Necessary to be read
I have published various little spiritual works, but I judge that I have produced no work more useful than this little book, in which I speak of prayer, since it is a necessary and sure means for obtaining salvation and all the graces we need for it. I do not have the means to do this, but if I could, I would wish to have printed as many copies of this little book as there are faithful living on the earth, and to distribute them to each one, so that all might understand the need we all have to pray in order to be saved.
I say this because on the one hand I see this absolute necessity of prayer, so strongly inculcated by all Sacred Scripture and by all the holy Fathers; and on the other hand I see that Christians pay little heed to practicing this great means of their salvation. And what grieves me most is that I see preachers and confessors take little care to speak of it to their hearers and penitents; and I see that even the spiritual books circulating today do not speak of it enough. Yet all preachers and confessors, and all books, should impress nothing else upon souls with greater urgency and warmth than this matter of prayer. They do indeed inculcate many good means for souls to preserve themselves in the grace of God: the flight from occasions, the frequenting of the sacraments, resistance to temptations, hearing the divine word, meditating on the eternal maxims, and other means — all of them, it is not denied, most useful; but of what use, I say, are sermons, meditations, and all the other means given by spiritual masters, without prayer, since the Lord has declared that He will grant His graces only to those who pray? «Petite, et accipietis» "Ask, and you shall receive." Without prayer (speaking according to the
(ordinary) providence of God) all the meditations made, all our resolutions, and all our promises will remain useless. If we do not pray, we shall always be unfaithful to all the lights received from God and to all the promises made by us. The reason is that, to actually do good, to overcome temptations, to practice the virtues — in short, to observe the divine precepts and counsels — the lights we have received and the considerations and resolutions we have made do not suffice; the actual help of God is also needed. And this actual help (as we shall see below) the Lord grants only to those who pray, and who pray perseveringly. The lights received, the considerations, and the good resolutions conceived serve to this end: that in the dangers and temptations to transgress the divine law we actually pray, and by prayer obtain the divine assistance that will then preserve us from sin; but if we do not pray then, we are lost.
I have wished, my reader, to set down this conviction of mine before all that I shall write below, so that you may thank the Lord, who by means of this little book of mine gives you the grace to reflect more deeply on the importance of this great means of prayer; for all who are saved (speaking of adults) are ordinarily saved by this means alone. And therefore I say: thank God for it, since it is too great a mercy that He shows to those to whom He gives the light and the grace to pray. I hope that you, my beloved brother, after reading this brief work, will no longer be careless from this day forward about having recourse to God in prayer whenever you are tempted to offend Him. If ever in the past you found your conscience burdened with many sins, know that this was the cause: negligence in praying, and in asking God for help to resist the temptations that afflicted you. In the meantime I beg you to read it and reread it with all attention — not because it is a work of mine, but because it is a means by which the Lord offers you the good of your eternal salvation, thereby giving you to understand in a particular way that He wills your salvation. And after you have read it, I beg you to have it read by others (as you are able), friends or fellow townsmen with whom you converse. Now let us begin in the name of the Lord.
The Apostle wrote to Timothy: «Osecro igitur primum omnium fieri obsecrationes, postulationes, gratiarum actiones» "I beseech, therefore, first of all, that supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings be made" (1 Tim. 2:1). St. Thomas the Angelic Doctor explains that prayer is properly the raising of the mind to God. Petition, then, is prayer in the proper sense; and when the request concerns definite things it is called petition, while when it concerns indefinite things (as when we say, «Deus in adjutorium meum intende» "O God, come to my assistance"), it is called supplication. Obsecration is a devout adjuration, that is, a solemn entreaty, to obtain grace, as when we say, «Per Crucem et Passionem tuam libera nos Domine» "By Your Cross and Passion, deliver us, O Lord." Finally, the action of thanksgiving is the giving of thanks for benefits received, by which, says St. Thomas, we merit to receive greater benefits: «Gratias agentes meremur accipere potiora» "By giving thanks we deserve to receive greater things." Prayer taken in its particular sense (says the holy Doctor) signifies having recourse to God; but taken in its general sense it contains all the other parts named above; and in this sense we shall understand it, calling it from now on by the name of prayer.
Now, to make us love this great means of our salvation, let us consider how necessary it is, and how much it avails to obtain for us all the graces we desire from God, if we know how to ask for them as we ought. Therefore in this First Part we shall speak first of the necessity and the power of prayer, and then of its conditions, so that it may prove efficacious with God. In the Second Part we shall then show that the grace of prayer is given to all; and there we shall treat of the ordinary way in which grace works.