Editor’s Note: In the most recent Issue of The Fatima Crusader (#135), several writers explored how Catholics can best live the Fatima Message. The magazine’s limitations on length prevented the publication of all of the articles we gathered on this vital topic. Hence, we are posting those “supplementary” articles at the website. Murray Rundus authored the article “Venial Sin and the Particular Examen” in the magazine. His article below provides additional information on Mental Prayer, a topic covered by Matthew Plese in the magazine.
An Error of Russia – Deny the Supernatural
One of the principal errors of Russia has been to de-supernaturalize man. The errors of the so-called Enlightenment that came before the Communist revolutions set out to divorce man’s religion from the rest of his self. The errors of Russia seek to completely destroy this supernatural component in man’s life. It is important that we recognize the fact, in the midst of the controversy of our time, that the Fatima Message and a better understanding of the Catholic Faith must be oriented towards one ultimate end: Greater supernatural union with God.
The devil did not wish to set his hounds on the Church to merely win an intellectual game, but to take souls away from this supernatural union. It is in this sense that Fr. Denis Fahey lamented that “It is, unfortunately, possible to have a profound knowledge of theology without sanctity, for knowledge does not necessarily and infallibly produce a degree of love corresponding to it. A keen mind can argue during a whole lifetime on behalf of Catholic truth and write learned works without advancing to any great degree in charity.”i
Grace and Charity – Supernatural Realities
So how do we receive and produce this great degree of love?
In the first and most important place, the answer is that we must receive sanctifying grace through the sacraments. Contrary to the delusions of the naturalists and modern revolutionaries, man has the capacity to live two simultaneous lives, a supernatural and a natural one. Sanctifying grace raises our natural life to the very inner life of God by implanting in us the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. Through the sacraments of initiation, we receive also the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost. But it is important that we do not see our supernatural lives as ending with the reception of the sacraments; rather, for our entire lives we must wage spiritual warfare in order to actualize the theological virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Wisdom of the Church
The way that the great Fathers and Doctors of the Church have sought to bring their supernatural lives into action is through a practice known as Mental Prayer. There are many methods of this kind of prayer, but all of them typically involve using our soul’s God-given faculties of imagination, memory and intellect and applying them to considering a mystery of the Faith. The purposes of this are many; in the first place, treating prayer as a kind of gymnasium to the soul, practicing using our faculties and applying them to the good, but also with an aim of eventually obtaining a greater inner peace of soul, a stillness of the heart.
In her wisdom and experience, Holy Mother Church teaches that the best preparation for mental prayer, and in many ways the purgation that should precede it, is that we abide in sanctifying grace (which man receives through the sacraments).
For beginners, prayer itself can be very daunting, but especially mental prayer. But mental prayer need not be a complex matter but instead should be simple, which is why even mental prayer is for all people, not just learned scholars. Fr. Denis Fahey, in summing up mental prayer, shows us how simple it is: “the soul must mount upwards to God on the two wings of the intellect and the will, aided by grace.” ii
Mental Prayer – Practice of the Elect
To begin practicing mental prayer itself, we must begin with humility, with the spirit of the Publican rather than the Pharisee. Most methods of mental prayer begin with an act of faith and contrition and a simple putting oneself in the presence of God. The next step is to contemplate some mystery, as mentioned earlier, and this can be a truth of the Faith, a reading from a daily meditation book, or a passage from the Gospel.
Many of the spiritual masters suggest forming an image in one’s imagination to come back to, in case of distractions. These should largely be used as motives for acts of the will, which come next. After considering the mystery being contemplated, one must speak directly to God and make various acts of the will. Man, being both a natural and supernatural creature, must use his will frequently in this way to build devotion and a better response to God. With frequent attentiveness and practice, mental prayer will serve as the engine for the Christian life.
For more resources on mental prayer, I can suggest the works, My Meditation on the Gospel from the Confraternity of the Precious Blood and Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel.