How To Practice Mental Prayer
"In my meditation a fire shall flame out" (Ps. xxxviii. 4).
Make at least a short
meditation every day. Mental prayer is a more appropriate and
comprehensive term for that spiritual exercise which is so highly
praised and commended by the saints and so conducive to holiness and
perfection.
Mental prayer is within the reach of all who earnestly desire their salvation. Father Wilberforce says : "In order to pray with fruit and without distraction it is most useful and almost necessary to spend some time in meditation or pious reflection on some supernatural truth, and from this fact the whole exercise is often called meditation instead of mental prayer.
"In mental prayer meditation (the exercise of the intellect) is only a means to the end, which is the elevation of the soul to God--conversation with God. When thinking and reflecting the soul speaks to itself, reasons with itself; in prayer that follows it speaks to God."
It is plain that mental prayer or meditation is something more than mere spiritual reading. But we can easily turn our spiritual reading into a meditation, as, for instance, when we read only a few lines at a time from "The Following of Christ"; then meditate, reflect, consider our own conduct in connection with the subject treated, make devout acts and pious resolutions, and finally pray to God for His grace that we may conquer our wicked inclinations, practice some particular virtue, and lead a holy life. After this we can read a few more lines; then meditate again.
Bishop Challoner in his translation of " The Following of Christ" or " The Imitation of Christ," as this golden book is sometimes called, has added some excellent practical reflections at the end of each chapter. "Meditation," as Madame Cecilia says in her admirable work, " At the Feet of Jesus," "consists in occupying ourselves mentally and prayerfully with some mystery of the Faith. We call to mind the chief facts, ponder over them, and then stir up our will to regulate our conduct in consequence. Hence meditation is an exercise of the faculties of our soul--memory, understanding, and will."
"Meditation, as a part of mental prayer," says St. Francis of Sales, "is an attentive thought voluntarily repeated or entertained in the mind to excite the will to holy and salutary affections and resolutions." It differs from mere study in its object. We study to improve our minds and to store up information; we meditate to move the will to pray and to embrace what is good. We study that we may know; we meditate that we may pray.
"In mental prayer," says St. Alphonsus, "meditation is the needle, which only passes through that it may draw after it the golden thread, which is composed if affections, resolutions, and petitions." As soon as you feel an impulse to pray while meditating, give way to it at once in the best way you can, by devout acts and petitions; in other words, begin your conversation with God on the subject about which you have been thinking.
In order to help the mind in this pious exercise we must have some definite subject of thought upon which it is well to read either a text of Holy Scripture or a few lines out of some other holy book; for instance, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, The Following of Christ, The Spiritual Combat; Challoner's: Think Well On it; St. Alphonsus Liguori's Devout Reflections, or The Way of Salvation, The Love of Christ, and The Blessed Eucharist; St. Francis of Sales: Introduction to a Devout Life, Meditations for Retreats, and other works; Bishop Hedley's Retreat; Cochem's: Meditations on the Four Last Things; Baxter's "Meditations for Every Day in the Year; " or any one of the popular books of meditation used by Religious, such as Hamon's, De Brandt's, Segneri's, Vercruysse's, and Ilg's: Meditations on the Life and Passion of Our Lord. Father Gallwey's: Watches of the Passion, and Da Bergamo's: Thoughts and Affections on the Passion are worthy of the highest commendation.
St. Alphonsus says: "It is good to meditate upon the last things--death, judgment, eternity--but let us above all meditate upon the Passion of Christ." This saint, the great "Doctor of prayer," has given us a beautiful work on "The Passion."
St. Teresa tells us that in her meditations she helped herself with a book for seventeen years. By reading the points of a meditation from a book, the mind is rendered attentive and is set on a train of thought. Further to help the mind you can ask yourself some such questions as the following: What does this mean? What lesson does it teach me? What has been my conduct regarding this matter? What have I done, what shall I do, and how shall I do it? What particular virtue must I practice? But do not forget to pray.
Do not imagine, moreover, that it is necessary to wait for a great fire to flame up in your soul, but cherish the little spark that you have got. Above all, never give way to the mistaken notion that you must restrain yourself from prayer in order to go through all the thoughts suggested by your book, or because your prayer does not appear to have a close connection with the subject of your meditation. This would simply be to turn from God to your own thoughts or to those of some other man.
To meditate means in general nothing else than to reflect seriously on some subject. Meditation, as mental prayer, is a serious reflection on some religious truth or event, with reference and application to ourselves, in order thereby to excite in us certain pious sentiments, such as contrition, humility, faith, hope, charity, etc., and to move our will to form good resolutions conformable to these pious sentiments. Such an exercise has naturally a beneficial influence on our soul and greatly conduces to enlighten our mind and to move our will to practice virtue.
