Praying at night | The lost art of Catholic vigils.

Excerpt from Chastity: The Angelic Virtue  Chapter from Thomas a Kempis’ conferences given to his novices: “Simon, sleepest thou?  Could you not watch one hour with Me?  Watch ye, and pray: that you enter not into temptation. (Mark. iv. 37)  This voice, beloved brethren, is the voice of the heavenly King and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Who urges His soldiers to watch in the camp against the temptations of the devil.  What therefore the Lord watchfully addresses to blessed Peter and the other disciples: this also undoubtedly He says to us all.  Therefore, when the sacristan comes round at midnight and arouses us: let us be wakeful at once at the sound of the bell: and make ourselves ready by devout prayers to enter the choir: and hasten to meet the heavenly Bridegroom with burning torches. Let us endeavour, dearly beloved, manfully to cast off the sloth of the body: and sleepiness from our eyes.  Let us lift up our hands to Heaven, to praise our Creator with joyous voices and pure minds: lest perchance the most cunning enemy prevail against us.  It is a very bad habit of some, who in the dormitory or in bed lie long awake idly dreaming: and in the church and in choir slumber for lack of devotion.  These often harm themselves and others: they neither serve Christ manfully: nor pray faithfully for benefactors and the afflicted.  O silly brother of the race of sleepers and of the number of the foolish virgins, whose lamps, we read, went out in the night.  Arise, watch, pray: sing, read, toil.  Let not the mourning of the damned depart from thy eyes, the fearful clamour of the demons: the most grievous banishment from the presence of God and the joyous fellowship of the saints.  I tell thee that long vigils, long lessons, the daily Hours, silence, toil, and fast make a short Purgatory: and bring great joy.  It is strange that thou dost so easily feel weariness in the choir chanting or reading: and dost not grow weary with long conversing, or hearing news of the world.  Understand that this is the work of the devil: who strives in every way to hinder the divine worship: and to draw thee away from the church and the gathering of them that sing psalms."Photo credit: Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey  

The anatomy of mental prayer.

Excerpt from Chastity: The Angelic Virtue Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” + St. Teresa of Avila Mental prayer in general is an interior and silent prayer, by which the soul raises itself to God without the aid of words or formulas.  Mental prayer comprises three parts; the preparation, the body of the meditation, and the conclusion.  1) The preparation essentially consists in placing oneself in God’s presence.  2)  The body of the meditation is the chief part of this exercise.  We reflect on a subject, we turn it over in our mind again and again in order to become thoroughly impressed by it.  This work of the mind is not yet prayer, it is only introductory.  The other half is reserved for acts of the will which constitute the prayer proper; where certain affections arise of their own accord from the reflections we have been just making; thus, Our Saviour’s Passion excites love, gratitude, confidence, contrition, humility, etc.  The examination of ourselves gives rise to regret for the past and strong resolutions for the future.   3)  The conclusion consists in thanking God for the graces He has granted us during our prayer and recommend to Him our resolution.  To sum up then, after having placed ourselves in the Divine presence, we reflect upon a pious subject, examine ourselves, form suitable affections and petitions, make a resolution, and, having thanked God, we retire.  According to the beautiful doctrine of Monsignor Olier, mental prayer is a communion with the internal dispositions of Our Lord.   

Learning recollection from Our Lady.

Excerpt from The Interior of Mary “The kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17 : 21 “From the moment of the incarnation, Mary possessed within herself the author of grace. How close a union!  There is none more intimate in the order of nature, than that of a mother with the child of her womb.  Mary was already habituated to the practice of interior recollection, but how different the recollection in which she was now absorbed, a recollection of which she had not previously even an idea! She constantly enjoyed the presence of God, but how imperfectly in comparison with the present privilege, which authorized her to say, “God is really within me, he is more intimately present to me than I am to myself, and as my life is his, so his life is also mine.” Hitherto she prayed habitually, but now, it is Jesus Christ himself who prays in and with her, so that her prayer is one with the prayer of the Word incarnate.  She has no need to transport her thoughts and affections beyond their own sphere, in order to find her God, for she possesses him in herself.  Union with him has become in one sense her natural condition, the same divine Being who reposes from eternity in the bosom of the Father, dwelling in time in her chaste womb.  This last remark includes all that can be said of the interior of Mary, and nothing remains but to confess it incomprehensible.  As soon as Mary became Mother of God, she disappeared altogether from her own eyes.  Her finite nature was engulfed in the immensity of the self-existing Being she possessed in her womb, and as a drop of water is lost in the wide expanse of the ocean, so was she absorbed in the abyss of the Divinity.” Each Christian soul can follow this example of the Blessed Mother. At the moment of Baptism, the Church teaches that the Holy Spirit descends into the soul to establish a dwelling place. The soul, filled with sanctifying grace, enjoys God’s true presence-the indwelling Trinity, an interior castle where one can remain with God. In other words, the three divine Persons are present in the soul that is in the state of grace, so that it may know Them by faith and love Them by charity. Let us follow Our Lady’s example, and make it our goal to cultivate a habitual, loving awareness of God’s indwelling presence in our soul! Take a moment to prayerfully consider the words of St. John: “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him.” (John 14 : 23)