Meditative Prayer

II. Meditation, i.e., consideration of those things which pertain to the salvation of the soul. By this consideration ignorance is expelled, inadvertence is prevented, hatred of sin and love of virtue are promoted. That saying of St. Augustine is well known: "A thoughtful understanding is the beginning of every good." Now among those things which cohere with the loss of grace through sin, the punishment which God, so merciful, decrees in his justice against the sinner must be considered in the first place. Hence Sacred Scripture: "The fear of the Lord drives out sin."¹ "Remember your last things, and you will not sin forever."² Hence Christ himself turns man away from sin by the commemoration of punishments, as is clear from the text cited above. Therefore spiritual exercises, to be undertaken either privately or together with others, for example in a so-called retreat house, cannot be commended enough.

¹ Ecclus. 1:27.

² Ecclus. 7:40.

Meditative prayer is when someone piously thinks about divine things. It is divided into speculative meditation, or simple meditation, and affective meditation, according as either the consideration of the mind or the affection of the will prevails.

Meditative prayer is called contemplation when man meditates on divine things by a simple intuition of truth and without discourse. Contemplation is called passive when the soul, aided by grace, in contemplating behaves passively, that is, when God himself infuses into the soul the species to be formed, which happens chiefly through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this passive contemplation properly seems to consist the mystical union of the soul with God (cf. St. Alphonsus, Prax. Conf., n. 126 sq.).

Mystical union admits different degrees, which several reduce to four: simple union, full or perfect union, the union of ecstasy, and the union of marriage. Simple union consists in such a union with God as still admits wanderings of the mind; full union, in such a union as no longer admits wanderings of the mind, although the external senses and the motion of the body are not yet suspended. The union of ecstasy consists in such a union with God as not only does not admit wanderings, but also holds the external senses and the motion of the body suspended. The spiritual or consummated union of marriage consists in such a union with God by which the soul seems, as it were, to have been transformed into God, or in the fact that the soul senses that it has a participation in the acts of the divine nature (cf. St. Alphonsus, loc. cit.).

Authors dispute whether or not the soul, by a long exercise of active contemplation, can arrive at the lower degree of passive contemplation or mystical union; in other words, whether or not mystical contemplation is the normal evolution of the supernatural life.¹

¹ Cf. Garrigou-Lagrange, Perfection chretienne et Contemplation, I, pp. 1-45; Maumigny-Richstaetter, Katholische Mystik, pp. 40-44; Van den Tempel, Wetenschap der Heiligen, chapters 10 and 11; Tanquerey, Precis de Theologie ascetique et mystique, 4th ed., p. 973.

Interior prayer is a devout communion of the soul with God effected without the aid of external words or formularies. Vocal and interior prayer do not exclude, but, on the contrary, include each other, as the former is the beginning and foundation of the latter and can never be entirely dispensed with even in the highest stages of the spiritual life.³⁴

³⁴ St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 83, art. 12: “The voice is joined to prayer for a threefold reason: first, indeed, to arouse interior devotion, by which the mind of the one praying is raised to God, because through exterior signs, whether of voices or even of certain deeds, the mind of man is moved according to apprehension and consequently according to affection. Hence Augustine says [Epist., 130 (al. 121), c. 9, n. 18], ‘that by words and other signs we arouse ourselves more keenly to increase holy desire.’ And therefore in private prayer voices and signs of this kind should be used only so far as they help to arouse the mind interiorly. But if the mind is distracted by this or hindered in any way, such things should be discontinued; this happens especially in those whose mind without signs of this kind is sufficiently prepared for devotion. . . . Secondly, vocal prayer is joined as though for the payment of a debt, so that, namely, man may serve God according to the whole of that which he has from God; that is, not only with the mind, but also with the body, which especially belongs to prayer insofar as it is satisfactory. . . . Thirdly, vocal prayer is joined from a certain overflow from the soul into the body arising from vehement affection, according to Ps. xv, 9.”

Interior prayer in its higher forms is called meditation and contemplation.

a) Meditation may be defined as the application of the three powers of the soul to prayer— the memory proposing a religious or moral truth, the understanding considering this truth in its application to the meditating individual, the will forming practical resolutions and asking for grace to keep them.³⁵

³⁵ Addis and Arnold, Catholic Dictionary, 9th ed., London 1917, p. 573.

Meditation differs from the theoretical consideration of religious truths or the study of theology in this, that it aims at the immediate application of the truths perceived by the understanding to one’s personal needs and strives to elicit the corresponding religious emotions.³⁶

³⁶ Pseudo-Augustine, Append. Serm., 302 (al. 112 de Temp.), n. 3: “Let there be no delay in doing what you understand inwardly by comprehending. And he is most blessed who turns the divine Scriptures into works.” (Migne, P. L., XXXIX, 2324).

The essential constituents of meditation are the preparatory prayer, realization of the divine presence, a lively consideration of the truths proposed, application of the same to one’s personal needs, the making of practical resolutions with regard to them (e. g., to apply them to-day, or in this or that concrete case, etc.), and the final prayer (colloquium), which should include thanksgiving, self-oblation, and a petition for the graces necessary to keep the good resolutions made.

Meditation is an important means of moral perfection, and though not strictly necessary for salvation, is indispensable to all who wish to lead a truly spiritual life, especially those who are called to a state of higher perfection.³⁷

³⁷ Cfr. Pius X’s Encyclical Letter to the Catholic Clergy.

On the uses of meditation St. Bernard of Clairvaux says: “It purifies the source from which it flows, namely, the mind. It directs the affections,³⁸ guides a man’s acts³⁹ and omissions, corrects his mistakes, regulates his habits, and makes life honorable. In fine, it introduces a man to the science of divine and human things. It clears up confusion, unites the things that are separated, collects those that are scattered, brings to light that which is hidden, and follows the footsteps of truth.⁴⁰ It examines probabilities and uncovers semblance and error. It provides due consideration of that which is to be done, does not lose sight of that which is completed, and tolerates nothing in the mind which is unregulated or in need of correction.⁴¹ In prosperity it reckons beforehand with misfortune and in adversity scarcely feels that which is contrary, thus performing the task of courage together with that of prudence.”⁴²

³⁸ “Affectus.”

³⁹ “Actus.”

⁴⁰ “Vera vestigat.”

