The third question to answer, which has been on this blog in
other ways and through other words, is whether vocal prayer and not mental
prayer is sufficient for the life of holiness.
The answer is no. Garrigou-Lagrange writes that mental
prayer is like the soul to the body. This is a serious statement. Too many
Catholics rely on the Mass and oral prayer only. Vocal prayer is needed and,
indeed, for some of us in third orders, required for certain prayers. Saying
the rosary in a group gives a special indulgence not given to one saying the
rosary on one’s own.
But, the need for mental prayer cannot be denied. Follow the
tags on prayer and the perfection series on this blog for much information on
mental prayer.
Meditation is the beginning, followed by active
contemplation, and leading to the grace of passive contemplation. This is, for
most people, a slow process, but for some, so graced, a quick process. Many
saints who we know and love had great graces of contemplative prayer early.
Such saints as Padre Pio and Gemma Galgani were given intense graces of passive
contemplation early. Some had to go through a process which took many years,
such as Teresa of Avila. We must never compare ourselves with others on the
road to perfection.
Christ told St. Catherine that vocal prayer “abandons mental
prayer”. Christ said, “Let her be attentive when I visit her mind sometimes in one way and
sometimes in another, in a flash of self-knowledge or of contrition for sin,
sometimes in the broadness of My charity, and sometimes by placing before her
mind, in diverse ways, according to My pleasure and the desire of the soul, the
presence of My truth….The moment she is aware of my imminent presence she must
abandon vocal prayer; then, My visitation past, if there should be time, she
can resume the vocal prayers, which she had resolved to say…of course provided
it were not the divine office which clerics and religious are bound and are
obliged to say….”
God can “visit” a person in and through the Divine Office.
One of the problems is the over-busyness of too many orders which do not allow
time for those who are called into contemplative prayer. Part of the problem is
that there are too few nuns in some convents to do all the work needed to deal
with the day to day working of the convents, to the detriment of those who are
being visited by God and called into passive contemplation.
Another place the soul can be taken into prayer is through
the Eucharist.
Adoration can be a great gift as well for the learning and
involvement of contemplation.
St Catherine writes that the more the soul knows, the more
the soul loves and in loving much, “she tastes much”.
This answer to this third question is one which causes many
lay people anger. They cannot see that they absolutely must schedule time for
mental prayer. This is seen, and I have been told this bluntly, as a luxury.
Mental prayer is not a luxury, nor is silence in the day, nor is the reading
and study of Scripture and the works of the saints.
As many priests have told their congregations, if one is not
setting aside one hour a day for prayer, one is too busy and has a problem with
priorities.
I remind young people who are considering marriage to talk
about prayer before marriage. A man must help wife, especially when she is a
mother, find time for prayer daily. The same is true for the wife. She must
help her husband find an hour a day for prayer.
If we do not encourage each other to the life of holiness,
we shall fall back into mediocrity and from there, into evil quickly.
There is no safe medium in the spiritual life.