Chapter 3 Section 5.2– How prayer wrestles - a recap

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 5.2– How prayer wrestles - a recap 

 

In the meanwhile, until thou hast reached this happy state [viz. being free of distractions in prayer], strive to remove the first 3 impediments which nourish and feed the last; never cease from praying with great confidence and fervour: nothing is impossible to one who prays and trusts as he ought.

In the midst of this din which, for a time, thou must endure during thy prayer, cry out as best thou can to thy God to silence it, saying to Him with David: Behold, God Almighty, how my heart hast forsaken me [Psalm xxxix, 13]; both because through sloth I have not guarded it as I ought; and because my vagabond imagination will not obey me.

The demons have induced it to fly from me: be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me [Psalm xxxix, 14] from the violence of this conflict.

And since thou commandest me to destroy and root out, and to waste and pull down these four (4) impediments [viz. demons, interior enemies, superfluous thoughts and distractions] to the contemplative life: grant me the grace to obey thy precept that I may obtain the peace thou dost promise.

Chapter 3 Section 5.1– How prayer wrestles with distractions

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 5.1– How prayer wrestles with distractions

 

Having overcome these 3 enemies, there remains the last and most bitter conflict against the distracting imaginations and fancies that invade our mind during prayer.

For our imagination is by nature so flighty and unstable that it rushes about without leave or licence from us to think upon whatever it pleases.

How the poor soul is tortured and crucified when it strives to recollect itself by prayer. Of this holy Job complained, saying: My thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart; they have turned night into day. [Job xvii, 11, 12].

This time of prayer destined for quiet and tranquillity they have converted into the labour and pains of distractions; these are apt to be so pertinacious that inexperienced souls often think victory in such a struggle to be impossible.

By the power of divine grace they [viz the inexperienced in prayer] acquire the same mastery over their thoughts as the centurion in the Gospel had over his soldiers. I am a man under authority, he said, having under me soldiers and I say to this Go!, and he goeth, and to another, Come! And he cometh, and to my servant, Do this!, and he doeth it [St Matthew viii, 9].

Page 58: In the same manner must thou manfully resolve to subject thy spirit in all things and through all things to God, who is thy supreme Master; by the help of His grace thou shalt gain control over all thy faculties, which are thy soldiers, and over the sense of thy body, which is thy servant. So that when thou shalt say….to thy tongue, Be silent!, immediately it will do it… In like manner, when thou orderest thy imagination to think of this or not of that, it will also comply.

This excellent peace of mind… may be to a great extent recovered even in this present life by the:

                   Efficacy of divine grace,

                   Joined to the exercise of prayer

                   Provided that thou mortify thyself

                   And give to God perfect submission and obedience

So it will come about that after, it may be, long perseverance in this warfare, thou shalt at length attain that peace of soul which prayer itself is the best means of obtaining.

Chapter 3 Section 5 – How prayer wrestles with superfluous cares

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 5 – How prayer wrestles with superfluous cares

The 3^rd conflict to be undertaken is against superfluous cares which prick like thorns and choke the seed of divine inspirations, bringing upon the spirit a kind of torpor which makes it inapt to speak with its Creator.

He himself admonishes thee in these words: “Take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with… the cares of this life” [St Luke xxi, 34].

Page 56: Just as an excess of food and drink weighs down the body: so, many superfluous cares disturb the spirit and impede prayer.

If in time of prayer such anxieties and cares attack thee fight against them with cries and petitions to Heaven.

If thou make it thy chief care to please God, He will take upon Himself the good success of thy other enterprises: this one principal care will overcome the lesser ones.

It is written: Be still and see that I am God [Psalm xlv, 11]. As if to say: Reject the multitude of cares, and thou shalt be permitted to contemplate my greatness.

Prayer:

Infinite God, set my soul at rest from the cares of Martha, lest they hinder the quiet of Mary; pluck out of my heart those thorns which prick it; produce instead holy thoughts and affections pleasing to Thee.

 

Chapter 3 Section 4.1– How prayer wrestles with passions

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 4.1– How prayer wrestles with passions

 

With the same zeal must thou enter into conflict with thy unruly passions and the inordinate desires of thy flesh, which perturb the spirit and hinder it from attending to spiritual things.

Think then, that when thou comest to prayer, that God say to thee what He said to Moses, who desired to approach the burning bush: Come not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from thy feet; [Isaias xliv, 22] strip thyself of all earthly affections, cast away all desire for perishing things; for it ill beseems thee to enter into my presence with such shoes on thy feet.

Having heard this voice, resolve to mortify with a good will everything in thee which displeases God: then he may presently permit thee to approach and speak familiarly with Him; unless thou so prepare thyself thou shalt never attain to contemplation.

Die then to the cupidities of thy flesh, and straightway shalt thou be permitted to contemplate the divine greatness.

If this seem to be too difficult, begin to pray; for prayer will impetrate for thee to carry out the thy good desire:

Say with St Augustine [Solil., c. 1]:

          O fountain of life! I will die that I may see Thee;

          I will mortify myself that I may enjoy Thee;

          I will deny myself that I may be permitted to speak with Thee:

Since this blessed vision and joyous colloquy may not be obtained without this kind of death, in which consists true life.

          Grant me, Lord, to see Thee indeed, that I may die to this life;

          Unless I now begin to pray and to contemplate Thee,

          And to contemplate Thee, and so to see Thee,

          I cannot die to myself in order to enjoy Thee.

Chapter 3 Section 4– How prayer wrestles with sins and passions

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 4– How prayer wrestles with sins and passions

Page 53 - Before all else war must be declared against sin, which devours the conscience with remorse until by penance we have washed our souls clean, and freed ourselves from sinful affections and their occasions.

Your iniquities, says Isaias, [lix, 2], have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He should not hear.

If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, and neither will nor can remove it, this is a certain sign of complacency in it; as long as this is the case I am unworthy of the presence and contemplation of God, which is promised to the clean of heart [St Matthew v, 8]: moreover, God will say to me with terrible voice: Take away the impious, lest he see the glory of God [Isa. Xxvi, 10 (in the Septuagint)] and contemplate His wonders.

 

Since, then, thou hast the power to put away the sins which cause thee remorse, and which discourage thy heart and soul, embrace the counsel of the Wise man! The just man accuseth himself at the beginning of his prayer [Proverbs xviii, 17 (in the Septuagint)].

 

When, therefore, thou entereth on a life of prayer, thou must at the same time begin with conflict of sin, eliciting acts of sorrow and conceiving purposes of amendment, uniting all these petitions together in the best way thou can.

For earnest and unwearied prayer will obtain for thee the grace to dissolve the clouds of thy sins, transforming them into the water of tears.

Prayer:

Eternal God, who hast said by the mouth of thy Prophet: I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist [Isaias xliv, 22];

take away and dissolve as a cloud the multitude of my sins, leaving no trace of them:

Let my prayer enter into Thy sight and make me worthy to contemplate Thy Glory.

 

 

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Chapter 3 Section 3 – How prayer wrestles with our interior enemies

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 3– How prayer wrestles with our interior enemies

 

Although this conflict [viz with the Devil] is so strong, yet there is one still more deadly, because domestic; on it the evil spirits place all their hopes. For it takes place within our soul, which is the house wherein prayer is exercised; in this house are found four (4) of the chief interior enemies which persecute prayer. They are denominated by St Bernard [Serm. 23 in Cant. ad finem]:

1.     remorse for sins past

2.     ill-regulated passions

3.     dissipation of mind

4.     and superfluous cares

From these four (4) are formed that dark and murky cloud of which Jeremiah says: Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that our prayers may not pass through. [Lam iii, 4]

Page 52 – Should thou find thyself in such a miserable case as this, do not lose heart or doubt the possibility of escape.

God has imparted such efficacy to prayer that by its importunate supplications even such clouds and mists can be dispelled and the house of thy heart tranquilised.

If thou art resolved to give thyself to prayer, tell thyself that the Lord our God exhorts thee to remove these four (4) impediments, saying by the mouth of Jeremias: Lo I have set this day to root up and to pull down, and to waste and to destroy, and to build and to plant; [Jer. I, 10] as if to say:

          If thou are determined to build the house of recollected prayer and to plant the grove of lofty thoughts and fruitful labours, study first to remove these obstacles:

1.     Destroy the sins which give thee remorse;

2.     Pluck out the passions and desires which disturb thee;

3.     Cast away superfluous cares by which thou art pricked;

4.     And Root out the vain fancies which cause thee so much distraction.

 

Lofty indeed is the house of prayer and contemplation which thou thinkest to build; neither labour not strength must be spared in the business.

Prayer itself will obtain for thee all thou needest and will combat those foes until thou hast obtained complete victory over them.

 

Chapter 3 Section 2– How prayer wrestles with the demons

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 2– How prayer wrestles with the demons

 

Page 49 – The more fervent the Devil see us in prayer, says St Bernard, [Sermo 4 de Quad.] the greater his energy in opposing hindrances.

For this reason some of the Holy Fathers tell us that the more excellent our prayer, the greater the difficulty shall we find in it: for all hell seems to conspire against it. Nor is this anything strange, for great undertakings are wont to present great difficulties. But if cowards are terrified by the difficulty, the strong are spurred on by the greatness.

Both classes need generosity of soul and the necessity of prayer is a strong stimulus to urge us on in this practice.

The very solicitude and effort with which the evil spirits strive to hinder it sufficiently shows how important they deem it, and ought to encourage us the more firmly to resist them and to continue the combat till we overcome.

Chapter 3 Section 1.2– Be a man of prayer!

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 1.2–  Be a man of prayer!

 

If, thou desire to conquer the Omnipotent and be a partaker in His omnipotence, be a man of prayer;

If thou desire to mortify thy flesh and dry up the nerve on which its passions depend, be a man of prayer;

If thou seek to triumph over the world and its pomps, and not to fear men and their calumnies, and, moreover, to be delivered from the snares of the devil, be a man of prayer;

If thou desire God to change thy name [ie as in Jacob to Israel] and grant thee fortitude and the gift of quiet, tranquil contemplation, and to see and possess Him as far as may be in this life, be a man of prayer;

Lastly, if thou hope to obtain from the Father of lights all those heavenly blessings which he is wont to communicate through Jesus Christ His Son, be a man of prayer; for this is the infallible way of obtaining them.

 

 

Re-post - AMDG - The purpose of this blog - in praise of the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

 

AMDG - The purpose of this blog - in praise of the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

 

The purpose of this blog - in praise of Louis de Ponte

AMDG This blog is to make more widely available the writings of the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ aka Fr Luis de la Puente. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_de_la_Puente 

He was born in 1554 and entered the Jesuit Novitate in 1574. His Spiritual writings include the Meditations on the Principal Mysteries of our Faith published in 1605. 

This blog will make available the prayers with which he ends the chapters and sub-chapters of his great spiritual work Dux Spiritualis – The Spiritual Guide. I will be quoting from the English translation of the first part of The Spiritual Guide published in 1932 under the title Of Familiar Intercourse with God in prayer. This was published by Burns Oates and Washbourne Ltd with Nihil Obstat and an Imprimatur by Joseph Butt of the Archdiocese of Westminster. The work also contains an introduction by Bishop Alban Goodier SJ – http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgoodier.html. 

Bishop Goodier says of Louis de Ponte “As the abundant references prove, De Ponte made use of the all the great authors before him: in some sense it might be said that what S Thomas Aquinas was to dogmatic theology, that De Ponte was to mystical teaching and what the Summa Theologica did for Scholasticism that the Spiritual Guide has done for mysticism.” 

The Dux Spiritualis was first published in Spanish in 1609 under the title of Guia Espiritual and it was translated into Latin by Fr Melchior Trevinno SJ in 1613. Louis de Ponte died in 1624 and his cause for Beatification was started soon afterwards.

Bishop Goodier further says: “De Ponte is recognised as a safe master and guide; so safe, that although not yet canonised his writings have been declared equal of those of the saints, and free from any bias or preference, such as is usually found in spiritual writers of whatever school.”

I hope readers will find the prayers that Louis de Ponte composed here in the first English translation published in 1932 of great use and help in their life of prayer.

Chapter 3 Section 1– Of wrestling with God in prayer

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 3 Section 1– Of wrestling with God in prayer

Page 45 - .. .. fervent prayer is nothing else than a kind of wrestling of our spirit with God to induce Him to hear us and come to our assistance.

