Works by members of the Congregation...
REPETITION OF PRAYER
Paul L. Golden, C.M.
INTRODUCTION
I can't think of another experience in formation that was more terrifying
for me than repetition of prayer. Weak knees, sweaty palms
and trembling voice were the instant reactions to my name being called. It
was bad enough to be called upon to give repetition among my peers,
but when my name was called during the annual retreat when all the
confreres of the house were gathered, I was surprised that I was even
able to stand up! I suspect this experience, to some degree,
was common among the men of my time.
Have we missed anything now that repetition of prayer is no longer
a regular practice in our houses? I thought not for a long time. Recently
I had the opportunity to review Vincent's own teaching and experience
of repetition. I have come to realize that some form of repetition
could be very helpful to my spiritual growth.
THE EXPERIENCE OF VINCENT
Twice or more a week, at the end of morning prayer, Vincent would
call upon three or four confreres to share with the community their
experiences of prayer and especially their resolutions. When
the confreres were finished, Vincent would comment on what had been
said, add some encouragement, instruction, guidance, or his own thoughts
on the topic of prayer. Frequently enough there were some admonitions
from Holy Founder as part of this exercise. At the end of the
repetition a confrere might confess a fault to the community and Vincent
would comment on it. If a confrere did not mention any faults,
Vincent might point out some that he himself had noticed. On
occasion, these admonitions were very strong and severe penances were
meted out.
Apparently, repetition was also a time for announcements and sharing
of information for the good order of the house. It seems these
repetitions were not held on a regular basis, like the Friday night
conference, but were more random. Some
estimate that Vincent presided over 4,000 such repetitions of prayer.
While we don't know much about how the confreres at St. Lazare felt
about repetition of prayer, we do know that Vincent thought this exercise
was very profitable as a means "to advance very far in perfection." On
another occasion he said it was "one of the most necessary means of
mutually spurring each other on to holiness." Repetition
was a high priority for Vincent. He would take extra measures
to be present for it and, if it was cancelled, he made sure it was
rescheduled. He introduced this practice to the Daughters of
Charity and encouraged both the confreres and the sisters to tell others
about its benefits.
Vincent occasionally invited some of the lay house staff to attend
prayer and then called on them for repetition. He always marveled
at the graces manifested through their words and used them as examples
for the confreres to follow.
THE ORIGIN OF REPETITION
According to Vincent's own words, it seems that he "created" this
spiritual exercise. In a conference on May 17, 1658 he listed
the many gifts God had given to the Congregation through Providence. Repetition
of prayer was among these gifts:
"...a thing up to now unheard of in the Church of God and one
that has since been introduced into several well-regulated communities
in which it is practiced with blessings. How
did the idea occur to us? I don't know at all."
He repeated the same idea on another occasion:
"We
have great reason, then, to thank God for having given this grace
to the Company, since we can say that this practice has never been
used in any other community, except ours."
The inspiration for repetition of prayer seems to have come from Vincent's
personal experiences and his vision for the congregation. Is
it appropriate to consider repetition as one of Vincent's special gifts
to us? The fact that Vincent never included it in the
Common Rules makes one hesitate to go that far.
THE VALUE OF REPETITION
From the many transcripts we have of Vincent's remarks during repetition,
we can glean the reasons why he valued it so much. He believed
that repetition of prayer testified to the graces that God bestowed
on confreres. Repetition provided lessons in the many ways God
moves people during prayer. He thought that it encouraged others
in their prayer and was a cause of mutual edification. Finally,
Vincent was convinced that repetition strengthen the confrere's commitment
to fulfill the resolution he took at the end of prayer.
REPETITION TODAY
Today we use several terms to describe repetition. We talk
about "shared prayer", "prayer group" and "group discussion." These
experiences feel so different than what happened in our formation. Today
we enter into this practice voluntarily and no one to evaluates our
remarks. I have found these sharing times very helpful. Not
only is it good for me to give witness to the life of the Spirit, but
also I am encouraged by what I hear from other confreres. I
get a little sense of the spiritual life of another and I understand
that person better.
I encourage all of us who follow the charism of St. Vincent to find
new ways to share our prayer. In the past ten years, I
have been blessed with opportunities to share prayer with my confreres
and with friends. I feel that I have been blessed by these experiences.
The "rules" for successfully sharing prayer are very simple. The
sharing must truly be voluntary. No one should be or feel coerced
to speak. Everyone must listen to the person with respect and
reverence. There is to be no discussion or critique of the sharing. We
are to simply receive what has been offered in faith.
We will experience the benefits of repetition of prayer intended by
Vincent when we tell each other not only the thoughts we had during
prayer, but give witness to the Spirit in us and announce what resolutions
we are working on.
I end this reflection as we ended our repetition in the seminary: "After
these and some other thoughts...."
April 12, 2004
Denver, CO
1. Pierre Coste, ed., Saint
Vincent de Paul: Correspondance, entretiens, documents (Paris:
1920-1926), 11: 190.
2. Thomas Davitt, "Repetitions
of Prayer at Saint Lazare," Vincentian Heritage 16 #1 (1995),
26
3. Coste, 9: 4.
4. Ibid., 12: 288
5. Ibid.
