Domine, exaudi orationem meam, et clamor meus ad te veniat.
1. Since the beginning of Christianity, the Psalter has formed the core of Christian prayer. We see this right from the New Testament; St. Paul tells the Ephesians to "address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs"; elsewher he advises the Colossians to "admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16) The First Epistle of Clement, one of the earliest Christian writings outside of the New Testament, quotes the psalms upwards of fifty times, testifying to the deep integration of the psalms into the apostolic Church's worship and piety.
