The School of Love, February 25

SOME HINTS ON PRAYER, Part II

IN our last essay on this subject we made an attempt to let souls understand that often enough the chief hindrance to progress in prayer is just our own way of praying; we cling sometimes too much to our adopted forms of prayer, good as they are in them­selves, and so chain down the mind and heart, preventing them from raising themselves spontaneously to God.

Let it never be for­gotten that spontaneous prayer, straight from the heart, however feebly it be worded, is always better than prayer of form, and is always likely to lead to higher things.

Fixed forms are good, and are even necessary, because often enough the soul is unable to express itself; but when it can express itself, then let it do so, speaking to God face to face so far as it is permitted.

We come now to a second consideration which naturally follows from the first, and it is this: If our own expression of our hearts in prayer is better than any other, and if our own expression of ourselves never wears out or becomes a mere form whereas other kinds, however good, are liable to be outgrown, it becomes important that the soul should train itself in self-expression in prayer, so that suffi­cient words may come spontaneously to it.

This is one of the great values of ejaculatory prayers, and of short phrases from the Scrip­ture, such as

"My Lord and my God,"
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,"
"For thou, O Lord, art sweet and gentle, and of much mercy to all who hope in thee,"
"Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee;"

phrases such as these crystallise our thoughts, and the heart when it endeavours to leap up to God finds in them an easy and spontaneous form of speech.

These, then, should be collected and often used; and there is no man or woman in the world, however "unspiritual," however preoccupied with busi­ness, but can practise this method, anywhere, everywhere, and realise its benefit.

For some, indeed, this form of prayer, once adopted, abundantly suffices; it leads of itself to almost everything else. For others it is easier to train the soul in self-expression by means of definite acts of faith:

"Lord, I believe, help my unbelief;"

of hope:

"In thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me not be con­founded for ever;"

of humility:

"Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof;"

of contrition:

"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;"

and so on....

[Continued tomorrow]
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From The School of Love and Other Essays
by The Most Reverend Alban Goodier, S.J.
Burns, Oates, & Washburn, Ltd. 1918