A Treatise on Prayer and Meditation
compiled by
St. Peter of Alcántara
Chapter I.
Of the Fruit to be Derived from Prayer and Meditation
SINCE this short treatise speaks of prayer
and meditation, it will be well to state in a few words what is the fruit
which may be derived from this holy exercise, so that men may give themselves
to it with more willing heart. It is a well known fact that one of
the greatest hindrances we have to attaining our final happiness and blessedness,
is the evil inclination of our hearts, the difficulty and dullness of spirit
we have in respect to good rules; for, if this was not in the way, it would
be the easiest thing possible to run in the path of virtues, and attain
to the end for which we were created. Concerning which the Apostle
says, "I delight in the Law of God, according to the inward man;
but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin." (Rom. 7:22-23)
This, then, is the universal cause of all our evil. One of the most
efficacious means for overcoming this dullness and difficulty, and for
facilitating this matter, is devotion; for as St. Thomas says, "Devotion
is nothing else than a certain readiness and aptitude for doing good."
For this takes away from our mind all that difficulty and dullness, and
makes us quick and ready for all good. It is a spiritual refection,
a refreshment, like the dew of Heaven, a breath and inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, a supernatural affection. It so orders, strengthens,
and transforms a man's heart, that it imparts a new taste and inspiration
for spiritual things, a new distaste and abhorrence for sensible things.
The experience of every day shows us this. For when a spiritually
minded person rises from deep devout prayer, then straight away all his
good resolutions are renewed, together with fervor and determination to
do good; the desire then to please, and to love, a Lord so good and kind
as He has then shown Himself to be, a willingness to endure fresh troubles,
and chastenings, even to shedding blood for His sake, then, finally, all
the freshness of soul is renewed and blooms again.
If you ask me, by what means so powerful and noble an affection of devotion
is attained, the same holy teacher answers that it is by meditation and
contemplation of diving things; for from deeply meditating and pondering
over these things there springs up this disposition, and affection in the
will, which is called devotion; and this stirs and moves us to all
good. It is on this account that this holy and religious exercise
is so extolled and commended by all the Saints, as being The Means of acquiring
devotion, which, though it is but one virtue only, yet it disposes and
moves one to all the other virtues, and exists as a general stimulus to
them all.
If you would see how true this is, hear how plainly St. Bonaventure
declares it in these words:
"If you would suffer patiently the adversities and miseries
of this life, be a man of prayer. If you would gain power and strength
to overcome the temptations of the enemy, be a man of prayer. If
you would mortify your will with all its affections and lusts, be a man
of prayer. If you would understand the cunning devices of Satan,
and defend yourself against his deceits, be a man of payer. If you
would live joyfully, and with sweetness walk in the path of penitence and
sorrow, be a man of prayer. If you would drive out the troublesome
gnats of vain thoughts and cares from your soul, be a man of prayer.
If you would sustain your soul with the richness of devotion, and kept
it ever full of good thoughts and desires, be a man of prayer. If
you would strengthen and confirm your heart in the pilgrimage with God,
be a man of prayer. Lastly, if you would root out from your soul
every vice and in their place plant the virtues, be a man of prayer, for
in this is obtained the unction and grace of the Holy Spirit who teaches
all things.
"And besides all this, if you would climb to the height of contemplation,
and delight in the sweet embraces of the Bridegroom, exercise yourself
in prayer, for this is the way by which the soul mounts up to contemplation
and to the taste of heavenly things.
"You see, then, of how great virtue and power is prayer, and for
proof of all that has been said (to say nothing of Holy Scripture) let
this now be sufficient assurance that we have seen and heard, and see,
day by day, many simple persons who have attained to all these things above
mentioned and to others greater, through the exercise of prayer."
Thus far the words of St. Bonaventure.
Then, what richer treasure? What field can be found more fertile, yielding
more abundantly than this? Hear also what another most religious
and holy doctor, speaking of this same virtue, says:
"In prayer the soul is cleansed from sin, pastured with
charity, confirmed in faith, strengthened in hope, gladdened in spirit.
By prayer the inward man is directed aright, the heart is purified, the
truth discovered, temptation overcome, sadness avoided, the perceptions
renewed, languishing virtue restored, lukewarmness dismissed, the rust
of vices done away; and in it there do not cease to come forth living
sparkles of heavenly desires, with which the flame of divine love burns.
Great are the excellencies of prayer, great are its privileges! Before
it Heaven is opened, secrete things are made manifest, and to it the ears
of God are ever attentive." (St. Lawrence Justinian, In Signo Vitae)
This now is sufficient to show in some way what is the fruit of this holy
exercise.
Chapter II.
Of the Subject Matter of Meditation
HAVING seen what fruit may come of Prayer and
Mediation, let us now see what are the things on which we should meditate.
To which the answer is, that inasmuch as this holy exercise is ordained
to create in our hearts the love and fear of God, and to lead us to keep
His Commandments, the most fitting subject for this exercise will be that
which should most surely lead to the end proposed. And although it
be true that all created things, whether earthly or heavenly, may move
us to this, yet, generally speaking, the Mysteries of our Faith which are
contained in the Creed, are the most efficacious, and profitable.
For here are treated the subjects of the Divine blessings, the Last Judgment,
the pains of Hell, and the glory of Paradise, where there are the most
powerful stimulants to move our hearts to the love and fear of God;
and in it are treated also the Life and Passion of Our Savior Christ, in
which consists all our good. These two subjects especially are treated
of in the Creed, and are those on which we for the most part make our Meditations.
And therefore, with much reason it is said, that the Creed is the most
fitting subject for this holy exercise, although at the same time, there
may be with every one some subject which might more especially move his
heart to the love and fear of God.
Agreeably, then, with this, in order to help on the young who are now
entering upon this path, to whom we should give food which has been, as
it were, already digested, I will now briefly set forth two kinds of Meditation
for all the days of the week. Taken, for the most part, from the
Mysteries of our Faith, some are for the evening, and some for the morning;
so that, as we give our bodies their two meals each day, so should we give
our souls, whose food is Meditation and the consideration of things Divine.
Of these Mediations, some are upon the Mysteries of Sacred Passion and
Resurrection of Christ, and some upon the other Mysteries of which I have
spoken. Those who have not time to make such retirement twice in
the day, will, at least, be able to mediate one week upon the former mysteries,
and another week upon the latter. Or, they may fine themselves entirely
to those on the Passion and Life of Jesus Christ, which are the principal
ones; although it would not be well, in the beginning of the soul's
conversion, to omit the others, seeing that they are especially suitable
at such time when the fear of God and detestation of our sins are to be
chiefly desired.
MEDITATION FOR MONDAY
On this day, you shall enter upon the memory of your sins, and upon the
knowledge of yourself, to see how many evil things you have done, and to
see that you have nothing that is good save from God. For
this consideration is the means of acquiring humility, the mother of all
the virtues.
Monday Morning Meditation
For this purpose you must first think of the multitude of the sins
of your past life, especially of those committed in the days when you knew
not God. For if you consider them well, you will find that they are
more in number than the hairs of your head, and that you lived in that
day like the Gentile who knows not God. Consider then, briefly, the
Ten Commandments, and the Seven Deadly sins, and you will see that there
are none into which you have not often fallen, in deed or word or thought.
Let your mind, then, rest upon the Divine Blessings, and upon your past
time, and consider how you have made use of them. For you have to
give an account of all these before God. Tell me, then, how have
you used the days of your childhood, your youth, your manhood, indeed all
the days of your past life?
In what way did you use your
bodily senses, and the powers of your soul, which God gave to you for the
purpose of knowing and serving Him?
In what did you use your eyes, except
in things of vanity?
In what did you use your ears, except
to hear things of falsehood; in what your tongue, except in all manner
of rash oaths and murmurings? and your taste and all your senses, except
in sensual pleasures and flattery?
How have you profited by the Holy Sacraments,
which God ordained for your assistance?
What thanksgivings have you made for
all His benefits?
How have you responded to His inspirations?
How have you used your health and strength,
your natural talents, your earthly goods, your opportunities and occasions
for living well?
What care have you taken of your neighbor
whom God commended to you, and what works of mercy towards him can you
show?
Then what will you answer on that day of reckoning when God shall say
unto you: "Give an account of your stewardship." O withered
tree, destined for eternal torments! what will you answer on that
day, when there shall be required from you the account of your whole life,
and of every point and moment in it?