We bring against Him all the claims and arguments we can think of to force Him, as it were, to grant what we ask; His charity is so infinite that when He sees us engaged in other conflicts and grievously afflicted, He seems to invite us to enter into this conflict with Himself and to wish to be overcome.

For He greatly delights in being vanquished by prayer: from this friendly conflict we may learn what strength His grace will impart to overcome those enemies who fight against us in deadly earnest.

O depth of the Divine mercy!

O invincible power of prayer!

Let Thy infinite mercies praise Thee, my God, for the virtue Thou hast bestowed on prayer to vanquish the fiercest and most powerful enemies.

 

Chapter 2 Section 6.3 – Of the necessity of prayer - Seven (7) Gifts of the Holy Ghost

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 Section 6.3 – Of the necessity of prayer - Seven (7) Gifts of the Holy Ghost 

 

Divine Spirit, who hast bestowed upon us thy sevenfold (7) gifts, that we may know how to speak to Thee and how to offer Thee these seven (7) petitions [viz. of the Our Father] grant me:

 

          The gift of wisdom, that I may sanctify Thy name;

The gift of understanding, by which I may penetrate the secrets of Thy Kingdom;

The gift of counsel by which I may rightly see how to do Thy will as it is done in heaven;

The gift of knowledge, that I may know how to seek daily bread for my spirit;

The gift of piety, which will incline and move me to forgive my debtors as Thou dost forgive my sins;

The gift of fortitude, lest I succumb to temptation;

And, lastly, the gift of holy fear that I may fly ever evil.

 

Give me a high esteem of prayer by which I may obtain all these blessings from Thy infinite liberality, to the glory of Thy most holy name now and in eternity.

Amen.

Chapter 2 Section 6.2 – Of the necessity of prayer - 11 powers of prayer

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 Section 6.2 – Of the necessity of prayer - 11 powers of prayer 

 

Page 41 – Great, indeed, says St Laurence Justinian, is the power of prayer which:

1.     contents God

2.     penetrates Heaven

3.     obtains what it demands

4.     terrifies demons

5.     vanquishes enemies

6.     renews energy

7.     strengthens the mind

8.     unites the soul with God

9.     generates devotion and consolation

10. recalls dissipated thoughts

11. and makes us delight to dwell in our own souls:

I would even say that without prayer eternal salvation is beyond our reach.

Chapter 2 Section 6.1 – Of the necessity of prayer - the need for Grace

 Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 Section 6.1 – Of the necessity of prayer

 

Has not Christ our Lord said that we ought always to pray and never faint? [St Luke xviii, 1].

For if prayer faints also, and we lose the very life of grace, then all blessings of which we have spoken faint also, and we lose the very life of grace which depends on them.

As a body without a soul is but a disfigured corpse, foetid and the pray of worms: so, says S. Chrysostom, [Lib de orando Deum] will the soul which despises prayer die to the life of grace and become disfigured by vie, foetid by bad example, and devoured by remorse of conscience

Chapter 2 Section 6 – Of the necessity of prayer - to protect us from falling into sin

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 Section 6 – Of the necessity of prayer

 

From all that has been said it may be inferred how necessary prayer is to preserve the life of the soul and deliver us from the evils and enemies that would destroy it.

St Thomas [S. Th. II-II, Q. lxxxiii, art 3, ad 2] teaches that it is a precept as much natural as divine, and that if we do not pray when we feel ourselves in danger of falling into sin, we incur fresh guilt: that is, when we see ourselves about to fall unless God hold out his sustaining hand.

Chapter 2 Section 5.2 – BUT DELIVER US from evil

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 Section 5.2 – BUT DELIVER US from evil

Lastly, prayer delivers us from evil and from guilt and punishment both eternal and temporal in such degrees as is expedient; that being freed from temporal evils we may escape those that are spiritual.

Even Christ our Lord Himself healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead by Prayer, not because he had need of prayer to work these miracles but because, says S. Ambrose [Lib. 5 in Lc], we have need of it and he would give this example.

If thou art sick and afflicted, do not despair but pray: for prayer expels sadness and frees from all affliction.

Should thou see thyself at the very gate of Hell, do not leave off praying: for prayer will stand before thee to close its cruel mouth, lest it devour thee and thou perish [S. Bonaventura in medit. Vitae Christi, c. 36].

