CONTENTS

Preface 12

PART I

Excellence and Advantages of Menial Prayer.

1. Excellence of Prayer 13

II. First and Second Advantage of Prayer! It Ensures our Salvation and Enriches us with Numerous Merits 16

III. Third Advantage of Prayer: It Leads to Christian Perfection 21

IV. Fourth Advantage of Prayer: It Causes the Soul to Taste Spiritual Joys Incomparably Superior to All the False Pleasures of the World 28

V. Fifth Advantage of Prayer: It Gives Apostolic Works their True Fruit 32

PART II

The Principal Acts of Prayer.

I. Preparation for Prayer 37

II. The First Act: That of Placing Oneself in the Presence of God, which must never be Omitted in Beginning Meditation 43

III. Second Preliminary Act: Adoration 49

IV. Third Preliminary Act: Petition to the Holy Ghost for Grace 52

V. Exercise of the Imagination and of the Sensitive Appetite 56

VI. Exercise of the Memory and Understanding 59

VII. The Acts of Faith, the most Perfect of the Acts which the Intellect can Make in Prayer 63

VIII. Why Acts of the Will are more Important than those of the Understanding 67

IX. The Act of Hope 71

X. Charity or Pure Love of God Consists in Desiring Every Kind of Good Thing for God, because He is Infinitely Worthy of it on Account of His Infinite Perfections 78

XI. A Soul in which there is the Pure Love of Charity strives furthermore towards Union with God, so as to no longer Live for Itself but for God 83

XII. Charity is a Love not only out of Benevolence, but also of Friendship between God and the Just Man 89

XIII. Charity Requires that we Love God above all Things 94

XIV. How the Two Kinds of Love — Affective and Effective — should be Exercised during Prayer 98

XV. We must Consider God as our Supreme Benefactor in order to Gain a Love of Him 102

XVI. To Obtain the Love of God we must Regard Him as the Creator and Sovereign Lord of all Things 110

XVII. To Obtain the Love of God we must Look upon God as our Best Friend 114

XVIII. To Gain the Love of God we must Consider Him as the Best of Fathers 121

XIX. In Course of Prayer we should make Acts of Pure Love, Benevolence and Friendship not only towards God in His Divine Nature, but also towards the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ our Lord, and especially towards Jesus Crucified 127

XX. The Sorrowing Love of Contrition 138

XXI. Adoration and Thanksgiving 141

XXII. How Prayer Properly so-called, or Petition, Ensures Salvation 146

XXIII. Prayer must be Humble, Confident and Persistent, if it is, without Fail, to secure Salvation 151

XXIV. Prayer for Temporal Favors is Good, but not Infallible 157

XXV. Different Ways of Praying 160

XXVI. The Circumstances in which Petition is especially Fitting 166

XXVII. Oblation 170

XXVIII. The End of Meditation 174

XXIX. Reflection 176

XXX. The Time, Duration, Place and Posture most Fitting for Meditation 179

PART III

Affective Prayer,

I. The Nature of Affective Prayer 185

II. The Advantages and Dangers of Affective Prayer 194

III. How far may Affective Prayer be Simplified? 206

IV. Frequent Elevation of the Heart to God 209

PART IV

Difficulties in Prayer.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. First Difficulty: Distractions 219

II. Second Difficulty: Dryness of Soul 221

III. Third Difficulty: Weariness 227

IV. Fourth Difficulty: Discouragement and Want of Perseverance 232

V. Fifth Difficulty: To Learn how to Meditate 235

VI. Sixth Difficulty: Inability to Follow a Course of Reasoning 244

PART V

Methods of Prayer in the Exercises of St, Ignatius.

I. The Method of Contemplation and its Perfection 255

II. The General Method of Contemplation Applied

Particularly to the Mysteries of Our Lord's Life 265

III. Method of Prayer Entitled Application of the Five Senses 283

IV. Method of Prayer Entitled the Second Method of Prayer 291

V. Method of Prayer Entitled the Third Method of Prayer 297

VI. The Annotations of the Exercises 300

VII. The Additions of the Exercises 312