⁴¹ “He reviews deeds, so that nothing may remain in the mind either uncorrected or in need of correction.”

⁴² De Consideratione, l. I, c. 7 (Migne, P. L., CLXXXII, 737).

Though every true prayer is a prayer “in spirit and in truth,” the use of set forms or formulas in conversing with God is by no means forbidden. On the contrary, the Old Testament contains at least the rudiments of several such formulas,¹ and in the New, Christ Himself gave us a model in the Our Father.² That this and other forms of prayer were employed by the early Christians is evident from the Acts of the Apostles.³

¹ Deut. XXVI, 5 sqq., 13–15.

² Matt. VI, 9 sqq.; Luke XI, 2 sqq.

³ Acts I, 24; IV, 24–30.

The use of set forms of prayer corresponds to a deep-rooted need of human nature. Most men could not comply with the duty of praying and satisfy their spiritual needs without employing definite sets of words.

We proceed to a brief consideration of some of the most important formulas in use in the Catholic Church, such as the Lord’s Prayer, the Ave Maria, the Rosary, the Creed, etc.

1. THE LORD’S PRAYER.—The Pater Noster (Our Father) was inculcated by Our Divine Lord Himself and is therefore fittingly called the Lord’s Prayer (oratio dominica or dominicalis).⁴ It is the most beautiful and the most sacred of all known prayers, because of its origin and because it includes all the various objects of prayer (praise, thanksgiving, propitiation, and intercession) and the necessities of the Christian wayfarer; is replete with the true spirit of devotion (consciousness of being one with God, reverence for Him as the Ruler of Heaven and earth, resignation to His will, unselfish participation in the prosperity of the entire human race, the feeling of guilt) and, finally, combines a wealth of sublime ideas with brevity and simplicity of diction.⁵

⁴ Matt. VI, 9–13; Luke XI, 1–4.

⁵ The Latin term oratio dominica is of early date. The phrase Lord’s Prayer, according to Fr. Thurston (Cath. Encycl., IX, 356), “does not seem to have been generally familiar in England before the Reformation. During the Middle Ages the ‘Our Father’ was always said in Latin, even by the uneducated. Hence it was then most commonly known as the Pater noster.” With regard to the English text now in use among Catholics, the same author says: “We may note that this is derived not from the Rheims Testament but from a version imposed upon England in the reign of Henry VIII, and employed in the 1549 and 1552 editions of the ‘Book of Common Prayer.’ From this our present Catholic text differs only in two very slight particulars: ‘which art’ has been modernized into ‘who art,’ and ‘in earth’ into ‘on earth.’ The version itself, which accords pretty closely with the translation in Tyndale’s New Testament, no doubt owed its general acceptance to an ordinance of 1541, according to which ‘His Grace perceiving now the great diversity of the translations [of the Pater noster etc.] hath willed them all to be taken up, and instead of them hath caused an uniform translation of the said Pater noster, Ave, Creed, etc., to be set forth, willing all his loving subjects to learn and use the same and straitly commanding all parsons, vicars, and curates to read and teach the same to their parishioners.’ As a result the version in question became universally familiar to the nation, and though the Rheims Testament, in 1581, and King James’s translators, in 1611, provided somewhat different renderings of Matt. VI, 9–13, the older form was retained for their prayers both by Protestants and Catholics alike” (l. c.).—Tertullian, De Orat., c. 1: “Jesus Christ, our Lord, determined for us, the disciples of the New Testament, a new form of prayer. . . . And what is not heavenly that belongs to Christ the Lord, as also this discipline of praying? Let us consider, therefore, O blessed ones, His heavenly wisdom, first of all in the precept of praying secretly, by which He both demanded the faith of man, so that he might trust that both the sight and the hearing of Almighty God are present under roofs and even in hidden places, and desired the modesty of faith, so that he who trusted Him to hear and see everywhere would offer his religion to Him alone. Wisdom follows in the next precept: although this likewise pertains to faith and the modesty of faith, if we think that the Lord, whom we are certain provides of His own accord for His own, is not to be approached with a host of words. Yet this brevity, insofar as it makes for the third degree of wisdom, is supported by the substance of a great and blessed interpretation, and as much as it is compressed in words, so much is it diffused in meanings. For it has embraced not only the proper offices of prayer, the veneration of God or the petition of man, but almost every discourse of the Lord, every remembrance of discipline, so that truly a summary of the whole Gospel is comprehended in the prayer.”—IDEM, ibid., c. 9: “In the compendia of a few words how many edicts of the prophets, the evangelists, and the apostles are touched upon, how many discourses of the Lord, parables, examples, precepts! How many duties are discharged at the same time! The honor of God in the Father, the testimony of faith in the name, the offering of obedience in the will, the commemoration of hope in the kingdom, the petition of life in the bread, the confession of debts in the deprecation, anxiety about temptations in the request for protection. What wonder? God alone could teach how He wished to be prayed to. Therefore the religion of prayer, ordained by Him and animated by His spirit even then, when it was brought forth from the divine mouth, ascended by its own privilege into heaven, commending to the Father what the Son taught.” (Ed. E. F. Leopold, P. II, pp. 1 sq., 6).—St. Cyprian, De Dominica Orat., c. 9: “What mysteries of the Lord’s Prayer there are, how many, how great, briefly collected in speech but spiritually abundant in power, so that nothing at all is omitted which is not comprehended in our petitions and prayers by a summary of heavenly doctrine.” (Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat., Vol. III, 1, 272).—Innocent III, Expositio Orat. Domin., n. 1: “This prayer is privileged in three things: in dignity, because composed by Christ; in brevity, so that it may be learned more quickly, retained better, and said more frequently; in fecundity, because it contains all petitions and embraces the necessities of both lives.”—St. Bonaventure, De Sacro Altaris Mysterio, l. V, c. 16 (Opera Omnia, VII, 652): “This prayer excels other prayers for many reasons: by the authority of the teacher, the brevity of the discourse, the sufficiency of the petitions, and the fecundity of the mysteries. By the authority of the teacher, because it was uttered from His own mouth (Is. i, 20). By brevity of discourse, because it is easily said and pronounced (Mt. vi, 7). By the sufficiency of the petitions, because it contains the necessities of both lives (1 Tim. iv, 8). By the fecundity of the mysteries, because it contains immense mysteries (Deut. xii, 4).” (Migne, P. L., CCXVII, 897).—Cfr. Tillmann, Das Gebet, II, 18 sqq.

