Section — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis
§ 1. On the Notion and Division of Prayer
331. Name. The name prayer is employed in one way by profane writers and in another in theology. St. Jerome writes concerning this matter: "According to grammarians, oratio is every discourse of those speaking, whose etymology they explain thus: Oratio is the reason of the mouth. But in the sacred Scriptures we rarely read oratio according to this sense, but rather that which pertains to prayers and supplications."19 St. Thomas aptly explains from this etymological derivation of oratio, as though oratio were the reason of the mouth,20 how prayer taken in the theological sense is an act of reason, and thence he deduces its real definition.21
19 Ep. ad Cypr. 139 (140); in Migne, Patr. lat. 22, 1168.
20 Reason of the mouth (Vernunft des Mundes).
21 S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 1 and a. 17 ad 3.
332. Definition. In the theological sense, prayer is ordinarily taken in three ways:
In the general sense, for any act of religion, and indeed for the whole religious life. Hence that saying of St. Augustine: The best prayer is a just life. Thus also the Ordinary Gloss22 explains the admonition of Christ and the Apostle, "Pray without ceasing," saying: "Always live justly; for the just man never ceases to pray unless he ceases to be just; therefore he always prays who always acts well." Prayer accepted in this general sense has been called vital prayer, concerning which St. Catherine of Siena treats well.23
In the broad sense, for every pious movement of the mind toward God. In this sense the holy Fathers often speak concerning prayer, e.g., St. Gregory of Nyssa:24 "Prayer is converse and conversation with God"; St. John Chrysostom:25 "Prayer is speech to God"; St. Augustine:26 "What is prayer except the ascent of the soul from earthly things to heavenly things, the seeking of things above, and the desire of invisible things?" and: "Prayer is the conversion of the mind to God through a pious and humble affection."27 The words of St. John Damascene28 are most well known: "Prayer is the ascent of the mind to God." In this broad sense of prayer he also prays who elicits acts of faith, hope, and charity; who meditates on the divine mysteries; who praises God; who gives thanks to God for benefits conferred, etc. But not every elevation of the mind to God is prayer in this sense; for he who thinks about divine things solely for the sake of learning or teaching does not pray. Therefore a pious movement of the mind toward God is always required for prayer, namely, one which is made for the sake of venerating him.
In the strict sense, for deprecatory prayer. In this sense there is the almost classical and most well-known definition likewise given by St. John Damascene:29 "Prayer is the petition of fitting things from God." St. Thomas30 also adopts this definition, and St. Bruno the Carthusian aptly explains it, saying: "Prayer is the reason of the mouth which we, bowed down, offer, laying open our desires."31 But in order that our petition directed to God be true prayer, it is required that it concern things which are fitting and lawful. For prayer is an act of religion or of the worship of God. But he who would ask indecent and illicit things from the most holy God would not worship God, but mock him.
Prayer is an act of religion. It is not difficult to prove that prayer accepted in the second and third senses is truly an act of the virtue of religion. For by praying we acknowledge the divine power and goodness and profess our need and dependence upon God. All these things constitute true worship of God. The Angelic Doctor writes to the point:32 "It belongs properly to religion to offer reverence and honor to God; and therefore all those things through which reverence is offered to God belong to religion. But through prayer man offers reverence to God, insofar, namely, as he subjects himself to him and, by praying, professes that he needs him as the author of his goods. Hence it is manifest that prayer is properly an act of religion." Therefore we aptly pray: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight."33 For good prayer is sweet-smelling incense before the divine majesty.
From these things it follows that the principal end of every prayer ought to be divine worship. Therefore when someone prays, e.g., for health to be recovered, he ought first and principally to intend divine worship and his own subjection under God; secondarily, however, he can desire his health. Hence at least implicitly he ought to say to himself: I ask health from the best and greatest God, provided this is the good pleasure of his adorable providence. For the rest, in practice any prayer made with true confidence includes by that very fact this due veneration of God. For no one would pray with confidence unless he were inwardly convinced of the divine omnipotence and goodness and unless he felt his own need.
22 On 1 Thess. 5:17; cf. Ecclus. 18:23 and Luke 18:1.
23 Dialogue, c. 66.
24 Orat. 1 de orat. dominic. (Migne, Patr. graec. 44, 1125).
25 In Gen. hom. 30, n. 5 (Migne, l.c. 53, 280).
26 Sermon 73. This text is frequently cited by both ancient and modern authors, but it is listed by Migne among the spurious sermons of St. Augustine.
