Mental Prayer — Method of the Carmelite Novitiate
Carmelite (John of Jesus and Mary)
I am not now asking you to meditate upon Him, nor to produce great thoughts, nor to feel deep devotion: I only ask you to look at Him.
— St. Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection, ch. 26
The remote preparation: the avoidance of occasions of distraction, and the renouncement of superfluous occupations.
The immediate preparation:
— consideration of the Divine Majesty, leading to reverential awe inspired by His transcendence and to love evoked by the thought of His condescension;
— consideration of our own nothingness and sinfulness, in order to gain humility and penitence, basis of true prayer.
The reading may precede or follow the preparation. We must not seek for knowledge in itself, as in study, but for such knowledge as shall lead us to love God more. Any point which especially strikes us should be dwelt upon, for it is such thoughts which move the affections and the will.
The meditation "is nothing else than a discourse addressed by the intellect to the will," with the end that we may assimilate and be penetrated by a particular truth, and so led to prayer, "which nourishes and fortifies the will and impels it to action." Thus, the shorter and more condensed the meditation is, the better the prayer will be.
For the blessings of God, particularly those which our meditation has brought before our mind. In this act we should unite ourselves with the whole family of God in heaven and earth, especially with the heart of Jesus and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in order to offer to so good a God all that immense sum of thanksgiving as from a single heart.
A fourfold act, springing from a heart full of gratitude:
— as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise, in union with the merits of our Lord and His Holy Mother;
— as a sacrifice of expiation for our sins;
— as a peace-offering, in order to obtain all that we need in order to arrive at the possession of God Himself;
— as an affirmation of our faith in God, of the homage we desire to render to Him, and of closer union with Him.
"For have we not the right to claim that for which we have offered the price in advance?" With confidence, then, in the goodness of God, the Passion of His Son and the Divine promise — "Whatsoever ye ask, believe that you shall have it and it shall be given you" — we beg the pardon of our sins, and all things of which we have need; above all, that sovereign good, the joy of the Vision of God.
And that we may attain to that blessed end we ask for humility and all other virtues, for victory over our temptations, especially over our ruling passion. Nor shall we forget the needs of others, excluding no one and especially interceding for Holy Church.
The Venerable John's notes
It is useful to adhere to the method unless God gives the soul some particular attraction; yet it is not absolutely necessary. To pray by affective motions of the will is the whole purpose of the method, and whatever part most aids to this should be centred upon and remained in.
In the meditation we should picture the persons and things of the subject as near to us, or even within us, as a help to avoid distractions. Yet this exercise of the imagination must not be too vivid, for it is possible to mistake our representations for the reality itself, and so fall into illusion.
Reflections should be used with moderation, more insistence being laid on the affections of the will. In all things the will should govern; care must be taken not to strain the mind by violent efforts; we shall only come to taste God by habituating ourselves in peace.
"The spirit bloweth where it listeth": it is as the whistling of the shepherd calling his sheep to pasture, so that if in our prayer we are drawn towards some thought which is not in the subject we have prepared, we must not hesitate to follow its call, since it will lead us to true prayer.
If at the time of prayer distractions persist in spite of our efforts to drive them away, we should recite some vocal prayers slowly and meditatively, or even read some book in the same way.