Let St. Dominic teach you how to pray a holy hour!

August 8^th, Feast of St. Dominic

Nearly every Catholic – in fact, nearly every person in general – wants to know how to pray better. We know that prayer is all powerful, because it derives all its power from the omnipotent Godhead. Still, we may wonder, How do we pray well? And, more specifically, How do we pray a holy hour (or any serious length of mediation) well?

When it comes to such a serious question, one which results in nothing less than eternal life or eternal death, we must turn to true masters: The great saints of the Tradition! Among them all, St. Dominic stands out as a true master of the spiritual life – the spirituality of St. Dominic, together with that of St. Francis, carried the Church from the medieval period into the modern age. Today, his feast day, it is fitting that we should look to the saint of the Guzmán family, and learn from him the way of prayer.

The nine ways of prayer of our holy father Dominic

“The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic” were composed by a Bolognese author (around the year 1260). The work describes the ways of prayer of which St. Dominic himself made use. [see the complete text of The Nine Ways of Prayer, here]

“Holy teachers like Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory, Hilary, Isidore, John Chrysostom, John Damascene, Bernard, and other saintly Greek and Latin doctors have discoursed on prayer at great length. […] In learned books, the glorious and venerable doctor, Brother Thomas Aquinas, and Albert, of the Order of Preachers, as well as William in his treatise on the virtues, have considered admirably and in a holy, devout, and beautiful manner that form of prayer in which the soul makes use of the members of the body to raise itself more devoutly to God. […] Saint Dominic often prayed in this way, and it is fitting that we say something of his method. [...]

“The following, then, are the special modes of prayer, besides those very devout and customary forms, which Saint Dominic used during the celebration of Mass and the praying of the psalmody. In choir or along the road, he was often seen lifted suddenly out of himself and raised up with God and the angels.”

The first way: “Saint Dominic's first way of prayer was to humble himself before the altar as if Christ, signified by the altar, were truly and personally present and not in symbol alone.”

The second: “Saint Dominic used to pray by throwing himself outstretched upon the ground, lying on his face. He would feel great remorse in his heart and call to mind those words of the Gospel, saying sometimes in a voice loud enough to be heard: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. [Luke 18:13]”

The third: “At the end of the prayer which has just been described, Saint Dominic would rise from the ground and give himself the discipline with an iron chain, saying, Thy discipline has corrected me unto the end [Psalm 17:36]. This is why the Order decreed, in memory of his example, that all the brethren should receive the discipline with wooden switches upon their shoulders as they were bowing down in worship and reciting the psalm Miserere  [Psalm 50] or De Profundis [Psalm 129] after Compline on ferial days.”

The fourth: “After this, Saint Dominic would remain before the altar or in the chapter room with his gaze fixed on the Crucified One, looking upon Him with perfect attention. He genuflected frequently, again and again. He would continue sometimes from after Compline until midnight, now rising, now kneeling again, like the apostle Saint James, or the leper of the gospel who said on bended knee: Lord, if Thou wilt, thou canst make me clean [Matthew. 8:2].”

The fifth: “When he was in the convent, our holy father Dominic would sometimes remain before the altar, standing erect without supporting himself or leaning upon anything. Often his hands would be extended before his breast in the manner of an open book; he would stand with great reverence and devotion as if reading in the very presence of God. Deep in prayer, he appeared to be meditating upon the words of God, and he seemed to repeat them to himself in a sweet voice.”

The sixth: “Our holy father, Saint Dominic, was also seen to pray standing erect with his hands and arms outstretched forcefully in the form of a cross.”

The seventh: “While praying, he was often seen to reach towards heaven like an arrow which has been shot from a taut bow straight upwards into the sky. He would stand with hands outstretched above his head and joined together, or at times slightly separated as if about to receive something from heaven. One would believe that he was receiving an increase of grace and in this rapture of spirit was asking God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the Order he had founded.”

The eighth: “Our Father, Saint Dominic, had yet another manner of praying at once beautiful, devout, and pleasing, which he practiced after the canonical hours and the thanksgiving following meals. He was then zealous and filled with the spirit of devotion which he drew from the divine words which had been sung in the choir or refectory. Our father quickly withdrew to some solitary place, to his cell or elsewhere, and recollected himself in the presence of God. He would sit quietly, and after the sign of the cross, begin to read from a book opened before him. His spirit would then be sweetly aroused as if he heard Our Lord speaking, as we are told in the psalms: I will hear what the Lord God will speak to me. [Psalm 84:9]. As if disputing with a companion he would first appear somewhat impatient in his thought and words. At the next moment he would become a quiet listener, then again seem to discuss and contend. He seemed almost to laugh and weep at the same time, and then, attentively and submissively, would murmur to himself and strike his breast.”

