Advice on Prayer

Dear N.,

Thank you for your enquiry. To help you in your spiritual life, I highly recommend the classical work on Christian spirituality designed to introduce beginners into the life of mental prayer: An Introduction to the Devout and Holy Life by St Francis De Sales.

This book was the first book on the spiritual life I ever read, and its ideas and teachings have stayed with me all throughout my Christian pilgrimage. Please obtain and read this book to your soul’s health. I should also recommend that each day you begin to use the offices of Morning and Evening Prayer as found in the Book of Common Prayer faithfully and regularly. They will build the foundation for a strong prayer life that will remain consistent in spite of the vicissitudes of life and changes and chances of feeling and emotion.

The supreme act of prayer, the summary and substance of the Gospel, the source and summit of the Christian life, is, of course, Our Lord’s own Prayer to the Father, the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, the Eucharist. I should recommend that you attend Mass daily, or if that is not possible, at least weekly and as frequently during the week as your schedule will allow. Making a good Holy Communion and a good sacramental Confession regularly will do more for the soul and the prayer life than anything else. There is freedom, joy and spontaneity in prayer only in order, and the Eucharist and Offices, the common prayer of the Church, will so order your prayer life that within such a structure you can begin to grow and deepen in your personal prayer.

Personal prayer is never private – it is always linked to the Church, to the Communion of Saints, and to the liturgical expression and worship of whole New Covenant Israel of God. Do not be afraid to pray with Our Lady, the chiefest and holiest of believers, and with all those holy ones who have passed beyond the veil and now stand round the Throne of God and the Lamb.

Prayer becomes exciting in this way even when it seems at times and seasons banal or routine, for prayer is a more than an experience, it is a discipline and a science to be practised and learned through exercise and perseverance. We must pray as we can, not as we can’t. Begin at the beginning and all will go as it should.

Should you have further questions on the spiritual life or ascetical theology, please free to contact me at any time. May the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, bless you and guide you in your journey.