours, since that desire grows lukewarm, so to speak, from our involvement in other concerns and occupations… The desire that began to grow lukewarm may grow chill altogether and may be totally extinguished. (St Augustine)

The Psalms seem to me to be like a mirror, in which the person using them can see himself, and the stirrings of his own heart; he can recite them against the background of his own emotions. (St Pius X)

When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit. (St Hildegard of Bingen)