Читать книгу The Practice of Mental Prayer - Father Rene de Maumigny - Страница 49

PRINCIPAL ACTS OF PRAYER

Prayer is likewise a hymn praising God's glory: I will sing to the Name of the Lord, the most High!¹ O God I will sing to Thee with the harp, Thou holy One of Israel!"² And again: "To Thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle; on the psaltery and an instru- ment of ten strings I will sing praises to Thee!"³

In this sacred canticle, the soul is the living instrument, the Holy Ghost the Divine Artist Who touches it. When He is not present, the harp remains silent, but when He enters our heart to touch its strings our soul resounds with melody and becomes so pleasing to God that He never tires of listen- ing to it and saying to it: Arise, my love, my beautiful one, . . . let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet."⁴ We must implore this Divine Spirit to come to our assistance.

In short, God never refuses His grace to a just soul in its efforts to pray, but He only gives it in abundance to those who, like the Apostles in the Cenacle, ask for it in

¹ Ps. 7: 18. ² Ps. 70: 22.

³ Ps. 143: 9. ⁴ Cant. 2: 13, 14.

PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER

prayer, supplication and tears. The peti- tion must be fervent.

Let us examine how, in practice, this request may be suitably made.

St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises coun- sels the following prayer: I will ask Christ our Lord that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed purely to the service and praise of His Divine Majesty."¹ St. Francis Xavier had a special affection for the "Veni, Creator Spiritus." Other Saints preferred the Veni, Sancte Spiritus." Here again, the prayer is essential, but a set form of words is not; each is free to choose for himself.

After praying to the Holy Ghost, it is a useful practice to invoke the Holy Angels, to whom divine Wisdom has entrusted the office of assisting us in prayer. "When thou didst pray with tears, I offered thy prayer to the Lord,"² the angel Raphael said to Tobias. And with the same mean- ing David said; I will sing praises to thee in the sight of the Angels." ³

Angels have been assigned to us, too, by

¹ Spiritual Exercises, Week 1, Exerc. 1.

³ Tob. 12: 3. ⁴ Ps. 137: 1.