Chapter XII: Should Prayer be Vocal?

_I cried to the Lord with my voice, with my voice I made supplication to the Lord._[198]

Prayer is of two kinds: public and private. _Public_ or common prayer is that which is offered to God by the Church's ministers in the person of the whole body of the faithful. And it is necessary that such prayer should be known to the body of the faithful for whom it is offered; this, however, could not be unless it were vocal; consequently it is reasonably enacted that the Church's ministers should pronounce such prayers in a loud voice so as to reach the ears of all.

_Private_ prayer, on the contrary, is that which is offered by private individuals, whether for themselves or for others; and its nature does not demand that it should be vocal. At the same time, we can use our voices in this kind of prayer, and this for three reasons: Firstly, in order to excite interior devotion whereby our minds may, when we pray, be lifted up to God; for men's minds are moved by external signs--whether words or acts--to understand, and, by consequence, also to feel. Wherefore S. Augustine says to Proba[199]: "By words and other signs we vehemently stir ourselves up so as to increase our holy desires." Hence in private prayer we must make such use of words and other signs as shall avail to rouse our minds interiorly. But if, on the other hand, such things only serve to distract the mind, or prove in any way a hindrance, then we must cease from them; this is especially the case with those whose minds are sufficiently prepared for devotion without such incentives. Thus the Psalmist says: _My heart hath said to Thee, My face hath sought Thee[200];_ and of Anna we are told that _she spoke within her heart_.[201]

And secondly, we make use of vocal prayer in payment, as it were, of a just debt--in order, that is, to serve God with the entirety of what we have received from Him; consequently not with our mind alone but with our body as well; and this, as the Prophet Osee says, is especially suitable to prayer considered as a satisfaction for our sins: _Take away all iniquity and receive the good, and we will render the calves of our lips_.[202]

And thirdly, we sometimes make use of vocal prayer because the soul overflows, as it were, on to the body by reason of the vehemence of our feelings, as it is written: _My heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced_.[203]

But it seems to some that prayer should not be vocal, thus:

1. Prayer is, as we have said, principally directed to God, and God knows the heart's speech. Consequently to add vocal prayer is idle.

But vocal prayer is not employed in order to manifest to God
something which He did not know, but to stir up the mind of him
who prays, and of others, too, towards God.

2. Again, man's mind is meant to rise by prayer towards God; but words, and other things pertaining to the senses, keep back a man from the ascent of contemplation.

Words appertaining to other things than God do indeed distract
the mind and hinder the devotion of him who prays; but
devotional words stir up the mind, especially if it be less
devout.

3. Lastly, prayer ought to be offered to God in secret, according to the words: _But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret_;[204] whereas to pray vocally means to publish it abroad.

But, as S. Chrysostom says[205]: "The Lord forbade us to pray in
public with a view to being seen by the public. Consequently,
when we pray we should do nothing novel to attract men's
attention, whether by uttering cries which may be heard by them,
or by openly beating our breasts, or by spreading out our hands,
for the crowd to see us." While, on the other hand, as S.
Augustine remarks[206]: "To be seen by men is not wrong, but to
do things to be seen by men."

* * * * *

_Cajetan:_ Note carefully, ye who murmur at the Church's services, these three points: the different kinds of vocal prayer, its necessity, and the conditions attaching to it. For vocal prayer is divided into that which is in common and that which is private or individual.

The general necessity of vocal prayer arises from the fact that it is offered in the person of the Church. For since the Church is composed of created beings dependent on the senses, prayer made through the medium of the senses--_i.e._, vocal prayer--must needs be offered by its ministers; else we should not know whether the worship of prayer was being offered by God's ministers, nor should we be conscious of the gift to God which was being offered by them in prayer; for the Church only judges from the things that appear externally.

Our individual need of vocal prayer arises from the necessity of stirring up our own devotion, and preserving it.

The conditions of prayer in common are twofold: it must be vocal, and it must be out loud. Hence those who say private Masses in such a low tone--and that consciously--as to be unintelligible to their hearers, appear to act unreasonably and are inexcusable, unless it should happen by accident that no one is present; in this case it is sufficient if they can be heard by the server who is close at hand. This will also show us what use we are to make of chant, or of recitation without chant, in prayer in common: it must be governed by our common devotion. And in whatever fashion such prayer may be made this rule must always be observed: it must be said so intelligibly that the meaning of the words may be distinctly perceived both by the reciters and by others, that so the Church's devotion may be aroused.

And reason tells us what conditions attach to our private prayer: viz., our own private devotion. This shews, too, the error of those who, in order to complete the tale of a large number of private vocal prayers each day, lay aside meditation and mental prayer. They neglect the end for the means (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 12).

_S. Augustine:_ Oh! How I lifted up my voice to Thee, O Lord, when I sang the Psalms of David, those songs full of faith, those strains full of piety which soothed my swelling spirit! And I was then but uninstructed in Thy true love; a catechumen spending my leisure with Alypius, another catechumen. And my mother stayed with us: clad indeed in woman's garb, but with a man's faith, with a matron's calm, with a mother's love, with a Christian's piety. Oh! How I lifted up my voice in those Psalms! How they inflamed my heart! How I yearned to recite them, if I could, to the whole world--as an answer to the pride of the human race! Though, indeed, they are sung throughout the world, and none can hide himself from Thy heat! (_Confess._, IX. iv. 8).

_S. Augustine:_ Sometimes, indeed, through immoderate fear of this mistake I err by excessive severity; nay, sometimes, though it is but rarely, I could almost wish to shut out from my ears and even from the Church itself all those sweet-sounding melodies used in the accompaniment of David's Psalms. Sometimes it seems to me as though it would be safer to do as I have often heard that Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, did, for he made the reader of the Psalms so modulate his voice that he came to be rather speaking than singing. Yet, on the other hand, when I remember the tears which I shed when I heard the Church's chant in the early days of my regaining the faith, and when I notice that even now I am stirred--not so much by the chant as by the things that are chanted--when, that is, they are chanted with clear intonation and suitable modulation, then once more I recognize the great value of this appointed fashion (_Confess._, X. xxxiii. 50).

_S. Augustine: I have cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord!_[207] Who can question but that when men pray their cry to the Lord is vain if it be nought but the sound of the corporeal voice and their heart be not intent upon God? But if their prayer come from the heart, then, even though the voice of the body be silent, it may be hidden from all men, yet not from God. Whether, then, we pray to God with our voice--at times when such prayer is necessary--or whether we pray in silence, it is our heart that must send forth the cry. But the heart's cry is the earnest application of our minds. And when this accompanies our prayer it expresses the deep affections of him who yearns and asks and so despairs not of his request. And further, a man cries _with his whole heart_ when he has no other thought. Such prayers with many are rare; with few are they frequent; I know not whether anyone's prayers are always so (_Enarr. in Ps._ cxviii., _Sermon_, xxix. 1).

"Incline Thy ear, O Lord, and hear me; for I am needy and poor.
Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save Thy servant, O my God,
that trusteth in Thee. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have
cried to Thee all the day. Give joy to the soul of Thy servant,
for to Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. For Thou, O Lord,
art sweet and mild; and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon
Thee."[208]