Author(s): Dom Lehodey Vital

About Prayer

Dom Vital Lehodey was the fourth abbot of the Trappist monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Grace in Bricquebec, Normandy, France. In The Ways of Mental Prayer he offers a systematic presentation of the teachings on contemplative prayer of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis of Sales, St. Alphonsus of Liguori, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and many more.

Part One introduces the reader to contemplative or "mental" prayer.

Part Two gives instructions for discursive meditation, affective prayer, and the prayer of simplicity. "As time goes on," writes the author, "and we make progress, we shall feel drawn to a more simple form of prayer, in which the mind begins to be silent in order to let the heart speak."

Part Three describes the mystical states of quiet and union, and gives practical advice for those graced with these higher forms of prayer.