St Catherine of Siena, whose feast day is today, Saturday 29th April, experienced a mystical discussion with God the Father which is known as The Dialogue of Divine Providence. In this Dialogue the Father instructs her about prayer.
He speaks first of those who pray only vocally, that is, only in using words. These, he says, do nothing except completing psalms and saying many paternosters (the Lord’s Prayer). Once finished they think of nothing further. Mere recitation of the words of prayers bears little fruit. “which pleases Me,” says God, “but little.” This kind of prayer is, however, a necessary starting point.
Vocal prayer should be joined to mental prayer in which we should consider our own defects, consider the sacrifice that Jesus made for us with his blood, and raise our minds to God in love.
When, in the Dialogue, she speaks to the Father, she asks that she should never wander from the path of the truth that God has revealed to us. She does not ask for herself alone, but for the whole world and the Church. This is sometimes converted to a misquote: ’Jesus save me … but wouldn’t it be better if you saved everyone else too?’ It may be a missquote, but it is true to her thought and is a very useful short prayer.
Prayer, then, is a dialogue with God: we pray with words, we engage in mental prayer in which we listen to God and seek to understand the meaning for us of the prayers we use, and in all prayer we try to express our love of God
For a brief life of Catherine see : https://catholicexchange.com/how-to-imitate-saint-catherine-of-siena/
He speaks first of those who pray only vocally, that is, only in using words. These, he says, do nothing except completing psalms and saying many paternosters (the Lord’s Prayer). Once finished they think of nothing further. Mere recitation of the words of prayers bears little fruit. “which pleases Me,” says God, “but little.” This kind of prayer is, however, a necessary starting point.
Vocal prayer should be joined to mental prayer in which we should consider our own defects, consider the sacrifice that Jesus made for us with his blood, and raise our minds to God in love.
When, in the Dialogue, she speaks to the Father, she asks that she should never wander from the path of the truth that God has revealed to us. She does not ask for herself alone, but for the whole world and the Church. This is sometimes converted to a misquote: ’Jesus save me … but wouldn’t it be better if you saved everyone else too?’ It may be a missquote, but it is true to her thought and is a very useful short prayer.
Prayer, then, is a dialogue with God: we pray with words, we engage in mental prayer in which we listen to God and seek to understand the meaning for us of the prayers we use, and in all prayer we try to express our love of God
For a brief life of Catherine see : https://catholicexchange.com/how-to-imitate-saint-catherine-of-siena/
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