Prayer And The Mountain

Exiit Tangit hic sex spectantia ad orationem, scilicet, orantis ad solitudinem segregationem, spiritus orantis elevationem, formam quam decet habere orationem, orantis in oratione perseverationem, tempus quoad orationis et secreti congruitatem, et orationis finem. De segregatione orantis dicit: Exiit, hoc est, a suis intimis et a curis se segregavit: non quia ipse hoc indigeret, sed ut nobis orantibus formam daret. Matth. xxvi: Sedete hic, donec vadam illuc et orem. Luc. XXII: Ipse enim avulsus est ab eis quantum jactus est lapidis. Genes. xxii: Exspectate hic cum asino: ego et puer illuc usque properantes, postquam adoraverimus, revertemur ad vos. Hoc dixit Abraham servis suis. ...in montem... In quo significat orantis in spiritu et justitia elevationem. Psal lxiii, 7: Accedet homo ad cor altum. Jerem XXXI: Benedicat tibi Domitius pulchritudo justitiae, mons sanctus. Genes xxii: In monte Dominus videbit, hoc est, in altitudine spiritus et veritatis. Joan IV: Spiritus est Deus: et eos qui adorant eum, in spiritu et veritate oportet adorare. Psal. lxvii: Mons in quo beneplacitum est Deo habitare in eo : etenim Dominus habitabit in finem. ...Orare. In hoc dat formam quam decet habere orationem. Intelliguntur autem tres modi et formae, secundum tres orationis diffinitiones. Prima est quoad ea quae petuntur ut sint decentia, hoc est, ad salutem pertinentia. Unde Damascenus dicit, quia oratio est petitio decentium a Deo. Matth VI: Quaerite primum regnum Dei, et justitiam ejus: et haec omnia adjicientur vobis. Secunda forma est secundum affectum orantis, hoc est quod sit devota et pia oratio. Unde Augustinus : " Oratio est pius affectus mentis in Deum directus. Pius autem affectus, est liquescens in Deum ex fervore devotionis et fluens affectus. Psal CXI: Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo. Cantic III: Sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhae, et thuris, et universi pulveris pigmentarii. Tertia forma est accepta secundum intellectum orantis, ut exaltetur intellectus in veritatem incircumscirptam. Unde Joannes Damascenus dicit, quod oratio est ascensus intellectus in a Deum. Et Dionysius dicit, quod virtus orationis est in Deum ascendere et Deo appropinquare. Eccli xxxv: Oratio humiliantis se nubes penetrabit: et donec propinquet non consolabitur: et non discedet donec Altissimus adspiciat. Ista ergo est forma orationis. Et erat... Ecce in tempore consignato tangitur orationis instantia cum perseverantia. Luc xviii: Quoniam oportet semper orare, et non deficere. Ad Roman XII: Orationi instantes: necessitatibus sanctorum communicantes. 1 ad Thessal v: Sine intermissione orate. ...pernoctans... Ecce tempus quieti et secreto orationis congruum intempestae noctis silentio. Psal CXVIII: Media nocte surgebam ad confitendum tibi. Item, ibidem: Memor fui nocte nominis tui, Domine. Thren ii: Consurge, lauda in nocte, in principio vigiliarum tuarum. Isa XXVI: Anima mea desideravit te in nocte, sed et spiritu meo in praecordiis meis de mane vigilabo ad te. ...in oratione Dei. Ecce finis. Dei enim est oratio per finem, et non honores, vel divitiae, vel deliciae, vel pertinens ad hoc saeculum. Et ideo dicit Glossa: Dei, non saeculi. De oratione enim saeculi dicitur, II Machab IX: Orabat autem hic scelestus Dominum, a quo non esset misericordiam consecuturus. Isa I: Cum multiplicaveritis orationem, non exaudiam. Sed Deum petens in oratione auditur, Isa. xxxviii: Audivi orationem tuam, et vidi lacrimas tuas. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput VI Source: Here p405-6