27 Lib. de spiritu et anima (Migne, Patr. lat. 39, 1887).
28 De fide l. 3, c. 24 (Migne, Patr. graec. 94, 1090).
29 L.c.
30 S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 1.
31 In Migne, Patr. lat. 142, 169.
32 S. theol., l.c., a. 3.
33 Ps. 140:2.
333. What do we intend by praying? It must be kept before the eyes that in deprecatory prayers we by no means intend to manifest our necessities to God, since the omniscient God knows them even before our manifestation. Nor do we wish by our prayers to change the decrees of divine providence, since this is impossible because of God's immutability. The nearly primary end of our deprecatory prayer, besides divine worship, is to remove the obstacles existing in ourselves which impede the fulfillment of our desire.34 For through prayer clothed with due conditions we are rendered fit to receive divine benefits.
For in praying we exercise nearly all the virtues: humility, by professing that we are weak and totally dependent upon God; faith, by believing in God's omnipotence and goodness; hope, by hoping for his assistance; charity, by tending toward a close union with God. Hence Hugh of St. Victor35 rightly says: "Prayer is the devotion of the mind, i.e., a conversion to God through a humble and pious affection supported by faith, hope, and charity." And the Roman Catechism36 teaches: "God therefore wishes us to employ this exercise of prayer, so that, burning with zeal for asking what we desire, we may advance by such assiduity and desire to the point that we are worthy that those benefits be conferred upon us which our soul, previously empty and confined, was unable to receive."
Since good and salutary prayer is so excellent a means both of our eternal salvation and of obtaining other goods, we need the grace of God in order to pray well. Hence the words: "The Spirit helpeth our infirmity; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh," i.e., causes us to ask, "for us with unspeakable groanings."37
To explain the essence of prayer still better, it is useful to note certain things concerning the remote and proximate subject of prayer.
34 St. Augustine expresses this beautifully: "The rational creature offers prayers to God ... that it itself may be built up, not that God may be instructed" (De gratia N. Testam. c. 29, in Migne, Patr. lat. 33, 568). Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 2, and Summa c. gent. III, 96.
35 De modo orandi c. 1 (Migne, Patr. lat. 176, 979).
36 Part 4, c. 2, q. 9.
37 Rom. 8:26.
334. The remote subject of prayer is the same as the remote subject of religion, since prayer is an act of the virtue of religion. It can be said generally: All those are the remote subject of prayer, or can truly pray, who can and wish with pious affection to subject themselves to the divine majesty, acknowledging their own need and dependence. Hence the following cannot pray rightly:
Those in whom all true humility is lacking. Therefore it is related concerning the giants of the Old Testament: "The ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins, who were destroyed trusting to their own strength."38
The demons and the damned. But if Satan asked from God permission to tempt Job, or if the demons cast out from the Gerasenes asked to enter the swine, or if the rich man who rejected Lazarus, buried in hell, asked that his tongue be cooled with water, or if the same man asked that Lazarus be sent to his father's house to warn his brothers, all these petitions are not true prayers which worship God, but only desires manifested.
On the contrary, the following can pray:
All sinners and even men who are not predestined. The contrary opinion of John Wycliffe and Pasquier Quesnel was condemned.39
Christ as man,40 all the angels and saints. For all these most perfectly acknowledge their own dependence and God's dominion. Christ prayed most fervently in the garden of Olives; the saints and angels pray both for their own accidental glory and for our salvation. Nor let anyone say that the citizens of heaven cannot pray because even before prayer they see in the essence of God whether the thing requested will occur or not. For this foreknowledge is not so certain,41 and although it is present, it does not impede prayer. For Christ, who most certainly knew all future events, prayed to the Father in the garden of Olives that the chalice of the Passion might pass. Therefore, just as Christ in the garden asked for deliverance from the Passion in order to show the repugnance and affection of his human nature, which manifestation was joined with the most perfect subjection and reverence toward God the Father, so the citizens of heaven can pray to God from a simple affection of charity toward those living on this earth, nevertheless subjecting this affection to the efficacious divine will.42
The souls in purgatory also can more probably pray both for themselves and for those living on this earth. Theologians by no means agree concerning this matter, nor to this day has the Church defined anything. The older theologians seem more commonly to deny to the souls in purgatory the power of praying, at least in a deprecatory manner. Thus, e.g., St. Thomas43 writes: "Those who are in purgatory ... are not in the state of praying, but rather of being prayed for." From the sixteenth century onward, however, several authors defend the affirmative opinion. John Medina44 (d. 1546) seems to have been the first who taught thus. He is followed by Valentia,45 Sylvius,46 Bellarmine,47 Bonacina,48 Elbel,49 nearly all modern authors, e.g., Lehmkuhl,50 Noldin,51 Christian Pesch,52 Wirthmüller,53 etc. Truly convincing arguments, however, can be brought forward for neither opinion. St. Thomas seems to speak only of deprecatory prayer. And indeed it is difficult to understand what these souls can ask for themselves, or how they know the necessities of men on this earth. On the other hand, since these souls are not idle and do not lack perfect subjection to God and acknowledgment of the divine excellence, prayer of praise and thanksgiving and general deprecation for the Church militant is not to be denied to them.54
