76. What is meant by affections?
76. What is meant by affections?
By affections are meant the good sentiments which the heart feels during meditation, and which induce the will to make good resolutions.
77. How many kinds of affections are there?
There are two kinds: spontaneous affections and voluntary affections.
78. What are spontaneous affections?
Spontaneous affections are such as present themselves without having been sought after.
79. What are voluntary affections?
Voluntary affections are such as are produced by reflection.
80. Enumerate various kinds of affections.
1. Affections of humility, fear, regret, and gratitude. These generally refer to the past.
2. Affections of fervor, love, and holy desire. These generally refer to the present.
3. Affections of hope, confidence, submission to God's holy will, and good promises. These generally refer to the future.
4. Affections of supplication. These may refer to the past, the present, and the future.
81. What is meant more particularly by supplications?
By supplications are meant ejaculatory prayers and petitions of all kinds which we address to God during meditation.
82. May we address to God supplications on behalf of others?
We not only may, but should do so: on behalf of the Church, the society to which we belong, and those persons whose interest we have at heart, such as the members of our community, our pupils, our parents.
83. Must we endeavor to call forth indiscriminately all kinds of affections?
No, it is advantageous to adhere to those with which God inspires us, to those which relate to our necessities, or which proceed naturally from the subject of the meditation.
84. Can we always produce affections at will during meditation?
Yes, we can, even in dryness and abandonment; for in meditation the affections are ordinary desires, regrets, petitions, and invocations, that is to say, acts in which the will plays the greater part; and man is always master of his will.
85. Should affections have a prominent place in meditation?
Yes, affections, especially those of supplication, should ordinarily occupy a large portion of the time of meditation. Mental prayer is more the work of the heart and will than of the head.
86. Mention an easy means of eliciting affections.
An easy means of eliciting affections consists in having recourse to supplications, and in addressing ourselves to God, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the saints, in the same manner as we would speak to our father, to our mother, or to our friends, if we were in their presence.
87. What should we think of certain sensible attractions which we might sometimes experience during meditation?
Frequently they are graces and encouragements which God gives us as a help to make mental prayer better; but these attractions and consolations do not depend on our will; besides, they are neither necessary nor meritorious in themselves. We can make excellent meditations without experiencing the least consolation. (In this context, the word "sensible" means "of the senses"; the phrase "sensible attractions" refers to tender sentiments.)
88. Should we not even distrust certain sensible affections?
Yes, such are the affections which, proceeding from an altogether too natural sensibility, do not result in good resolutions. Affections of this kind easily lead to illusions.
- taken from Catechism of Mental Prayer, by Father Joseph Simler