In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

"Footsteps Online"

Easter/Pentecost 1999 (Volume 4, Issue 2)

Continual Prayer: Montfort's second means to acquire Wisdom

Sr. Shirley, D.W. continues her reflections on the principal means of acquiring Divine Wisdom.

As our Lenten journey of 40 days draws to a close and we awaken out of the dark winter days to a joyful springtime Alleluia !! our eyes are drawn to a small group of people gathered in an Upper Room,

With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus…….. (Acts 1; 14)

In his book, Love of Eternal Wisdom, Montfort draws our attention to continual or persevering prayer, as one of the four ways or means by which Christ Wisdom will be born in our hearts,

...We must pray perseveringly to obtain this Wisdom…..whoever then wishes to obtain wisdom must pray for it day and night without wearying or becoming disheartened. Blessings in abundance will be theirs, if, after ten, twenty, thirty years of prayer, or even an hour before death, they come to possess it. (LEW 188)

We have to admit that we do become weary and disheartened!

In our busy lives how many of us can honestly say that we pray continually?

Perhaps at best we may snatch a few moments here and there.

Why not take a few quite moments NOW to reflect on your life of prayer; these questions may be of help in your reflection:

Is prayer important in my life?

Do I thirst for times to be with God?

Do I listen to God in my prayer ?

Is my daily life a reflection of my prayer life?

If we are convinced that prayer is about a relationship, a presence, about being touched by love - and if we ask that this relationship fill every moment of our lives - as we arise each day, as we work or rest, as we relate to others, as we strive to live honest and truthful lives - then it is possible for the gift of continual prayer to become as much a part of our life as breathing.

How can this happen?

All we have to do is ask!!

Montfort in Love of Eternal Wisdom gives us some helpful ideas. So, let us reflect on them and open our hearts to what he says.

Therefore to possess Wisdom we must pray. But how should we pray?

First, we should pray for this gift with a strong and lively faith....

Secondly, we must pray with a pure faith....

Thirdly, we must pray perseveringly to obtain this Wisdom....

That is how we must pray to obtain Wisdom. (LEW 185 - 190)

In all of this Montfort is asking us to have a listening heart, to be like Mary, the woman of faith, ‘who treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.’ (Luke 2; 19)

When we look at Jesus’s very active life and ministry in the gospels, he frequently sought out moments of stillness and prayer to be alone with his Father. Montfort himself in the midst of all his travels and missions sought prolonged periods of prayer in Mervent, St. Eloi, St. Lazare and the Rue du pot de Fer in Paris where it is believed he may have written The Love of Eternal Wisdom.

Perhaps we cannot go away for prolonged periods of prayer - but we can pray continually throughout our day wherever we are. And Montfort has a way for us ! As he walked the roads of France his favourite prayer was the Rosary; indeed the image of him for many was that, .... of him with his hat under his arm, and his Rosary in his hand. ( Le Crom )

And he referred to the Rosary as, '....the easiest of all prayers,’ in his book The Secret of the Rosary. He said that,

Whenever possible the Rosary should be said kneeling….. but it can be said while walking or even working. ( SR 126 )

In praying the Rosary as one means of continual prayer, we reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and so we bring to our prayer the concerns also of our joyful, sorrowful and glorious moments of life. In contemplating and pondering the mysteries of Christ in prayer, we contemplate and ponder on our own lives and the lives of others, in the light of this prayer. And so our prayer takes on a missionary aspect. All of our prayer according to Montfort, is missionary by nature, if we,

  • Listen to God with humble submission.
  • Act in him and through him with persevering fidelity.
  • Finally, seek to acquire the light you need to inspire others with that love for Wisdom which will lead them to eternal life. ( LEW 20)

Will I let this prayer change my life?

Will it help me to put on the mind of Christ? Will it help me to lead others to Christ?

As we approach the 3rd Millennium celebrating the birth of Christ nearly 2000 years ago, will we allow our hearts to be touched by the love of God in prayer? Will we allow Christ to pray in us? Will our lives become a song of praise to God?

For those of us who are perhaps disabled, elderly or infirm this is a great consolation, for our prayer knows no such limitations or boundaries - we can truly be missionaries wherever we are. Whatever we see on the news on T.V, hear on the radio or read in the papers world-wide, can become the focus of our continual prayer, as well as people and events in our own neighbourhood.

So, as we sing our Easter Alleluias and set out on the road to Pentecost, let us join with that small group gathered in the Upper Room around Mary, and let us constantly devote ourselves to prayer.

Risen Lord, hear our prayer !