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Views from the Choir Loft

Mental Prayer through Hymns

Veronica Brandt · January 2, 2016

St Ignatius vision INDFULNESS, COMPASSION and meditation: all strongly recommended by mental health experts. For Catholics this really translates into mental prayer.

You may have come across the quote attributed to St Francis de Sales: “Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer every day, except when we are busy—then we need an hour.” Now, I’m sure that 15 minutes in a busy day is fantastic, but you get the point—make time for prayer!

A few times I’ve mentioned this and some close Catholic friends confided that they didn’t know where to begin with mental prayer—they’re sure they’re hopeless at it—which is an awful thing to think.

Take the first idea of mental prayer, personified in Fr Faber’s hymn:

O Mother, I could weep for mirth,
Joy fills my heart so fast;
My soul today is heaven on earth,
Oh, may the transport last !

I think of thee, and what thou art,
Thy majesty, thy state—-
And I keep singing in my heart;
Immaculate ! Immaculate !

In this idea, you kneel down, open your heart and you are transported to seventh heaven where consolation and bliss fills your soul.

Now, I’m not going to say that’s impossible, but it is certainly not the ordinary experience. With this sort of expectation you are likely to be disappointed and feel like a failure—just like my friends related. But this is not practising mental prayer! This is like sitting at the piano for the first time and wondering why you can’t play Liebestraum.

On the other hand, take St Thomas Aquinas via Gerard Manley Hopkins:

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

There – you kneel down and contemplate God. You acknowledge your own unworthiness – not to feel bad about yourself, but to reflect the reality of the amazing love of God for us.

There are many, many, many methods of mental prayer available. Just like a piano method they require some patience and repetition before prayer starts coming naturally. Just like learning the piano, if it doesn’t seem to be working you can turn to someone for advice. That’s what spiritual directors are for.

Maybe a good way to start is to take this from the new Enchridion of Indulgences:

A partial indulgence is granted to that individual among the faithful who, in carrying out his duties and bearing with the trials of life, raises his mind in humble trust to God, adding—even mentally—some pious invocation.

A little each day for 2016!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
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    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
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Random Quote

“One must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way. The Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy.”

— Pope Saint John Paul II (26 February 2003)

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