According to our list of the moral virtues, prayer is an act as well as a virtue. It is the lifting one’s mind and heart to God and is ordered to the cardinal virtue of justice.
In his Summa, (Qu. 83) Aquinas says that “We need to pray to God, not in order to make known to Him our needs or desires but that we ourselves may be reminded of the necessity of having recourse to God’s help in these matters …. Our motive in praying is, not that we may change the Divine disposition, but that, by our prayers, we may obtain what God has appointed.
“God bestows many things on us out of His liberality, even without our asking for them: but that He wishes to bestow certain things on us at our asking, is for the sake of our good, namely, that we may acquire confidence in having recourse to God, and that we may recognize in Him the Author of our goods. Hence Chrysostom says
“Think what happiness is granted thee, what honor bestowed on thee, when thou conversest with God in prayer, when thou talkest with Christ, when thou askest what thou wilt, whatever thou desirest.”
In the course of our pro-life or other Apostolates, prayer should become as natural as breathing: we need to rely on God for everything from donations to public speaking to writing appropriate emails to knowing what to say in sensitive conversations. There are myriad decisions to make which all require the help of God so that we can follow His Will.
The beautiful prayer to the Trinity below was written by St. Catherine of Siena and should inspire us to meditate on the presence of the Blessed Trinity in our souls. By contemplating this reality, we come ever nearer to the Christian goal of praying always, exercising the virtue of prayer and calling on God’s help in every aspect of our work.
Colloquy on prayer
“O eternal Trinity, One God, One in essence and Three in Persons, You created man to Your image, so that by the three powers of his one soul he would resemble Your Trinity and Unity. Through this likeness he is united with You; that is, by His memory, he is joined to and resembles the Father, to whom power is attributed; by his intellect, he resembles and is united to the Son, to whom wisdom is attributed; by his will, he resembles and becomes one with the Holy Spirit, the love of the Father and the Son, to whom mercy is attributed.
“O Father, grant that I may unite my memory to You by always remembering that You are the beginning from which all things proceed. O Son, unite my intellect to Yours and grant that I may perfectly judge all things according to the order established by Your wisdom. O Holy Spirit, grant that I may unite my will to You by loving perfectly that mercy and love which are the reason for my creation and for every grace given to me, without any merit on my part.
“O mighty, eternal Trinity, may You be thanked for all the love You have shown us in forming and sweetly endowing our soul with its powers: an intellect to know You, a memory to remember You, a will to love You above all things! It is reasonable that knowing You, O Infinite Goodness, I would love You; and this love is so strong that neither the devil nor any other creature can take it from me against my will.
“O power of the eternal Father, help me; wisdom of the Son, illumine the eye of my intellect; sweet mercy and love of the Holy Spirit, inflame my heart and unite it to Yourself.
“O eternal Trinity, my sweet Love, You who are Light, give me light; You who are Wisdom, give me wisdom; O supreme Fortitude, give me strength. O eternal God, You are the calm ocean where souls dwell and are nourished, and where they find rest in the union of love” (St. Catherine of Siena).
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