That in the Consideration of the Divine Mysteries We Should Also Proceed Leisurely, and Not Pass Over Them Superficially; and of Some Means to Help Us to Do This

IN the consideration of the divine mysteries it is again very important to dig deep in one subject and not pass over things hurriedly; for one mystery, well considered and pondered, will do us more good than many superficially glanced at. To this end our Father, in the book of Spiritual Exercises, makes so much account of repetitions, that for every exercise he further bids us make one or two repetitions thereof; thus what is not found the first time over is found by further perseverance: He that seeketh findeth, and the door shall be opened to him that knocketh (Matt. vii. 8). Moses struck the rock with his rod, and no water came; he struck a second time, and there was a flow of water (Num. xx. 11). Take the case of that blind man in the Gospel; Christ our Redeemer did not cure him all at once, but wrought the cure little by little. First He put spittle on his eyes and asked him if he saw anything. He said he saw certain shapes, but did not know what they were: I see men walking like trees (Mark viii. 24). He took the men for trees. The Lord then proceeded to put His hands on his eyes and healed him entirely, so that he saw clearly and distinctly. So it is wont to happen in meditation, that by returning once and again to the same subject and persevering in it, one comes to find out more. Even so when one enters a dark room; to start with, one sees nothing, but comes to see something by staying there. And in particular we must take care always to dwell on the consideration of things until we are quite disabused of error and penetrated with truth, and convinced, and resolved to do the right thing, for this is one of the chief fruits that we have to draw from meditation, and we need to be well grounded in it.

Now to come to the means that will help us to consider and ponder the mysteries in this manner, when the Lord sends His divine light and opens the eyes of the soul, she finds so much to consider and so much to dwell upon that she can say with the prophet: Rouse mine eyes from slumber, O Lord, and I will consider the marvels of thy law (Psalm exviii. 18). I will rejoice over thy works, as one who findeth much spoil (Psalm cxviii. 162). The second passage explains the first. I will rejoice in the abundance of mysteries and marvels that I have found in Thy law, as one rejoices who finds much booty after gaining a victory.

The blessed St. Francis and St. Augustine spent whole days and nights over those two short ejaculations: “Who art Thou and who am I? May I know myself and may I know Thee, my God and my all!” This is a method of prayer very akin to that which the Prophet Isaias says the citizens of heaven observe, who, wrapt in contemplation of the Divine Majesty, are perpetually singing, saying, and repeating, Holy, holy, holy (Isaias vi. 3). St. John the Evangelist says the same, speaking of those mysterious living creatures who stood before the throne of God: And they rested not either day or night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God omnipotent, who was and who is and who is to come (Apoc. iv. 8).

But to arrive at this, it is necessary that we ourselves should do our part, accustoming ourselves to dwell on the mysteries, pondering and sounding the depths of their particular details, and that we should practise ourselves much in this. Gerson says that one of the chief means that we can apply, and one that will help much to enable us to make this meditation well, will be to exercise ourselves continually upon it. It is not a business that is taught by rhetorical phrases, or can be learned by the hearing of many discourses or the reading of many treatises on prayer, but only by putting our hand to the work and exercising ourselves much therein. When a mother goes about teaching her son to walk, she does not spend an hour in giving him instructions on the method he must observe in walking, telling him to move his feet now one way now another, but she makes him walk, and in that way the child finds out and comes to know how to do it. This, then, must be the method whereby we are to learn this science. And though it is true that to obtain the gift of prayer or of anything else supernatural, no exercise of our own is sufficient, but it must come from the gracious and liberal hand of the Lord—For the Lord giveth wisdom, and from his mouth proceedeth prudence and knowledge (Prov. ii. 6); yet His Majesty wishes that we should exercise ourselves therein as though we had to attain it by this means alone; for he disposeth all things sweetly, and reacheth from end to end strongly (Wisdom viii. 1). And so He disposes the works of grace conformably to those of nature; and as other sciences and arts are attained by practice, so He wishes to teach us this science also in that manner. By fiddling one learns to fiddle; by walking one learns to walk; and by praying one learns to pray.

Gerson says that the reason why there are so few contemplatives today is for want of this exercise. Of old, as we see, there were in those monasteries of monks ever so many men of high prayer and contemplation, and nowadays you will scarcely find one man of prayer; and when one speaks of contemplation, it sounds like talking Arabic or metaphysics—one of those things that nobody understands. The reason of this, he says, is that formerly those holy monks practised much prayer themselves, and when youths entered the monasteries, they at once imposed this duty on them and exercised them much in it, as we read in the Rule of St. Pacomius and other monastic fathers. So Gerson counsels what he takes to be very important for the good of monasteries, that they should have spiritual men, learned and well versed in prayer, who, when youths enter the monasteries, should at once from the first instruct them in the exercise of prayer. And our Father took this advice so seriously and left it so strongly inculcated in his Constitutions, that not only in the beginning, in the houses of probation, he would have someone to instruct newcomers therein, but in all the colleges and houses of the Society he would have appointed a prefect of spiritual things to attend to this and see how everyone got on in prayer, for the great importance that he attached to it.

Another thing, also, that will help us much to continue this exercise of prayer and persevere much in it, is to have a great love of God and spiritual things. So spoke the Royal Prophet: How I love, O Lord, thy law: all day long it is matter of my meditation (Psalm cxviii. 97). I am never wearied of thinking of it day and night; it is all my delight and recreation; and I recreated myself over thy commandments, which I loved (Psalm cxviii. 47). If we had a great love of God, we should willingly think of Him days and nights and never want matter of thought. Oh, how willingly does a mother think of a son whom she tenderly loves! How little need has she of arguments and considerations to refresh herself in the memory of him! In speaking of him her heart is at once touched and tears start from her eyes, without further arguments or considerations. Begin to speak to a widow of her deceased husband, whom she dearly loved, and you will see how she begins at once to sigh and weep. Now if natural love can do this—and why do I speak of natural love? If the frantic love of one who is over head and ears in his passion often keeps him so absorbed and swallowed up, as we see, in the object of his passion, that seemingly he can think of nothing else—how much more shall the supernatural love of the infinite beauty and goodness of God be able to do, since grace is more powerful than nature and perversity! If God were all our treasure, our heart would at once go out to Him; for where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also (Matt. vi. 21). Everyone willingly thinks of that which he loves and in which he takes delight: therefore Holy Scripture says: He tasted and saw (I Kings xiv. 27; Prov. xxxi. 18) : Taste and see that the Lord is sweet (Psalm xxxili. 9). Tasting goes before seeing, and seeing gives increase of yearning and love. So says St. Thomas, treating of this matter, that “contemplation is the daughter of love,” because from loving God one is moved to think of and contemplate Him; and the more one looks and contemplates, the more one loves, because good things looked upon invite us to love them; and the more we delight in going on looking and loving.