I. You must know, daughters, that there is no need to

keep our lips closed in order to pray mentally. If while

“As far as I can understand, the gate by which to enter
this castle is prayer and meditation. I do not allude more to
mental than to vocal prayer ; for if it is prayer at all, the mind
must take part in it. If a person neither considers to Whom he
is addressing himself, what he asks, nor what he is who ventures
to speak to God, although his lips may utter many words, I
do not call it prayer. Sometimes, indeed, one may pray devoutly
without making all these considerations because one has prac-
tised them at other times. The custom of speaking to God
Almighty as freely as with a slave — caring nothing whether
one’s words are suitable or not, but simply saying the first thing
that comes to mind from being learnt by heart by frequent
repetition, cannot be called prayer : God grant that no Christian
may address Him in this manner ’’ {Castle, M. i. ch. i. 9).

1 Valladolid edition, ch. xxiv. ; Escorial, ch. xxxvii.

10

146 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. fcHAP. XXit.

I utter a prayer, I carefully consider its meaning and
pay more attention to what I am saying to God than to
the words themselves, this is both mental and vocal
prayer. Should people affirm that you are praying to
God, if while you recite the Pater Noster, or the Ave
Maria, you are thinking of earthly things — then I have
no more to say. But if you wish to behave with due
respect while speaking to such a mighty Monarch, you
should reflect on Who He is you are addressing and
what you yourself are, that you may show fitting rever-
ence. For how can you accost Him, and petition His
Majesty the King, or know what ceremonies to use,
unless you realise His rank and your own position ?
This it is that regulates the respect to be paid, and
you must learn it, unless you wish to be turned away
as a boor, with your requests ungranted. More than
that, unless you are well versed in the matter, you
should take care to find out the proper titles to use. I
happened once, before I was accustomed to deal with
grandees, to be brought in contact concerning busi-
ness matters with a person of rank, whom I was
told to address as “ your Lordship.” But my wits
are dull and I am unused to such customs, so when
I met him I forgot all about it, and he burst out
laughing, because I condescended to call him ” Your
Grace ! ”

2. How canst Thou, Ruler of all creation as Thou

CHAP. XXII.] THE PETITIONERS. I47

art,® bear this want of reverence from men ? Thou hast
been King, my God, from all eternity, for Thine is no
borrowed empire, but Thine own, and it will never end.®
Blessed mayest Thou be ! I always feel a peculiar joy
at reciting in the Creed : ‘'Of Whose kingdom there
shall be no end.” - I will praise and bless Thee for ever.
Lord, for Thy kingdom shall last for ever. Permit not
that men should think it right for them to praise
Thee or to speak to Thee with their lips alone. What
are you saying, Christians, when you affirm that there
is no need for mental prayer ? Do you understand your
own words ? Really, I think you cannot do so, and you
wish us all to fall into the same mistake. You do not know
what mental prayer is, how vocal prayers must be said, nor
what contemplation is, or you would not distrust and
condemn in one place what you approve of in another.

3. Whenever I remember it, I will always speak of
mental and vocal prayer together, my daughters, lest I
should alarm you. I know how such matters end, having
suffered a great deal of trouble from them, and I do not
wish any one to disturb you, nor to confuse your mind
on the subject, for timidity about prayer injures the
soul. It is most important for you to know the right
way to set about it. If one told a traveller that he

2 Psalm cxliv. 13:“ Regnum Tuum regnum omnium saeculorum ;
et dominatio Tua in omni generaticne et generaticnem.”

® “ Cujus regni non erit finis.” Credo.

