St. Alphonsus Liguori taught that mental prayer is morally necessary for salvation. For mental prayer enlightens the mind, disposes the heart to the practice of virtues, and helps us to pray as we should.
Mental prayer enlightens the mind and without mental prayer the soul is without light. St. Alphonsus wrote, “The eternal truths are all spiritual things that are seen, not with the eyes of the body, but with the eyes of the mind; that is, by reflection and consideration. Now, they who do not make mental prayer do not see these truths, neither do they see the importance of eternal salvation, and the means which they must adopt in order to obtain it. The loss of so many souls arises from the neglect of considering the great affair of our salvation, and what we must do in order to be saved.”
The Lord complained to St. Teresa: “I would willingly speak to many souls; but the world makes such a noise in their heart that my voice cannot make itself heard.”
St. Teresa says, “Although it appears to us that we have no imperfections, still when God opens the eyes of the soul, as he usually does in prayer, our imperfections are then clearly seen.”
St. Bonaventure said that mental prayer is like a mirror in which we see all the stains of the soul.
Commenting on Song 2:12 St. Alphonsus wrote, “When the soul, like the solitary turtle, retires and recollects itself in meditation to converse with God, then the flowers – that is, good desires – appear: then comes the time of pruning, that is, the correction of faults which are discovered in mental prayer.”
Mental prayer disposes the heart to the practice of virtues. St. Josemaria Escriva wrote, “Each day try to find a few minutes of that blessed solitude you need so much to keep your interior life going.”
St. Alphonsus pointed out that since our heart is inclined to sensual pleasures, sin has made it hard and undocile. But a person becomes docile and tender to the influence of grace which is communicated in mental prayer.
The saint wrote, “He who does not sleep has not strength to work nor to walk, but goes tottering along the way. The soul that does not repose and acquire strength in meditation is not able to resist temptations, and totters on the road.”
St. Lawrence Justinian says: “By the efficacy of mental prayer, temptation is banished, sadness is driven away, lost virtue is restored, fervor which has grown cold is excited, and the lovely flame of divine love is augmented.”
Mental prayer helps us to pray as we should. St. Alphonsus wrote, “Many say the Rosary, the Office of the Blessed Virgin, and perform other works of devotion; but they still continue in sin. But it is impossible for him who perseveres in mental prayer to continue in sin: he will either give up meditation or renounce sin. A great servant of God used to say that mental prayer and sin cannot exist together. And this we see by experience: they who make
mental prayer rarely incur the enmity of God; and should they ever have the misfortune of falling into sin, by persevering in mental prayer they see their misery and return to God. Let a soul, says St. Teresa, be ever so negligent, if it persevere in meditation, the Lord will bring it back to the haven of salvation.”
Mental prayer helps us to pray the Rosary more properly. In 1980 Our Lady appeared to Bernardo Martinez in Cuapa, Nicaragua. Bernardo recalled: “She told me that the Lord does not like prayers we make in a rush or mechanically. Because of that she recommended praying of the Rosary with the reading of biblical citations and that we put into practice the Word of God.”
St. Alphonsus said that Our Lady is better pleased with five decades said with pauses and devotion, than with 15 in haste and with less devotion.
心禱燃亮我們的思想
聖亞豐索教導說，心禱道義上為救恩是必需的。因為心禱燃亮我們的思想，部署內心實踐德行，幫助我們去祈禱，就如我們所應該的。
心禱燃亮我們的思想，沒有心禱我們的靈魂是沒有光芒。聖亞豐索寫道：『永恆的真理是靈性的事物，不是肉眼所見而是思想的眼目所能見的；就是以沉思和考慮。現在，那些不作默想的，看不見這真理；他們也看不見永恆救恩的重要，以及為獲得救恩他們所需要採納的方法。很多靈魂的失落是由於忽略去考慮我們救恩的大事，和我們要獲得救恩所應做的事。』
我主向聖女德蘭抱怨說：『我願跟很多的靈魂說話，但世俗在他們心中吵嚷著多大的噪聲，使我的聲音不為所聞。』
聖女德蘭說：『雖然我們似是沒有不完美處，可是當天主打開我們靈魂的眼目，一如祂在祈禱中經常做的，我們不完美之處便能清楚看見。』聖文都辣說，心禱就像一面鏡，在那裡我們看見我們靈魂的一切瑕疵。
聖亞豐索在雅歌2:12的意見，他寫道：『當靈魂似一只孤獨的斑鳩，退避並收斂心神去默想和天主交談，然後是一朵花 – 就是，好的意願 – 出現：其後是修剪的時候，更正過錯，這些都是從默想中發現的。』
心禱部署人心趨於實踐德行。聖若瑟瑪利亞、施禮華寫道：『每天嘗試找幾分鐘獨處，你的需要這被祝福的時刻去維護你的內在生命。』
聖亞豐索指出因為我們的內心偏於感官的喜樂，罪惡使它硬和不易馴服。但以心禱，人可以因聖寵的影響變得馴服和溫柔。
這聖人說：『沒有足夠睡眠的人，沒有力量去工作甚至走路，步履也不穩定。靈魂沒有在心禱中得到足夠的休息並爭取力量，是不能抵抗誘惑也會在路上步履不隱。』
聖老楞佐、儒利亞納說：『藉著心禱的效能，我們可以制止誘惑，驅逐憂愁，重捨失落的德行，重溫冷卻的熱忱，聖愛的愛火得以增強。』
心禱幫助我們作應有的祈禱。聖亞豐索寫道：『很多人念玫瑰經，聖母小日課，並作其他的敬禮工作；但他們仍然繼續犯罪。可是為那些維持作心禱的人，他們不大可能會繼續犯罪：他們一是放棄心禱或是棄絕犯罪。一位天主偉大的忠僕人說心禱和罪惡不能共存。在我們的經驗看到：那些作心禱的人很少招致天主的敵意； 如果他們不幸落入罪中，通過堅持心禱，他們會看到自己的痛苦並回到天主身邊。聖女德蘭說，讓一靈魂會曾是那般的疏忽，但若它能維持心禱，我主會把它帶回救恩的港口。』
心禱幫助我們更正確地誦念玫瑰經。在1980年聖母在尼加拉瓜顯現給納鐸.馬天力。納鐸回憶說：『她告訴我，我主不喜歡急促的或機械式的祈禱。因此她建議誦念玫瑰經要能閱讀聖經的引述。並將天主的聖訓付諸實行。』
聖亞豐索說聖母更喜歡用休止和虔誠的方式誦念五端玫瑰經，而不是匆忙和不那麼虔誠的念十五端。
