June 15th
St Chantal on Prayer
States of Prayer

One kind of prayer is a tranquil attention of the soul to God, which has the effect of calming the over-activity of our mental faculties, and which brings us interior silence and the repose of all our powers!  What a fine thing it is oftener to listen to God speaking in our very depths, than to speak to Him.

Another sort of prayer is that in which the soul enjoys this peace as a lasting state, and through making no act, finds itself nonetheless always inclined to wish all that God may wish of it.  This love of the will of God is its very meat and drink.

There is another sort of prayer in which the soul fastens itself as it were on God, and this takes place when the soul attends to God, using every one of its faculties, without even noticing that it is using these powers which it possesses.

There is still another way of prayer which is that of struggle and of trouble.  This happens when we find ourselves oppressed by continued and violent temptations.  In this condition what is needed is a great faithfulness to God, with a quiet and direct putting aside of the subjects of our trouble.

There is again a prayer of poverty and abandonment.  In this kind the soul is incapable of any act, and can overcome its difficulties only by patience and humility.  In such a state these are the remedies which the soul must employ.  We must welcome our poverty in a spirit of penance and as an act of homage to the divine justice, unite ourselves to the poverty of the Son of God.