Читать книгу The Practice of Mental Prayer - Father Rene de Maumigny - Страница 58

PRINCIPAL ACTS OF PRAYER

CHAPTER VII

THE ACT OF FAITH THE MOST PERFECT OF THE ACTS WHICH THE INTELLECT CAN MAKE IN PRAYER

"FAITH," according to the Council of the Vatican, **is a supernatural virtue by which, prevented and helped by the grace of God, we believe what has been revealed by Him, not on account of the intrinsic truth of the matters as grasped by the natural light of reason, but on the authority of God Him- self Who reveals them and cannot deceive nor be deceived." ¹

In meditating, the truths under considera- tion must be known not only by reason, but further, by faith. Prayer may be com- pared to a supernatural edifice; its founda- tion, therefore, an act of the intellect, must also be supernatural. So when meditating on God's perfections as revealed by reason —such as His infinite Wisdom, Justice, and so on—the certainty arising from the natural light of reason alone cannot suffice. We

¹ Sess. 3, c. 3.