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← Moyen court et très facile de faire oraison/Book 1 · MOYEN COURT ET TRÈS-FACILE DE FAIRE ORAISON.
Chapter 2MoyenCourt.1.2

CHAPITRE PREMIER.

The Universal Call to Prayer

The author asserts that prayer is a universal necessity and duty for all, distinct from the limited practice of formal meditation.

INTRODUCTION That everyone is called and, with the help of ordinary grace, can practice the prayer of the heart, which is the great means of salvation, and which can be practiced at all times and even by the simplest people. 1. Everyone is fit for prayer, and it is a terrible misfortune that almost the whole world gets it into their heads that they are not called to pray. We are all called to prayer, just as we are all called to salvation. Prayer is nothing other than applying the heart to God and the interior exercise of love. St. Paul commands us (a) to pray without ceasing. Our Lord says: (b) I tell you all, watch and pray. So everyone can practice prayer, and everyone must practice it. (a) 1. Thess. 5. v. 17. (b) Mark 13 v. 33 37 But I agree that not everyone can meditate, and very few are suited for it. Besides, that is not the prayer God asks for, nor what is wanted of you.

An Invitation to the Thirsty

A compassionate appeal to all souls—the thirsty, the afflicted, and the simple—to come to God and find satisfaction in the prayer of the heart.

2. My dearest brothers, all of you who want to be saved, come to prayer; you must live by prayer just as you must live by love. (a) I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you may become rich.✦1 It is very easy for you to obtain, easier than you could ever imagine. (a) Rev.2 3. v. 8.✦3 (b) Come, all you who are thirsty, to these living waters; and do not waste your time digging (c) broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.✦✦4 Come, hungry hearts who find nothing that satisfies you; and you will be completely filled. Come, you poor afflicted ones who are crushed by hardships and troubles, and you will be relieved.5 Come, you who are sick, to your Physician, and do not be afraid to approach him because you are overwhelmed with illnesses: lay your ailments before him, and you will be relieved of them.6 (b) Rev.7 22. v. 17.✦ (c) Jer.8 2. v. 13.✦ Come, children, close to your Father; he will receive you with the arms of love. Come, you poor, wandering, and stray sheep, draw near to your Shepherd. Come, sinners, close to your Savior. Come, you who are ignorant and dull; you are all fit for prayer. Even if you think yourselves incapable of it, you are the most fit for it.9 Come, all of you without exception; Jesus Christ calls you all. Those who have no heart should not come to it; they are excused, for a heart is needed in order to love.10 But who is without a heart? Come, give this heart to God! And learn here how to do it.

The Nature of the Prayer of the Heart

The author defines the prayer of the heart as an interior, continuous state of being that is more natural and accessible than breathing.

3. Anyone who wants to pray can easily do so with the help of ordinary grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are common to all Christians. PRAYER is the key to perfection and to supreme happiness; it is the effective means of ridding ourselves of all vices and of acquiring all the virtues; for the great means of becoming perfect is to walk in the presence of God. He tells us so himself: (a) Walk in my presence, and be perfect.✦ Prayer alone can give you this presence, and give it to you continually. (a) Genesis. 17. v. 1. 4. So you need to be taught a prayer that can be made at all times; that does not draw you away from outward occupations; that princes, kings, prelates, priests, magistrates, soldiers, children, artisans, laborers, women, and the sick can all make. This is not a prayer of the head, but the PRAYER OF THE HEART. This is not a prayer of thought alone, because the human mind is so limited that if it thinks of one thing, it cannot think of another. Instead, it is the PRAYER OF THE HEART, which is not interrupted by all the mind's occupations. Nothing can interrupt the prayer of the heart except disordered affections. And once you have tasted God and the sweetness of his love, it is impossible to taste anything but him. 5. Nothing is easier than to have God and to taste him. He is more present within us than we are ourselves. He desires to give himself to us more than we desire to possess him. There is only the way of seeking him, which is so easy and so natural that the air we breathe is no more so.11 Yes, you who are so unrefined, who think you are fit for nothing, you can live on prayer and on God himself as easily and as continually as you live on the air you breathe. Will you not be truly guilty if you do not?12 You will do it without a doubt once you have learned the way, which is the easiest in the world.

Read the original French

INTRODUCTION. Que tous sont appellés & peuvent avec le secours de la grace ordinaire, faire l’ORAISON du CŒUR, qui est le grand moyen du Salut, & qui se peut faire en tout tems & par les plus simples même.

1. TOUS sont propres pour l’Oraison; & c’est un malheur effroyable que presque tout le monde se mette dans l’esprit de n’être pas appellé à l’Oraison. Nous sommes tous appellés à l’Oraison, comme nous sommes tous appellés au salut.

L’ORAISON n’est autre chose que l’Application du cœur à Dieu, & l’exercice intérieur de l’amour. S. Paul nous ordonne (a) de prier sans cesse. Notre Seigneur dit : (b) Je vous le dis à tous, veillez & priez. Tous peuvent donc faire Oraison, & tous la doivent faire.

(a) 1. Thess. 5. v. 17.

(b) Marc 13. v. 33. 37.

Mais je conviens que tous ne peuvent pas méditer, & très-peu y sont propres. Aussi n’est-ce pas cette Oraison que Dieu demande, ni que l’on désire de vous.

2. Mes très-chers freres, qui que vous soyez qui voulez vous sauver, venez tous faire Oraison; vous devez vivre d’Oraison comme vous devez vivre d’amour. (a) Je vous conseille d’acheter de moi de l’or éprouvé au feu, afin de vous enrichir. Il vous est très-aisé de l’avoir, & plus aisé que vous ne sauriez vous l’imaginer.

(a) Apoc. 3. v. 8.

(b) Venez, vous tous qui avez soif, à ces eaux vives; & ne vous amusez pas à creuser (c) des cîternes rompues qui ne peuvent contenir les eaux. Venez cœurs affamés qui ne trouvez rien qui vous contente; & vous serez pleinement remplis. Venez pauvres affligés qui êtes accablés de peines & d’ennuis, & vous serez soulagés. Venez malades à votre Médecin, & ne craignez pas de l’aborder, parce que vous êtes accablés de maladies : exposez-lui vos maux, & vous en serez soulagés.

(b) Apoc. 22. v. 17.

(c) Jérem. 2. v. 13.

Venez enfans, auprès de votre Pere; il vous recevra des bras de l’amour. Venez pauvres Brebis errantes & égarées, approchez de votre Pasteur. Venez pécheurs, auprès de votre Sauveur. Venez ignorans & stupides; vous êtes tous propres pour l’Oraison, vous qui croyez en être incapables; c’est vous qui y êtes les plus propres. Venez tous sans exception, Jésus-Christ vous appelle TOUS.

Que ceux qui sont sans cœur n’y viennent pas : ils en sont dispensés; car il faut un Cœur pour aimer. Mais qui est sans cœur? O venez donner ce Cœur à Dieu ! & apprenez ici la maniere de le faire.

3. Tous ceux qui veulent faire Oraison, le peuvent aisément avec le secours de la grace ordinaire & des dons du S. Esprit, qui sont communs à tous les Chrétiens.

L’ORAISON est la clef de la perfection, & du bonheur souverain, c’est le moyen efficace de nous défaire de tous les vices, & d’acquérir toutes les vertus; car le grand moyen de devenir parfait est de marcher en la présence de Dieu. Il nous le dit-lui-même : (a) Marchez en ma présence, & soyez parfaits. L’Oraison peut seule vous donner cette présence, & vous la donner continuellement.

(a) Genes. 17. v. 1.

4. Il faut donc vous apprendre à faire une Oraison qui se puisse faire en tout tems; qui ne détourne point des occupations extérieures; que les Princes, les Rois, les Prélats, les Prêtres, les Magistrats, les Soldats, les Enfans, les Artisans, les Laboureurs, les Femmes & les Malades, puissent faire. Cette Oraison n’est point l’Oraison de la tête, mais l’ORAISON DU CŒUR.

Ce n’est pas une Oraison de seule pensée; parce que l’esprit de l’homme est si borné, que s’il pense à une chose il ne peut penser à l’autre. Mais c’est l’ORAISON DU CŒUR, qui n’est point interrompue par toutes les occupations de l’esprit.

Rien ne peut interrompre l’Oraison du cœur que les affections déréglées. Et lorsque l’on a une fois goûté Dieu & la douceur de son amour, il est impossible de goûter autre chose que lui.

5. Rien n’est plus aisé que d’avoir Dieu & de le goûter. Il est plus en nous que nous-mêmes. Il a plus de désir de se donner à nous, que nous de le posséder. Il n’y a que la maniere de le chercher, qui est si aisée & si naturelle, que l’air que l’on respire ne l’est pas davantage.

Oui, vous qui êtes si grossiers, qui croyez n’être propres à rien, vous pouvez vivre d’Oraison & de Dieu même aussi aisément & aussi continuellement que vous vivez de l’air que vous respirez. Ne serez-vous donc pas bien criminels si vous ne le faites pas ? Vous le ferez sans doute lorsque vous en aurez appris le chemin, qui est le plus aisé du monde.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Rev.3.8 — I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. You have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
  2. ↩Rev.3.8 — I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. You have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
  3. ↩Rev.22.17;Isa.55.1;John.7.37 — And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely. Isa.55.1 — Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. John.7.37 — On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.'
  4. ↩Jer.2.13 — For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.
  5. ↩Rev.22.17 — And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.
  6. ↩Jer.2.13 — For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.
  7. ↩Gen.17.1 — When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.'

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The wording matches Revelation 3:18; the printed note in the next section cites Apoc. 3:8.
  2. 2 ↩Source abbreviation Apoc. (Apocalypse) rendered as Rev.
  3. 3 ↩Printed verse is 8; the quoted French in 1.2.7.s3 matches Revelation 3:18 more closely than 3:8.
  4. 4 ↩s'amuser à here is older French for occupying oneself with a futile task, not amusement.
  5. 5 ↩ennuis in this period means troubles or vexations, not boredom.
  6. 6 ↩parce que is rendered as because: do not let the very weight of illness keep you from approaching him.
  7. 7 ↩Source abbreviation Apoc. (Apocalypse) rendered as Rev.
  8. 8 ↩Source abbreviation Jérem. (Jérémie) rendered as Jer.
  9. 9 ↩Seventeenth-century stupide means dull or slow of mind, not a slang insult.
  10. 10 ↩The exemption is rhetorical: the next sentence asks who is without a heart, continuing the invitation to everyone.
  11. 11 ↩Il n'y a que la maniere de le chercher is elliptical: it restricts what is needed to the manner of seeking God, then compares that manner's ease and naturalness with breathing.
  12. 12 ↩bien criminels keeps the moral force of culpable before God; 'criminal' in the modern legal sense would overstate the French.

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