Know this, that in whatever calamity or misery thou art plunged, prayer is an omnipotent means of extricating thee from evil and enriching thee with all blessings.

Cry out then, and implore, the [page 39] Divine Omnipotence, to show His accustomed mercy. Moreover, did not David say: Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me [Ps. lxv, 20]; giving us to understand, as S. Augustine very well explains this verse, that prayer and the Divine mercy have entered into a compact never to separate the one from the other.

Prayer:

O Father of mercies bestow on me the gift of prayer, which is so certain a means of turning upon us the flood of Divine mercy.

Never, never deprive me of the power to pray, lest Thy mercy forsake me also!

For I am certain that if prayer accompanies me everywhere, Thy mercy will always be my protection and I shall be delivered from every evil.

 

Chapter 2 Section 5.1 – AND LEAD US NOT into temptation

 Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 Section 5.1 – AND LEAD US NOT into temptation

 

What shall I say about the power of prayer to overcome the temptations which surround us on every side?

For it triumphs over:

1.     the suggestions of the Devil,

2.     the persecutions of the world

3.     and the passions of the flesh.

As often, says St Isadore, as thou feel thyself endangered by temptations to vice, have recourse to prayer which is the unique remedy against them.

Moreover, did not our Saviour say to his Apostles: Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation? [St Matthew xxvi, 41].

Prayer has the power to obtain 12 legions of Angels [cf St Matthew xxvi, 53] who will fight for thee against the evil spirits. What say I? Angels? The Lord of Angels Himself will come to our assistance; for he so loves prayer that wherever it is made he is straightaway present to deliver him who prays: because he asks and knocks

Chapter 2 Section 5 – FORGIVE US our trespasses

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2  Section 5 – FORGIVE US our trespasses

 

Page 37: ….prayer is all-powerful to obtain the forgiveness of our sins, no matter how numerous or grave they may be.

What justified the publican but the prayer he offered in the temple? [cf. St Luke xviii, 13]. What but prayer softened the heart of the father to receive back on such easy terms the prodigal son? [cf. St Luke xv, 21].

Oh infinite power of prayer! In comparison with which any number of sins is little and their gravity light, for it can obtain the remission of any debt, were it even infinite.

And because Christ Our Lord has attached to the forgiveness of sin this condition, that we also forgive the debts of others: this prayer itself fulfils this condition.

For it softens the heart, however hardened, of him who makes it, inducing him to [page 38] pray for his enemies and to forgive them as he himself hopes to be forgiven.

The furnace of prayer is like an immense fire; if thou enter into it, though thou be as hard as iron and as cold as ice, thou shalt come forth soft as wax.

 

 

Chapter 2 Section 4.1 – GIVE US this day our daily bread

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2  Section 4.1 – GIVE US this day our daily bread

 

Page 34: If thy prayer is perfect, it will impel thee to do the divine will on earth as it is in heaven; it will give thee wings so that thou shalt feel no labour in obeying the Divine precepts: this is one of the greatest benefits of prayer.

….but thou, if thou desire the lot of children of God, will dig … in the mine of prayer, in which thou shalt find treasure which nothing can take …but thou, if thou desire the lot of the children of God, will dig in the mine of prayer, in which thou shalt find treasure which nothing can away or spoil; and, moreover, thou shalt enjoy it without anxiety because by means of prayer, thy will shall become one with the will of God, and shall, therefore, always be fulfilled.

Chapter 2 Section 4.1 – GIVE US this day our daily bread

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2  Section 4.1 – GIVE US this day our daily bread

Lest thou should imagine all these divine riches to be invisible, listen to the 4^th excellence of prayer, namely, that it is a means of obtaining daily bread for both body and soul. For it is the word of Christ our Lord himself that to one who asks of a friend 3 loaves of bread shall be liberally granted whatever he stands in need of [cf St Luke xi, 8].

But what are these loaves but food for the body, soul, and spirit?

For prayer obtains the spiritual bread of grace and devotion, which sustains and fortifies the spirit. The 2^nd loaf represents the sacramental bread in which is hidden Christ Himself, that living bread which comes down from Heaven and nourishes him who eats it; the 3^rd loaf is the corporal bread which is necessary for the sustenance of our bodily life.

