Volume I, Treatise V, Chapter VII

Of the Ordinary Sort of Mental Prayer

But we shall say no more of this more sublime prayer; since we cannot teach it, nor even explain what it is—nor is it in our power to attain it—neither does God command it; nor will he call us to account about it. We will, at present, therefore, speak of ordinary mental prayer, which after some manner may be taught, and which every one may attain; if they add, as they ought, their own care and endeavours to the counsel of their spiritual director, and to the assistance of God’s grace.

Amongst divers other very considerable favours God has bestowed upon the society of Jesus, this is one, that he has given us a form and manner of prayer, confirmed by the Holy See, as may be seen by the bull in the beginning of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius. In this bull of Paul the III. it is expressly mentioned, that the Pope, after having with great attention very strictly examined these exercises, does not only approve and confirm them, but exhorts all the faithful to make use of them as very profitable. This form of prayer was communicated to St. Ignatius by our Saviour; and he afterwards communicated the same to us, as he had received it; wherefore this being so, we have reason to hope, through his mercy, that Christ will bestow many favours upon us, by means of this prayer; because it is he himself who has prescribed to us the manner thereof. It was by this that he drew to himself our blessed founder and his companions; it was in the practice of this holy method that he made him conceive the design, and form the model of the society; and this is the medium or means whereby he has gained so many other souls to Christ. Let us not, therefore, endeavour to go any other way than this; let us not be attached to any extraordinary manner of prayer, but embracing this we have, let us endeavour to conform ourselves entirely thereunto, and like good children let us imitate the example of our father.

In the exercise of the three powers of the soul, which is the first of the exercises in the book we speak of, St. Ignatius teaches us the method we ought to observe in the rest. First, that having made choice of some spiritual point, we must exercise therein the three powers of our soul, which are, the memory, understanding, and will. The memory, in setting before the eyes of our mind the point or mystery which onght to be the subject of our prayer—the understanding, in finding out and considering the things most likely to inflame the will—and finally the will, in producing those acts which depend upon her. This last point is the chief of all, and what we ought to aim at; as itis the.end of meditation and the fruit of all the reflections and discourses of the understanding. For these serve only to move the will to seek what is good, and to avoid what is evil. Moreover, this name of the exercise of the three powers of the soul is given to the said exercise, because it is the first, wherein this method of praying is taught; for the three powers of the soul ought no less to be employed in the following exercises than in this.

This form of prayer which our holy founder has taught us, and which is practised in the society, is not singular, nor is it like others, filled with such inventions and novelties as savour of illusion. On the contrary, itis a very common method, practised by the ancient fathers, and very conformable to human nature; which being reasonable, governs itself by reason, and permits itself to be persuaded and convinced; so that it is not to be doubted but that this manner must consequently be more easy, more secure, and more profitable than any other. For in prayer we must not be like statues, or like persons in an ecstasy; but by means of thus exercising the powers of our soul, we must draw the spirit of God upon us; and because be requires a co-operation of his creatures, we must take care to co-operate with him. This is what St. Ignatius teaches in his book of Exercises. All other kinds of prayer, where the discourse of the understanding has no place, where all the operations of the soul remain suspended and in silence; these kinds of praver, I say, which-are taken ont ofmystical divinity, ought, commonly speaking, neither to be taught, nor sought after. And those who embrace them, being in a manner still novices, and little versed in spirituality, not having yet obtained a perfect knowledge of themselves, nor a victory over their passions, nor made any great progress in the practice of virtue, are subject to many deceits and illusions. For even when they think themselves much advanced, and to have gained the victory, they will find that their passions, which were only lulled by the charms and sweetness of prayer, will, to their very great danger, awake lively, strong, and violent as ever. Nay more, persons devoted to this wrapped-up and very particular kind of prayer, contract a certain obstinacy of opinion, and yet feel inclined to receive as essential truths the merest illusions and fabrications. It is for this reason St. Ignatius so much suspected this kind of prayer, and said, that those who applied themselves to it were commonly subject to inconveniences of this description.

I say, then, that the first thing we must do in prayer is to represent to ourselves, by the help of our memory, the point or mystery which we make the subject of our prayer. Then the understanding must examine this point, review it, and consider all the particulars of it—finally, the will must produce acts according as the understanding has digested the matter which had been proposed to it by the memory. But this discourse of the understanding, being the source whence all our acts in prayer flow, and since we can make no act which does not necessarily spring from this our meditation, it follows, that we must be particularly careful to make this well. The truth of this proposition is self-evident; for there is no one that has the least tincture of philosophy, but knows that the willis a blind power, unable to attach itself to anything, unless the understanding guides it. Hence it is a maxim received by all philosophers, “that nothing can be willed unless it is first known.” The will, having of itself no light, must borrow it from the understanding, which goes before to give it knowledge, and to discover what it ought to love or hate. Itis this made St. Austin say, that “we may love the things we never saw, but never those we have not known.” (Aug. lib. x. de Trin.) “No one,” says St. Gregory also, “can love what he is entirely ignorant of.” (Greg. hom. xxxvi. sup. Evan.) And the reason of this is, that the object of the will being a known good, we cannot love anything, but because we perceive it is good, and deserving of love: just as, on the contrary, we do not hate a thing, or fly from it, but because we conceive it is bad, and deserving of hatred. Hence it is, that when we wish to make a man change his opinion, the mode we adopt to induce him to give up his own and to embrace ours is, to persuade and convince him by reason, that what he proposes to himself is not good, and what we propose to him is better and far more salutary. It is clear, therefore, that the operation of the understanding is the foundation of all our acts in prayer; and consequently it is very truly said, that meditation is extremely necessary, as we shall show more particularly in the following chapters.

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