Chapter 2. On Six Points Belonging to the Exercise of Prayer

1.—The exercise of prayer and meditation nee preceded and followed by several accompaniments which become united to and incorporated with it. j -2,—TIn tho first place, before meditation it is necessary to prepare the heart for this holy exercise. This may be likened to tuning an instrument before playing upon it. After this preparation follows the choice of the subject for meditation during the day; one for each day of the week, as we shall explain hereafter. This is certainly essential for beginners until they have learnt how to meditate. Then follows the meditation on the subject read, upon which we must collect our thoughts, ponder and ruminate with all the attention of which we are capable, in order to excite such affections and desires as the soul stands in need of, to rid herself of yice and follow after virtue. A devout thanksgiving for benefits received should succeed the meditation, and then an offering of our whole life, and that of Christ our Saviour, in satisfaction for our sins, and in return for the benefits which we havo received. Last comes the petition, properly called the prayer, where we ask for every thing necessary for our own salvation, for our neighbour, and for the whole church. 3.—These six things should accompany prayer, as, Eh:

sides other advantages, they afford very abundant subjects for reflection ; setting before a person various kinds of diet, when, if he cannot partake of one he may taste another, and when also, if he loses the thread of his meditation a fresh | one is immediately offered for his contemplation. ~ F

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E 4.—I am aware that neither all these points, or this arrangement of them, are at all times necessary ; nevertheless y fit ‘they will serve to assist beginners, supplying a certain order sand method by which to regulate themselves at the commencement. And on that account I do not wish anything I have said here to be taken as a perpetual law and general rule, for Ap ay aim i is not to lay down a law, but only to give a start to the new travellers on this road, on which, after they have entered, care and experience, and more than all the Holy Spirit, will teach them the rest.

$ 1.—On the preparation for Prayer.

5.—It will be well now to treat specially on each of the above-mentioned points, and to commence first with the preparation. Being then-in your oratory, eitger kneeling, or standing, or prostrate, or (if you cannot manage it otherwise) seated, haying first made the sign of the cross, collect your thoughts, and separate them from all the things of this life; raise your mind upwards, considering that our Lord beholds you, and shew the same attention and reverence as if he were actually present. Then, with an act of general contrition for el your sins, if it be morning prayer, say the general confession ; i and, if night pao examine be conscience on every li g Bains of the 8 el all those of your Sd life, » yourself before the divine Majesty, in whose es you are, you may say with the holy Patriarch :— eS ee will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and 85 ” and, with eo words as the ground- wom, youse o sol o before so great a Majesty:

go thou art an abyss of infinite sins and miseries, and God is 3 an -— abyss of riches and greatness. With this reflection tay own in reverence, and humble thyself before so great | a Majesty.

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7.—In addition to this, beg of God to grant you the grace | of that attention and devotion, and that interior recollection, accompanied with fear and reverence, which become the presence of his sovereign Majesty ; and that you may so spend the time of prayer as to rise from it with fresh strength and | breath for his service, because prayer which produces not this fruit is very imperfect and of little value. * -

§ 2.—On the Lesson.

8.—Having finished the preparation, read the subject for your meditation, not in a hurried cursory manner, but calmly and attentively ; bringing to bear upon it not merely the understanding to comprehend it, but rather the will to enjoy what is understood; and when any devout passage occurs dwell upon it, the betfiér to feel its force. :

9.—And let not the lesson be too long, to afford greater. time for the meditation, which is much more profitable, inasmuch as it ruminates upon and penetrates deeper into the subject. But should the heart be so distracted that you cannot begin to pray, read a longer lesson, or unite reading and meditation, reading a sentence and meditating on it, and then another, and so on; because the understanding, being thus linked to the words of the lesson, has not such room to wander abroad as when free and: loose. Still it would be better to struggle to cast off the thoughts, and to persevere and strive, like another Jacob, during the whole night in the labour of prayer, because at last, when the battle is over, the victory is gained, the reward being devotion or some other greater grace, which is never denied to those who fight faithfully.

$ 3.—On the Meditation.

10.—After the lesson follows the meditation upon its contents. These are sometimes such as the imagination can figure to itself; for example, the stages of the life and passion of Christ, the last judgment, hell and paradise; at oth times they are rather subjects for the understanding more than the imagination, as the consideration of the blessings of God, his goodness and mercy, or some other of his perfections.

11.—The one kind of meditation is called intellectual, the other imaginative, and we are accustomed to avail ourselves of both in these exercises, according to the requirements of the subject. When the meditation is imaginative, everything must be figured to ourselves as it is, or in the way it might happen. We should consider that in the place we then are the whole scene as passing before us, because, with this mode of representing things, our ideas and sense of them become more vivid; but to figure to the imagination events as actually talang place in our own particular room, is apt to weaken and injure the head, and on that account one should not fasten the imagination on things called into existence by his fancy, lest by so doing he weaken the brain.

12.—As the chief subject for meditation is the sacred ‘passion, we may mention that in this mystery we may consider five principal heads or points, which it is well to know; who is he who suffers, what he suffers, for whom he suffers, how he suffers, and why he suffers.

13.—As to the first point, who is he who suffers? I say, the Creator of heaven and earth is he who suffers, the Son of God, infinite in goodness and in wisdom, the most innocent and most holy Son of the Virgin. As to the second point, what he suffers? I say, he suffers the severest torments both of soul and body; because in his soul he suffered incomprehensible anguish, feeling the ingratitude of mankind for this the greatest of all blessings, the sorrows of his most innocent and most holy Mother, and the sins of the world, present, past, and future, on account of which he suffered. So in his body he suffered cold, heat, hunger, weariness, watchings, injuries, and treasons; he was sold by his disciple, he sweated drops of blood, he was spit upon, buffeted, often bound with cords, forsaken, calumniated, falsely accused, scourged, scoffed at, clothed in the dress of a fool, crowned with thorns, esteemed more worthless than Barrabbas, though innocent he was condemned, he carried his cross on his back, was erucified between two thieves, drank vinegar and gall, and at last suffered an ignominious death on Mount Calvary, on the day of the highest festival.

14.—The third point for consideration is, for whom _ he suffered? and it appears he suffered for disobedient and ungrateful man, created out of nothing, who of himself can do nothing, knows nothing, and is worth nothing; for a creature of whom he never had, and could have any need ; for a creature that had offended him, and would, over and over again, offend and disobey him. :

15.-—Fourthly we must consider, how he suffered? Here we shall find that such were his patience and meekness that he uttered no complaints against any one ; such his humility that he chose the most ignominious death of that time; such his readiness, that he went out to meet his enemies; his charity, that he saluted him who sold him as friend, he healed the ear of one of his captors, he looked with compassion on him who denied him, and he prayed for those who crucified him.

16.—We must consider fifthly, why he suffered? To satisfy divine justice, to appease the wrath of his Father, to fulfil the promises made to the patriarchs and- prophets, to save us from hell and enable us to obtain paradise, to shew us by his perfect gbedience the road to heaven, to confound the devils who had lost through pride what man gained through humility.

§ 4.—On the Thanksgiving.

17.—After the meditation follows the thanksgiving, for which the past meditation should furnish the occasion, rendering thanks to our Saviour for the favours he has conferred on us by it; for example, if the subject of meditation has been the passion, we should give thanks to our Lord for the many sufferings he endured in our redemption; if on sin, for waiting so long for our repentance ; if on the miseries of this life, for delivering us from so many; if on death, for freeing us from its perils and waiting for our conversion; if on the glories of paradise, for creating us for so great a blessing; and so of the rest. 18.—Te these favours may be added others on which we Mall speak hereafter, viz:—our creation, preservation, edemption, vocation, &c. Thus we should thank God for haying created us after his own image and likeness; for giving us a memory to recollect him, an understanding: to know him, and a will to love him; for having given us a guardian angel to protect us from so many troubles and dangers, from so many mortal sins and death itself when we were buried in them, which was no less than delivering us from eternal death ; for having caused us to be born of Christian parents, to be baptized, and so made children of grace, with the promise of his glory and adoption as his sons. 19.—To these favours each one should join such other general and special favours as: he is conscious ef having received from our Lord; and for these and for all others, both public and private, give all the thanks in his power, and invite all creatures, both in heaven and on earth, to assist him in this duty, and for this purpose recite the Canticle: Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino, laudate et superexaltate, S$c., or the Psalm; Benedic anima mea Domino, et omnia que intra me sunt nomini sancio ejus, Sc. | $ 5.—On the Offering. 20.—Having given thanks from the bottom.of the heart for all these favours, the heart itself naturally bursts forth with that feeling of the prophet David, where he says, ie shall I give to the Lord, for all the favours which he’ hath done to me.” ‘This desire is in some measure gratified by giving and offering to God all that one has and all that one can. :

21.—For this end one should offer himself first to be his slave for ever, resigning himself and placing himself, absolutely, in the hands of God to do with him what he will ; and he should offer also all his words, deeds, thoughts, and la- — bours, all his actions and sufferings, to the glory and honour of His holy name.

22.—Secondly, let him offer to the Father the merits and services of his Son, and all the sufferings he endured from obedience in this world, from the manger to the cross, for they are all our property and the inheritance he bequeathed us in the New Testament, by which he constituted us heirs of this great treasure. And as that is no less mine which is conferred as a free gift, than that which is the captive of my spear, so those merits are no less mine, and the right he gave me, is as much my own, as if I myself had borne the sweat and toil. Therefore is a man entitled to make this second offering no less than the first, reckoning in their order these services and sufferings with all the virtues of his most holy life, of his obedience, patience, humility, charity, and the rest, for this is thesrichest and most precious offering man can make.

§ 6.—On the Petition.

23.—Having made this rich offering we may safely venture to ask for something in return. First then, we may pray with deep feelings of love and zeal, for the honour of our Lord, that all people and nations in the world may know him, and praise and adore him as their only true God and Saviour, crying ‘out from the bottom of our hearts in those words’ of the Prophet, ‘‘May all people acknowledge thee, oh Lord, may all people acknowledge thee.”

24.—Let us pray also for the prelates of the church, for the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, and all other ministers and inferior officers, that God will so correct and enlighten them that they may guide all men to the knowledge of and obedience to their Creator. We should also pray, as recommended — by St. Paul, for Kings and those in power, that through their watehfulness we may lead a quiet and safe life, which is agreeable to God our Saviour, who desires the salvation of all, and that all may arrive at the knowledge of the truth.

25.—Let us also pray for the members of the mystic body; for the just, that the Lord will preserve them; and _ for sinners, that he will convert them; and for the dead, that he will mercifully deliver them from their great sufferings, and grant them the repose of everlasting life. Let us also pray for all who are sick, in prison, or in captivity, &c., that God, through the merits of his Son, will assist them and deliver them from evil.

26.—And, after having prayed for our neighbours, let us then pray for ourselves, and what to ask for each one’s own wants will teach him if he would know himself well. Thus therefore let us, through the merits and sufferings of our Lord, beg pardon and amendment for all our sins; and let us especially pray for grace to overcome all those passions and vices to which we are most prone and tempted,-shewing all our wounds to our divine physician, that he may heal and eure them with the ointment of his divine grace.

27.—After this finish with a prayer for the grace of divine love, and dwell upon this, and on it spend a great portion of the time, begging of God this virtue with heartfelt longings and desires, for in this consists our whole welfare.