As a master of the interior life and a gifted spiritual director, St. Francis de Sales offers an abundance of wisdom for the soul seeking to grow in prayer. Here, he discusses the heart of prayer including the types of prayer, exterior reverence during prayer, and mental prayer.
Types Of Prayer
In prayer we go to God in two ways, both of which have been recommended to us by Our Lord and commanded by our Holy Mother the Church—namely, sometimes we pray directly to God, and at other times indirectly, as when we say the anthems of Our Lady, the Salve Regina and others. When we pray directly we exercise the filial confidence which is founded upon faith, hope and charity; when we pray indirectly and through the intercession of another, we practice the holy humility which springs from self-knowledge. When we go directly to God we proclaim His goodness and mercy, in which we place all our confidence; but when we pray indirectly, that is, when we implore the assistance of Our Lady, of the saints and of the blessed, it is so that we might better be received by the Divine Majesty, and then we proclaim His greatness and omnipotence, and the reverence which we owe Him.
Exterior Reverence When Praying
Our Mother the Church indicates all the postures she wishes us to assume in reciting the Office: Sometimes she will have us standing, sometimes sitting, then kneeling; sometimes with the head covered, sometimes uncovered; but all these positions and postures are nothing other than prayers. All the ceremonies of the Church are full of very great mysteries, and humble, simple, devout people find the greatest consolation in assisting at them. What do you think that the palms which we carry in our hands today signify? Nothing other than our asking God that He render us victorious by the merits of the victory which Our Lord won for us on the tree of the cross.
When we are at the Office we must be careful to observe the postures prescribed for us by the rubrics; but in our private prayers, what reverence ought we to have? In private prayer, we are before God as in public prayer, although in public prayer we ought to be particularly attentive on account of the edification of our neighbor; exterior reverence is a great aid to the interior. We have many examples which witness to the great exterior reverence which we ought to have when praying, even though it be private prayer. Listen to St. Paul: I kneel, he says, before the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ for you all. [Cf. Eph. 3:14 ]. And don’t you see that the Savior Himself, while praying to His Father, is prostrate to the ground? [Cf. Mt. 26:39 and Mk. 14:35 ].
Here is one more example. l think you know that the great hermit St. Paul lived for many years in the desert. St. Antony [of the Desert], having gone to see him, found him in prayer. After speaking with him, St. Antony left him. But having come a second time to visit him, he found St. Paul in the same position as before, his head raised and his eyes fixed on Heaven, kneeling upright, with hands joined. St. Antony, having already waited for him a long time, began to wonder, because he did not hear him sigh as usual; he then raised his eyes and looked into his face and found that he was dead. It seems that St. Paul’s body, which had prayed so much during life, continued to pray after his death. In short, it is necessary that the whole person pray.
Mental Prayer
Let us now speak of mental prayer; and if it pleases you, I shall show you, through a comparison with the Temple of Solomon, how there are four levels in the soul. [Cf. St. Francis de Sales: Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. 1, ch. 12]. In that Temple there was first a court which was set aside for the Gentiles, so that no one might be able to excuse himself from divine worship. It was because there was no nation which could not come to render praise in that place that this Temple was so pleasing to the Divine Majesty. The second court was destined for the Jews, both men and women, though later a separation was made in order to avoid the scandals which might arise in such a mixed assembly. Then, mounting higher, there was another place for the priests, and finally there was a court destined for the cherubim and their Master, where the Ark of the Covenant rested and where God manifested His will, and this place was called the Sancta Sanctorum [that is, the Holy of Holies].
Four Parts Of Mental Prayer
Now in mental prayer there are four parts, the first of which is meditation; the second, contemplation; the third, ejaculations; and the fourth, a simple attention to the presence of God. The first is made by way of meditation, in this manner: We take a mystery, for instance Our Lord crucified. Then having pictured Him to ourselves thus, we consider His virtues: the love which He bore to His Father, which made Him suffer death, even death on a cross [Cf. Phil. 2:8 ], rather than displease Him, or to speak better, in order to please Him; the great gentleness, humility and patience with which He suffered so many injuries; and finally, His immense charity toward those who put Him to death, praying for them amidst His most excruciating sufferings.
[Cf. Lk. 23:34 ]. Having considered all these points, our affections will be moved with an ardent desire to imitate Him in His virtues; we will then implore the Eternal Father to render us true images of His Son. [Cf. Rom. 8:29].
Parting Prayer
Oh, how happy we shall be if we ever reach Heaven; for there we shall meditate, looking at and considering all the works of God in detail, and we shall see that each of them is good; we shall contemplate, and shall see that all together they are very good, and we shall dart forth eternally in Him. It is there that I wish you to be. Amen.
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This article is taken from a chapter in The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales: On Prayer by St. Francis de Sales which is available from TAN Books.
