Mental Prayer — Method of St. Peter of Alcántara

Franciscan (St. Peter of Alcántara)

30 min

I. The Preparation

An act of recollection

"Kneeling, standing, prostrate on the ground, or, if need be, sitting, having made the Sign of the Cross, let us gather up our thoughts, and put away from us all the things of this life; then let us lift up our mind to our Lord, as knowing that He is looking for us."

An act of contrition

If the meditation be made in the morning, the Confiteor should be said; if in the evening, we should examine our consciences, grieve over our shortcomings, and humble ourselves before God. The words of Abraham may be used:

I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.

— Genesis 18:27

I Confess

I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned through my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do;

through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sister, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Another formula for the Confiteor, with greater emphasis on the Church in heaven, where the saints already enjoy the glory of God and intercede for us, is the following:

I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned through my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do;

through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, all the Saints, and you, my brothers and sister, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Confíteor Deo omnipoténti, et vobis, fratres: quia peccávi nimis cogitatióne, verbo, ópere et omissióne.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa.

Ídeo precor beatam Maríam semper Vírginem, omnes Ángelos et Sanctos, et vos, fratres, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.

Alia formula Confiteor, quae magis insistit in relatione ad Ecclesiam caelestem, ubi sancti iam gloria Dei fruuntur et pro nobis intercedunt.

Confíteor Deo omnipoténti, beatæ Mariæ semper Vírgini, beato Michaëli Archángelo, beato Ioanni Baptístæ, sanctis Apóstolis Petro et Paulo, ómnibus Sanctis, et vobis, fratres: quia peccávi nimis cogitatióne, verbo et ópere.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa.

Ídeo precor beatam Maríam semper Vírginem, beatum Michaëlem Archángelum, beatum Ioannem Baptístam, sanctos Apóstolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes Sanctos, et vos, fratres, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.

A petition for the Divine assistance

The Veni Creator, and a petition for the grace of attention, devotion, interior recollectedness, fear and reverence, "that we may so use this time of prayer that we may come from it with new fervour and strength for all the needs of His service. Prayer which does not produce this fruit immediately is very imperfect and almost valueless."

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator Blest

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,

and in our souls take up Thy rest;

come with Thy grace and heavenly aid

to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry,

Thou heavenly gift of God most high,

Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,

and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts art known;

Thou, finger of God's hand we own;

Thou, promise of the Father, Thou

who dost the tongue with power endow.

Kindle our senses from above,

and make our hearts o'erflow with love;

with patience firm and virtue high

the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,

and grant us Thy true peace instead;

so shall we not, with Thee for guide,

turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow

the Father and the Son to know,

and Thee through endless times confessed,

of both the eternal Spirit blest.

All glory while the ages run

be to the Father and the Son

who rose from death; the same to Thee,

O Holy Ghost, eternally. Amen.

V. Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created.

R. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Veni, Creator Spiritus,

mentes tuorum visita,

imple superna gratia,

quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,

altissimi donum Dei,

fons vivus, ignis, caritas,

et spiritalis unctio.

Tu septiformis munere,

digitus paternae dexterae,

tu rite promissum Patris,

sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus,

infunde amorem cordibus,

infirma nostri corporis

virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius

pacemque dones protinus;

ductore sic te praevio

vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus da Patrem

noscamus atque Filium,

teque utriusque Spiritum

credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,

et Filio, qui a mortuis

surrexit, ac Paraclito,

in saeculorum saecula. Amen.

V. Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur.

R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.

II. The Reading

The reading "of what we have to meditate upon in prayer" must be "attentive and serious," not merely "that we may understand with our minds, but still more we should give to it our whole will, that we may taste the sweetness of what we read." The reading should not be long, for its object is to lead to meditation and prayer.

III. The Meditation

This may be of two kinds, intellectual or imaginative. The former will be used with such subjects as the Perfections of God and His blessings; the latter with more concrete ones, such as the last things and the Mysteries of the Life and Passion of our Lord.

In the latter "we should try to represent to our minds each item of our subject as it really is, or would become, and as though the action were being performed in our presence, in the very place in which we are." This is much better than letting our minds travel into the past, as to an historical act taking place afar off. We must not use too much violence in this exercise of the imagination, "lest it weaken its capacity" and we exhaust ourselves so that we are unable to pray well.

On the Passion: "We should have our Lord present before our eyes, as actually suffering, and with all the circumstances of that suffering; especially in these four points: Who is it that suffers? For whom does He suffer? How does He suffer? For what cause does He suffer?"

His aim is "love and the affections of the will rather than the speculations of the understanding," so that "as soon as one should feel himself fired by the love of God he should forthwith put aside all these considerations and thoughts, and leave meditation for the love of contemplation."

IV. The Thanksgiving

First, for the subject upon which we have meditated; then for the blessings of creation, redemption, vocation: for God's goodness in having created us in His own Image and Likeness, for having endowed us with the powers of Memory, Intellect and Will that we might remember, know and love Him; for our Guardian Angel, the Incarnation and Redemption; for our birth of Christian parents, our Baptism and the other Sacraments; and for all the particular inspirations and blessings He has bestowed upon us — saying, if we will, the Benedicite omnia opera or Psalm 102.

V. The Oblation of Ourselves

Aroused by the thought of what God has done for us, we cry:

What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he hath rendered to me?

— Psalm 115:12

And we go on to make a twofold offering to Him. First, to be His servants for ever, submitting ourselves wholly and entirely to the Divine Will.

Second: "We should offer to God the Father all the merits and labours of His dear Son, all the travails of His soul which, in His obedience, in this world He endured, from the Manger-crib to Calvary; for all these are our health and the inheritance which He hath bequeathed to us in that New Covenant by which He hath made us heirs of so great a treasure. For as that is no less our own which He has bestowed upon us of His grace than that which we have obtained by our own efforts, so those merits and gifts which He hath bestowed upon us are as much our own as if we had toiled and laboured for them ourselves. This is the best and most precious offering we can make."

VI. The Petition

This is to be of the most confident and comprehensive order. We begin "with all the fulness of love and zeal for the honour of our Blessed Lord," with the prayer that all men may come to know, praise and adore Him; going on to pray for the Pope and all the prelates of the Church; for rulers; for all the members of Christ's Mystical Body; for the righteous; for sinners; for the holy souls; for all the sick and poor, prisoners and captives.

Then we beg for ourselves the remission of our sins and grace to overcome our temptations; for the virtues in which consists all Christian perfection — Faith, Hope, Charity, Holy Fear, Humility, Patience, Obedience, Fortitude, Poverty of Spirit, Contempt for Worldly Things, true Discretion, Purity of Intention; and lastly "for such lesser virtues which will yet help us to keep the greater ones" — temperance, control of the tongue, guardianship of the senses, gravity and recollectedness of the exterior, sweetness of manner, good example, strictness with ourselves.

Conclude with a prayer of most earnest longing and desire for the love of God.

On the length of this prayer

The most striking thing about this method is its completeness. It is not merely a meditation, distinct from our other prayers and devotional exercises; it embraces them all in one act, which St. Peter thinks should occupy not less than an hour and a half to two hours, half an hour of which he would have devoted to the preparation, "to tune the viol and calm the imagination." Most people nowadays would probably have to divide it up in separate times during the day. Even then, it would be a distinct advantage to link all our spiritual exercises each day to one main, predominant thought arising out of our mental prayer.