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MENTAL PRAYER THE END OR RECAPITULATION
The Meditation is usually brought to an end
by saying an Our Father and a Hail Mary. But
it is not of this ending alone that we would treat
here, but of the concluding acts which immediately precede it.
I. It is to be strongly advised that if several
resolutions, as is usually the case, have been
formed in the course of Meditating, all these
should be collected and renewed at its close. Besides other advantages, there is this, that it enkindles greater fervor during the last minutes
of Meditation, while, on the contrary, without it
the ending, where you ought to have the most
fervor, is very cold. Sometimes matter is wanting
towards the end of the Meditation; then particularly you should make use of this recapitulation
of the whole Meditation and all its resolutions.
II. At last that prayer which St. Ignatius calls
the Colloquy and which is directed towards God,
Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Lady, or one of the
Saints, as the subject suggests, ought to precede
the Our Father and Hail Mary.
In this Colloquy:
1. You must remember that it is not a question of words, but of sentiments, as was said when
treating of the affections. Do not, then, be
troubled as to the manner or words in which the
Colloquy is expressed. Let the heart and the
feelings speak.
2. You must ask the grace of fulfilling the
resolutions at the required time. All the resolutions taken in the course of the Meditation are to
be included, although they are not mentioned
individually.
3. In this Colloquy the petitions may be added,
for instance, for some present necessity, either
your own or recommended to your prayers by
Superiors, or for any other for whom you intend to pray, etc.
III. Instead of the Our Father and Hail Mary,
some other vocal prayer may be said. The Soul of
Christ may also be inserted between the Our
Father and the Hail Mary, as should certainly be
the practice when the meditation was on the
mysteries of Our Lord Jesus Christ. If, on the
other hand, the subject was the Holy Ghost, the
Come Holy Ghost, or Come Holy Spirit may
form a fitting conclusion; if it was the benefits
of God, the Te Deum; if some Saint, a prayer of
or to that Saint, if there is one. But the usual
practice should be to add the Our Father and
Hail Mary as well.
IV. This last vocal prayer, if of several parts,
may be divided up and placed between the Colloquies. St. Ignatius more than once shows how
this may be done with the Our Father, Soul of
Christ and Hail Mary.
1. We beg the Blessed Virgin Mary to obtain
from her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace
which we need, and then add the Hail Mary.
2. We beg Our Lord's clemency, that as supreme Mediator He may obtain this same grace
for us from His Father, and Himself bestow it
upon us, since all power is given to Him in heaven
and on earth, concluding with the Anima Christi.
3. We entreat the Eternal Father, through
the merits of Jesus Christ and His own clemency,
to grant that grace. Then say the Our Father,
and thus the Meditation ends.
Finally we rise reverently from our communing
with God, still however remaining in His presence. Any distraction following close upon the
Meditation is to be most carefully avoided and
should you be forced to go out immediately, you
should be particularly reserved in your bearing,
lest the fruit which you have spent the Meditation time in gathering, should be lost in the space
of a moment. |
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