The Nine Grades of Prayer - 1st & 2nd Grades

04-26-2020Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A. in Theology and Catechetics

This article is the first in a five-part series onwhat are known as the nine grades of prayer.These were primarily revealed to us by St. Teresaof Avila and we’ve learned more over time fromothers like St. Francis de Sales and St. John of theCross.

First, let’s begin with what prayer is in a generalsense. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church,paragraphs #2559-2565, we find an in-depthexamination of prayer. But essentially, it iscommunication with God. However, it is notsimply talking to God with words, rather it isjoining your heart to His in love and making thecommunication a loving dialogue between thosetwo hearts. Just as with any relationship, themore the loving dialogue flows, the deeper theunion becomes and the more intimate thecommunication. As we’ll learn, the nine grades ofprayer are the stages and types of prayer whichdraw a soul into deeper and deeper union with God.It is important to note that each grade is notexclusive. In other words, when you move fromone grade to the next, you are not done with allof the previous grades. You will ebb and flow asyou move between the grades and you willalways need to return to the foundational forms.It is also important to note that in grades onethrough four, the individual is the primary moverand in grades five through nine, God is the primarymover. What this means is that for the first fourgrades, you, as the prayer, are in control of yourfaculties and self-discipline to work your waythrough the grades. In doing so, you may merit,by God’s will, progression into the final fivegrades where you become passive and God worksin you. In the final five grades, the individual cannotdecide to turn it off or on, rather God decideshow and when He will commune with the heartand soul. Do not be overwhelmed or discouraged!We’ll begin at the beginning and we will discussall of this in more detail as we progress throughthe grades.

1st Grade of Prayer – Vocal PrayerVocal prayer is the grade of prayer which thevast majority of people know and utilize whenthey communicate with God. It is any form ofprayer that is expressed in words, whetherwritten, spoken, or thought. It is the form ofprayer we use in public liturgy and in our ownprivate conversations with God. Vocal prayerdirects our thoughts and our bodies toward Godwhich elevates our souls to Him. It also givesphysical expression to thoughts or feelings wehave and want to communicate to God.There must be two elements present in one’svocal prayer for it to be fruitful. The first is yourattention. You must be attentive to whom you areaddressing and with whom you are dialoguing. Youwill find this to be true in your humanrelationships as well. Your conversations aremuch more fruitful and productive when bothparties give their full attention to the conversation,whereas having a conversation with someonelooking at their phone is a much less satisfyingexperience. The second element that must bepresent is devotion. We cannot just communicatewith God because we’re supposed to. We mustdo so out of love for Him. Prayer without love is arobotic duty which will not produce much changein us.

Sometimes we struggle in our prayer life andvocal prayer is where we should we return whenwe do. Some useful tools here might be to start aprayer journal and write out all of the things yourheart longs to say to God. Prayer books are alsohelpful when you get stuck. Rote prayer is o􀅌enmisunderstood as being a robotic form of prayer,and while that can be true, it doesn’t have to be.Some days, all we can do is repeat somethinglike, “Jesus, I trust in you.” over and over. Roteprayer is also how we keep certain truths of ourfaith ingrained in our hearts by memorizing andrepeating them. Again, as long as the elements ofattention and love are present, our vocal prayer,whether rote or spontaneous, will be fruitfulcommunication with our good and gracious God.2nd Grade of Prayer – Meditation

Meditation is a form of prayer where we fix ourheart and our mind on one single supernaturaltruth to understand its deeper meaning. You useyour intellect and your imagination to help toknow God more. An excellent example of this iswhen we Catholics pray the rosary. Each time wepray the rosary we are able to meditate on fivemysteries from Christ’s life whether they are theset of joyful, sorrowful, glorious, or luminousmysteries. Each mystery depicts an event in thelife of Jesus or His Blessed Mother. As you moveyour fingers over the beads and recite theprayers, you are meditating on the deeper truthsof that mystery. Let’s take the first joyful mysteryas an example – The Annunciation, where the AngelGabriel appeared to Mary to tell her she wouldconceive Jesus by the Holy Spirit. As you repeateach Hail Mary, you might meditate on some ofthe following questions: What does it mean forthe Word to be incarnate? Why did God humbleHimself to be born of human flesh? Why didGabriel tell Mary to not be afraid? What does itmean to be full of grace? What sort of faith mustMary have had to give Him her “yes”? The optionsfor points of meditation are endless throughoutthe 20 mysteries of the complete rosary.

 The rosary is the easiest example to use, butmeditation is not limited to that one format. Youcan meditate on any supernatural mystery in aneffort to know and understand God more deeplyout of love for Him. You could meditate on themystery of God’s full presence in the Eucharist,or the gift of supernatural grace He gives to us inBaptism. Again, the options are endless. An excellenttool for choosing objects of meditation is theCatechism of the Catholic Church. Every singleparagraph in the entire Catechism contains truthabout God and about our Faith. Choose anyparagraph and sit with it in meditation to penetratethe deeper meaning in grace.

In order for meditative prayer to be fruitful,three elements must be present. The first isconsideration which we’ve already discussed atlength. Considering the object of your meditationby applying your intellect and imagination iscritical to good meditative prayer. The secondis application. Whatever it is you are meditatingon, it must apply to your life in some way.Meditating on the Crown of Thorns mightshow us how we are to respond in humility.Or, meditating on the Eucharist might invoke therealization that you are a living tabernacle. Everytruth of the Faith has something to do with youpersonally. The final element is resolution. Thisinvolves you applying your will to do somethingpractically regarding this truth. If you havemeditated on the Crown of Thorns and feel themotivation to increase in humility, what practicalstep can you take to make that happen? If youhave meditated on the Eucharist and your role asa living tabernacle, what does that mean for howyou conduct yourself in your secular life? Do notoverwhelm yourself. Certainly choose doableresolutions; to do nothing is to miss the point ofmeditating on supernatural things. We should bemoved to change.

Spend some time this week working on thesetwo grades of prayer with more attention andlove then you may have done in the past. Nextweek, we’ll move on to the 3rd and 4th grades ofprayer.