Defining prayer

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part II, Chapters 1-9
Group 3
(Anne, Tien-An, Javier)
6 October 2006

Group discussion the second part of the Introduction to the Devout Life.

• St. Francis de Sales begins Part II by giving us a definition about prayer. He says, “Prayer is opening our understanding to God’s brightness and light, and exposing our will to the warmth of his love.” (Ch. 1, paragraph 1) According to him, there are two kinds of prayer: vocal and mental. The latter, however is strongly recommended. Francis would say that mental prayer is much more complicated but if we take time to learn and to do it properly, it will bring many good fruits and effects to flourishing our spiritual life. When comparing mental prayer to vocal prayer, the saint says, “In fact, the mental prayer you have made in their place is much more pleasing to God and of greater benefit to yourself.” (Ch. 1 paragraph 8)

• St. Francis has a great gift of using graphic language. In his writing, we find many concrete, simple, and practical examples that are easy to understand. For instance in chapter 5 paragraph 3, he writes, “As long as you find sufficient attraction, light and fruit in one of these reflections, stop there without moving on to another. Be like the bees who do not leave a flower as long as they find honey to gather there.” When he wants to challenge us to be concentrated and not to suddenly interrupt our holy and peaceful moment right after meditation, he gives us this example, “A man is given some liquid of great value to take home in a bowl of beautiful porcelain. He will walk carefully, not looking to one side or the other. He will look sometimes in front, for fear of tripping over a stone or making a false step. Sometimes, he will look at his bowl to see that it is not leaning to one side.” (Ch. 8 paragraph 4)

• St. Francis believes that after finishing the contemplation, we should come up with deliberate decisions and put them into practice. He strongly emphasizes that we put into practice what we have been contemplating, “Meditation is very often not only useless but even harmful. In fact, merely to meditate on virtues and not to practice them, sometimes makes our minds and our emotions swell with pride.” (Ch. 9 paragraph 1)

• Some of us are surprised that the act of oblation is one of the three acts of bringing the meditation to a close. “We offer to God his goodness and mercy, and death, the suffering… our own good movements of the will and our deliberate decisions.” (Ch. 7 paragraph 2) We believe that God’s goodness is far better than our own.

• We learn from these chapters about the virtue of perseverance in meditation. We like the quote in Genesis: “I will not let you go, Lord, unless you bless me.” (Gen. 32:26) Francis also convinces us not to worry, panic, and give up with our dryness sometimes. If it is necessary we can come to meditate with the attitude as if we were fulfilling our duty. Even when we have not found favor with God, we should keep in mind that “it is a very great honor indeed to be near God and be seen by Him.” (Ch. 9, last paragraph)

Tien An