IX — VOCAL PRAYER

Presence of God. — Lord, teach me to pray!

Meditation

1 — When the Apostles asked Jesus: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk. 11, 1), He straightway taught them a vocal prayer: the Pater noster. This is certainly the most sublime formula in existence, embracing in itself the whole essence of the highest mental prayer; yet Jesus proposed it precisely as a formula of vocal prayer: “When ye pray, say thus” (ibid., 2). This is sufficient to understand the value and importance of vocal prayer — prayer accessible to all, even to children, the ignorant, the sick, the weary... Yet one must understand clearly that vocal prayer does not consist merely in the material repetition of a formula; were it so, it would be a recitation, but not a prayer, since prayer always requires a movement, an elevation of the soul toward God. It is in this sense that Jesus instructed His disciples: “When thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret... And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens” (Mt. 6, 6 and 7) — and it is interesting to observe how in St. Matthew these prescriptions, which concern the external and internal dispositions for prayer well made, immediately precede the very teaching of the Pater noster.

Therefore, in order that vocal prayer be truly prayer, one must first of all recollect oneself in the presence of God, draw near to Him, enter into contact with Him; only in such dispositions will the words pronounced with the lips be the expression of interior devotion and be able to sustain and nourish it. Unfortunately, prone as we are to perceive the material side of things rather than the spiritual, it is so easy in vocal prayers to content ourselves with a mechanical recitation, without attending to the orientation of the heart toward God; we must therefore always be vigilant and always react. A vocal prayer made only with the lips dissipates and wearies rather than recollecting the soul in God, and one cannot rightly say that it is a means of uniting us more closely to Him.

2 — St. Teresa of Jesus, desirous of educating and disposing souls to intimate intercourse with God, orients vocal prayer also toward this end and says in this regard: “I shall always tell you to unite vocal with mental prayer” (Way 22, 3). And she explains her meaning thus: “If while saying vocal prayers I am truly persuaded that I am speaking with God and attend more to Him than to the words I am pronouncing, my vocal prayer is united with mental prayer” (ibid., 1). The Saint has no wish to neglect exactness in recitation — a thing of great importance particularly in liturgical prayer, such as the Divine Office — but she means that the most important point always remains attending to God. Above all when it is a question of vocal prayers of some length, it is almost impossible to attend to the meaning of all the words one pronounces; but it is not impossible, on the other hand, to recite while maintaining oneself in the presence of God. According to the dispositions of the moment, one may nourish the desire to praise Him or to unite oneself to Him, to invoke His aid in general or to ask for a particular grace; it may even suffice to have a general thought about the meaning of the formulas one is reciting, or even a simple glance toward God to whom we direct our prayer. In short, it is a question not merely of reciting, but of being with God. Therefore the Saint insists: “It is right that [before reciting] you consider who it is with whom you are speaking and who you yourselves are; this at least, so as to be able to speak with fitting courtesy...” (Way 22, 1) — and this, she concludes, is already to engage in mental prayer. It is certainly not a mental prayer as intense as that which is made in the time dedicated exclusively to it, without any preoccupation with vocal recitation; yet it is already mental prayer in the sense that the mind and heart are directed toward God and, even through the recitation, seek intimate contact with Him.

Practiced in this way, vocal prayer is of great value: first, because it is made in the manner most fitting and most respectful of the Majesty of God; and then, because it gradually habituates the soul to mental prayer, to intimate intercourse with Him.

Colloquy

“Never permit, my God, that in speaking with Thee I should consider it sufficient to do so only with my lips. How can this be endured?

“Not because Thou art so good should I be irreverent toward Thee, speaking with Thee with less consideration and respect than one uses in speaking with any man. Even only to be grateful for the goodness Thou dost me in bearing at Thy presence a being so repugnant as I am, it is well that I should seek to know what Thy Majesty is.

“O my Sovereign God, infinite power, supreme goodness, eternal wisdom, without beginning and without end! Whose works have no limit, whose perfections are incomprehensible and infinite — Ocean without bottom of marvels, Beauty that comprehends in itself all other beauty — Thou who art Strength itself — oh, if at this moment, great God, I could possess all the wisdom and eloquence of men! How well I could make understood, as far as is granted to us, some of those Thy manifold perfections that can make known to us something of what Thou art, my Lord and my only Good!

“To understand this, we must draw near to Thee and, as soon as we are in Thy presence, we shall immediately understand who Thou art to whom we wish to speak and with whom we do speak. But not even after a thousand lives such as ours could we worthily understand how Thou meritest to be treated, my God, before whom the Angels tremble... When one must speak with a prince, it is not done lightly... But, O my Spouse, will it ever be true that in what concerns Thee less account should be taken than of the sons of men? I cannot understand how vocal prayer can be well made when it is separated from the thought of Thee, O Lord, to whom we address it. Or is it perhaps not fitting, when one prays, to pray with attention?” (T.G. Way 22, 1-8; 24, 6).