Two Notes From the Short Apology for the Method of Prayer

Some have thought that, when we speak of “Inward Silence,” we wish to suppress all good thoughts and all the expressions of the heart. The thoughts of the mind, which come from the purified affections of a heart, which loves God, are very right. It is not those which must be suppressed, but those which the creature forms rather to satisfy his mind than to inflame his heart. The heart must move towards God and reaching out after Him through its affections; but when, by reason of this affection, an infusion of grace enters into the heart, it is necessary that the heart, which opened as a mouth to speak, remain open, silently waiting to receive divine nourishment. We must learn, then, to prepare the heart; and when it is prepared (as the Prophet-King said, “My heart is prepared”) and God, having seen the preparation of the heart, is pleased to communicate Himself to it in love, then we must silently yield to Him with respectful humility. It is to this end that all practices of this little book point.

The Passive State

When we speak of the “Passive State,” we do not mean a state like that of an inanimate object, with which one can do what one likes without the aid of its submission. It is not so with man, who performs actions much more noble, exalted, and also more conformed to the divine will, since it is in fact conformity to the will of God which gives value and worth to an action. Now the action which makes us submit freely and voluntarily to the divine motion, and which causes us to act as we are moved by God (although we could act by our own will), I had fully explained this in chapter 21, on “Deeds,” so that there should be no difficulty. I showed further in chapter 22, speaking of the Inward Silence, that it was not caused by the poverty, but by the abounding power of the work of God within, stronger than our own, which while making us silent about everything else, teaches us the language of the Divine one.

It is not a silence caused by vague inaction, and conjured up by the imagination, but obedience rendered to the divine will. For if, according to the Scripture, “to obey God is better than the sacrifice of lambs,” then it is easy to conclude that this submission practiced in the silence within, when God forms the purpose in us, is a very good work.