But the eminence and superiority of prayer goes yet farther.

St Thomas [S. Th., II-II, Q. lxxxiii, art. 13] teaches that it has the power to become itself the food of the soul, and that with great abundance and delight….it provides us with 3 excellent loaves;

1.     the bread of truth to nourish the mind in holy meditation;

2.     the bread of charity to sustain the will by fervent affections;

3.     and the bread of fortitude by which the weakness of flesh is overcome.

From what is left over, says St Bernard [Serm. De trib. Panib. In Rogationibus], the spirit makes for itself a repast from which it arises full of energy and vigour, ready to undertake all that belongs to the service of the Lord.

 

Chapter 2 Section 3 – THY WILL be done on earth as it is in Heaven

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2  Section 3 – THY WILL be done on earth as it is in Heaven

To this 2^nd excellence of prayer is joined a 3^rd, that is it is a very efficacious means of doing the will of God on earth as it is in Heaven: for in carrying out the Divine will, consists the highest perfection to be obtained in this life. For in prayer we ask not only of God perfect submission to His will, but we actually carry it out,

By fervent prayer we strip ourselves of our own will to put on the Divine will; our love becomes so keen and perfect that it unites to God… We do on earth what the Blessed are doing in Heaven; for this reason as the holy Fathers boldly affirm…perfect prayer raises a just soul to equality with the Angels, releasing it in a certain manner from the trammels of the flesh and enabling [page 34] it to rise in spirit to heaven; casting away all superfluous cares and living in a mortal body as if it were pure spirit.

Because, says S. Chrysostom [Lib. De orando Deum], it does in a wonderful manner effect a prodigious transformation,

changing hearts of flesh into spirit,

tepidity into fervour,

human natures into divine,

and communicating to them the qualities of the Seraphim who stand [Isa. vi, 3] in the Divine presence singing the praises of God….

If thy prayer is perfect, it will impel thee to do the Divine will on earth as it is done in Heaven; it will give thee wings so that one will feel no labour in obeying the divine precepts: this is one of the greatest benefits of prayer.

For prayer may be practised at all times, and therefore at all times mayest thou obtain what is more than the whole world.

 

 

Chapter 2.2.1 THY Kingdom come - Part 2

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2.2.1 THY Kingdom come

How by prayer we impetrate and even now enjoy the Kingdom of God

In testimony of which Christ Our Lord, whilst engaged in prayer, revealed to us two advantages of this kingdom. For first we read that while He prayed heaven was opened to Him, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven; Thou art my Son, in Thee I am well pleased [cf St Luke iii, 21 seq.].

What does this signify but that prayer is the key that opens the gate of Heaven that our spirit may enter and learn heavenly secrets, and that it brings down the Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts and builds there the nest in which the heavenly dove resides, filling our souls with His gifts and graces and making us the children of God by adoption?

Again it was while he was praying that the same Lord was transfigured with great splendour and glory and was overshadowed by a bright cloud, from which came the voice of the eternal Father [Cf St Matthew 17; St Mark ix; St Luke ix].

Page 33

For as prayer implores the coming of the Kingdom, it also receives it; it merits a foretaste of the glories of Heaven; it beatifies us, first by Hope and afterwards by possession.

Prayer:

Supreme King, bestow on me the gift of prayer that I may enter Thy Kingdom and obtain the inestimable riches of Thy Grace and Thy Glory.

Amen.

Chapter 2.2. THY Kingdom come

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2.2. THY Kingdom come

How by prayer we impetrate and even now enjoy the Kingdom of God

Thy Kingdom come! Hence arises the 2^nd excellence of prayer from which we learn its prime importance: for it is the means by which the Kingdom of God comes in us, as well that which is promised in this life and which, according to the Apostle, is justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost [Romans xiv, 17] as that we hope for in the future when we shall reign together with God in paradise.

For prayer brings us to the first kingdom which, says Christ Himself, is within us [St Luke xvii,21] ; entering into our hearts it leads us to heaven, where we enter the second. It shows us the beauty of both, and communicates to us abundance of wisdom, that delectable spirit of wisdom and justice which, says David, is as lofty as the high mountains of God [cf. Psalm xxxv, 7]…… ……. [page 32] He calls it His house of prayer, or as we may read, the house of prayer, as much on account of His love of prayer as to show is that its fruits are not so much our own as His, and moreover, that they are fruits worthy of God.

