aeternus

A continued thought from yesterday’s post on St. Teresa, the Paternoster and mental/vocal prayer…

If we are to pray our vocal prayers with love and attention then we must also pray the liturgy with this same love, devotion and attention. In 1963 the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy produced the document SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM which was meant to help increase the vigor of the faithful Christian’s life. In it we are encouraged to participate in the Sacred Liturgy in the same way as St. Teresa is encouraging us to do. I’ve added emphasis where I felt it important and beautiful.

Here is an excerpt:

… the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord’s supper.

The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful, filled with “the paschal sacraments,” to be “one in holiness”; it prays that “they may hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faith”; the renewal in the eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.

But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain.

Next time you are at mass allow yourself to enter into the mystery you are participating in. Each word of the mass can be like each word of the Paternoster you recite. If we allow the words of the Council and St. Teresa to seep into our conscious minds, we can set into practice and unite our souls in love and thankfulness to the Father’s Mercy and Love for us.

Today, Thank Him for the Eucharist you receive as it nourishes your soul in ways so deeply penetrating you may not even be aware of the depths!

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Since today’s Mass reading was from Matthew 6:7-15 where Our Lord teaches us how to pray by giving us the words to the “Our Father”, I thought it would be a good time to refer to St. Teresa of Avila who spoke so very long and well about the Paternoster. Indeed, Teresa tells us of how a nun she knew could almost never finish the prayer for she was wrapped in the beauty and mystery of each word. The nun would find herself lost in contemplation before she finished a few lines of the prayer.

Teresa also teaches us, however, that when we recite the prayer, we should pay CLOSE ATTENTION to what we are saying and doing as she rightly councils we must remember to WHOM we are praying. She warns us not to recite the words flippantly or casually. She reminds us that these words were chosen carefully for us by our Lord and Master who wanted us to show our love for our Heavenly Father the creator of the Universe.

So, indeed, as the Word has given us the words, let us recite them with the love, ardor and affection which we have in our hearts. In Chapter 22 of the Way of Perfection, Teresa, the Doctor of Prayer, teaches us how mental prayer is a part of vocal prayer and in fact, vocal prayer MUST be accompanied by reflection.

Here is Teresa:

St. Teresa of Avila — The Way of Perfection
CHAPTER 22
Explains the meaning of mental prayer.

“You must know, daughters, that whether or no you are practicing mental prayer has nothing to do with keeping the lips closed. If, while I am speaking with God, I have a clear realization and full consciousness that I am doing so, and if this is more real to me than the words I am uttering, then I am combining mental and vocal prayer. When people tell you that you are speaking with God by reciting the Paternoster and thinking of worldly things — well, words fail me. When you speak, as it is right for you to do, with so great a Lord, it is well that you should think of Who it is that you are addressing, and what you yourself are, if only that you may speak to Him with proper respect. How can you address a king with the deference due to him, or how can you know what ceremonies have to be used when speaking to a grandee, unless you are clearly conscious of the nature of his position and of yours? It is because of this, and because it is the custom to do so, that you must behave respectfully to him, and must learn what the custom is, and not be careless about such things, or you will be dismissed as a simpleton and obtain none of the things you desire.

Do Thou never allow it to be thought right, Lord, for those who praise Thee and come to speak with Thee to do so with their lips alone. What do you mean, Christians, when you say that mental prayer is unnecessary? Do you understand what you are saying? I really do not think you can. And so you want us all to go wrong: you cannot know what mental prayer is, or how vocal prayers should be said, or what is meant by contemplation. For, if you knew this, you would not condemn on the one hand what you praise on the other.

Whenever I remember to do so, I shall always speak of mental and vocal prayer together, daughters, so that you may not be alarmed. I know what such fears lead to,[83] for I have suffered a certain number of trials in this respect, and so I should be sorry if anyone were to unsettle you, for it is very bad for you to have misgivings while you are walking on this path. It is most important that you should realize you are making progress; for if a traveler is told that he has taken the wrong road, and has lost his way, he begins to wander to and fro and the constant search for the right road tires him, wastes his time and delays his arrival. Who can say that it is wrong if, before we begin reciting the Hours or the Rosary, we think Whom we are going to address, and who we are that are addressing Him, so that we may do so in the way we should? I assure you, sisters, that if you gave all due attention to a consideration of these two points before beginning the vocal prayers which you are about to say you would be engaging in mental prayer for a very long time. For we cannot approach a prince and address him in the same careless way that we should adopt in speaking to a peasant or to some poor woman like ourselves, whom we may address however we like.”

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There is a very beautiful little media presentation entitled
“Angels of the Passion - Meditations of Jesus’ Last Hours”
There is a low bandwith presentation and a high one (for dsl and cable modem users). I really enjoy the Latin and the translations that they use to describe the little media exhibit, I wish they had included them in the actual presentation.