16- Contemplating on Prayer

Whether it be during personal prayers or in the prayers of the Holy Mass, the Psalms or in hymns and praises, whenever one starts prayer by contemplating on the Psalms and the segments of prayer, the more one’s prayer becomes deeper and with understanding..

I remember publishing a book entitled “Lord, How?”, contemplating on (Psalm 3) from the Morning Prayer.. And another book on (Psalm 20) in the Third Hour Prayer, entitled “The Lord Hear Thee”,.. And another book of contemplations on some Psalms from the Ninth Hour Prayer.. I also published a book called “Contemplations on the Prayer of Thanksgiving and (Psalm 51)”. Would that we take the rest of the Psalms as a field for our contemplations and publish more books on them...

The fathers never recited the words of prayers in a shallow, fast manner. But as Mar Isaac said about their prayers:

“Because of the sweetness of the word in their mouths, it was not easy for them to leave it for another word.”

They used to pray with understanding, plunging to the depths of the meaning in contemplation that gave their prayers spirit, warmth and depth. In so doing, their feelings would become one with the words of prayer and the words uttered from their hearts. They never worried about the length or the amount of prayers but the contemplation and depth that they contain. And so Mar Isaac said to the one who wanted to rush through prayer to recite as many Psalms as possible:

If you are fought by this, say: ‘I do not stand before God to count words...’

We say the same about the hymns and praises.. especially hymns that have the spirit of prayer such as “Your Mercies O Lord are abundant”.. and the chant “O my Lord Jesus Christ, my good Saviour”.. It is true that those who hurry in their prayers and chants lose their depth and contemplation. It turns from being a prayer to a mere recitation..