Soon after Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope, I stopped in at a local Catholic bookstore looking for some of the stuff he'd written. I knew he was a heavy theologian, and while I style myself an armchair theologian I didn't necessarily think I was up for anything too hard, so I picked up a volume titled Introduction to Christianity. Many, many pages later I decided that, while Ratzinger may be a smart guy, he needs to be schooled on the definition of the word "introduction." Not so with St. Francis de Sales, who begins Part 2 ("Prayer and the Sacraments") of Introduction to the Devout Life with very basic instructions on how to practice mental prayer and meditation. From 2-2: And he goes on to explain what he means when he says "Place yourself in the presence of God." The four ways are, briefly, to realize vividly the omnipresence of God; to realize that God is present in a special way in one's soul; to think of our Lord "in his sacred humanity" gazing upon us from heaven; and to "use our imagination to represent our Lord as very near to us in the same way as we often think of our friends..." Pretty basic stuff. And yet, surely it's a necessary fundamental, isn't it? St. Francis goes on in chapter 3 to offer tips for "asking God's help," and even explains in chapter 4 that in meditating on a mystery one should imagine the "scene," so to speak. ... In some meditations it is useful to represent to the imagination the scene of the mystery you are considering as if it were actually taking place before you; for example, if you wish to meditate on the Crucifixion imagine yourself on Mount Calvary and that you see and hear all that took place on the day of the Passion; or if you like, for it comes to the same thing, imagine that the Crucifixion is taking place in the very place where you are, just as the Evangelists describe it. The same applies to meditations on death or hell and to all similar mysteries concerned with things that we a can see and hear and touch... However, I do not wish to make prayer seem too difficult or wearying but rather as simple as possible. To imagine the scene is to keep our mind on the mystery we are considering so that it may not wander to and fro, just as we confine a bird in its cage or a hawk to our wrist. Isn't this rather obvious? St. Francis thinks not, as he has experience with people who don't recommend this fairly basic method of prayer: Two notes: (1) I'm finding that these chapters in the second part contain advice which is helpful for putting into practice the instructions in the first part. (2-5: "Having confined your spirit... within the mystery that you are considering, either by using your imagination, if it is something perceptible to the senses, or by the mind itself if it is something invisible, begin to consider, in the way explained in the meditations which I have already given you [in the first part].") That's not to say that you can't immediately start using some of St. Francis's insights as you read along and discover them for the first time, but I expect that the book's advice will need to be digested as a whole work rather than as a day-by-day "textbook" or syllabus of the devout life. In other words, I think I'm going to have to read the book once, taking notes, and then consider how best to put it into practice. (2) I've looked at a couple different translations, and let me tell you, the translator matters. It's one thing to get whatever's available from the library or free online, but if you're going to spend money, don't just go buy any old copy of Introduction to the Devout Life without picking it up and reading a couple of different sample and seeing how the language strikes you. I wasn't looking for a scholarly edition, but for something that had the conversational, natural tone that I'd seen in recent translations of other work by St. Francis de Sales. I've checked out a copy of the "Everyman's Library" edition translated by Fr. Michael Day that I like very much. I read French, so maybe I'll pick up the original just for fun and practice at some point, but that wouldn't be very good for blogging (and in my experience not very good for spiritual instruction, either). UPDATE. Jennifer Fulwiler of Conversion Diary considers St. Francis's "Four Ways to Place Yourself in the Presence of God."As you may not know how to practice mental prayer, Philothea, for unfortunately it is a lost art in our age, I will give you a simple method which will help you until, by reading some of the useful books on the subject, and above all by the practice itself, you are more fully instructed. The first thing is to place yourself in the presence of God and ask his help, so I will begin by showing you four ways of placing yourself in his presence.
To place yourself in the presence of God before prayer, choose one of these four ways, never more than one, and then dwell upon it briefly and simply.
Some will tell you that it is better to represent these mysteries to yourself in an entirely intellectual and spiritual way, through faith, or else consider that the events take place within your own soul, but this is rather too subtle to begin with; so,... until God raises you higher, remain in the valley which I have pointed out to you.
O boy! I think you have just inspired me to read it... Or to add it to my reading list :) Please keep the notes coming!
Posted by: Marybeth | 18 July 2010 at 10:37 AM
I just realized that I have a copy of this on my shelf already--translator is John K. Ryan. I'm going to start reading it and see how this translation goes.
Posted by: Tabitha | 23 July 2010 at 09:48 AM
This is totally a tangent; but I've had the same experience with some of Ratzinger's writing that you described and others of his books I've found very approachable and easy to read.
I think that with Ratzinger's writing there are two kinds of works, two different styles, and two different levels of approachability. I think there's the stuff that is written as a theologian for other theologians and it is dense and, for me, impenetrable. And then there's the stuff that shows what an amazing teacher he is, that is pastoral and very clear while not lacking in complexity or richness.
Posted by: MelanieB | 03 August 2010 at 05:03 PM