DEVOTION, DEVOTIO, a sincere ardent worship of the Deity. See PRAYER, ADORATION, WORSHIP, &c.
Devotion, as defined by Jurieu, is a softening and yielding of the heart, with an internal consolation, which the souls of believers feel in the practice or exercise of piety. By devotion is also understood certain religious practices, which a person makes it a rule to discharge regularly; and with reason, if the exactitude be founded on solid piety, otherwise it is vanity or superstition. That devotion is vain and trifling, which would accommodate itself both to God and to the world. Trevoux.