Meditation is a great means to salvation. It aids as powerfully in the pursuit of our destiny, to know God, to love Him, to serve Him that we may be happy with Him forever; it helps us to know ourselves and to discover the means of avoiding and correcting our vices, our faults, and weaknesses; it reveals to us the dangers to which our salvation is exposed and leads us to pray with a contrite and humble heart for the necessary graces to cope with temptations, to control our passions, and to lead a holy life. Mental prayer inflames our hearts with the love of God and strengthens us to do His holy will with zeal and perseverance.
As regards the place of meditation, St. Alphonsus says: "We can meditate in every place, at home or elsewhere, even in walking and at our work. How many are there who, not having any better opportunity, raise their hearts to God and apply their minds to mental prayer, without leaving their occupations, then work, or who meditate even while traveling. He who seeks God will find Him, everywhere and at all times. The most appropriate place for meditation, however, is the church, in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament." "Not a few pious persons," says Father Girardey in his " Popular Instructions on Prayer, " "before setting out for their daily occupations, go to Mass in the early hours of the morning, make their meditation during the Holy Sacrifice, and thus draw on themselves the divine blessing for the whole day.
"As regards the time of meditation, it would be well if we were to make a meditation both in the morning and in the evening. If this is not feasible, we should, if convenient, prefer the morning to any other part of the day. The reason is because in the morning we are fresh in mind and have as yet hardly any cause for distractions, while later in the day we are apt to be more or less absorbed by our occupations and other worldly matters. Moreover, by a good meditation in the morning we begin the day well, drawing down God's blessing on us, and deriving grace and strength to avoid sin and fulfill our obligations. When we make our meditation in the morning, we ought to prepare its subject on the previous night before retiring to rest, and make thereon some brief reflections before falling asleep, and also after rising in the morning. We ought, moreover, to recall our meditation to mind from time to time during the day, recommending our resolution to the Blessed Virgin by a Hail Mary.
"We should endeavor to spend at least a quarter of an hour daily in mental prayer. The saints used daily to spend many hours therein; and when they had much to do they would subtract some hours from the time allotted to their sleep, in order to devote them to this holy exercise. If we can not spend in it half an hour every day, let us at least devote to it a quarter of an hour. The longer and the more fervent our mental prayer, the more we shall like it, and we shall learn by our own experience the truth of the saying of the Royal Prophet: 'Taste and see that the Lord is sweet' (Ps. xxxiii. 9).
"Pope Benedict XIV ( 1740-1758) grants to all the faithful making mental prayer devoutly for a whole month for half an hour, or at least a quarter of an hour every day, a plenary indulgence, if, truly penitent, after confession and holy communion, they devoutly pray for the intentions of the Church. This indulgence is applicable to the souls in purgatory.
"As to our petitions and resolutions, in mental prayer it is very profitable, and perhaps more useful than any other act, to address repeated petitions to God, asking with great humility and unbounded confidence for His graces--such as His light, resignation in adversity, patience, perseverance, etc., but, above all, for the inestimable gift of His holy love. 'By obtaining divine love,' says St. Francis of Sales, 'we obtain all graces;' 'For,' says St. Alphonsus, 'he who truly loves God with all his heart, will, of himself, abstain from causing Him the least displeasure, and will strive to please Him to the best of his ability.' If we feel dry or despondent and unable to meditate or pray well, let us repeat many times as earnestly as possible: 'My Jesus, mercy!' 'Lord, for Thy mercy's sake, assist me!' 'My God, I love Thee!'
"Let us offer all our petitions for grace in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, and we shall surely obtain all that we ask. 'Mental prayer,' said a holy soul, ' is the breathing of the soul, as in corporal breathing the air is first inhaled and then exhaled, so in mental prayer the soul first receives light and other graces from God, and then by acts of self-offering and love, it gives itself wholly to Him.'
"Before concluding the meditation, we should make some specified good resolution, appropriate as far as possible to the subject of our meditation. This resolution should be directed to the shunning of some sin, or of some occasion of sin, to the correction of some defect, or to the practice of some act of virtue during the day.
"The preparation of our meditation consists of (i) an act of faith in the presence of God, and of adoration; (2) an act of humility and of contrition, and (3) an act of petition for light. We should then recommend ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary by reciting a Hail Mary, and also to St. Joseph, to our Guardian Angel, and to our holy patrons. These acts should be brief but very earnest and fervent.
"The conclusion of our meditation consists of these three acts: (1) thanksgiving to God for the light He imparted to us; (2) purposing to fulfill our good resolutions at once; and (3) beseeching the eternal Father, for the love of Jesus and Mary, to grant us the grace and strength to put them into practice. Before finishing our meditation let us never omit to recommend to God the souls in purgatory and poor sinners. In concluding our mental prayer let us, after the advice of St. Francis of Sales, pick out a thought or an affection from our mental prayer, in order to reflect on it or repeat it from time to time during the day."
