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  • The Necessity of Prayer

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    Quo Primum
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    Do we truly "know the value and the efficacy of prayer"? do we truly know the necessity of prayer for the whole of the Christian life, he says. All liturgical prayer is made in the name of our Lord, he writes.

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    Do we truly "know the value and the efficacy of prayer"? do we truly know the necessity of prayer for the whole of the Christian life, he says. All liturgical prayer is made in the name of our Lord, he writes.

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    72 vizualizări3 pagini

    The Necessity of Prayer

    Încărcat de

    Quo Primum
    Do we truly "know the value and the efficacy of prayer"? do we truly know the necessity of prayer for the whole of the Christian life, he says. All liturgical prayer is made in the name of our Lord, he writes.

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    din 3

    THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER

    In his Apostolic Letter of September 29th last, in which he extolled the prayer of the Rosary, His Holiness Pope John
    XXIII had this in particular to say:
    <Quote>O blessed Rosary of Mary, how sweet it is to see you held aloft in the hands of holy priests, of pure souls,
    young and old, who know the value and the efficacy of prayer, lifted high by devout multitudes without number as their
    emblem, their standard, bringing tidings of peace to human hearts, peace to all mankind.
    <Body text>Do we truly "know the value and the efficacy of prayer"?
    For a long time there has been a community of Benedictine nuns at Sebikhotane, and now contemplative monks of the
    same order have also arrived--"contemplative" meaning that their lives are devoted to prayer and to the praise of God.
    Blessed Sacrament Fathers are also coming to Medina to start semi-perpetual adoration of the Eucharist at St. Joseph's.
    I should like, therefore, to use the following lines to shed the light of faith and truth upon the necessity, the paramount
    importance of prayer for the whole of the Christian life, and upon the mystery of its effectiveness in our apostolate. Let
    all priests, religious and faithful of the diocese be convinced of this truth, which is essential to all spiritual life, and to
    all missionary activity.
    Our Lord assures us that whatsoever we ask in prayer, with faith, will be granted us (Matt.21, xxii) and indeed it is in
    the light of faith that we must ground our understanding of prayer. The liturgy, the prayer of the Church, gives us a
    prime example of how we should pray.
    All liturgical prayer is made in the name of our Lord. It is in Him and with Him that we must address our prayers to
    God the Father. "Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do; that the Father may be glorified in the
    Son." (Jn 14, xiii)
    <Subhead>Prayer as the Source of the Interior Life
    <Body text>It can be truly said that prayer holds within itself as in a casket all the treasures of ascesis and union with
    God. In prayer we put into practice all the theological and cardinal virtues. Is it possible to pray without believing,
    without hoping, without loving? Can we pray without adoring, without annihilating the self before God, which is the
    ultimate act of justice? To pray is to be prudent and wise; it is to replenish one's lamp with oil whilst awaiting the
    coming of the Bridegroom. To pray is to be strong in the power of the Almighty. And, finally, how can one lift up one's
    soul to God without distancing oneself from created things and acquiring temperance in their use? Prayer will establish
    our souls in truth and right order, that is to say in humility, and trust, and peace.
    That is why we should not be surprised at the atomsphere of truth and peace that we experience in monasteries. So
    many souls, wearied of life in a climate of falsehood and error, disorder and dissent, hasten to monasteries, those oases
    of order and truth, there to nourish their souls on prayer and all its fruits--wondrous fruits of knowledge and love of
    God in Our Lord, fruits of union with God and surrender to His Holy Will.
    This will be a primary result of the presence in the diocese of the abbey of Keur Moussa: to enable souls to encounter
    the Lord our God in prayer, especially liturgical prayer.
    But if this first effect of prayer is the more readily visible, there is still another, more mysterious indeed, but no less real,
    which we do well to ponder upon with faith, and that is prayer's efficacy for the apostolate.
    <Heading>The Apostolic Efficacy of Prayer
    <Body text>Before we come to the considerations which will demonstrate the manifest truth of this statement, we
    would do well to be on our guard against a tendency which today is quite widespread even in the most Christian circles.
    The desire to do good in the world around us leads us to reflect upon the means we should employ to bear witness, to be
    the leaven in the dough of society and to be present in all its parts, and indeed, this desire is to be warmly applauded.
    However, the conclusions to which our enquiries lead us, and which do in truth reveal to us the wounds from which our
    society suffers, often lead us to seek to employ too exclusively human methods, whose apparent effectiveness appeals to
    our minds. And these methods appear all the more indispensable when we compare them with those used by the
    Church's enemies, which seem highly effective.
    Herein lies a great danger, especially for young minds, which are easily carried away, and whose imagination finds
    outward appearances persuasive.
    To make right decisions regarding these problems of evangelization, of the apostolate, one must above all see them
    through the eyes of faith, as Our Lord did and does see them. Was society perfect in His day? Did mankind practice the
    virtues in all aspects of life, individual, domestice, social? Hardly.
    Our Lord did not disdain to use human implements--His own humanity in the first place, and then His disciples whom
    He trained for three years. But all founders of religious sects have done than. What was clearly unique about Our Lord
    was that the breath of the Holy Spirit animated His whole being, and that it was this same divine Spirit Who would fill
    the souls of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. And in this Spirit, in the power of this Spirit, the powers of darkness
    would be shaken by the Apostles, and by the Church throughout the ages.
    The conclusion is obvious: to act without this Spirit, without having taken the measures necessary to have Him with us
    and in us, is to act without Our Lord. Now, He Himself told us, "Abide in me, and I in you...He that abideth in me, and
    I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing."(John XV,4-5). In other words, he who
    dwells in Me, that is, in My Spirit, will be highly effective; he who is not in Me will be ineffective. And further on He
    says, "You have not chosen me; but I have chosen you, and have appointed you, that you should go and should bring
    forth fruit (that is, that you should be effective.)" (John XV, 16).
    kWhat does "to dwell in Our Lord and Our Lord in us" mean if not to be in a habitual state of prayer?
    Without prayer we should be ineffectual in Our Lord's work, the Apostolate. It is useless our pondering over the
    catalogue of available means to be employed in the transformation and conversion of our brethren, or facing up to the
    machinations of the enemies of good and of peace, the enemies of God, if we are not assured that the spirit of Our Lord
    is in us and with us.
    The whole of the Old and the New Testaments and the whole history of the Church are an illustration of this truth.
    Let us remember the prayer of Abraham, of Moses, of Judith and Tobias; let us recall the prayer of the Virgin Mary, her
    Magnificat, and the prayer made at Pentecost, and how the Apostles took care to set time apart for prayer. Then there
    are the exhortations of the Popes, and in particular of our Holy Father Pope John XXIII, asking us to pray. But above all
    we have the life of Our Lord, which was but one long prayer in word and action. And why? "My Father is the
    husbandman...I am the vine; you the branches..."(Jn XV 1,5) "Father, the hour is come. Give them eternal ife." (cf. Jn.
    XII 1&2). This was the great prayer of Christ which was to be realized in the Last Supper and on the Cross, and
    perpetuated in the liturgy of the Church.
    As confirmation of what I have said here are some statements of church councils which express the thought of the
    Church on the need for the action of the Holy Spirit in the work of evangelization, and the intimate connection between
    the Holy Spirit and prayer:
    <Quote>...Let us consider also the mysteries of the prayers said by the priests. Handed down by the Apostles, they are
    celebrated in the same way throughout the whole Catholic Church, so that the rule of prayer may establish the rule of
    faith. When those who preside at the sacred assemblies fulfill the mission entrusted to them, they present before the
    Divine Mercy the cause of the human race, and, the whole Church groaning with them, they pray and beseech that
    faith may be given to unbelievers, that idolaters may be delivered from the errors that leave them Godless, that the veil
    covering the hearts of the Jews may be removed, and that the light of truth may shine upon them, that heretics may
    repent and accept the Catholic faith, that schismatics may receive the spirit of rekindled charity, that to the fallen may
    be granted the medicine of penitence, and finally, that the palace of the heavenly mercy may be opened to the
    catechumens who have been brought to the sacrament of regeneration...
    All this is so strongly felt as being the work of God that continual praise and thanksgiving are addressed to God, Who
    does these things, for having enlightened and corrected these people...
    <Body text>Let us take care, then, not to rely on ourselves alone, on our human resources, on our own thinking and
    intelligence, our own efforts, our organization, our plans, to achieve a goal which is God's, in a domain which is His,
    the domain of souls. And the same applies even in the domain of temporal things, which God has created to be at the
    service of souls.
    If we do not want to be beaten before we start, we have to set ourselves to prayer and make sure that others ceaselessly
    offer up prayers to help us.
    This incense which rises before God to praise and adore Him through Our Lord, and to obtain for us His Spirit, is none
    other than the prayer of monks and nuns, and of the whole Church, which prays constantly with Jesus and in Him.
    It is so very true that the liturgy, the work of God `par excellence', is the greatest manifestation of charity toward God
    and our neighbor. Nothing is more missionary than the prayer which called down the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.
    And it is that same prayer of Our Lord which is perpetuated in the sacred liturgy of the Church, a prayer which, by Our
    Lord's own promise, is ever efficacious.
    This prayer, which the Church sets upon our lips, is the voice of the Bride, which intercedes for believers and
    unbelievers and for all spiritual creatures living on the earth, and especially for the dying, 150,000 of them each day.
    More than that, this prayer reaches beyond the veil and into Purgatory, and there, too, it calls forth the outpouring of
    the purifying Spirit.
    Thus the prayer of monks, far from shrinking their hearts, widens them to match the Heart of Jesus. Nothing is more
    fruitful in charity, and, in consequence, so efficacious as is prayer as a means of the spreading of Our Lord's kingdom
    within mens' souls, in time and in eternity.
    Pastoral letter from Rome, on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, 25th January, 1962.
    Just as this pastoral letter was about to go to the printers, I received notice of the Holy See's decision. I think, however,
    that these lines, the last I shall be addressing to the faithful of the diocese of Dakar, will be for them a final expression
    of my pastoral care and of my affection in Our Lord.
    Dakar, 2nd February, 1962.

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