In prescribing this prayer, however, our Lord did not mean to forbid the use of others. If this were not evident from Sacred Scripture, it could be legitimately concluded from the practice of the Apostles and the Apostolic Fathers, who employed other prayers besides the Pater Noster.⁶ Nevertheless, it is true that the Lord’s Prayer is preëminently the prayer of Christians and constitutes both the norm and the basis of all others.⁷

⁶ Acts I, 24–30; IV, 24; Eph. III, 14–21.—St. Justin Martyr, Apol., I, c. 65; Dial. c. Tryph., c. 35 (ed. de Otto, Vol. I, 2nd ed., p. 155).—Cfr. Constit. Apost., l. VII, c. 24 sqq., 33 sqq., 47 sqq. (ed. Funk, I, 408 sqq.).—St. Chrysostom, Hom. in Matth., 55 (Migne, P. G., LVIII, 561).

⁷ Matt. VI, 9 sqq.; Luke XI, 1 sqq.—St. Augustine, Epist., 130 (al. 121), c. 12, n. 22: “Whatever other words we may say, which the affection of the one praying forms beforehand so that it may be clear, or attends to afterward so that it may increase, we say nothing other than what has been set down in this Lord’s Prayer, if we pray rightly and fittingly. . . . If you run through all the words of holy petitions, as far as I judge, you will find nothing which is not contained in this Lord’s Prayer. Hence it is free to say the same things in prayer in these and in other words, but it ought not to be free to say other things.” (Migne, P. L., XXXIII, 502 sq.).—IDEM, Serm., 56 (al. 48 de Div.), c. 3, n. 4: “The words which our Lord Jesus Christ taught in prayer are the form of desires. Thou art not permitted to ask anything other than what is written there.” (P. L., XXXVIII, 379).

“In the Lord’s Prayer,” says Aquinas, “we pray not only for all the things we may licitly desire, but also in the order in which we must desire them,” and consequently this prayer is the standard and rule of human conduct.⁸

⁸ Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 83, art. 9: “In the Lord’s Prayer not only are all the things which we can rightly desire asked, but also in the order in which they are to be desired; so that this prayer not only instructs us to ask, but is also formative of our entire affection. Now it is manifest that first in our desire comes the end, and then those things which are directed to the end. But our end is God, toward whom our affection tends in two ways: in one way, insofar as we desire the glory of God; in another way, insofar as we desire to enjoy His glory; the first of these pertains to the love by which we love God in Himself; the second pertains to the love by which we love ourselves in God. And therefore the first petition is placed: ‘Hallowed be Thy name,’ by which we ask the glory of God; but the second is placed: ‘Thy kingdom come,’ by which we ask to arrive at the glory of His kingdom. Now something orders us to the aforesaid end in two ways: in one way through itself, in another way accidentally; through itself, in- deed, the good which is useful for the end. Now something is useful for the end of beatitude in two ways: in one way directly and principally, according to the merit by which we merit beatitude by obeying God; and to this pertains: ‘Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ In another way instrumentally, and as if assisting us to merit; and to this pertains what is said: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’: whether this is understood of the sacramental bread, the daily use of which benefits man, and in which all other sacraments are also understood; or it is understood of bodily bread, so that by bread is understood every sufficiency of food, as Augustine says to Proba, because both the Eucharist is the principal sacrament and bread is the principal food; hence in the Gospel of Matthew is written ‘supersubstantial,’ that is, ‘principal,’ as Jerome explains, superior. Accidentally, however, we are ordered to beatitude by the removal of what hinders it. Now there are three things which hinder us from beatitude; first, indeed, sin, which directly excludes us from the kingdom, according to 1 Cor. 6, 9: ‘Neither fornicators nor servants of idols, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God’; and to this pertains what is said: ‘And forgive us our debts.’ Secondly, temptation hinders us, which especially prevents the observance of the divine will; and to this pertains: ‘And lead us not into temptation,’ by which we do not ask that we not be tempted, but that we not be conquered by temptation, which is to be led into temptation. Thirdly, the present penal condition, insofar as it hinders the sufficiency of life; and as to this it is said: ‘Deliver us from evil.’”

St. Augustine taught us to distinguish in the Lord’s Prayer seven petitions, three of which are directed to the glory of God, while the remaining four have reference to our own salvation.⁹

⁹ For an elaborate commentary upon the Lord’s Prayer see the Catechism of the Council of Trent (English tr. by J. Donovan, Dublin, 1908, which we use throughout this work wherever we quote from the Cat. Rom.). This quasi-official commentary, as Fr. Thurston points out (Cath. Encycl., IX, 356), forms the basis of the analysis of the Our Father found in all Catholic catechisms. “Many points worthy of notice are there emphasized, as, for example, the fact that the words ‘on earth as it is in Heaven’ should be understood to qualify, not only the petition ‘Thy will be done,’ but also the two preceding, ‘hallowed be Thy name,’ and ‘Thy kingdom come.’ The meaning of this last petition is also very fully dealt with. The most conspicuous difficulty in the original text of the Our Father concerns the interpretation of the words ἄρτος ἐπιούσιος, which in accordance with the Vulgate in St. Luke, we translate ‘our daily bread.’ St. Jerome, by a strange inconsistency, changed the pre-existing word quotidianum into supersubstantialem in St. Matthew, but left quotidianum in St. Luke. The opinion of modern scholars upon the point is sufficiently indicated by the fact that the Revised Version still prints ‘daily’ in the text, but suggests in the margin ‘our bread for the coming day,’ while the American Committee wished to add ‘our needful bread.’ Lastly may be noted the generally received opinion that the rendering of the last clause should be ‘deliver us from the evil one,’ a change which justifies the use of ‘but’ instead of ‘and’ and practically converts the two last clauses into one and the same petition.” The doxology, “for Thine is the Kingdom,” etc., which appears in the Greek textus receptus and has been adopted into the later editions of the “Book of Common Prayer,” is an interpolation of ancient but uncertain origin. The words “because Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory” are found in many ancient codices, both Greek and Latin, of St. Matthew’s Gospel, in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, and in those of St. Gregory of Nyssa. Hence, if there is an interpolation, it cannot be charged against the editors of the King James or any other Protestant version, because the incriminated passage antedates Protestantism by more than a thousand years. Our best authorities hold that the phrase is a liturgical addition, which at an early period slipped into the sacred text through some copyist’s error. Such doxologies were recited in the early days after every prayer and sermon. Knabenbauer (Comment. in Matt., Vol. I, ed. alt., p. 280, Paris 1903) traces this custom to St. Paul. The meaning attached to the phrase, “Thine is the kingdom,” etc., by the Fathers was: “Thou, O Lord, art able to grant us the things we have asked for in this prayer, because thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.” “Kingdom,” St. Thomas explains, refers to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, “power” to the third, and “glory” to the rest. (Quoted by Knabenbauer, l. c.). (Cfr. the Catholic Fortnightly Review, St. Louis, Mo., Vol. XXII [1915], pp. 494 sq.).

As the Pater noster comprises everything for which man may and should pray, and the arrangement of its petitions indicates the correct order in which these blessings should be asked for, this prayer has from the earliest days, according to the testimony of Tertullian, been regarded as “the legitimate and ordinary prayer,” “the public and common prayer” of the faithful.¹⁰

¹⁰ St. Augustine, De Sermone Domini in Monte, l. II, c. 4–11 (Migne, P. L., XXXIV, 1275 sqq.); IDEM, Serm., 56 (al. 48 de Div.), c. 4–14 (P. L., XXXVIII, 379 sqq.); Tertullian, De Orat., c. 9; St. Cyprian, De Dominica Orat., c. 8; cfr. O. Rottmanner, O. S. B., Predigten und Ansprachen, Vol. I, 2nd ed., pp. 3 sqq.

2. THE HAIL MARY.—The Hail Mary, or Ave Maria, also called the “Angelical Salutation,” is as a rule recited immediately after the Our Father. It is the most familiar of all the prayers used by the Universal Church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and consists of three parts.

The first, “Hail [Mary], full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women,” embodies the salutation of the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation.¹¹ The second, “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb [Jesus],” is borrowed from the divinely inspired greeting of St. Elizabeth.¹² The third is a petition: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.” This petition dates no farther back than the fifteenth century.¹³

¹¹ Luke I, 28.

¹² Luke I, 42.

¹³ “At the close of the fifteenth century,” says Fr. Herbert Thurston, S.J., “there was not any officially approved conclusion, though a form closely resembling our present one was sometimes designated as ‘the prayer of Pope Alexander VI’ (see Der Katholik, April, 1903, p. 334), and was engraved separately on bells (Beissel, Verehrung Marias, p. 460). But for liturgical purposes the Ave down to the year 1568 ended with ‘Jesus, Amen,’ and an observation in the Myroure of Our Lady, written for the Bridgettine nuns of Syon, clearly indicates the general feeling. ‘Some saye at the begynnyng of this salutacyon Ave benigne Jesu and some saye after ‘Maria mater Dei,’ with other addycyons at the ende also. And such thinges may be saide when folke saye their Aves of theyr own devocyon. But in the servyce of the chyrche, I trowe it to be moste sewer and moste medeful [i. e., meritorious] to obey the comon use of saying, as the chyrche hath set, without all such addicions.’ We meet the Ave as we know it now, printed in the breviary of the Camaldolese monks, and in that of the Order de Mercede, c. 1514. Probably this, the current form of Ave, came from Italy, and Esser asserts that it is to be found, written exactly as we say it now, in the handwriting of St. Antoninus of Florence, who died in 1459. This, however, is doubtful. What is certain is that an Ave Maria identical with our own, except for the omission of the single word nostrae, stands printed at the head of a little work of Savonarola’s issued in 1495, of which there is a copy in the British Museum. Even earlier than this, in a French edition of the ‘Calendar of Shepherds,’ which appeared in 1493, a third part is added to the Hail Mary, which is repeated in Pynson’s English translation a few years later in the form: ‘Holy Mary moder of God praye for us synners. Amen.’ . . . The official recognition of the Ave Maria in its complete form, though foreshadowed in the words of the Catechism of the Council of Trent, . . . was finally given in the Roman Breviary of 1568.” (Cath. Encycl., VII, 112). The custom of engraving the Ave Maria on bells, referred to by Fr. Thurston, arose from its connection with the Angelus.

By adding the Hail Mary to the Our Father we intimate that we expect God to hear our prayers through the powerful intercession of His Blessed Mother.¹⁴

¹⁴ In the Middle Ages the Ave Maria often became so closely connected with the Pater noster, that it was treated as a sort of farsura, or insertion, before the words et ne nos inducas in tentationem, when the Pater noster was said secreto. (See H. Thurston, S.J., in The Month, Nov., 1901, p. 490).

3. THE ANGELUS.—A triple Hail Mary recited in the evening was the origin of our modern Angelus, which is closely associated with the ringing of a bell.¹⁵

¹⁵ See H. Thurston, S.J., in the Catholic Encyclopedia, I, 487. The tolling of the Ave bell was not identical with the ringing of the curfew, as has been asserted. The former took place at the end of the ecclesiastical office of Compline and perhaps coincided with the prayers for peace, said in choir; whereas the curfew was the signal for the close of day and for the general bedtime. (Thurston, ibid.).

The Church does not oblige her children to say the Angelus, but merely expresses the wish that they should recite the usual prayer when they hear the bell ringing in the morning, at noon, and at night. This is a pious and salutary custom, calculated to sanctify the workaday life of the Christian in its three principal stages,—the beginning, the continuation, and the end. Thrice daily the Angelus bell calls upon man amid his cares and worries to raise his heart to God, thereby sanctifying his daily life. “Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare, and he shall hear my voice.”¹⁶ The Angelus bell reminds us of the magnum pietatis mysterium, the Incarnation of the Son of God, and exhorts us to honor with a grateful heart the Saviour and His Blessed Mother, that they may protect us from the dangers that threaten us,—in the morning, from “the arrow that flieth in the day”;¹⁷ at noon, from the “invasion of the midday devil,”¹⁸ and in the evening, from the danger that lurks in the dark.¹⁹

¹⁶ Ps. LIV, 18.

¹⁷ “A sagitta volante in die” (Ps. XC, 6).

¹⁸ “Ab incursu et daemonio meridiano” (ibid.).

¹⁹ “A negotio perambulante in tenebris” (ibid.).

4. THE ROSARY.—The Rosary (Rosarium, Psalterium Marianum) is a form of prayer consisting in the recitation of fifteen decades of Hail Marys with an Our Father between each ten, while at each of the fifteen decades we recall successively in pious meditation one of the mysteries of our Redemption.²⁰ The characteristic mark or essence of this form of prayer lies in the meditations. Oral prayer and meditation are here combined like matter and form.

²⁰ Breviarium Romanum.

The name Rosary originated in the idea that the sacred mysteries of the Redemption constitute for the Blessed Virgin Mary a constantly new source of honor and happiness, symbolized in ancient times by the rose. The frequent repetition of the Angelical Salutation resembles a wreath wound about the head of the glorious Queen, who crushed the head of the serpent. The meditations are as roses inserted in this wreath.

The connection of the so-called mysteries with the Hail Mary arose from the consideration that the graces which Christ merited for us by His life, Passion, and death are communicated most effectively through the intercession of His Virgin Mother, who is to be thought of as coöperating in all these mysteries. Through this association of ideas the Rosary becomes perfectly in- telligible for the unlearned layman, while, on the other hand, even the most learned theologian cannot exhaust its mysteries. The Rosary is a devotion that is suitable for all conditions of life, and satisfies all needs of the human heart. It is a most excellent accompaniment for the ecclesiastical seasons. The ease with which it leads the faithful to meditate, and the necessity of meditation for spiritual progress, render it invaluable for all. The frequent repetition of the same prayer does not weary the mind, because the mysteries meditated upon bring variety into what might otherwise be a monotonous practice. On the contrary, by repeating the Hail Mary, we increase and intensify our devotion.

These considerations explain the popularity of this beautiful devotion.²¹ There can be no doubt that the Rosary, rightly recited, is a veritable wellspring of pious aspirations.

²¹ Kirchen-Lexikon, Vol. X, col. 1275 sq.—Cfr. Leo XIII’s Encyclical letters: “Supremi Apostolatus,” Sept. 1, 1883; “Octobris mense adventante,” Sept. 22, 1891; “Adiutricem populi christiani,” Sept. 5, 1895; “Fidentem piumque animum,” Sept. 20, 1896.

We do not, of course, mean to deny that this devotion involves the danger of thoughtlessness and routine, but to condemn the Rosary because of the real or possible abuses to which it gives rise, would be unjust. The danger of its becoming a matter of mechanical routine can be easily averted by proper instruction on the nature of prayer and the meaning of the sacred mysteries.

It was long a pious belief among the faithful that when the Albigensian heresy was devastating the country of Toulouse, St. Dominic earnestly besought the help of Our Lady and was instructed by her to preach the Rosary among the people as an antidote to heresy and sin. From this time forward, the Breviary informs us,²² this manner of prayer “was most wonderfully published abroad and developed by St. Dominic, whom [different] supreme pontiffs have in various passages of their Apostolic letters declared to be the institutor and author of the same devotion.” In matter of fact neither the thirteenth nor the fourteenth century knew anything of St. Dominic’s alleged relation to the Rosary. Not a single authentic passage can be cited from the historical, ascetical, or homiletic writings of Dominican authors during these two centuries that could be construed into a reference to the Rosary, whereas since the beginning of the fifteenth century whole cycles of Rosary sermons occur. “It would be difficult to understand,” says a learned Franciscan historian, Fr. Heribert Holzapfel, “why the Rosary is never even mentioned in the most ancient constitutions and decrees of the Dominican Order in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, if it were really a form of devotion recommended and inculcated by the holy founder. The Constitutiones Primae of 1228 contain so many detailed instructions regarding prayers and devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, that one is compelled to assume that the Rosary would surely have been mentioned had it been a part of the regular practice of the Order.”²³

²² Office for the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, Oct. 7, second nocturn.

²³ Heribert Holzapfel, O. F. M., St. Dominikus und der Rosenkranz, Munich 1903, pp. 11 sq., 14, 26; see, however, R. Devas, O. P., in Am. Cath. Quarterly Rev., Jan. 1916 and Cath. Fortnightly Review, 1920, Vol. XXVII, No. 23.

“The Bollandists, on trying to trace to its source the origin of the current tradition,” says Fr. Thurston, “found that all the clues converged upon one point, the preaching of the Dominican Alan de Rupe, about the years 1470–75. He it undoubtedly was who first suggested the idea that the devotion of ‘Our Lady’s Psalter’ was instituted or revived by St. Dominic. Alan was a very earnest and devout man, but, as the highest au- thorities admit, he was full of delusions, and based his revelations on the imaginary testimony of writers that never existed.²⁴ His preaching, however, was attended with much success. The Rosary confraternities, organized by him and his colleagues at Douai, Cologne, and elsewhere,²⁵ had great vogue, and led to the printing of many books, all more or less impregnated with the ideas of Alan. Indulgences were granted for the good work that was thus being done, and the documents conceding these indulgences accepted and repeated, as was natural in that uncritical age, the historical data which had been inspired by Alan’s writings and which were submitted according to the usual practice by the promoters of the confraternities themselves. It was in this way that the tradition of Dominican authorship grew up. The first Bulls speak of this authorship with some reserve: ‘Prout in historiis legitur,’ says Leo X in the earliest of all, ‘Pastoris aeterni,’ 1520; but many of the later popes were less guarded.”²⁶

²⁴ Quétif and Echard, Script. O. P., I, 849.

²⁵ Cath. Encyclopedia, XIII, 188 sq.

²⁶ H. Thurston, S.J., in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. XIII, p. 184.

“That the Rosary is preëminently the prayer of the people,” says the same writer, “adapted alike for the use of simple and learned, is proved not only by the long series of papal utterances by which it has been commended to the faithful, but by the daily experience of all who are familiar with it. The objection so often made against its ‘vain repetition,’ is felt by none but those who have failed to realize how entirely the spirit of the exercise lies in the meditation upon the fundamental mysteries of our faith.²⁷ To the initiated the words of the Angelical Salutation form only a sort of half-conscious accompaniment, a bourdon which we may liken to the ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ of the heavenly choirs and surely not in itself meaningless. Neither can it be necessary to urge that the freest criticism of the historical origin of the devotion, which involves no point of doctrine, is compatible with a full appreciation of the devotional treasures which this pious exercise brings within the reach of all.”²⁸

²⁷ Cfr. J. H. Newman, “Vain Repetitions,” reprinted from The Rambler, Vol. IV, No. 21 (Sept. 1855), St. Louis 1910.

²⁸ Thurston in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. XIII, p. 187.

5. THE SALVE REGINA.—The Salve Regina, the most celebrated of the four Breviary anthems in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is usually ascribed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, but is probably the work of Hermannus Contractus.²⁹ The use of this anthem at Compline was begun by the Dominicans about 1221, and before the middle of the thirteenth century the Salve Regina was incorporated with the other anthems of the Blessed Virgin in the “modernized” Franciscan Breviary, whence it made its way into the Roman Breviary. The Salve Regina figured largely in the evening devotions of the confraternities and guilds which were formed about the beginning of the thirteenth century. In France it was known as Salut, in the Netherlands as the Lof, in England and Germany simply as the Salve. Fr. Thurston has made it seem certain that our present Benediction service has resulted from the general adoption of this evening singing of canticles before the statue of Our Lady.³⁰

²⁹ On Hermannus Contractus see H. P. Schlager in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. VII, p. 266.

³⁰ Cfr. H. T. Henry in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. XIII, pp. 40 sqq., with bibliography.

6. THE CREED.—The so-called Apostles’ Creed is a formula containing in brief statements or “articles” the fundamental doctrines of Christian belief. Tradition ascribes it to the Twelve Apostles; hence the name. The legend dates back to the sixth century and is foreshadowed still earlier in a sermon attributed to St. Ambrose.³¹ About the year 400 Rufinus gives a detailed account of the composition of the Creed, which he professes to have received from earlier ages.³² Recently Harnack and other Protestant critics have assigned to the Creed an origin much later than the Apostolic age. Semeria, Battifol, Thurston and other Catholic authorities hold that while the Apostolic composition of the Creed cannot be proved, to deny the possibility of such origin is to go further than our data at present warrant.³³

³¹ Migne, P. L., XVII, 671.

³² Migne, P. L., XXI, 337.

³³ Thurston in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 631.

While the recitation of the Creed is essentially an act of latreutic worship, namely, confession and adoration, it also partakes of the character of an impetration, and consequently is really and truly a prayer.³⁴ For as faith itself is a gift of divine grace, and can be professed only with the help of God, so the act of faith which consists in the devout recitation of the Creed undoubtedly is a means of obtaining additional graces.

³⁴ St. Augustine, Enchiridion, c. 7: “Behold, thou hast the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. What is heard and read more briefly? What is more easily committed to memory? For since the human race was oppressed by the grave misery of sin and needed the divine mercy, the prophet, foretelling the time of God’s grace, said: ‘And it shall be: everyone who shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Joel ii, 32); on account of this, the prayer. But the Apostle, when he had recalled this prophetic testimony in order to commend that grace itself, immediately added: ‘How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?’ (Rom. x, 14); on account of this, the Creed. In these two behold those three things: faith believes, hope and charity pray.” (Migne, P. L., XL, 243).

As the so-called Apostles’ Creed has a place in the canonical hours, and in the rites of the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Orders, so the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is used in the ritual of the Mass, and the so-called Athanasian Creed in the Roman Breviary.

The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is substantially the symbolum of Nicaea as approved in amplified form by the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381. The Council of Chalcedon (451) designated it as “The Creed of the Council of Constantinople of 381” and inserted it in its acts. It is the profession of Christian faith common to the Catholic Church, to all the Eastern churches separated from Rome, and to most Protestant denominations.³⁵ The schismatic Greeks cherish it with almost superstitious reverence as their inviolable and sole norm of faith.³⁶

³⁵ J. Wilhelm in the Cath. Encyclopaedia, Vol. XI, pp. 49 sq.

³⁶ Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, The Divine Trinity, 3rd ed., St. Louis 1919, pp. 129 sq.

The Athanasian Creed (“Quicunque”), so called because its authorship was attributed to St. Athanasius, is of uncertain origin, but was probably compiled in the fourth century under Atha- nasian influences. It not only states clearly what the Catholic faith is concerning the important doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, but asserts with equal plainness and precision what will happen to those who do not faithfully and steadfastly believe these truths.³⁷

³⁷ Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. II, pp. 33 sq.

7. THE ORATIO COMMUNIS.—The general prayers said publicly in many churches on Sundays and holydays of obligation for the peace and prosperity of Christendom are based upon the admonition of St. Paul “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and chastity; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”³⁸ This common prayer corresponds to the idea of the Church of Christ as the one institution destined to lead all men without distinction of nationality to Heaven, and is therefore believed to have special power. “If the prayer of one or two of us has such might,” says St. Ignatius of Antioch, “how much more has that of the bishop and of the whole Church?”³⁹

³⁸ 1 Tim. II, 1–4; cfr. Acts II, 42; Rom. X, 12.

³⁹ Epist. ad Eph., c. 5: “For if the prayer of one or two has such power, how much more that of the bishop and of the whole Church?” (Funk, Patr. Apost., Vol. I, 2nd ed., p. 216; Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (Loeb Classical Library), Vol. I, London 1912, p. 178).—Cfr. Tertullian, Apol., c. 39: “We assemble in a company and congregation, so that, as though with a band formed, we may surround God with petitions as we pray. This force is pleasing to God. We pray also for emperors, for their ministers and authorities, for the condition of the world, for the tranquility of affairs, for the delay of the end.” (Ed. Leopold, P. I, 110).

8. LITANIES.—The word Litany (λιτάνεια) is derived from λιτή, i. e., an entreaty, or a supplication, and designates a form of united prayer by alternate sentences, in which the clergy lead and the people respond. These sentences embody petitions directed to God, or to the Saints, chiefly for the purpose of obtaining the divine assistance in important matters affecting either the Church or the faithful, or of appeasing God’s just wrath in calamities.⁴⁰

⁴⁰ F. Mershman, O.S.B., in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, pp. 286 sq.

There are five litanies approved by the Holy See for use in public worship, viz.:

a) THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS (Litaniae Sanctorum), so called because in it Saints of every class and rank are either nominally or by implication asked for their intercession. This Litany is of great antiquity and has served as a model for all others.

Three forms of the Litany of the Saints are at present in liturgical use. The longer form, as given in the Roman Ritual, is prescribed for the laying of the cornerstone of a new church, at the blessing or reconciliation of a church or cemetery, in the rite of blessing the people and fields by virtue of a special papal indult, for the major and minor Rogation days, in the procession and prayers to obtain rain or fine weather, to avert storms and tempests, in time of famine or war, to escape mortality in time of pestilence, in any tribulation, during the translation of relics, in solemn exorcisms, and at the Forty Hours’ Devotion, on which latter occasion certain verses are added. The Roman Pontifical, besides the occasions given in the Ritual, orders the recitation of the Litany of the Saints in the conferring of major orders, in the consecration of a bishop, the benediction of an abbott or abbess, the consecration of virgins, the coronation of a king or queen, the consecration of a church, the expulsion and readmission of public sinners on Maundy Thursday, and in the “Ordo ad Synodum.”⁴¹

⁴¹ IDEM, ibid., IX, 292.

An abbreviated form of this Litany is given in the Roman Missal for Holy Saturday and the Vigil of Pentecost.

IV. Mental prayer, although it is not necessary for salvation, is nevertheless the most apt means for sanctifying the soul by divine love; for, as St. Alphonsus testifies, Pr. conf., n. 122, "prayer and sin cannot dwell together; but the soul will either leave prayer or sin," cf. Eccli. VIII, 40; Jer. XII, 11. Hence let the confessor induce the pious into the habit of mental prayer, establish for them the time to be spent on this exercise, e.g., half an hour morning and evening, assign to them the truths to be meditated upon, teach them the method of meditating fruitfully, and sometimes, e.g., each month, require an account of this method. - And let him watch that they pass no day without some consideration of truths, that they frequently pour forth pious affections and fervent ejaculatory prayers, and, as far as they can, read attentively and piously in a spiritual book.

Now mental prayer consists of three parts: preparation, meditation, and conclusion.

1. Preparation is contained in three acts, to be elicited briefly: namely an act of faith concerning the presence of God, an act of humility on account of sins committed, and an act of supplication for divine light.

2. Meditation or reconsideration itself, which ordinarily, and always by beginners, is to be instituted from a spiritual book, and concerning matter which seems more profitable to each one, namely with a greater affection of devotion, fruit of virtue, and utility in avoiding defects, such as the last things, the goodness or benefits of God, the malice of sin, and before the rest the life and Passion of Christ. - Moreover the principal part and end of meditation is not the speculative consideration itself of truths by the intellect, but rather is in eliciting affections, making petitions, and strengthening purposes through the appetitive faculties: the meditation itself ought to tend to these fruits and ought to be left behind for their sake when a man perceives himself to be moved in soul. Hence:

a) Affections constitute the fitting response by which the soul addresses God after God has illuminated it and intimately addressed it. In view of various circumstances, acts of faith, confidence, gratitude, adoration, praise, humility, contrition, and especially charity are to be elicited, by which the soul offers itself wholly to God and conforms itself to His holy will, and which it cannot exercise repeatedly enough. Thus it should wish, affectively and effectively, to be led by God and to be submitted to Him.

b) It is helpful to repeat petitions in prayer: for God is not accustomed to grant helps except to those asking, and no time is more opportune for asking than the time of mental prayer. Therefore in this, with humility and confidence, let light, remission of sin, perseverance, etc., be asked for, first of all the gift of holy love; yet all through the merits and Passion of Christ.

c) Purpose is necessary so that the fruit of prayer may endure and the light granted by God may be applied to the directing of life. But purpose, that it may be efficacious, should not be general, e.g., of avoiding any defect whatever or giving oneself wholly to God, but concretely determined and particular, e.g., of avoiding such a defect in such a manner or on such an occasion, of better exercising some virtue by this special means, of tolerating such an annoyance, of obeying such a superior or such a rule, of mortifying oneself in such a thing and at this moment, etc.

3. The conclusion is completed by three acts: a) thanksgiving for the lights received in meditation; b) determination of standing firmly by the purposes formed, and of immediately executing them; and of remembering them rather often during the day, just as the sentence which more strongly moved the soul; c) urgent petition from God for help, to be obtained through Christ and Mary, for executing the purposes.⁴

⁴ Garrigou-Lagrange, L'Oraison commune, in the periodical La Vie spirituelle, t. VIII, can also be compared.

S. Th. II-II, q. 83, a. 9, 12, 13, 17.

669. Prayer is one kind internal, another external and vocal. By reason of the mode in which it happens, prayer is distinguished into merely internal, which happens by the mind alone, and external, which is performed at once by mind and by an external act. This latter happens principally by the voice, and then is called vocal; and it is necessary on account of reasons similar to those for external worship (n. 652). Moreover, for the essence of vocal prayer three conditions are required: one exterior, the pronunciation of words; two interior, namely, intention on the part of the will, attention on the part of the intellect.

670. For vocal prayer, first there is required the pronunciation of words. The pronunciation of words requires two things:

1. That the words be truly pronounced by human speech, that is, be emitted by an articulate voice; hence he would not pray vocally who only read the words with his eyes or conceived them in his mind; nor he who, with mouth unmoved, emitted a sound from the throat; nor he who, without expiration or inspiration of air, moved only tongue or lips. And although vocal prayer by its nature is audible, nevertheless it is not required that in fact someone hear himself or be able to hear himself, because it can be so quiet that it is not perceived, and on the other hand the one praying can be certain that he is pronouncing by consciousness of his own inner sense.

2. That the words truly signify the desire of the one praying; hence he would not pray vocally who brought forth incoherent words.

671. For vocal prayer there is also required intention, or the purpose of praying. It is not enough to bring forth words even voluntarily, but there is required:

1. On the part of the end or object, a determinate intention: for vocal recitation is an indifferent action which can be done for diverse things, for study, curiosity, play, the worship of God, etc.; therefore that it may be an act of religion, it must be determined to the worship of God through the intention of praying. Yet with this intention and with the essence of prayer there can stand an evil secondary end, as if someone were at the same time to pray for the honor of God and for vain glory.

2. On the part of the subject: a) an actual intention had here and now is not required, but a virtual one suffices, by which someone from the force of a past intention begins or continues prayer;

b) Nor is an explicit intention required, by which someone says: I intend to pray to God; but an implicit one suffices, contained in another act, as if someone goes to church, or takes up the breviary according to custom, or takes up the rosary and recites in the manner of one praying, etc.: in these actions there is included the intention of praying and worshiping God.

672. For vocal prayer, attention is also required. Attention is an act of the mind applying itself to something. Although all attention, as an act of the intellect, is subjectively internal, nevertheless:

A. On the part of the object, a twofold attention is usually distinguished: internal and external.

1. External attention is when the mind is applied to avoiding external actions incompatible with prayer or with internal attention, such as talking, writing, attentively hearing others speaking, dressing oneself quickly, doing something with great application, etc.

2. Internal attention is when the mind is applied to something intrinsic to prayer: a) either to the right pronunciation of words, and then it is called superficial; b) or to perceiving the signification of the words, and then it is literal; c) or to God and divine things, and then it is spiritual.

B. On the part of the act or subject, attention is perfect, distinct, great, or intense, which is also reflexively perceived by consciousness; or imperfect, small, confused, or remiss, which man does not easily or in no way perceives in consciousness, so that he also attends to several things.

C. On the part of its own being, it can be according to essence or according to virtue. Now:

1. At least that attention is required which is necessary for the right pronunciation of words; for this cannot happen without some attention or application of mind so that the words may be duly pronounced; otherwise it will not be a human act: for the preceding intention does not exercise its force upon the subsequent prayer except through some application of mind.

2. The attention required for this is not only external but also internal, by which the mind is applied not only to removing those things which impede prayer, but also positively to the right pronunciation of words.

3. Yet this attention is not required to be great, intense, and distinct, but confused, remiss, and minimal attention suffices.

4. Indeed, it is not proved that during prayer more is required than virtual attention. Thus the older authors, who say that internal attention according to the essence of the act is necessary at the beginning, but in the course of prayer it suffices that attention remain according to virtue, insofar as it perdures unless it is removed by a contrary intention, or through an incompatible work there occurs so great a wandering of the mind that the force of the first intention wholly perishes, as St. Thomas has it, in IV Sent., d. 15, q. 4, a. 1, qc. 4. The reason is the general principle: when two or more powers concur for the same operation, it suffices that the influx of the moving power virtually remain while the action is exercised.

But if theologians who require only external attention and deny that internal attention is required intend only to exclude intense and conscious attention, or actual attention, in fact they agree with us; just as those who require actual attention continued during prayer, but unconscious and very remiss, do not differ much from us. In practice: as long as the first intention of praying and attending is not revoked, whether directly through a contrary intention, or indirectly through an act incompatible with attention, prayer perdures; indeed, he who has external attention is judged to have that minimal superficial attention which seems to be required for prayer; nor therefore should penitents examine themselves more scrupulously concerning this.

With the essence of prayer the following actions are compatible: walking; looking at fields, a hill, a river; making a bed; building a fire; preparing a pen for writing; gathering herbs, grapes, flowers; dressing not altogether quickly; combing the head; looking up psalms, lessons, etc.; likewise distractions even voluntary, provided they do not wholly remove the attentive pronunciation of words. But if these actions are placed together with prayer from a cause of necessity or utility, they are no sin, for example, if someone thinks about a matter to be retained, or if he wishes to pray while he must dress; if they are exercised idly, without reason, they are a venial sin against religion, because it is irreverence toward God during prayer to divide one's attention between prayer and idle acts, for example, if someone, while he prays, wishes to dress (a. 13, ad 3); finally, if someone places an action gravely evil while he truly prays, for example, a shameful desire, the irreverence will be greater, but it is not proved to be mortal.

673. Among vocal prayers, the Lord's Prayer is the most worthy, because it has Christ Himself as author, and the most perfect, because with the greatest brevity it embraces all things which can rightly be asked, in that order in which they are to be asked.

It is proved: first we ought to desire the end, then the means to the end, finally the removal of those things which impede the attainment of the end. Now the primary end, the glory of God, we ask by saying: Hallowed be Thy name; the secondary end, beatitude by which we enjoy the glory of God, by saying: Thy kingdom come. The means conducing to the end principally and directly, namely, merits which are acquired by the fulfillment of the commandments, we ask by saying: Thy will be done; temporal goods, which conduce to beatitude instrumentally and indirectly, we ask by saying: Give us this day our daily bread. Finally we ask that sin, which directly impedes the attainment of the end, be turned away from us, by saying: Forgive us our debts; temptation, which impedes indirectly by leading to sin: And lead us not into temptation; finally temporal evils, which impede altogether indirectly, by impeding the sufficiency of life, and to this pertains: Deliver us from evil (a. 9).

But if we have asked these things, nothing remains which ought further to be asked.

674. Private and public, solitary and common prayer. On the part of the one praying, prayer is divided into private or singular, which is made by private persons in their own name, and public or social and common, which is made by the whole community or by the ministers of the Church in the name of the whole community; thus the canonical hours. Moreover, prayer, whether private or public prayer of the ministers of the Church, can be made solitarily, by one person only, or in common, by several gathered together at the same time; in which case it is better and more efficacious, according to Christ, Mt. XVIII, 20: For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (a. 12).

675. Observation. Several parts of prayer can be distinguished, namely: obsecrations, prayers, postulations, thanksgivings. St. Thomas shows this in this way, a. 17:

"For prayer three things are required: of which the first is that the one praying approach God, whom he prays to; this is signified by the name of prayer, because prayer is the ascent of the intellect into God. The second thing required is petition, which is signified by the name of postulation: whether the petition is proposed determinately, which some properly name postulation; or indeterminately, as when someone asks to be helped by God, which they name supplication; or whether only the fact is narrated, according to that of John XI, 3: Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick, which they call insinuation. The third thing required is the reason for obtaining what is sought; and this is either on the part of God, or on the part of the one asking: a) 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 obsecration, which is a sacred attestation, as when we say: By Thy Nativity, deliver us, O Lord. b) But the reason for obtaining on the part of the one asking is thanksgiving, by which, giving thanks for benefits received, we merit to receive greater ones...

"And therefore... in the Mass, obsecrations are those things which precede the consecration, in which certain sacred things are commemorated; prayers are in the consecration itself, in which the mind ought especially to be raised to God; postulations are in the petitions which follow; and thanksgivings are at the end."

1. Insofar as prayer is taken more strictly and is distinguished from the remaining parts, which all together constitute prayer taken commonly (ad 2).