Tthe most elementary mode of prayer-of contact between man and God - is no doubt prayer in the most ordinary sense of the word, for this is the direct expression of the individual, of his desires and fears, his hope and gratitude. This prayer is however less perfect than canonical prayer which, for its part, has a universal character due to the fact that God is its author and that the subject, in reciting it, does so not as a particular individual, but in his capacity as man, the human species; also this prayer contains nothing which does not concern man-every man and this is as much as to say it includes, "eminently" or in addition, all possible
individual prayers; it can even render them superfluous, and infact, the Revelations permit or recommend individual prayer, but do not impose it. Canonical prayer shows its universality and its timeless value by being very often expressed in the first person plural, and also by its preference for using a sacred or liturgical, and therefore symbolically universal language, so that it is impossible for whoever recites it not to pray for all
and in all.
