Mental Prayer

"Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin. How can the Holy Spirit be our life if our heart is far from him? Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult, easy.... For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin.  Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned."  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2744)

These are strong words from the Church on the necessity of prayer in our lives.  I used to think that I understood what the Church was saying here, and I used to think that I knew what mental prayer was, that it was any prayer said interiorly in the mind.  However, that is a very general and loose definition for this method of prayer of which St. Teresa of Avila says, “He who neglects mental prayer needs not a devil to carry him to hell, but he brings himself there with his own hands.”  Hearing these words from this great saint prompted me to take a deeper look.  In this search, I found that many Doctors of the Church have spoken just as strongly about the practice of mental prayer.  St Alphonsus Liguori says that “those in mortal sin can persevere in these other practices [other forms of prayer], but nobody can continue the practice of mental prayer in the state of mortal sin. He will either repent or quit the practice of mental prayer” (The Practice of Mental Prayer by Brother Andre Marie. Catholicism.org).

What exactly is mental prayer and how does one pray this way?  Describing mental prayer, St. Teresa of Avila said in The Way of Perfection., “We need no wings to go in search of God, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon Him present within us.”  It is a discipline that forms the habit of prayer in our life and the foundation for a deep interior life.  Both St. Alphonsus and St. Teresa highlight 3 steps to mental prayer.  St. Alphonsus’ first step is the preparation.  He gives us these acts to pray in preparation: “My God, I believe that You are here present, and I adore You with all my heart. I deserve at this moment to be burning in hell for my sins; O my God, I am sorry for having offended You; pardon me. Eternal Father, grant me light in this meditation, that I may profit by it.”  Then say a Hail Mary to the divine Mother, and a Glory be to the Father, etc., in honor of St. Joseph, of your guardian angel, and of your holy patron.  St. Teresa’s first step is searching for God.  We must search for Him because we love Him.  “Mental prayer makes no sense to the loveless soul. Other prayers, for example, petitions or thanksgiving, even liturgical worship, can be said with little or no conscious love of God. Not so mental prayer.  It is by definition in Teresa’s view nothing but friendly conversation with Him Who we know loves us. ‘The important thing in mental prayer,’ she says, ‘is not to think much but to love much’” (The Published Articles of Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm., “St. Teresa of Avila Speaks on Mental Prayer,” pg 420).

For St. Alphonsus, the second step is meditation.  He says to read a meditation from Scripture or other spiritual reading…”yet whilst reading we should stop at those passages in which the soul finds that it is receiving nourishment; and we should try to produce acts of humility, of thanksgiving, especially of contrition and love, of resignation and self-offering. We should say: O Lord! dispose of me as You please; help me to know all that You require of me: I wish to please You in all things. We should especially apply ourselves to making petitions, in asking God to grant us holy perseverance, his love, light, and strength, that we mostly need in order to do his holy will, and to pray always.”  St. Teresa’s second step is being willing to be alone with God.  She says that prayer is the door to God’s great favors, and “Once this door is closed, I do not see how He will bestow His favors for though He may wish to take His delight in the soul and give the soul delight, there is no way for Him to do so since He must have it alone and pure and desirous of receiving His favors.”  At times we may not feel like being alone with or like praying, but this is a difficulty that can be overcome through detachment from ourselves and the forming of the habit and discipline of prayer.  “Some of the best prayers are said when we don’t feel like praying, when we are tired and sluggish or burdened with self-pity and depression. When we are heavy, so opaque, so closed in on ourselves that only a heroic effort of our will keeps us kneeling at our prayer. It is this will to be alone with God and to talk with Him that distinguishes true prayer from delusion, because this will is the love of God.  Such love forms the habit of prayer." (The Published Articles of Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm., “St. Teresa of Avila Speaks on Mental Prayer,” pg 421).

The third step, the conclusion, St. Alphonsus says, is made thus: “We make the resolution to avoid some particular sin into which we fall the most often. We should finish by saying an Our Father and, a Hail Mary, and never forget, in meditation, to recommend to God the souls in Purgatory, and all poor sinners.”   For St. Teresa the third step is looking upon God present within us.  “Once they are conscious of Our Lord’s presence within their souls they need only look upon Him and conversation will follow.  This friendly conversation will not be much thinking but much loving, not a torrent of words, much less a strained prepared speech, but rather a relaxed conversation with moments of silence as there must be between friends.” (The Published Articles of Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm., “St. Teresa of Avila Speaks on Mental Prayer,” pg 422).  This conversation will surely lead to the rooting out of sin in our lives.  St. Teresa also encourages the use of supports such as books, holy cards, and nature.

I have been told that 30 mins a day is a good practice for those who are beginning mental prayer.  And that the main thing is to persevere.  As St. Teresa said, “We don’t go to mental prayer to feel good or enjoy a spiritual experience. These are secondary aspects at best. We go to protest our desire to accept God’s love, to allow Him to take over in our lives.”  Persevering in this type of prayer is sure to have great rewards, whether we can see the goodness of our prayer or not.  “…real prayer exists when one strives to make contact with God whatever success is had, and [] the measure of prayer’s perfection is the love that inspires it. (The Published Articles of Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm., “St. Teresa of Avila Speaks on Mental Prayer,” pg 422).  Let us love, then, and the perfection of our prayers will follow!

The St. Alphonsus quotations are taken from St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Incarnation Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ, Rev Eugene Grimm Trans., Redemptorist Fathers Brooklyn Publishers (1927) p. 445. Imprimatur +Patrick Cardinal Hayes, 1927.

Written by Kristen