Mental Prayer — Redemptorist Method

Redemptorist (Desurmont)

20 min

The Night Before

The brief consideration overnight of three questions: With whom do I pray? Upon what subject? What particular act?

I go to pray with God, with our Lord, with our Lady or with the Saints — upon this particular subject — specially seeking this virtue, which I shall make central in my acts of prayer. Choose ordinarily from amongst those which are fundamental: humility, confidence, knowledge of God and of self, penitence, love of God, the will of God, renouncement, imitation of Jesus Christ.

I. The Preparation

Kneel quietly for a few moments, letting your whole self sink into a state of rest, that you may realise the presence of God. Then make the following acts slowly.

Act of faith

O my God, I believe that Thou art here present, and I adore Thee from the depths of my own nothingness.

Act of humility

O my God, I acknowledge that for my sins I deserve to be in Hell. I am sorry that I have offended Thee, because Thou art so good, and I beg, by Thy grace, that I may never sin again.

Petition for light

O Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus and Mary, give me light in this prayer, that I may make it to Thy glory and the good of my soul.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Invoke the aid of your guardian angel and patrons.

The act of faith

St. Alphonsus insists that the act of the presence of God should be one of a living faith. It is not an act of intellectual consideration or, still less, of feeling, but a firm and implicit Credo. God is present; all we have to do is to acknowledge His Presence, placing ourselves deliberately in that Presence by an act of pure faith.

II. The Body of the Prayer

1. The consideration

Fix your attention on the subject you have chosen. Make a mental picture of it as clearly as you can, though without effort or strain. Exercising the intellect, reflect upon it, that you may see it more clearly and become more convinced of its truth; then apply it to yourself — what is it to me? This should not be long reflections or reasonings, but a simple and attentive consideration.

As you do so, make energetic acts of faith, accompanied with prayer for a firmer faith:

Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.

Meditation is like a needle after which comes a thread of gold, composed of affections, prayers and resolutions.

— St. Alphonsus, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ

2. The act of virtue

As you reflect quietly upon what you see, what it means, and especially to you, you will be moved to make acts of prayer — adoration, praise, thanksgiving, humility, penitence, love — any acts of prayer, in any words, in any order. St. Alphonsus especially indicates four which should find their place in all our prayer: confident humility, contrition, love, and perseverance.

When you have meditated a point, and feel yourself moved by some good thought, raise your heart to God and offer to Him fervent acts of humility, of confidence, of thanksgiving; but above all frequently repeat, in your prayer, acts of contrition and love… chains of gold which attach our soul to God.

— St. Alphonsus

We must not try to precede grace or want to do things too perfectly, but simply and desiringly place ourselves in our Lord's hands. And when we perceive the poverty of our acts, let us make known to God our sorrow for this, and our desire of making them more perfect according to His will.

3. The prayer of petition

In this third part all the energies of the soul must be bent on bringing our necessities before God, beseeching Him to grant us all graces necessary for our salvation and sanctification. Above all, we must continually ask for love and perseverance. Nor must we forget the common and particular needs of the Church and of our neighbour.

I implore the reader not to grow weary of my constant demand that he should ask for love and perseverance. For those two gifts contain all the rest: to obtain them is to obtain all.

— St. Alphonsus, Preparation for Death, Preface

Go on until your time is up, constantly recurring to your picture and renewing your fervour.

III. The Conclusion

The conclusion should be short, intense and business-like. It consists of three acts of resolution and three of prayer.

Three resolutions

1. A general resolution to avoid all sin, mortal and venial, to-day.

2. To give yourself entirely to God in all things to-day.

3. A particular resolution to avoid or to do something for our Lord to-day — combating your ruling passion, enemy of your perseverance and love for God.

We ought to resolve daily, and for that day alone — since it is easy to do for one day what might seem a hopeless task for a long period, and since our Lord only bids us ask for the grace for each day as it comes.

Three acts of prayer

1. An act of thanksgiving for the grace received in your prayer.

2. A fervent petition for grace to keep your resolution.

3. An Our Father and Hail Mary for the Church, for sinners and for the holy souls.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Conclude by kneeling at our Lady's feet, saying the Memorare, and asking her blessing.

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

that never was it known

that anyone who fled to thy protection,

implored thy help, or sought thy intercession,

was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence,

I fly unto thee,

O Virgin of virgins, my Mother;

to thee do I come,

before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions,

but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Memorare, O piissima Virgo Maria,

non esse auditum a saeculo,

quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia,

tua implorantem auxilia,

tua petentem suffragia,

esse derelictum.

Ego tali animatus confidentia,

ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater,

curro, ad te venio,

coram te gemens peccator assisto.

Noli, Mater Verbi,

verba mea despicere,

sed audi propitia et exaudi. Amen.

In times of aridity

Multiply vocal prayers, putting into them all the energy possible at the moment. Believe that prayer is always of value, but do not look for sensible results; the best prayers are those which apparently produce nothing. Make much of good desires even if you cannot fulfil them.

Humiliate yourself, then, and resign yourself, seeing yourself without fervour, without desires, and as incapable of making any act of virtue… content yourself with saying, Help me, O Lord! Have pity on me, abandon me not. Have recourse to Mary our Mother and Consolatrix. Happy are those who in desolations remain faithful to their prayer! God will fill them with His graces.

— St. Alphonsus

The liberty of the Liguorian prayer

Liberty to mingle vocal prayers with meditation; liberty to repeat time upon time what we wish to say to God; liberty of adapting the acts of mental prayer to any method; liberty to follow with discretion the inspiration of the moment or, on the contrary, of keeping to a method once for all determined; liberty to make use of pious books and to appropriate their language; liberty of meditating in an easy position, provided it be reverent and helpful; in one word, liberty to make the work of prayer as easy as may be, provided it be done, and done well.

— Fr. Desurmont, C.Ss.R., La Charité sacerdotale