He went off... 1 This touches on the six marks of prayer, that is, the separated solitude of prayer, the spiritual elevation of prayer, the form which it befits prayer to have, the need of perseverance in prayer, the time which is appropriate for private prayer, and the goal of prayer. Concerning separation in prayer it says, 'He went off...' that is, He separated Himself from His companions and cares, not because He had need of this, but to give us an example of prayer. In the twenty sixth chapter of Matthew, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.' In the twenty second chapter of Luke, 'And He withdrew from them a stone's cast.' In the twenty second chapter of Genesis: 'Wait here with the ass. I and the boy shall go on ahead, and after we have prayed we shall return to you,' which Abraham says to his servant. 2 ...to a mountain... In which is signified the elevation of prayer in spirit and righteousness. In the sixty third Psalm, 'An uplifted heart comes on a man.' In the thirty first chapter of Jeremiah, 'The Lord bless you, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain,' In the twenty second chapter of Genesis, 'The Lord shall look on the mountain,' that is, on the height of spirit and truth. In the fourth chapter of John, 'God is a spirit and those who adore Him should adore in spirit and truth.' In the sixty seventh Psalm, 'The mountain on which God is pleased to dwell, for there the Lord will dwell to the end.' 3 ...to pray. In this he gives the form which it befits prayer to have. But form should be understood in three ways, according to the three differences of prayer. First that what is sought is fitting for God to give, that is, it pertains to salvation. Whence John Damascene says that prayer is an asking of fitting things from God. In the sixth chapter of Matthew, 'Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything will be given to you.' The second form concerns the love that is in prayer, that is, that it should be devout and pious, whence Augustine says that prayer is the pious love of the mind directed to God. And love is pious when it is flowing toward God from a fervour of devotion and onrushing love. In the hundred and eleventh Psalm, 'May my prayer be directed like incense into your sight.' In the third chapter of the Song of Songs, 'Like a pillar of smoke of odorous myrrh and frankincense and all the powders of the perfumer.' The third form is the receptivity of the intellect for prayer so that the understanding is exalted to the unbounded truth. Whence John Damascene says that prayer is the ascent of the intellect to God. And Dionysius says that the power of prayer is to ascend to God and to draw near God. In the thirty fifth chapter of Ecclesiasticus, 'The prayer of one who humbles himself pierces the clouds, and until it comes near is shall not be content, and it shall not depart from the eyes of the Most High.' 4 These are the three forms of prayer. And He was... Observe in the time assigned that it touches on intent with perseverance. In the eighteenth chapter of Luke, 'Because it is always necessary to pray and not to become weary.' In the twelfth chapter of Romans, 'Intent in prayer, communicating the needs of the saints.' In the first Letter to the Thessalonians, 'Pray ceaselessly.' 5 ...through the night... Observe that the still silence of the night is fitting for a time of quiet and private prayer. In the hundredth and sixteenth Psalm 'In the middle of the night I rose up and confessed to you,' and again, 'In the night I was mindful of your name, O Lord.' In the second chapter of Lamentations, 'Rise up, give praise in the night, at the beginning of your vigils.' In the twenty sixth chapter of Isaiah, 'My soul desired you in the night, but in the spirit in my breast I shall keep watch for you from the morning.' 6 ...praying to God. Observe the end. For prayer is God's according to its end, and not for honour or riches or pleasure, or anything that pertains to this world. The gloss on 'God's' says 'not of the world' Concerning worldly prayer it is said in the ninth chapter of the second book of Maccabees 'And this wicked man prayed to the Lord, from whom he was not to receive mercy.' In the first chapter of Isaiah, 'When you multiply your prayers, I will not hear you.' But the one who seeks God in prayer is heard. In the thirty eighth chapter of Isaiah, 'I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears.' 7 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 6 1 Lk 6.12 2 Mt 26.36, Lk 22.41, Genes 22.5 3 Ps 63.7, Jerem 31.23, Genes 22.14, Jn 4.24, Ps 67.17 4 Mt 6.33, Song 3.6, Ps 111.2, Sirach 35.21 5 Lk 18.1. Rom 12.12-13, 1 Thes 5.17 6 Ps 116.62, Ps 116.55, Lament 2.19, Isaiah 26.9 7 2 Mac 9.13, Isaiah 1.15, Isaiah 38.5