Hence says S. John Climacus [Gradu 28], the joy that proceeds from prayer is sufficient to repay a hundredfold all that in this life we have renounced to obtain it, as well as a powerful incentive to urge us on to attain the heavenly Kingdom.

 

Chapter 2.1.1 – How God is glorified by prayer - Can anything be of greater excellence or utility than prayer?

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2.1.1 – How God is glorified by prayer

Can anything be of greater excellence or utility than  prayer?

By its means 2 most important graces are received:

1.     The Glorification of God in His creatures

2.     And that of thy own soul

Both by the glory to which it is predestined and the graces it shall obtain from Divine Providence.

Prayer:

Eternal God, glorify me with this gift of prayer, that I may glorify Thee as Thou dost deserve; then shall I be glorified in Thee and Thou in me by those gifts which Thou has decreed for me before I was made and before the creation of the world.

 

Sometimes I shall shed abundance of tears, when I realise how little glory I give to God compared with what I ought, and how His name is blasphemed among the nations; at other times I will exult with burning charity to see God glorified in just souls; sometimes, with great purity of intention I shall strive to hallow His name in all I think, say or do.

O most holy prayer, true mother of sanctity, whose Father is God Himself!

Prayer:

 

Most Holy Father, since Thou desirest me to be holy, grant me the gift of prayer, which has such power to make me holy: never, never, take from me the power to pray lest I lose my sanctity with it.

Chapter 2.1 – How God is glorified by prayer

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2.1 – How God is glorified by prayer

HALLOWED BE THY NAME. The 1^st way in which the excellence of prayer shines forth is because it is one of the chief means by which the name of God is sanctified, known, and glorified by us and in us: so that by our tongues and still more by our manner of life God is glorified in us in the sight of men. For prayer obtains those heavenly lights by which the Father of Lights [James i. 17] instructs and moves men to believe in Him. It obtains the highest virtues and strength to perform heroic deeds.

 

From this St Gregory [Lib 1 Dial., c. 8] concludes and St Thomas [S. Th. II-II, Q. lxxxiii, art 2] explains at greater length that prayer is the principal means by which Divine Providence carries out what it has decreed since all eternity; for sometimes it is the case that God made the fulfilment of His decrees so depend upon prayer that without it He will not carry them out.

It was by prayer that the Fathers of the Old Covenant obtained the execution [fulfilment] of the Incarnation of the Son of God, so long promised; the Son of God Himself obtained it by prayer, according to the words of David: Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. [Psalm ii, 8]

 

 

Chapter 2 – Intro prayer - a summary of the excellence and utility of prayer

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 – a summary of the excellence and utility of prayer

 

Prayer:

 

Supreme Father, what thanks do we not owe Thee for that Thou hast raised us to great a dignity, allowing us to appear in Thy presence as sons, conversing with Thee on earth as the angels do in Heaven.

Grant us so to correspond with this dignity that we may be pleasing in Thy sight and by its means may obtain the glorious gifts Thou dost hold out to us.

Amen

Chapter 2 - Intro - a summary of the excellence and utility of prayer

 

Extracts from the Dux Spiritualis by the Venerable Louis de Ponte SJ

Chapter 2 – a summary of the excellence and utility of prayer

From the foundations laid in the preceding chapter it is easy to deduce: 1^st the great importance of prayer in our spiritual life; then, its utility and excellence, all of which ought to draw thee to give thyself to this holy exercise: there is no better way of praising prayer than to set down simply what it is and what it embraces.

From what has been briefly stated thou wilt understand that this method of praying and treating familiarly with God is the beginning, middle and end of religious perfection.

It is the beginning because those in the purgative way will find in it their best way of purging themselves from their sins and imperfections.

It is the middle, because it furnishes the surest means of growing and making progress in all virtue.

Lastly, it is the end or goal towards which thou dost journey in the unitive way, that thou mayest enjoy its sweet fruits, conjoining thyself to Thy Creator by ardent charity, and beseeching Him to impart to thee the highest degree of beatitude attainable in this present life.