The School of Love, February 28

SOME HINTS ON PRAYER, Part II

[continued from yesterday]

Or again one may thus draw out a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. One comes into the presence of Our Lord. One realises Him, one realises oneself, one has in mind what it is one wishes to express; and the prayer may take a form such as this:

A VISIT TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Jesus, Jesus Christ,
Jesus, Son of God,
Jesus, God made Man,
Jesus, truly man,
Jesus, with a greatly loving Heart,
Jesus, here present,
You are,
You love me,
You have proved it wonderful1y,
In your own life and in mine,
In ways I know,
In ways I do not know;
I am a poor creature,
I have done endless harm,
I have hurt you,
I am sorry,
I would do better,
But I cannot trust myself,
I seem incapable of any good,
And yet you want me
To be yours, live with you,
Work with you, die with you,
You know I cannot of myself,
I cannot keep from hurting you,
Yet you pity me, love me,
Even me,
And you have chosen even me,
Then I rely on you,
I have no other help,
Keep me from doing evil,
Keep me from hurting you,
Make me true in myself,
Make me true to you,
You can if you will,
And if I will,
And I do will so far as I am able,
I have no other hope,
I give you myself,
In spite of, against, my own opposition;

and the prayer may fitly conclude with the Anima Christi, or any other form of prayer which the soul prefers.

The length of time such a prayer will take is quite indefinite. At one time, when the soul is sluggish or distracted, or when the body is weary, it may be short, at another time it may easily expand into an hour; in either case the effort should be made to be very real, to mean exactly what we say, to delay until we are sure that we mean it, speaking to Our Lady or Our Lord directly, as to a personal friend in whose presence we are.

If this is done it will soon be found that many more steps can be made between those here suggested, each soul having its own particular thoughts, reflections and manners of expressing its love and con­trition.

Such prayer is among the most satisfying to the human soul, and is far easier than those think who have not tried it. But who has not tried it, however unconsciously?

For who has not striven at some time to utter to God his soul exactly as it is, and what is the prayer here suggested but this? Let us bear in mind the words of a great saint of prayer: "It is not abundance of knowledge that satisfies the soul, but to feel and relish things internally."
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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