It is good to note that St. Dominic never made use of these first eight forms of prayer in public - We think of G.K. Chesterton's words about St. Dominic's greatest son, St. Thomas Aquinas, "For he was, like a sensible man, a mystic in private and a philosopher in public."

The ninth way of prayer follows at the end of our little article.

What is particularly notable about all these ways of prayer is that the body is united to the soul in offering worship and adoration to the living God. This is one reason why many fail in prayer: They do not realize that the postures of the body are generally necessary for the disposing of the soul toward meditation. This is why Archbishop Fulton Sheen insisted that a holy hour be done kneeling, rather than seated.

How to make a holy hour with St. Dominic

If we wish to know how to make a profitable holy hour, we may well consider the teaching of St. Dominic (which he gave more in actions than in words). Specifically, we look to the first four ways of prayer which follow successively one upon the other to form a unified whole, such that they make up a single period of meditation which tends at the end toward infused contemplation.

In a holy hour we must first (as in, St. Dominic’s first way of prayer) humble ourselves as though Christ were truly present before us, even as the holy man St. Dominic humbled himself before the altar. This is the period of immediate preparation: To recognize the presence of God, not only in the world but especially in our soul through habitual grace. What a gift that the Holy One should dwell within us – the mystery should elicit an act of humility on the part of the creature, who has done nothing to deserve this intimate union with his Creator.

Then, in the second place (i.e. the second way of prayer), we ought to consider the infinite goodness of our God who has even come to dwell among us as a child – thus our father St. Dominic would recall the mystery of the Epiphany, “When those devout Magi entered the dwelling they found the child with Mary, his mother, and falling down they worshipped him.” Humility and adoration must be the immediate preparatory acts for a holy hour or period of mediation.

Thirdly (we refer to the third way of St. Dominic), the soul offers acts of love to the Almighty in restitution for all the offenses the Majesty receives from ungrateful men. St. Dominic would employ the discipline (beating his back with an iron chain), we may well recall that an act of love does more to console the Heart of Jesus than any amount of blood. Still, little acts of mortification will serve to declare the infinite glory of our Savior, to discipline our sensible passions, and to direct the heart and mind to the things which are to come. But, above all put on love! It is love for which the Sacred Heart of Jesus so longs, and love alone will appease Him!

As faith must give place to sight, so too mediation must lead to contemplation – and hence we proceed to the fourth movement of prayer (i.e. St. Dominic’s fourth way): The simple and loving gaze of the beloved soul upon her Lover. As our father Dominic would “gaze upon the Crucified One”, he was often rapt in ecstasy. The simple gaze of love, beyond discursive reasoning, is the highest form of prayer – but it is only gained after the long period of purgation in the first three ways.

It is in this fourth way that St. Dominic would offer prayers also for his brethren – teaching us that the union of love is meant to fill the soul with such confidence and trust in her Lover that she may ask for all that is good. Genuflecting before the greatness of our God, St. Dominic would then rise to implore the divine blessings and genuflect again trusting in our Savior’s mercy: “Thus there was formed in our holy father, Saint Dominic, a great confidence in God's mercy towards himself, all sinners, and for the perseverance of the younger brethren whom he sent forth to preach to souls.”

Thus, we see the four movements of every holy hour: adoration and humility, consideration of the mysteries of salvation, acts of love, contemplation and petition.

How to converse continually and familiarly with God

Lest any should think that the period of daily meditation were alone sufficient to the Christian soul (as though continual union with God throughout the day were not necessary), our holy father St. Dominic taught us the ninth way of prayer:

“Our Father, Saint Dominic, observed this mode of prayer while traveling from one country to another, especially when he passed through some deserted region. He then delighted in giving himself completely to meditation, disposing for contemplation, and he would say to his companion on the journey: It is written in Osee I will lead her (my spouse) into the wilderness and I will speak to her ear [Osee 2:14]. Parting from his companion, he would go on ahead or, more frequently, follow at some distance. Thus withdrawn, he would walk and pray; in his meditation he was inflamed and the fire of charity was enkindled. While he prayed it appeared as if he were brushing dust or bothersome flies from his face when he repeatedly fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross.

“The brethren thought that it was while praying in this way that the saint obtained his extensive penetration of Sacred Scripture and profound understanding of the divine words, the power to preach so fervently and courageously, and that intimate acquaintance with the Holy Spirit by which he came to know the hidden things of God.”

Why waste our time listening to music while driving in the car? Rather, we ought to reach for our Rosary and use it well - recalling that God gifted St. Dominic with great insights during his travels.

St. Dominic, Pray for us!