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MENTAL PRAYER Method of the Three Powers
BEFORE MEDITATION
REMOTE PREPARATION
Removal of obstacles: pride, hypocrisy, sin, dissipation.
Application of aids: humility simplicity, guard over senses,
mortification.
The preparation is usually spoken of as two-fold: remote and immediate. Of the former
something has already been said; for that true and
sincere desire of spiritual progress which is
absolutely essential for any one who wishes to
meditate with fruit, is itself a most excellent
preparation for Meditation. To explain the matter
clearly, however, something still more definite
must be said of this remote preparation.
Remote preparation for Meditation is nothing
else but a state of mind such as rightly disposes it for Meditation,
by removing obstacles and supplying helps. What these obstacles are, we know
quite well.
First, pride and vain self-esteem, for the conversation of the Lord is with the simple and the
humble; and God regardeth the humble and
looketh upon the proud from afar.
Another obstacle is hypocrisy and a desire to
appear other than we really are: The holy spirit
of discipline will flee the deceitful.
All sins to which the soul clings are obstacles: For that heavenly
wisdom will not enter a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins. In
this portion of Holy Writ, mention is expressly
made of impurity; it is evident therefore that sins
and failings against the angelic virtue offer the
greatest obstacle to the grace of the Holy Ghost.
Habitual dissipation of mind and careless guard
of the senses are likewise a very great hindrance.
For she whose imagination is filled with useless
thoughts cannot possibly meditate well or with
devotion; nor will she be recollected in prayer
whose thoughts at other times are always dissipated, not by reason of her employment, but
through her own curiosity, immodesty and other
vices. These, then, and similar obstacles, must be
removed in good earnest by her who desires to
meditate with fruit.
Besides this, aids must be applied, and these
are nothing else than the practice of the virtues
of; humility, simplicity of action, custody of the
senses, etc., the opposites of the obstacles just
mentioned. For these virtues give peace to the
soul, and dispose it for meditation, while they
likewise draw down Divine graces. Blessed are
the clean of heart for they shall see God, and
these are they upon whom He is wont to make
His countenance shine in prayer.
Nor must we here omit to mention mortification, the price, as it were, which we pay to God
Almighty for the gift of meditation. In fact, we
almost see that they who mortify themselves the
most are they who take the greatest pleasure in
prayer, and vice versa. God grants freely what
He sees we desire with so much longing as to
be willing to purchase it at any cost of sacrifice
and mortification.
Even the youngest Novice ought to have at
least a true desire of her spiritual advancement,
since this and nothing else ought to be the object
she had in becoming a Religious. IMMEDIATE PREPARATION
What concerns the immediate preparation is
contained almost in its entirety in the teaching
of St. Ignatius.
1. The previous evening, you should read or
attentively hear read the meditation to be made
in the morning, carefully noting the fruit to be
gained. This fruit should have a particular bearing upon your state of soul at the time.
2. On retiring for the night, before going to
sleep, you should briefly recall the matter of the
meditation.
3. On awakening in the morning, your first
thought should be of the approaching meditation.
4. While you are washing and dressing, you
should think of the same subject and entertain
feelings in keeping with the meditation.
5. Finally, you should come to the meditation
itself calm and tranquil in spirit, and immediately
before beginning during the time required to repeat the Lord's Prayer, as St. Ignatius says,
you should lift up your mind and consider Our
Lord Jesus Christ as present and watching what
you are about to do. Consider in Whose presence
you are, to Whom you are about to speak, and
then imagine God present before you, Who knows
all your most secret thoughts. The vivid feeling
of God's presence ought not to be entertained
after the Preparatory Prayer, but as a prelude
to it, and before it, as before all other prayer.
We make a special note of this here because it
seems to be frequently neglected by many. They
immediately, almost hurriedly, throw themselves
upon their knees, not stopping to think of what
they are about to do.
Of such great importance are these details, each
and all, that she who observes them all, may well
hope to gain much profit; she who observes a few,
a little; she who observes none, nothing at all.
Before prayer, prepare thy soul and be not like a
man tempting God.
This is the preparation St. Ignatius prescribes
before meditation, and which he himself never
omitted, although he was exceptionally proficient
in this art. For us, then, so little skilled as we
are in this exercise, and so wont to be distracted
by trifles, it is much more fitting to adopt this
kind of preparation, in all its details.
Note, in passing, why the strict observance of
silence and modesty, both on the eve and morning
of meditation, are so severely enjoined upon us;
since any fault of this kind committed at these
times has a great influence upon the meditation
and may greatly hinder its success, owing as well
to the dissipation into which the soul is thrown
by such faults and to the withdrawal of Divine
grace in punishment of our unfaithfulness.
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