Part II, Chapter II

A Short Method for Meditation; and, First, of the Presence of God, Which Is the First Point of Preparation

Preparation

But perhaps, Philothea, you know not how to pray mentally, for it is a thing with which few in our age are so happy as to be acquainted. I therefore present you with the following short and plain method, till, by custom, or reading some of the good books which have been composed on this subject, you may be more fully instructed.

I shall begin with the preparation, which consists in placing yourself in the presence of God, and imploring his assistance. Now, to assist you to place yourself in the presence of God, I shall set before you four principal means. The first consists in a lively and attentive apprehension of his presence, in all things and in every place; for there is not a place in the world in which he is not truly present; so that as birds, wherever they fly, always meet with the air, so we, wherever we go, or wherever we are, shall always find God present.

Every one acknowledges this truth; but few consider it with a lively attention. Blind men, who see not their prince, though present among them, behave themselves, nevertheless, with respect, when they are told of his presence; but the fact is, because they see him not, they easily forget that he is present, and, having forgotten it, they still more easily lose their respect for him. Alas, Philothea, we do not see God, who is present with us; and, though faith assures us of his presence, yet, not beholding him with our eyes, we too often forget him, and behave ourselves as though he were at a distance from us; for, although we well know that he is present in all things, yet, not reflecting on it, we act as if we knew it not. Therefore, before prayer, we must always excite in our souls a lively apprehension of the presence of God, such as David conceived when he exclaimed: “If I ascend up into heaven, O my God, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art there!” (Psalms 138:8) And thus we should use the words of Jacob, who having seen the sacred ladder, said: “Oh, how terrible is this place! Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.” (Genesis 28:16) meaning that he did not reflect on his presence, for he could not be ignorant that God was present everywhere. When, therefore, you come to prayer, you must say with your whole heart, and in your heart: “O my heart! be attentive, for God is truly here.”

The second means to place yourself in his sacred presence, is to reflect that God is not only in the place in which you are, but that he is, in a most particular manner, in your heart; nay, in the very centre of your spirit, which he enlivens and animates by his divine presence, being there as the heart of your heart, and the spirit of your spirit; for, as the soul, being diffused through the whole body, is present in every part thereof, and yet resides in a special manner in the heart, so likewise God is present to all things, yet he resides in a more particular manner in our spirit; for which reason David calls him “the God of his heart.” (Psalms 72:26) And St. Paul says, “that it is in God we live, and we move, and we are.” (Acts 17) In consideration, therefore, of this truth, excite in your heart a profound reverence towards God, who is there so intimately present.

A third means is to consider our Saviour in his humanity looking down from heaven on all mankind, but especially on Christians, who are his children; and more particularly on such as are at prayer, whose actions and behavior he minutely observes. This is by no means a mere flight of the imagination, but a most certain truth; for although we see him not, yet it is true that he beholds us from above. It was thus that St. Stephen saw him at the time of his martyrdom. So that we may truly say with the Spouse: “Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices.” (Canticle of Canticles 2)

A fourth method consists in making use of the imagination, by representing to ourselves our Saviour in his sacred humanity, as if he were near us, as we sometimes imagine a friend to be present, saying, “Methinks I see him,” or something of the kind. But when you are before the Blessed Sacrament, this presence is real and not imaginary, since we must consider the species and appearance of bread only as a tapestry behind which our Lord, being really present, observes us, though we cannot actually see him. Employ then some of these four means of placing yourself in the presence of God before prayer, not all at once, but one at a time, in as concise and simple a manner as possible.

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