by Fr. Ferdinand-Donatien Joret, O.P.
In treating of holy meditation and of private prayer, Humbert de Romans asserts that they may be combined, although they are indeed essentially different. (1) We have gathered as much from our recent survey of St. Dominic engaged in the one and in the other.
Their chief differences, as forms of mental devotion, are as follows: Holy meditation is more strictly mental than are private prayers. The latter are perhaps best expressed by the now obsolete word " orisons " being religious petitions addressed to God. Holy meditation, on the other hand, is rather an elevation of the soul to God in order to contemplate Him.
Though fundamentally mental, the prayers of the early Friars often found expression in eager utterances which gushed from their souls and then were translated into bows, genuflections and prostrations. They were strongly influenced by the divine Office which they prolonged. Holy meditations, pursued without a book, are generally practised in silence and are assisted by quiet. They have an affinity with religious study.
Private prayers are more especially requests made to God in a spirit of the utmost respect and religious submissiveness by a soul who feels very insignificant and destitute in the presence of the Sovereign Master. Meditation may likewise be an exercise of the virtue of religion, also leading to prayer, but in quite a different way, for it causes the soul to reflect upon the perfections of God and upon our personal misery in order to induce us to have recourse to Him.
Meditations are sometimes inspired by the virtue of prudence which settles what we ought to do to lead our life aright. And it is to this purely moral meditation that the mental devotions of too many pious souls in the religious life and in the world are confined in these days. Dominican souls, whilst not underrating this kind of meditation, will prefer contemplative meditation in which they exercise their virtue of faith, reflecting upon the divine truth in order to arrive at contemplation in a simple and peaceful vision of God. We have seen how St. Dominic was wont to rise from meditation to contemplation.
We will now apply to St. Thomas for the principles which must underlie these various forms of meditation. Let us start by saying a few words about the lowest moral meditation. Religious meditation will come next and then contemplative meditation.
In treating of holy meditation and of private prayer, Humbert de Romans asserts that they may be combined, although they are indeed essentially different. (1) We have gathered as much from our recent survey of St. Dominic engaged in the one and in the other.
Their chief differences, as forms of mental devotion, are as follows: Holy meditation is more strictly mental than are private prayers. The latter are perhaps best expressed by the now obsolete word " orisons " being religious petitions addressed to God. Holy meditation, on the other hand, is rather an elevation of the soul to God in order to contemplate Him.
Though fundamentally mental, the prayers of the early Friars often found expression in eager utterances which gushed from their souls and then were translated into bows, genuflections and prostrations. They were strongly influenced by the divine Office which they prolonged. Holy meditations, pursued without a book, are generally practised in silence and are assisted by quiet. They have an affinity with religious study.
Private prayers are more especially requests made to God in a spirit of the utmost respect and religious submissiveness by a soul who feels very insignificant and destitute in the presence of the Sovereign Master. Meditation may likewise be an exercise of the virtue of religion, also leading to prayer, but in quite a different way, for it causes the soul to reflect upon the perfections of God and upon our personal misery in order to induce us to have recourse to Him.
Meditations are sometimes inspired by the virtue of prudence which settles what we ought to do to lead our life aright. And it is to this purely moral meditation that the mental devotions of too many pious souls in the religious life and in the world are confined in these days. Dominican souls, whilst not underrating this kind of meditation, will prefer contemplative meditation in which they exercise their virtue of faith, reflecting upon the divine truth in order to arrive at contemplation in a simple and peaceful vision of God. We have seen how St. Dominic was wont to rise from meditation to contemplation.
We will now apply to St. Thomas for the principles which must underlie these various forms of meditation. Let us start by saying a few words about the lowest moral meditation. Religious meditation will come next and then contemplative meditation.
Moral meditation itself is useful for the contemplative life. If we consult the Treatise that St. Thomas devotes to the latter, at the close of the Second Part of the Summa, we shall see that, after a first article upon the principal part played by divine love in the contemplation of God, he asks himself whether the moral virtues are not also necessary for this contemplation. Yes, he replies, they are needed to place the soul in the right disposition. It is they that impart the purity and the peace without which the soul, troubled by its passions within and by the disorders which assail it from without, is incapable of resting in the thought of God. At the same time, therefore, that the moral virtues are perfecting the soul on the plane of the active life, they are also preparing it to devote itself to contemplation.