Mental prayer is within the reach of all who earnestly desire their salvation. Father Wilberforce says : "In order to pray with fruit and without distraction it is most useful and almost necessary to spend some time in meditation or pious reflection on some supernatural truth, and from this fact the whole exercise is often called meditation instead of mental prayer.
"In mental prayer meditation (the exercise of the intellect) is only a means to the end, which is the elevation of the soul to God--conversation with God. When thinking and reflecting the soul speaks to itself, reasons with itself; in prayer that follows it speaks to God."
It is plain that mental prayer or meditation is something more than mere spiritual reading. But we can easily turn our spiritual reading into a meditation, as, for instance, when we read only a few lines at a time from "The Following of Christ"; then meditate, reflect, consider our own conduct in connection with the subject treated, make devout acts and pious resolutions, and finally pray to God for His grace that we may conquer our wicked inclinations, practice some particular virtue, and lead a holy life. After this we can read a few more lines; then meditate again.
Bishop Challoner in his translation of " The Following of Christ" or " The Imitation of Christ," as this golden book is sometimes called, has added some excellent practical reflections at the end of each chapter. "Meditation," as Madame Cecilia says in her admirable work, " At the Feet of Jesus," "consists in occupying ourselves mentally and prayerfully with some mystery of the Faith. We call to mind the chief facts, ponder over them, and then stir up our will to regulate our conduct in consequence. Hence meditation is an exercise of the faculties of our soul--memory, understanding, and will."
"Meditation, as a part of mental prayer," says St. Francis of Sales, "is an attentive thought voluntarily repeated or entertained in the mind to excite the will to holy and salutary affections and resolutions." It differs from mere study in its object. We study to improve our minds and to store up information; we meditate to move the will to pray and to embrace what is good. We study that we may know; we meditate that we may pray.
"In mental prayer," says St. Alphonsus, "meditation is the needle, which only passes through that it may draw after it the golden thread, which is composed if affections, resolutions, and petitions." As soon as you feel an impulse to pray while meditating, give way to it at once in the best way you can, by devout acts and petitions; in other words, begin your conversation with God on the subject about which you have been thinking.
In order to help the mind in this pious exercise we must have some definite subject of thought upon which it is well to read either a text of Holy Scripture or a few lines out of some other holy book; for instance, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, The Following of Christ, The Spiritual Combat; Challoner's: Think Well On it; St. Alphonsus Liguori's Devout Reflections, or The Way of Salvation, The Love of Christ, and The Blessed Eucharist; St. Francis of Sales: Introduction to a Devout Life, Meditations for Retreats, and other works; Bishop Hedley's Retreat; Cochem's: Meditations on the Four Last Things; Baxter's "Meditations for Every Day in the Year; " or any one of the popular books of meditation used by Religious, such as Hamon's, De Brandt's, Segneri's, Vercruysse's, and Ilg's: Meditations on the Life and Passion of Our Lord. Father Gallwey's: Watches of the Passion, and Da Bergamo's: Thoughts and Affections on the Passion are worthy of the highest commendation.
St. Alphonsus says: "It is good to meditate upon the last things--death, judgment, eternity--but let us above all meditate upon the Passion of Christ." This saint, the great "Doctor of prayer," has given us a beautiful work on "The Passion."
St. Teresa tells us that in her meditations she helped herself with a book for seventeen years. By reading the points of a meditation from a book, the mind is rendered attentive and is set on a train of thought. Further to help the mind you can ask yourself some such questions as the following: What does this mean? What lesson does it teach me? What has been my conduct regarding this matter? What have I done, what shall I do, and how shall I do it? What particular virtue must I practice? But do not forget to pray.
Do not imagine, moreover, that it is necessary to wait for a great fire to flame up in your soul, but cherish the little spark that you have got. Above all, never give way to the mistaken notion that you must restrain yourself from prayer in order to go through all the thoughts suggested by your book, or because your prayer does not appear to have a close connection with the subject of your meditation. This would simply be to turn from God to your own thoughts or to those of some other man.
To meditate means in general nothing else than to reflect seriously on some subject. Meditation, as mental prayer, is a serious reflection on some religious truth or event, with reference and application to ourselves, in order thereby to excite in us certain pious sentiments, such as contrition, humility, faith, hope, charity, etc., and to move our will to form good resolutions conformable to these pious sentiments. Such an exercise has naturally a beneficial influence on our soul and greatly conduces to enlighten our mind and to move our will to practice virtue.