Think, next, of the sins which you have committed, and do each day
commit, even after your eyes have been opened to the knowledge of God,
and you will find that the old Adam still lives in you, with many of the
old roots and habits. See how you have stood aloof from God, how
unthankful you have been for His benefits, how rebellious against his inspirations,
how slothful in things concerning His service, which you never performed
with that readiness and diligence and purity of intention which you do
owe Him; nay, think of how you have discharged them even for the sake of
human respects and interests!
Consider, also, moreover, how hard you are towards your neighbor, and
how gentle with yourself; how you love your own will, your self, your flesh,
your honor, and your own interests!
See how you are always proud, ambitious, quick to anger, vainglorious,
envious, malicious, prone to amusement, inconstant, full of levity, sensual,
given to recreations, laughter and idle talk. See, too, how inconstant
you are in good purposes, how inconsiderate in your words, and imprudent
in your deeds, and how cowardly and half-hearted in any matter of importance.
And further, after you have taken note of the multitude of your sins,
consider then their gravity, so that you may see how on all sides your
misery has grown upon you. For this you should, in the first place,
think of these three circumstances in your past life, namely,
Against Whom have you sinned?
For what end did you sin?
And in what way?
If you think, against Whom you did sin, you will find that it was
against God, whose goodness and majesty are infinite, whose blessings and
mercies to man are more in number than the sands of the sea-shore.
Or if you think, for what end you did sin, it was for some point of honor,
some foul lust, or some trivial interest, or very often for something of
no interest whatsoever, for no other reason than habit, and disregard for
God. Or if you think, in what way you did sin, it was with such ease
and audacity as to be without scruple or fear; nay, at time with such ease
and content as if you were sinning against a god made of wood who neither
knew nor saw anything that was done on earth. Is this the honor which
is due to so great a Majesty? Is this the thanks you gave for so
great blessings? Is this the return you make for that most Precious
Blood shed upon the Cross, for those scourgings and buffetings endured
on your behalf? O miserable you, for what you have lost, and more
for what you have gained for yourself, and much more still, if with all
this, you do not sense your impending perdition!
Monday Evening Meditation
After all this it is most profitable to let your thoughts rest a while
on the consideration of your nothingness; that is, how you have by
yourself nothing, but sin, or in other words, nothingness; how all
else is from God alone. For it is clear that as all natural gifts,
so those too, of grace, which are greater, are His only. From him
is the grace of predestination, which is the source of all other graces;
from Him the grace of our vocation, and all the grace accompanying it;
from Him the grace of perseverance, and that of life eternal.
What have you, then, from which to glory, save your nothingness and
sin?
Rest, then, awhile in the consideration of that nothingness, and take
note that this, and all else, comes from God; so that you may see clearly
and manifestly what you are, and what He is; how poor you are, and
how abundant in riches he is; and, consequently, how little you can trust
in and esteem yourself, and how greatly you can trust in Him, love
Him, glory in Him!
Then, having considered all these things, think of yourself with thoughts
most lowly. Ponder that you are nothing but "a reed shaken in the
wind." of no weights, or virtue, or firmness, or steadfastness or anything
else. Ponder that you are another Lazarus, dead for four days, a
carcass foul-smelling and abominable, so much that they who pass by cover
their noses, and shut their eyes. Judge on your own that this is
what you are before God and His angels, and hold yourself to be unworthy
to lift your eyes up to Heaven, or that this earth should bear you, or
that creatures should serve you; unworthy of the bread which you eat and
of the air which you breathe. With that sinner of the street, cast
yourself down at the Savior's feet, with your face covered in confusion
and shame like the woman taken in adultery; and with much sorrow and compunction
of heart, beg of Him pardon for your sins, and that, out of His infinite
pity and mercy, He may vouchsafe to turn to you, and receive you into His
house.
THE SECOND PART OF THIS TREATISE WHICH SPEAKS OF DEVOTION
Chapter I.
What is Devotion?
