Mental Prayer: Drawing Closer to God
St. Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians tells Christians "to put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destines us for wrath, but to obtain salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether wake or sleep we might live with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:8-9). He goes on to urge us to "Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" ( 1 Thes. 5: 16-18).
To pray constantly is a way of life for the Christian, but doing so one can use vocal prayers, such as the Our Father and Hail Mary, which are found in Holy Scripture. The greatest prayer is the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross wherein Christ offered himself to the Father, which Christ himself urged the Apostles to offer (see Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:25) as a living remembrance. The Church continues this sacred trust in every Mass. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) notes, "Jesus fulfilled the work of the Father completely: his prayer, like his sacrifice, extends until the end of time" (CCC 2749). Certainly, the Church also urges us to pray the Holy Rosary along with meditating on the mysteries of the life of Christ. If this is done properly, the Rosary is a meditation on the Life of Christ, not limited to vocal prayer, but expanding into fruitful meditation.
Beyond vocal prayer, lays the realm of mental prayer. This is talking to God from the heart with love, the silent lifting up of our heart and mind to God to become, as St. Teresa of Avila put it, friends with God. We distinguish it from the practice of meditation because it involves making resolutions to do the good action proposed by our mind. Meditation puts our mind on God while mental prayer employs our will to do good and thus builds our virtues. St. John Chrysostom wrote, "Nothing is equal to prayer, for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult easy . . . .For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin" (Quoted in CCC 2744). St. Alphonsus de Liguori in his treatise Prayer the Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection considered mental prayer necessary to persevere in grace and overcome temptations. It fosters contrition for sin, humility of soul and greater love for God.
As St. Paul urges we must become conformed to Christ for we were reborn in Him by virtue of our Baptism and we commune with Him in the Holy Eucharist. A classic work on how to do Mental Prayer with practical exercises was St. Francis de Sales', Introduction to the Devout Life. We will share some of its gems with you in a future page, but for now, I urge you to get it and put it into practice on your own. You can read it online by clicking here.