38 Ecclus. 16:8.
39 The Council of Constance condemned proposition 26 of Wycliffe: "The prayer of one foreknown," i.e., not predestined, "avails nothing" (Denz. n. 606). Clement XI proscribed the propositions of Pasquier Quesnel: proposition 50, "In vain do we cry to God: My Father, if the spirit of charity is not that which cries"; proposition 59, "The prayer of the impious is a new sin; and what God grants them is a new judgment upon them" (Denz. nn. 1400, 1409).
40 Cf. S. theol. 3, q. 21, a. 1.
41 Cf. ibid. 1, 2, q. 113, a. 8.
42 Cf. ibid. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 11.
43 Ibid., ad 3 and a. 4 ad 3; cf. also John of St. Thomas, disp. 26.
44 De orat. q. 5. Gabriel Biel (d. 1495) is sometimes alleged as the first who taught thus.
45 T. III, disp. 6, q. 2, p. 7.
46 Comm. in 2, 2, q. 83, a. 11.
47 De purgat. l. 2, c. 15.
48 De hor. can. disp. 192, p. 1, n. 8.
49 Theol. mor. II, n. 398.
50 Theol. mor. I, n. 482.
51 De praeceptis n. 141.
52 Prael. dogm. IX, n. 324.
53 Die moralische Tugend der Religion § 11.
54 Cf. below, n. 344.
335. The proximate subject of prayer is not the will, but practical reason. Thus St. Thomas,55 and it is manifestly evident from the definition of prayer, which is the ascent of the mind to God, or the petition of fitting things from God. For to pray is to speak to God, to intimate and manifest one's desire. But these acts belong to practical reason. Since, however, the desire of the will also operates in prayer, the will incites to the act of prayer. Therefore, although prayer is an act of the virtue of religion residing in the will, nevertheless it is formally elicited by reason. Nor is this a contradiction. For in order that an act be called elicited by some virtue, it is not necessary that it be in the same power in which the virtue itself is; but it suffices that through this virtue it be directed to its proper end, with no other virtue mediating. Thus, e.g., we say that the external confession of faith is an act elicited by faith in the intellect, although this confession is made by another power.56
55 L.c., a. 1. John Medina (De orat. q. 2) and certain Scotists teach that prayer is an act of the will.
56 Cf. Billuart, De orat. a. 2, and Cajetan, Comm. in 2, 2, q. 81, a. 4.
336. Division of prayer. The divisions of prayer are not assigned in the same manner by diverse authors. The principal divisions are the following:
1. Mental or internal prayer and vocal or external prayer.
Mental prayer is perfected by acts of the intellect and will alone. In this prayer we recall with fervent zeal, e.g., the divine attributes, such as goodness and clemency, the infinite benefits conferred upon us by God, the Christian virtues, our poverty, etc.; and in this manner affections of love, desires for heavenly things, and resolutions to lead a perfectly Christian life are caused in us. The highest degree of this prayer is called contemplation,57 by which the mind beholds and admires God himself and his perfections with a pure eye, without discourse and disturbance, and is joined to him by a certain sweet bond of most fervent love. Therefore in contemplation three things meet: the consideration of truth without discourse, admiration, and spiritual delight. Hence Pseudo-Augustine58 says most acutely: "Contemplation is the joyful admiration of clearly perceived truth." Contemplation is by no means sterile and idle, as the Quietists dreamed, but on the contrary becomes the fruitful parent of all Christian virtues, which indeed are often exercised in a truly heroic degree. The lower degree of mental prayer is simple meditation, which consists in the pious and discursive consideration of religious truths for the purpose of drawing from them good resolutions for the moral life. Therefore the essential difference between contemplation and meditation consists in this, that contemplation is intuitive, but meditation is discursive.59 Meditation is very necessary for every Christian man who wishes to make progress in the spiritual life.
