Mental Prayer — Method of Ven. Francis Libermann
Libermann
I understand perfectly your difficulty in your prayer. If you employ yourself in reasoning, it becomes nothing but an amusement of spirit and a labour. If you do not reason you grow weary and bored and remain in vagueness.
— Ven. Francis Libermann, to a seminarist, 1843
The immediate preparation consists in the overnight choice of the subject, for otherwise we shall not know "where to begin or what considerations to make," and a little recollection before retiring, that we may rest in peace before God. The prayer itself should be made as soon after rising as possible, and in solitude.
Some vocal prayer may be used to dispose the spirit toward a more perfect recollection. Penetrated by a conviction of the presence of God, you will enter naturally into sentiments of adoration, love and humility, in presenting yourself before God, "you so poor, so miserable, so covered with sins."
The entry is made by fixing the mind upon the subject, and in doing this it is always best to consider it in relation to our Lord. Thus we are led to acts of adoration toward Him, though it is not necessary to have many different acts; one alone may be enough.
Take a mystery of our Lord and endeavour to apply yourself to it. Represent to yourself this good Master in the state of that mystery, and let yourself go in the desires and feelings of your heart; uniting yourself to Him, embracing His feet, prostrating yourself before God, attaching your soul to that divine Lord in all sweetness, without agitation, without efforts.
— Ven. Francis Libermann, to a seminarist
So we pass unconsciously to the body of the prayer. Fix beforehand the subject, without, however, taking it as something to exercise your reason upon.
See the Divine Saviour in His mysteries or states of life. Consider Him in the various actions which He accomplishes in these mysteries; consider thus practically these actions in Him and the perfection with which He performs them; consider, further, the interior principles of these actions, the movements of the holy soul of Jesus in their accomplishment. Take, for each meditation, two or three of these practical considerations.
Pause from time to time in order to make affections, if you are so moved; if not, to adhere by your will and spirit to that which you see in Jesus. It is not necessary to repeat in words, over and over again, that you do so adhere; but do so really from the bottom of your heart; and if the sentiment does not flow easily of itself, remain in silence and adhere by a certain disposition of faith and of good desire.
1. A return upon oneself, in order to see what we need to do in relation to the truth we have meditated upon, how we can conform our lives more to it, or what are the sources of our previous neglect of it.
2. The making of resolutions — practical, not vague; firm; to be executed as soon as occasion offers.
3. Petition for grace to be faithful, and invocation of the help of Mary and of our patron.
Père Libermann also recommends the spiritual nosegay of St. Francis de Sales: "a text of Holy Scripture, or some very simple, very loving and very practical thought."
On desires we cannot carry out
Divine grace sometimes directly inspires the soul with a desire without enabling us to carry it out; for at times God gives a desire which He does not will us to execute, but simply that we should profit solely by the desire itself, which produces more good to the soul than if, by grace, we should have been able to realise it… We may sometimes ask our Lord to enable us to accomplish that which He has made us desire, but we must be on our guard against endeavouring to do it of ourselves, by force, as it were.
— Ven. Francis Libermann, Lettres