"Let spiritual directors take special note of this," says Cajetan in his Commentary, "and let them make sure that their disciples are proficient in the active life before suggesting to them the summits of contemplation. One must conquer one's passions by habits of gentleness, of patience . . . of liberality, humility, etc., before it is possible, passions now subdued, to rise up to the contemplative life. For lack of this preliminary mortification, many who, instead of walking have bounded along the way of God, have found themselves, after a long period devoted to striving after contemplation, destitute of all virtues, impatient, passionate and proud at the least provocation. Such persons have not achieved the active life, nor the contemplative life, nor yet the mixed life : they have built upon the sand. And would to God that this defect were rare !" (2)
A form of meditation which plays a natural part in this ascetic preparation is moral meditation.
There is no question here of making theoretical considerations or of rising to lofty contemplation. We have to bring into play our practical reason, and the supernatural virtue of prudence to examine Carefully " the thing to do, the reasons for doing it, and the way to do it." These words, which are those of St. Thomas, (3) form a good summary of this sort of meditation which finds
favour with so many spiritual authors to-day. Its immediate outcome is a practical resolution, definite
and immediately realizable. It is with that end in view that we meditate, trying to convince ourselves firmly that a certain supernatural disposition is indispensable, and that we want to attain it. To deepen that conviction we consider the reasons which render that particular virtue desirable, and which make it incumbent on us to practise it.
To persuade ourselves of the need we have for it, we carefully review our sentiments, our words and our actions. Such a survey, 'if properly carried out, will arouse in our hearts keen regret for the past, and a steadfast determination to emerge from our present state.
We all know these formularies very excellent, no doubt, in their way. During a retreat of a decisive nature we do well to follow some such method, and it may prove helpful for a short daily examination upon some special virtue or practice.
But here we find ourselves faced with the question: Does this kind of meditation deserve to be called a prayer ? Only in so far as it begins by adoring God or Jesus, the model and exponent of Christian perfection, and as it appeals to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord for aid to enable us to participate in that perfection. Those two points alone differentiate it from the efforts of stoic moralists, past and present. In itself this kind of meditation is not prayer. And it is a mistake to devote to it the greater part of the time allotted to mental prayer.
It will be far better to append the practical part of such a meditation to the religious meditation which we shall now consider.
"Let spiritual directors take special note of this," says Cajetan in his Commentary, "and let them make sure that their disciples are proficient in the active life before suggesting to them the summits of contemplation. One must conquer one's passions by habits of gentleness, of patience . . . of liberality, humility, etc., before it is possible, passions now subdued, to rise up to the contemplative life. For lack of this preliminary mortification, many who, instead of walking have bounded along the way of God, have found themselves, after a long period devoted to striving after contemplation, destitute of all virtues, impatient, passionate and proud at the least provocation. Such persons have not achieved the active life, nor the contemplative life, nor yet the mixed life : they have built upon the sand. And would to God that this defect were rare !" (2)
A form of meditation which plays a natural part in this ascetic preparation is moral meditation.
There is no question here of making theoretical considerations or of rising to lofty contemplation. We have to bring into play our practical reason, and the supernatural virtue of prudence to examine Carefully " the thing to do, the reasons for doing it, and the way to do it." These words, which are those of St. Thomas, (3) form a good summary of this sort of meditation which finds
favour with so many spiritual authors to-day. Its immediate outcome is a practical resolution, definite
and immediately realizable. It is with that end in view that we meditate, trying to convince ourselves firmly that a certain supernatural disposition is indispensable, and that we want to attain it. To deepen that conviction we consider the reasons which render that particular virtue desirable, and which make it incumbent on us to practise it.
To persuade ourselves of the need we have for it, we carefully review our sentiments, our words and our actions. Such a survey, 'if properly carried out, will arouse in our hearts keen regret for the past, and a steadfast determination to emerge from our present state.
We all know these formularies very excellent, no doubt, in their way. During a retreat of a decisive nature we do well to follow some such method, and it may prove helpful for a short daily examination upon some special virtue or practice.
But here we find ourselves faced with the question: Does this kind of meditation deserve to be called a prayer ? Only in so far as it begins by adoring God or Jesus, the model and exponent of Christian perfection, and as it appeals to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord for aid to enable us to participate in that perfection. Those two points alone differentiate it from the efforts of stoic moralists, past and present. In itself this kind of meditation is not prayer. And it is a mistake to devote to it the greater part of the time allotted to mental prayer.
It will be far better to append the practical part of such a meditation to the religious meditation which we shall now consider.
NOTES:
(1) Humbert, Opera, Vol. II, p. 231
(2) Cajetan in Ham Hae, a. 182, a. i, VII
(3) De Veritate, q. 14, a. 4
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