How to Pray - Translated From the French of Abbé Grou, S. J #226472

The Apostles once said to Jesus Christ: Lord, teach us to pray. It was the Holy Ghost who inspired this request, and who, then and there, gave them the most perfect idea of prayer, by means of which the creature draws nigh to God, adores Him, gives Him thanks, begs pardon for his offences, and lays before Him his needs. Filling them with a sense of their own nothingness and of the greatness of God, the Holy Ghost convinced them of their inability to perform these supernatural acts unaided, and He drew them interiorly to have recourse to Jesus Christ as the only Master who could teach them how to pray and by His grace help them to do so. It was on this occasion that Jesus taught them the lord's'prayer. Later on we shall explain it.