Vocal prayer is that which is perfected by the mind and words and other external acts. St. Paul speaks concerning it: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is to say, the fruit of lips confessing to his name."60 Vocal prayer ought to express in words that which has been conceived inwardly. This expression indeed is not necessary in order that our desires become known to God, but so that our interior devotion may thereby be more greatly excited, so that the whole man, i.e., consisting of soul and body, may pray, and finally so that public prayer may be more greatly fostered. From the beginning, not only of Christianity but of the whole human race, vocal prayers have been offered to God. Christ himself also frequently, but especially in his Passion, uttered vocal prayers. From what has been said it follows that vocal prayer does not consist in words alone, but necessarily requires at least some operation of the mind. What attention of mind is necessary for every prayer, however, will be said below, n. 354.
57 The word contemplation is taken in diverse senses by mystical and ascetical authors. Cf. Poulain, Des grâces d'oraison (1909), c. 5.
58 De spiritu et anima c. 32 (Migne, Patr. lat. 40, 802).
59 St. Thomas, S. theol. 2, 2, q. 180, a. 3 ad 1.
60 Heb. 13:15.
337. 2. Public and private prayer.
Public prayer is uttered by a public minister of the Church and is performed in the name of the Church for the salvation of the people. Private prayer is performed mentally or vocally in the name and by the proper authority of the one praying. Therefore three things are required for public prayer: 1. that such a prayer be instituted by the Church; 2. that such a prayer be made in the name of the Church; 3. that such a prayer be made by persons legitimately deputed for this.61 If even one of these is lacking, the prayer is private. Hence a priest privately reciting the Divine Office, to which he is bound by a precept of the Church, performs public prayer; but the same priest saying the Rosary from his own devotion performs private prayer. Public prayer, which is also sometimes called common, always ought to be vocal, as St. Thomas62 teaches: "Prayer is twofold: common and individual. Common prayer is that which is offered to God by the ministers of the Church in the person of the whole faithful people; and therefore it is necessary that such prayer become known to the whole people for whom it is uttered, which could not be done unless it were vocal. And therefore it is reasonably instituted that the ministers of the Church pronounce prayers of this kind even in a loud voice, so that they can come to the knowledge of all. But individual prayer is that which is offered by an individual person praying, whether for himself or for others; and it is not of the necessity of prayer of this kind that it be oral." Since all the prayers of the Divine Office and of the liturgy are public prayers, clerics consequently ought to pronounce these prayers orally; otherwise they do not satisfy the ecclesiastical precept, as will be said specifically below, n. 376, concerning the canonical hours.
3. Prayer is divided into supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings.
This division is taken from the epistle of St. Paul, who says: "I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men."63 These four parts are explained in this manner by the Angelic Doctor:64 "Three things are required for prayer, the first of which is that the one praying approach God, whom he prays to: this is signified by the name prayer, because prayer is the ascent of the intellect to God. Secondly, petition is required, which is signified by the name petition, whether the petition is proposed determinately, which some properly call a petition, or indeterminately, as when someone asks to be helped by God, which they call supplication.... Thirdly, a reason for obtaining what is asked is required; and this is either on the part of God or on the part of the petitioner. The reason for obtaining on the part of God is his holiness, on account of which we ask to be heard ... and to this pertains supplication, which is a sacred appeal, as when we say: Through thy nativity, deliver us, O Lord. But the reason for obtaining on the part of the petitioner is thanksgiving, because by giving thanks for benefits received we merit to receive greater ones.... In several collects of the Church also these four can be observed, as in the collect of the Trinity: what is said, Almighty eternal God, pertains to the ascent of prayer to God; what is said, who hast given to thy servants, etc., pertains to thanksgiving; what is said, grant, we beseech thee, etc., pertains to petition; what is placed at the end, Through our Lord, etc., pertains to supplication." Other explanations of the words of St. Paul are also offered by other authors.
4. By reason of the end toward which the man praying proximately tends, prayer is sometimes divided into adoration, thanksgiving, and petition.
If the one praying intends the acknowledgment of the supreme divine excellence and of his own subjection, adoration or praise of God takes place; if by praying he intends to give thanks for benefits received, it is thanksgiving; but if by praying he wishes to obtain new graces, it is petition or deprecatory prayer, to which are also referred propitiatory prayer, by which someone asks remission of sins and punishments, and intercession, by which someone asks goods for other men.
61 Cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1256.
62 S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 12.
63 1 Tim. 2:1.
64 L.c., a. 17.