In order to achieve eternal salvation, we need the grace of God. We ask for grace in prayer. Prayer sustains our soul likes food sustains our body. “As the flesh is nourished by food, so is man supported by prayer” (St. Augustine).

St. John Chrysostom added: “As the body without the soul cannot live, so the soul without prayer is dead and emits an offensive odour.” 

St. Alphonsus bluntly stated: “He who prays is saved. He who prays not is damned!” The saint added: “To save one’s soul without prayer is most difficult, and even impossible … but by praying our salvation is made secure, and very easy.”  

Father Patrick J. Gearon observed: “God does bestow many gifts without our asking him, but there are others which he will grant only after we have made the request; and all this because he wants us to place our confidence in him as the Source of all our good things. So, God wants us not to forget him and our dependence upon him.”

He added: “We must ask first for spiritual things and then for temporal favours. We are to aim at the possession of God. So we must not ask for anything that would block us from attaining God.”

Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, had a wonderful dream: “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.’” (Gen 28:12-13). 

Many people see this ladder as a symbol of prayer. Father Coerezza (a Salesian missionary in Hong Kong) wrote: “Prayer is an elevation of one’s soul to God. Like the angels our spirit goes up to God to know him ever better, to adore him, to thank him, to ask him all we need. The Good God is ever ready to speak to us; and his generosity is far beyond our understanding. His graces and favours are so frequently bestowed, his angels are continually in contact with us.”

The Catechism tells us that prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God. St. Therese of Lisieux wrote: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

Before meeting his brother Esau, Jacob wrestled all night with a mysterious figure. The Catechism states: “From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance.”

During prayer, many people have to “wrestle” with distractions and aridity. Father Gearon pointed out: “Distractions are in the intellect, and aridity is in the will. In distractions, the mind wanders; in aridity, there is absence of consolation in prayer.”

Father Gearon added: “As regards distractions, we should get at their cause. If the only time that we think of Our Lord is when we are actually on our knees, then it will not be so easy to get recollection at once.

“Aridity might arise from different causes. It might come from (a) attachment to sin, or (b) even from bad health, or (c) from the action of God wanting to purify the soul.”

We should not expect God to answer our prayers at once. St. Monica spent 16 years praying fervently for the conversion of her son Augustine. Not only was Augustine converted, but he became a bishop, a saint and a doctor of the Church.  

 

祈禱是心內的洶湧

為得到內在的救恩，我們需要天主的寵愛。我們在祈禱中祈求這寵愛。祈禱維持我們的靈魂，一如食物維持我們的身體。『就如食物滋養我們的血肉，同樣祈禱支持世人』（聖奧斯定）。金口聖若望補充：『肉體沒有靈魂不能生活，所以靈魂沒有祈禱也是死的並發出厭惡的惡臭。』

聖亞爾豐索直言不諱地稱：『祈禱的得救，不祈禱的喪亡！』這聖人加說：『沒有祈禱要救一己靈魂是最為困難，甚至無甚可能…但憑籍祈禱我們的救恩可以確定，和十分容易。』

Patrick J. Gearon神父觀察到：『我們沒有祈求，天主也賞賜我們很多恩賜，但有些其他的，要在我們祈求後祂才會恩許；這一切都因為祂想我們信賴祂，以祂為一切美善的根源，所以天主願意我們不會忘記祂和我們對祂的依靠。』Gearon神父加說：『我們應該首先請求靈性的事然後才是暫時的恩惠。我們目標於擁有天主。所以我們不要祈求任何會阻礙我們得獲天主的事物。』

雅各伯，亞巴郎的孫兒，有一奇夢：『他作了一夢：見一個梯子直立在地上，梯頂與天相接；天主的使者在梯子上，上去下來。 上主立在梯上說：「我是上主，你父亞巴郎的天主，依撒格的天主。」』（創28：12-13）

很多人看這梯子為祈禱的象徵。Coerezza神父（香港慈幼會傳教士）寫道：『祈禱提升人的靈魂到天主處。一如天使們，我們的靈魂上升到天主處，更好地認識祂，朝拜祂，多謝祂，祈求我們一切的需要。至善的天主經常準備好跟我們說話；祂的慷慨是遠超我們所能明白的。祂時常賞賜我們祂的寵愛和恩惠，祂的天使們繼續不斷與我們接觸。』

教理告訴我們祈禱提升我們意志和內心到天主處。聖女小德蘭寫道：『對我來說，祈禱是內心的洶湧；這是向天堂簡單的一望，它是愛和讚賞的呼喊，擁抱著考驗和喜樂。』

在遇見他的兄弟以掃之前，雅各伯整夜跟一奧秘者角力。教理說：『教會靈修傳統視此一敘述為祈禱的象徵；祈禱是信德的戰鬥和堅持到底的勝利。』

在祈禱中，很多人要與分心和枯燥『角力』，Gearon神神父指出：『分心是在理智中，枯燥是在意願中。在分心中，思想遊蕩；枯燥，是在祈禱中缺乏慰籍，』Gearon神父多加說：『在分心方面，我們要找出原因。如果我們只是在我們真正跪下的時間才想及天主，那麼我們不會容易立刻收斂心神。枯燥可由不同的原因引起。它可能由…（a）羈附於罪惡，或（b）甚至由不良的健康，或（c）由天主的工作，淨化靈魂。』

你不應該期望天主會立刻回應你的祈求。聖莫尼加花了十六年熱心的祈禱為她兒子奧斯定的皈依。不單奧斯定皈依了，但他成了位主教，一位聖人和聖師。