THE greatest trouble those persons suffer from
who give themselves to Prayer is the failing in Devotion which they so
often experience in it. When there is no such failing, there is nothing
sweeter, or more easy that to pray. For this reason, now that we
have treated upon the subject-matter of Prayer, and upon the manner of
praying, it will be well to consider the things which help Devotion, and
also those which hinder it, and the temptations which most often assail
devout people in it; and certain other points that are necessary
to observe in this exercise. But first it will greatly help the matter
to set forth what Devotion is, that we may know to begin with, what is
the precious thing for which we are contending.
Devotion, says St. Thomas Aquinas, is a power which makes one prompt
and ready for any virtue, and stirs and helps one to do well. (Summa II,
II, Q. 82, Art. 1.) This definition declares manifestly the great
necessity and usefulness of this power, for it contains in itself more
than some would think. We have on this account to consider that the
chief hindrance to living a good life is the corruption of human nature
which came to us through sin, and from which comes the great inclination
we have towards evil, and the difficulty and unwillingness we have in respect
to what is good. These two things make the path of virtue most difficult
to us, while in itself it is the thing most sweet, most beautiful, most
to be desired, most honorable in the world. It is against this difficulty
and unwillingness the Divine Wisdom has provided this most complete remedy
in the power and succor of Devotion. For as the north wind disperses
the clouds, and leaves the sky clear and serene, so true Devotion drives
away from our mind all that unwillingness and difficulty, and leaves it
then free and disposed for all that is good. This virtue so become
as power within us as being at one a very special gift of the Holy Spirit,
a heavenly dew, a succor and visitation of God attained through Prayer.
Its very nature is to contend against the difficulty of which we have spoken,
and to overcome this luke warmness, to give us readiness and fill the soul
with good desires, to enlighten the understanding, to strengthen the Will,
to kindle in us the Love of God, to extinguish the flame of evil desires,
to teach hatred of worldly things, and abhorrence of sin, and to give us
new fervor, new spirit, new power, and incentive to well doing.
For as Samson, wile possessed of his hair, had greater strength than
any man in the world, and when this was taken away from him, became as
weak as other men; so is the Christian soul strong when he has this Devotion,
and weak when he has it not.
And this is what St. Thomas desired to show in his definition, and,
without doubt, this is the greatest praise one could give to this virtue,
that, being of itself only one virtue, it is a stimulus and incentive to
all others. Let not him then that would travel by the path of virtues,
go without these spurs; for without them he will never be able to
arouse the evil beast of his nature form is sluggishness.
From what has been said it will be clearly seen, then, what is true
and real Devotion. For Devotion is not a certain tenderness of heart,
or sense of consolation which those who pray feel sometimes, unless there
be also a promptitude and disposition for good works, for, when at times
God would prove who are His own, it often happens that the one is found
and not the other. The truth is that form this Devotion and readiness
there often arises the consolation spoken of: and, on the other hand,
that very consolation and spiritual delight will increase the Devotion
itself, which is the readiness and incentive to well-doing. And,
therefore, God's servants may, with good reason, desire and ask for these
joys and consolations, not for the pleasure they give, but because they
are the means of increasing the Devotion which fits them for well-doing,
as the Prophet showed when he said, "I will run the way of Thy commandments,
when Thou has set my heart at liberty," (Ps. 119:32) that is, with the
joy of Thy consolation which was the cause of my readiness.
And now let us proceed to treat of those means by which this Devotion
is to be attained, and, since with this virtue are united all others leading
to the special knowledge of God, we will consider the means of attaining
to the perfection of Prayer and Contemplation, to the consolations of the
Holy Spirit and the love and wisdom of God, and to that union of our souls
with God, which is the goal of all spiritual life.
And this, lastly, is to consider the mans by which we may attain to
the possession of God Himself in this life, which is that Treasure of the
Gospel, the "Pearl of great price" for the possession of which the husbandman
joyfully despoiled himself of all that he had.
Hence it is we see that the highest aim of our theology is, that from
it we may learn the way to the Supreme Good, and may make this life to
become a ladder by which we may advance step by step to the eternal happiness
awaiting us.
Taken from the English Translation, A Golden Treatise
on Mental Prayer, edited by G. S. Hollings, S.S.J.E.,
(reedited by the Franciscan Archive), publ. by A. R. Mowbray & Co.
Ltd., 1904: a non-copyrighted edition.
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