148 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXII.

had mistaken his way, he would wander to and fro
and would tire himself out and lose his time by trying
to find the path, and would only arrive at his journey’s
end all the later. Who could blame any one for recol-
lecting Whom she is about to address and what she
herself is, before she begins to recite the “ Hours ” or
the rosary ? Yet I assure you, that if you considered
these two points as you ought, before saying your
vocal prayers you would spend a considerable time first
in mental prayer. We must not speak to a prince with
the same freedom that we should use towards a labourer
or some poor creature like ourselves, whom we may
accost in any way we choose. Yet this King is so humble
that, however unmannerly my speech may be. He does
not refuse to hear me on that account, nor do His guards
repulse me. For the angels who attend Him know that
their Monarch prefers the rusticity of a lowly shepherd,
who would be more polite if only he knew how, to the
courtly speeches of a learned but proud man. To
atone for what God suffers from bearing with the
loathsome presence of such a creature as myself, we
ought to try to understand His purity and His sublimity.
True, we know already Who it is that we approach
when we draw near Him as we recognise the magnates
of this world. When we have been told who their father
was and what their revenues and titles are, there is no
more to know as we honour them, not for their good

CHAP. XXII.] PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE. I49

character, but for their money. O wretched world !
Thank God, daughters, that you have left so vile a
thing, where men are esteemed not for their real selves
but for the money which their tenants and the la-
bourers they employ bring to them, for if the rich lose
their incomes they at once lose their prestige with it.
It is a mockery : you should laugh at it among your-
selves during recreation, for it does us good to make
merry over the blindness men show in this life.

4. O Thou our Monarch ! King of glory. Lord of
lords. Sovereign of all princes, Chief among the Saints !
O Power, dominating over all else ! Wisdom above all
knowledge, having neither beginning nor end ! limitless
in all Thy works, which are infinite and incomprehensible
and a fathomless abyss of wonders ! O beauty con-
taining all other beauty ! Thou art strength itself ; Thou
art the truth, O Lord, and the genuine riches : do Thou
reign for ever. Most merciful God ! would that I
possessed the combined eloquence of all the human
race, with wisdom to understand — as far as the under-
standing can attain in this life, which is but utter
ignorance — that I might succeed in telling at least a few
of the many things that might be pondered over, in order
to obtain some feeble idea of the perfections of this our
Lord and only Good.*

^ Escorial edition, ch. xxxviii. Continues to explain mental
prayer.

150 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXII.

5. Before prayer, endeavour to realise Whose Presence
you are approaching, and to Whom you are about to
speak, and keep in mind Whom you are addressing.
If our lives were a thousand times as long as they are,
we should never fully understand how we ought to
behave towards God before Whom the very angels
tremble. Who can do all He wills, and with Whom

to wish is to accomplish. Ought we not, my daughters,

*

to rejoice in these perfections of our Spouse and to
learn to know Him and what our lives should be ? In
the world, when a girl is going to be married, she knows
beforehand who her husband is to be and what are his
means and position — and shall not we, who are already
betrothed, think about our Bridegroom before He takes
us home on the wedding-day ? If these thoughts are
not forbidden to an earthly bride, why should I be
prevented from discovering Who this Man is. Who is
His Father, to what country He will take me, what
are the riches He promises to endow me with, and what
rank He holds ? May I not know how best to please
Him, what are His tastes, and how to bring my mind
to harmonise with His ? For if a woman is to lead a
happy married life, people advise her to make these
things her first consideration, no matter of how low a
station her husband may be. And art Thou, O my
Spouse, to be treated with less respect than is shown to
men ? If the world honours Thee not, let it at least

CHAP. XXII.] TO KNOW GOD. I5I

leave Thy brides to do so in peace, since they spend their
lives with Thee. Sometimes a husband is so jealous
that he will permit his wife to speak to no one but him-
self. In order to please him and to live happily with
him, this is but a small sacrifice for her to make : she
should not wish to talk to others since she has all she
can desire in him.

6. To understand these truths, my daughters, is to
practise mental prayer. If you like to meditate on
them and to pray vocally also, that is all well and
good, but never address your words to God while you
are thinking of something else — whoever does so, knows
nothing of mental prayer. I think I have explained the
matter clearly : God give us the grace to know how to
practise it ! Do not let yourselves be alarmed by any
misgivings. Praise God, Who is almighty, and let no
one hinder your making mental prayer. If any one
of you cannot recite her prayers with such attention,
let her know that she does not fulfil her obligation.
If she wishes to pray with perfection, she must try
with all her heart to be recollected, unless she would
fail in her duties as the bride of this great King. Beg
Him, daughters, to enable me to practise what I have
taught you, for I fall very short of doing so. May His
Majesty aid me, for His own sake. Amen.

152

THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXIII.