“I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of Thy justice.” – Psalm 118:106“I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of Thy justice.” – Psalm 118:106
After the Considerations and Acts of Affection come the Resolutions. Indeed, it would be of little use to conceive holy desires, or to have inclinations to do good in the Prayer, if we did not make good and strong Resolutions to put them into practice, each one in particular.
To accomplish this essential point of the Prayer well, we must bear in mind the following advice.
1. Whatever happens, we should never omit to make Resolutions, even when we are in the midst of interior troubles. This piece of advice is the most important of all, and we must never dispense ourselves from putting it into practice. If we are arid and dry in the considerations of the understanding, or indifferent and cold in the affections of the will, we must not for that reason give up making good Resolutions.
2. If, through being too long over the considerations or the affections, we find ourselves at the end of the Prayer without having formed any good Resolution, we must not, therefore, dispense ourselves with regard to this important point; we should keep alive within ourselves the good feelings which were filling us, and at the first opportunity during the day we should retire apart and endeavour to make a Resolution in conformity with the subject of our meditation.
3. We should make our Resolutions with a great mistrust of ourselves, because it is easy to promise and very difficult to fulfill. If it happens during the day that through our frailty we are led to break our Resolutions, we should not lose courage nor give way to pusillanimity; we should renew our good purpose and acknowledge sincerely before God with true humility that without the help of efficacious grace we can do no good whatever.
4. In our Resolutions we should always keep to some special fault which it behooves us to correct. For example, if we experience in our actions feelings of vainglory, if self-complaisance swells our heart when we are praised, if we have an extraordinary inclination to praise ourselves, it is in this line that we must direct our Resolutions, promising God that no word shall ever escape our lips which can redound to our own praise, and that instead of extolling ourselves we will rather publish our faults and be glad to let others know them. Or if, again, in the Prayer we are stirred up to observe our rules carefully and exactly, we ought to direct our good purpose on this head and make the firm Resolution to keep them in all the circumstances under which we are exposed to breaking them – for example, to keep the silence in such a place or at such a time, or with regard to such a person, and never to speak without permission.
5. The more surely to strengthen our particular Resolutions, we should make one more general Resolution to cover them – for example, if we have resolved not to praise ourselves, and never to submit to any praise, or again, to observe the silence, we should do violence to ourselves never to say a single word which is superfluous or without motive, even when we are speaking with permission.
6. We must not fall into the snare of wishing to do things which are imaginary or fanciful – for example, it would not be to the point for a novice to make a Resolution to go to the Indies, nor for a simple religious to promise God to be fervent and zealous as a prelate. Our Resolutions ought to be conformed to our own special vocation.
7. The object of our Resolutions should always be the Glory of God, the edification of our neighbour, our own spiritual advancement, and the perfect fulfillment of our duty – for example, to apply ourselves to the exercise of the presence of God, to mortify ourselves in such or such things, to devote ourselves to the practice of such or such a virtue, to fulfill well the duties of our office, to perform even the smallest observances of the Order and the smallest practices of perfection.
8. During the day we should recall the Resolutions of our Prayer, even renewing them at our chief spiritual exercises, such as Holy Mass, Holy Communion, the midday examination of conscience, and such like times, according to the suggestions which the Holy Ghost will give us.
An Example of the Resolution
“Make the way known to me wherein I should walk, for I have lifted up my soul to Thee.” – Psalm 142:8
O my God, I have decided at last to make a good and firm Resolution. I wish henceforth to submit to holy obedience. I am firmly resolved never to refuse to obey the will of my Superiors and the prescriptions of my Rule. But this is not enough. I intend, with the help of Thy grace, to obey with promptitude, humility, and perseverance. I wish always to submit myself to obedience in conformity with the intentions of my Superiors, in order to make it more perfect. And although I am often so miserable as to experience repugnance, chagrin, and pain in the practice of it, and although even at present I realise that my judgment has not all the requisite submission, nevertheless, in spite of all these obstacles of my perverse nature, I wish punctually to execute what has been ordered me, believing and judging that my Superior has the right and reason so to act, and that it will be very good if he continues to treat me in this way. I realise that it is only pride which separates subjects from Superiors, in their judgment or by their will or act. In order to humble my proud nature, as soon as I discover the intentions of my Superiors, I will not wait to be commanded, but I will forestall their orders, so as to make myself more perfect in the practice of obedience.
I know very well, O my God, that I am full of private judgment and self will; but, my infinitely good Lord, separate me from these faults by Thy Mercy. “Teach me to do Thy Will, because Thou art my God” Whom I ought to obey perfectly.
- text taken from A Short Method of Mental Prayer, by Father Niccolò Ridolfi, O.P., 1920