CAPUT XIV. Quod in ecclesia Christi non sit otiosis turpibusque fabulis vacandum; et quod qui haec faciunt, non solum sibi peccata non minuant, sed et majora accumulent.
The Danger of Empty Prayer
Jonas warns that many who enter the church fail to pray with both lips and heart, and he refers readers to an earlier discussion in his work for fuller treatment.
Many people who enter the church don't direct pure and simple prayer to God, because they don't hold in their minds what they pray with their lips; and so on, as in Book Book I, chapter1 13 of the Institution2 of the Laity.3
Read the original Latin
Multi ecclesiam ingressi, non ad Deum puram simplicemque orationem dirigunt: quoniam quod ore precantur, hoc etiam mente non meditantur, et caetera ut in lib. I cap. 13 Instit. laic.
Notes
On the Institution of a King (De institutione regia) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit