Page:Prayerbookforrel00lasa 0.djvu/70

 to convince  people  how  easy  and  simple  a  matter  mental prayer really  is,  and  how  the  difficulty  is  far  more  imaginary than  real. This difficulty  often  rises  from  not  having grasped  the  true  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  mental prayer, and  the  false  idea  of  the  exercise  once  formed,  is often  never  corrected,  the  consequence  being  that  the practice is  either  abandoned  in  disgust,  or  persevered  in with  extreme  repugnance,  and  little  fruit.

One common  cause  of  misunderstanding,  perhaps  the most common  of  all,  is  the  custom  of  calling  the  whole exercise by  the  name  of  one  subordinate  and  not  most important part,  that  is  meditation. From this,  the  idea arises that  it  is  a  prolonged  spiritual  study,  drawn  out  at length  with  many  divisions  and  much  complicated  process, and this  notion  frightens  many  good  souls,  and  makes them fall  back  on  vocal  prayer  alone. They imagine that the  soul  must  preach  a  discourse  to  itself,  and  they feel no  talent  for  preaching. Many, if  they  spoke  their minds clearly,  would  say,  "I  can  not  meditate,  but  if  I might  be  allowed  to  pray  during  that  time  instead,  I could  do  very  Weill"  This  is  no  imaginary  case,  as  any one who  has  had  any  experience  will  testify,  and  this miserable misunderstanding  that  so  often  holds  souls back for  years,  is  partly  brought  about  by  defective  teaching, but  partly  also  by  the  name  meditation  being  used, instead of  the  more  comprehensive  one  of  mental  prayer.

Mental prayer  properly  understood,  will  be  found  to be  easy  and  within  the  power  of  all  who  desire  salvation. Of course  there  are  many  degrees  of  prayer,  and  to  pray perfectly is  no  doubt  a  matter  of  great  difficulty,  but  to pray  well  and  in  a  way  very  pleasing  to  God,  and  very profitable to  the  soul,  is  an  easy  and  simple  matter. If we remember  how  many  thousands  have  excelled  in mental  prayer  though  not  even  able  to  read,  we  shall  see that this  holy  exercise  can  not  require  any  special  power of mind  or  any  degree  of  culture. St. Isidore,  a  farm laborer, is  an  example  of  a  man  utterly  devoid  of  human