prayer and holiness. the teaching of ven. augustine baker thereon, taken from "sancta...

Irish Jesuit Province

Prayer and Holiness. The Teaching of Ven. Augustine Baker Thereon, Taken from "SanctaSophia", 1653 by Dom B. Weld-BlundellThe Irish Monthly, Vol. 61, No. 724 (Oct., 1933), pp. 655-659Published by: Irish Jesuit ProvinceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20513636 .

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655

BOOK REVIEWS.

Prayer and Holiness. The teaching of Ven. Augustine Baker thereon, taken from Sancota Sophia, 1653. By Dom B. Weld-Blundell. (London: M. A. Magnani and Son, Ltd. 95 pp. 3/6.)

The present work is published by Marguerite Selby in fulfilment of a promise made to the late Dom Weld-Blundell before his death. In the Introduction, Dom Blundell refers to the book as " a readable interpretation of the venerable

Mystic's teaching " and as " a recension of portion of Sancta Sophia." Sanota Sophia is itself the work of Dom Cressy. In 1653, he examined some forty treatises of Fr. Baker's composition, " and condensed and arranged " the contents into one volume. In view of the fact that the three authors who have had part in the present work are no longer living, we hesitate to open out criticism on a controversial note. Our only justification lies in the consideration that, in the better land they now inhabit, they will know that our motives are not unworthy.

With page 50, the book introduces a chapter entitled: "Apology of Balthasar Alvarez, S.J." At first sight one

might suspect that the chapter has little to do with the rest of the book, but its purpose is borne in on us as we read on. On page 51, we read: " This venerable priest spent some fifteen years in the diligent practice of meditation and Spiritual exercises peculiar to the Society of which he was a member. But, deriving little spiritual profit fromrL them, and being much tormented with doubts and dissatisfaction, he was at last powerfully guide-d by God's Holy Spirit to abandon meditation and to betake himself to the serious practice of prayer immediately in the will . . . . Alvarez's unusual manner of prayer soon attracted attention, and an order came from the General bidding him to furnish a full statement of the order and manner of his prayer. This command called for a free and ingenuous Apology for himself, the substance of which is recorded with commendable candour by Lais De Puente, S.J., a disciple of Alvarez, and author of his life. " Dom Blundell then goes on to the details of Alvarez's " Apology." These he gives in inverted commas, but changes the first person of De Puente's account into the

third, and at the end of his recension, says: " This is the



656 THPE IRISH MONTHLY

substance of the account which the Venerable Balthazar Alvarez gave to the General f . . .'

At the outset one stumbles at that phrase " peculiar to the Society of wkich he was a member." It is only four years since the present Holy Father wrote in his Encyclical

Mens Nostra: " We mean the method introdueed by S. Ignatius of Loyola, whom we are pleased to call the chief and peculiar master of Spiritual Exercises; whose admirable book of Spiritual Exercises, ever since it was solemnly approved, praised, and commended by our predecessor Paul III of happy memory, already . . . . stood forth con spicuous as a most wise and universal code of laws for the direction of souls in the way of salvation and perfection. . . .

When we declared S. Ignatius of Loyola the heavenly patron of all spiritual exercises, and, therefore, of institutes, sodalities, and bodies of every kind assisting those who are

making the ' Spiritual Exercises,' we did little else but sanction by our Supreme Authority what was already pro claimed by the common feeling of Pastors and of faithful."

And again: " Now it is recognised that among all the methods of Spiritual Exercises which very laudably adhere

to the principles of sound Catholic asceticism, one has ever held the foremost place, and, adorned by the full and repeated approbation of the Holy See and honoured by the praises of men distinguished for spiritual doctrine and sanctity, has borne abundant fruits of holiness during the space of wellnigh four hundred years. We mean the method introduced by S. Ignatius of Loyola...

The account of Balthazar Alvarez's "Apology " given by Dom Blundell purports, as we have seen, to come from the

I" commendably candid " account of Fr. De Puente. It is a pity that the episode is not framed in its historical setting. Torn from its context the account is apt to be misleading.

We have already quoted Dom Blundell's words; let us now cite the passage from De Puente on which presumably Dom

Blundell's account is based* (p. 475): " For 17 years he (Alvarez) had, in fact, faithfully followed the ordinary method of prayer, and it was in recompense for this fidelity that Our Lord had raised him to extraordinary prayer.

Moreover, even in this new state, whenever this elevated prayer failed him, he had recourse to meditation as to a haven of refnge."

Let us cite some other examples of Dom Blundell's repro duction of the " admirable candour " of De Puente: Dom

* Our citations of De Puente are from the French translation of Pere

l3ouix, Paris i893. The italics are for the most part ours,



BOOK REVIEWS 657

Blundell (p- 55) (citing Alvarez's " Apology" from De Puente): " True`it is that the Exercises of St. Ignatius were inore suitable for souls generally than this; yet this manner of prayer ought to be esteemed proper for those whom God has called and prepared for it. This was St. Ignatius' own practiee; for though in his less perfect state he pursued the imperfect exercises instituted by him, yet afterwards he was exalted to this sublime prayer by which he suffered divine things." De Puente (p. 141): " This way, it is true, is not for all, and one ought here to follow what St. Ignatius has established. But it is most certainly for all those to whom it shall please God to communicate it; it is for those who for a long time have used discursive prayer, and whom their superiors (who are judges in this matter) consider called to it by Our Lord. And this is in conformity with what happened to our Holy Father Ignatius, for although in the beg'ining he walked along the path he has traced for us in the Exercises, he was eventually elevated to this other manner of prayer, so that it is said in his life: ' Postea erat patiens divina: he was afterwards passive in regard to divine things.' " We may note here the complete absenee from De Puente of the words: " less perfect state," "l ess perfect exerises," "' sublime state.

Let us take one other example: On p. 61 Doni Blundell gives the seventh objection and Alvarez's response thus: " Finally it was said that diverse methods of prayer might cause factions in the Society; but to this Alvarez replied that the perfect may lawfully practise ways not common to the imperfect, without fear of divisions, or wish to despise or contradict others." The objection is fairly enough represented, but let us hear De Puente's version of the response (p. 488): " The response is easy; I say, on the contrary, that this method of prayer is favourable to the common method of prayer of the Society. In fact it is by this (latter) method that one must begin, in the absence of a special inspiration from Our Lord; and it is from it that this other mode of prayer is boirn, since it is by means of meditation that one acquires the repose of contemplation," and further down: " Similarly one may initiate into this

way those who have been exercised for many years in the common prayer by meditation and reasoning, when they are already advanced, and disposed for this mode of prayer ... one must always counsel them not to abandon meditation entirely, but to diminish the discursive method gradually, giving more play to the affections . . ."

We feel that these citations are sufficient to show that Dom Blundell's account of the episode, is at least mis



658 THE IRISH MONTHLY

leading. At what stage in the genesis of this treatise these inaccuracies crept into the work, we have no means of

knowing. But surely when a matter of such importance as the adverse criticism of a method of prayer is in question, the least we may call for is that no documents should be cited without having first compared them with the original.

We have treated this chapter of the book at greater length than we had intended, but we regret to say that inaccuracies are not confined to it. Thus on p. 21 we find the sentence: " The commandment (to pray) binds semper et ad semper, in all places and at all times. In all the

Gospel we can scarcely find a precept so imperative and so unquestionable." Closely following, comes this: "-Because perhaps no one can positively say that here and now, actual prayer is hinding under pain of mortal sin, they conclude that with the exception of two or three moments in life it is not needful to pray." While yet a third sentence comes from p. 24: " That perfect continual prayer has been attained by the ancient contemplatives, and was accounted by them an essential duity of their vocation, is evident from the writings of Cassian."

Again, on p. 23 he writes: " Even reason teaches that all should be done in reference to our last end, which is God-that is, with a sanctified intention." If by this the author means that we have an obligation to direct our actions explicitly towards God from a supernatural motive, or by a frequently renewed intention, he will have to join issue with the moral theologians (cf. Genicot-Sallsmans

? 32). Other statements that at least need careful qualification

occur so frequently in the book that it would be impossible for us to discuss them here. We can only cite a few:

P. 71. " Unless they (perfect souls) silence not only the imagination but the understanding also, the will will remain

without motion or vigour."I P. 73. " As active souls do not practise contemplation"

[surely contemplation, in the author's definition, being something passive, cannot be " practised "] " they do not -nor can they-teach it to others."

P. 76. " The will, being a blind faculty, is best able to lift itself up to God in darkness, without the use of mental images. "

The book as a whole, in its treatment of prayer is



BOOK REVIEWS 659

distinctly novel. For the student well trained in aseetical theology, it will provide interesting study, but for the general reader, we cannot recommend it.

From Faith to Faith. An Autobiography of Religious Development. By W. E. Orchard, D.D. London: M. A. Magnani and Son, Ltd. 310 pp. 7/6.

This book is divided into two almost equal sections. In the first half Dr. Orchard gives the narrative of his religious development. In the second half (pp. 162-310), having considered the issues between Evangelicalism and Catholi cism, and having answered some objections, he deals with "the wider issues involved."

The story of the author's conversion is too well known for us to dwell on it at any length. In the opening chapters we will find the story of his early Evangelical conversion at a Mission Church in London, while he was still a clerk at the Euston offices of the London North

Western Railway. At the end of his narrative he tells the story of his conversion to Rome. It is his main thesis that these two conversions, separated by some forty years,

were really nothing but the inception and completion of the same religious experience; that his conversion to Rome was the inevitable complement of his conversion to Evangeli calism. The story is fascinating, and loses nothing in the telling. Our interest never flags, as we follow the author through his conversion to Evangelicalism, his preparation for the ministry, his first call, his ministry at Enfield, and at King's Weigh House, up to his final resignation, his visit to Rome, and his acceptance of Catholicism. The most profound impression one gathers from this earlier portion of the book is a sense of the transparent good faith of so many without the true fold. We Catholics are fully conscious of how hopelessly Protestants misrepre sent us, but too often we are prone to forget that our judgments of " the typical Protestant " may be as hope lessly out of line with the reality. Perhaps it is this fundamental divergence of outlook that (in this country at least) makes our discussions of religion too often just mono logues on either side, without any sympathy for the opponent's viewpoint, and hence without lasting result. If Dr. Orchard's book did nothing but bring us into closer contact with the mentality of the sincere non-Catholic, the result would, we feel, more than compensate his labours.

In the second half of the book, the author sets out to prove that Evangelicalism, without its natural fulfilment



prayer and holiness. the teaching of ven. augustine baker thereon, taken from "sancta...

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