Meditation is a great means to salvation. It aids as powerfully in the pursuit of our destiny, to know God, to love Him, to serve Him that we may be happy with Him forever; it helps us to know ourselves and to discover the means of avoiding and correcting our vices, our faults, and weaknesses; it reveals to us the dangers to which our salvation is exposed and leads us to pray with a contrite and humble heart for the necessary graces to cope with temptations, to control our passions, and to lead a holy life. Mental prayer inflames our hearts with the love of God and strengthens us to do His holy will with zeal and perseverance.
As regards the place of meditation, St. Alphonsus says: "We can meditate in every place, at home or elsewhere, even in walking and at our work. How many are there who, not having any better opportunity, raise their hearts to God and apply their minds to mental prayer, without leaving their occupations, then work, or who meditate even while traveling. He who seeks God will find Him, everywhere and at all times. The most appropriate place for meditation, however, is the church, in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament." "Not a few pious persons," says Father Girardey in his " Popular Instructions on Prayer, " "before setting out for their daily occupations, go to Mass in the early hours of the morning, make their meditation during the Holy Sacrifice, and thus draw on themselves the divine blessing for the whole day.
"As regards the time of meditation, it would be well if we were to make a meditation both in the morning and in the evening. If this is not feasible, we should, if convenient, prefer the morning to any other part of the day. The reason is because in the morning we are fresh in mind and have as yet hardly any cause for distractions, while later in the day we are apt to be more or less absorbed by our occupations and other worldly matters. Moreover, by a good meditation in the morning we begin the day well, drawing down God's blessing on us, and deriving grace and strength to avoid sin and fulfill our obligations. When we make our meditation in the morning, we ought to prepare its subject on the previous night before retiring to rest, and make thereon some brief reflections before falling asleep, and also after rising in the morning. We ought, moreover, to recall our meditation to mind from time to time during the day, recommending our resolution to the Blessed Virgin by a Hail Mary.
"We should endeavor to spend at least a quarter of an hour daily in mental prayer. The saints used daily to spend many hours therein; and when they had much to do they would subtract some hours from the time allotted to their sleep, in order to devote them to this holy exercise. If we can not spend in it half an hour every day, let us at least devote to it a quarter of an hour. The longer and the more fervent our mental prayer, the more we shall like it, and we shall learn by our own experience the truth of the saying of the Royal Prophet: 'Taste and see that the Lord is sweet' (Ps. xxxiii. 9).
"Pope Benedict XIV ( 1740-1758) grants to all the faithful making mental prayer devoutly for a whole month for half an hour, or at least a quarter of an hour every day, a plenary indulgence, if, truly penitent, after confession and holy communion, they devoutly pray for the intentions of the Church. This indulgence is applicable to the souls in purgatory.
"As to our petitions and resolutions, in mental prayer it is very profitable, and perhaps more useful than any other act, to address repeated petitions to God, asking with great humility and unbounded confidence for His graces--such as His light, resignation in adversity, patience, perseverance, etc., but, above all, for the inestimable gift of His holy love. 'By obtaining divine love,' says St. Francis of Sales, 'we obtain all graces;' 'For,' says St. Alphonsus, 'he who truly loves God with all his heart, will, of himself, abstain from causing Him the least displeasure, and will strive to please Him to the best of his ability.' If we feel dry or despondent and unable to meditate or pray well, let us repeat many times as earnestly as possible: 'My Jesus, mercy!' 'Lord, for Thy mercy's sake, assist me!' 'My God, I love Thee!'
"Let us offer all our petitions for grace in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, and we shall surely obtain all that we ask. 'Mental prayer,' said a holy soul, ' is the breathing of the soul, as in corporal breathing the air is first inhaled and then exhaled, so in mental prayer the soul first receives light and other graces from God, and then by acts of self-offering and love, it gives itself wholly to Him.'
"Before concluding the meditation, we should make some specified good resolution, appropriate as far as possible to the subject of our meditation. This resolution should be directed to the shunning of some sin, or of some occasion of sin, to the correction of some defect, or to the practice of some act of virtue during the day.
"The preparation of our meditation consists of (i) an act of faith in the presence of God, and of adoration; (2) an act of humility and of contrition, and (3) an act of petition for light. We should then recommend ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary by reciting a Hail Mary, and also to St. Joseph, to our Guardian Angel, and to our holy patrons. These acts should be brief but very earnest and fervent.
"The conclusion of our meditation consists of these three acts: (1) thanksgiving to God for the light He imparted to us; (2) purposing to fulfill our good resolutions at once; and (3) beseeching the eternal Father, for the love of Jesus and Mary, to grant us the grace and strength to put them into practice. Before finishing our meditation let us never omit to recommend to God the souls in purgatory and poor sinners. In concluding our mental prayer let us, after the advice of St. Francis of Sales, pick out a thought or an affection from our mental prayer, in order to reflect on it or repeat it from time to time during the day."