According to St. Thomas Aquinas (cf. Summa Theologiæ. II-II, q.83, a.1-2), prayer consists in the elevation of our mind to God, inflamed by devotion and the fervour of charity. We do not pray to God in order to manifest something unknown to His infinite wisdom or to change the designs of His divine providence, but in order to convince ourselves of our need to have recourse to His help and to ask for everything that He has determined from all eternity to grant us through the merit of our prayers.
In the course of our prayers, any distraction would seem illicit, even when we are making our best efforts. Can we profitably raise supplications to God while our thoughts wander far from His Divine Majesty? St. Thomas’ solution to this difficulty is as surprising as it is consoling: “No one is held to the impossible. But it is impossible for the mind to be held intent on something for a long time without being suddenly swept away to other things. Therefore, it is not necessary to prayer that attention always accompany it” (Commentary on the Sentences. L.IV, d.15, q.4, a.2, qc.4).
Let us analyse the words of the Angelic Doctor. Attention is necessary for our prayer to have more merit and to nourish our soul. We cannot deliberately let our thoughts wander, otherwise we will lose the fruits of our prayers, because voluntary distractions take our minds away from God. However, involuntary distractions do not rob prayer of its merit. The human mind, due to the weakness of its nature, debilitated by original sin, cannot always remain on the heights, because the weight of this weakness drags the soul down (cf. Summa Theologiæ. II-II, q.83, a.13, ad 2).
In other words, if we are distracted by weakness and not by negligence, our prayer will continue to be pleasing to God. Inner fervour must be the cause of our prayers. We pray to honour and revere God, submitting our souls to Him and acknowledging, through supplication, our total dependence on Him, the source and cause of all goods (cf. Summa Theologiæ. II-II, q.83, a.3; a.14).
The merits and strength of our petitions depend on this desire, born of love for God, despite our involuntary distractions: “But if the original intention is lacking, prayer lacks both merit and impetration: because, as Gregory says, ‘God hears not the prayer of those who pay no attention to their prayer’” (Summa Theologiæ. II-II, q.83, a.13).
What conclusion should we draw from St. Thomas’ teachings? When we pray, let us try to pray well, in order to obtain greater profit. We must do everything we can to make our prayer pleasing to God, cutting out all voluntary distractions and fight as hard as we can against involuntary ones. Let us not consider prayer as a mere duty, like someone who wants to get a tedious task over with, but out of love, with fervour, with the intention of raising our hearts to Heaven and uniting ourselves ever more closely to the Father. Above all, let us not fall into the fallacy of saying: “I’m better off not praying, since I don’t pray well…” Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira wanted to write a booklet entitled The Value of Poor Prayer, and with good reason, because it is certain that the Most High does not disregard our good dispositions when we address Him, even when our prayer is imperfect. ◊
