St. Ignatius’ First Method of Prayer is actually a method that engages ourselves and our daily lives in a very concrete and realistic type of praying. Rather than a “method” properly so called, it is a form of exercise designed to stimulate the soul to make progress in virtue, while at the same time it brings to life a prayer that is pleasing to God. It is, if you like, a method for revising one’s life, for revitalizing one’s prayer life.

The person who wishes to pray according to this method should begin with one of the following: God’s Ten Commandments, the seven capital sins, the powers of the soul, or the five senses of the body.

He should observe all of the exercises prior to beginning the actual prayer: selecting a time when he can withdraw from acquaintances and occupations, placing himself in God’s presence, and making the preparatory prayer. If, for example, he is going to use the Ten Commandments, his preparatory prayer should include petitions asking God our Lord to show him how up until now he has failed to live the Commandments, begging God for the grace and help to enable him to make amends in the future and for a perfect understanding of these precepts so that he may observe them better for the greater glory and praise of his Divine Majesty.

1. The Commandments

I will consider and reflect upon the first commandment: How have I observed it? How have I failed to observe it? As for the length of this consideration, I will give it about the time it takes me to say three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys. If during this time I discover I have failed in any way, I will ask pardon and forgiveness for my faults, and I will say an Our Father.

Note: Obviously, if this reflection leads me to conclude that I am not in the habit of sinning against a particular Commandment, I will not spend a long time considering it. But if I discover there is a Commandment I trip up on from time to time, I will devote a longer period of time to considering and examining it. This same rule pertains to the subject of the following section, the capital sins.

After I have gone through the Commandments in this way, accused myself of my faults, and asked for grace and help to amend my life in the future, I will end the prayer with a conversation with God our Lord.

2. The Capital Sins

The same procedure that is used for the commandments should be followed as far as the capital sins are concerned. The only difference is that I should avoid dwelling on what goes into making the sin sinful. Rather, I should consider the virtues opposite to these vices in order better to realize the faults I have committed regarding the capital sins.

3. The Powers of the Human Soul: Intellect, Imagination, Will

The same recommendations given in connection with the Ten Commandments should be followed in respect to the three powers of the soul.

4. The Five Senses of the Body

Here again the same method should be followed.

The person who wants to imitate Christ our Lord in the use of his senses will recommend himself to his Divine Majesty in the preparatory prayer. Then, after he goes through examining himself on each sense, he will say one Hail Mary and one Our Father.

If he wishes to imitate our Lady in the use of his senses, he will recommend himself to her in the preparatory prayer, asking that she obtain from her Son and Lord the grace he needs for this purpose. Then, after an examination on each of the senses, he will say one Hail Mary.

This is a method that is extremely simple and practical. St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier taught it to people who were beginners at prayer, and they also recommended it to those who were advanced in the spiritual life, even those favored with extraordinary graces in prayer.

A person making this type of prayer will withdraw from friends, acquaintances, and worldly cares to pray in secret.

The preparatory prayer will vary according to the person to whom the prayer is made.

This Second Method of Prayer consists of the following: I will either kneel or sit, taking any position where I find I am more comfortable in prayer and where I obtain greater devotion. Then, either closing my eyes or fixing them on some point from which I do not allow them to roam, I will say the words “Our Father”. I will consider these words for as long as I find new meanings, comparisons, pleasure, and spiritual joy.

Then I will do the same for each word in the prayer Our Father.

I can use this same method with any other prayer or canticle that I particularly like.

The primary rule to be observed in this method of prayer is that when a person finds in one or two words a great deal of matter to reflect upon, as well as much consolation and fervor, he should not be concerned about going on to another set of words, even if he remains on one or two words during the whole time allowed for this prayer.

At the end of the fixed time, it will be good to finish by saying the whole prayer over briefly in the ordinary way, leaving for another day a consideration of the words remaining. The retreatant should also make a colloquy to the person to whom the prayer is addressed, asking in a few words for the virtues and graces that he feels he has more need of at that given moment. Finally, according to however he feels, he can say a few other vocal prayers.

In preparation for this prayer the retreatant should observe the recommendations to stop what he is doing and pull himself away from friends and acquaintances to make his prayer.

The preparatory prayer will vary according to the person to whom the prayer is addressed.

The Third Method of Prayer consists of measuring my prayer in accordance with my breathing. For instance, at each breath I will say one of the words in the Our Father (or any other prayer), and while saying the word I will pray mentally. I will do so in such a way that during each interval that separates one word from another I will try to deepen in myself the meaning of the word or consider the person to whom I am addressing my prayer, or I will endeavor to reflect on my own condition.

Every person should feel free to combine vocal prayers with this measured, rhythmic prayer and to apply this type of prayer to a number of prayers he might say during the course of his meditation. The essential thing is to unite himself with God.

We should point out here the relationship of this type of prayer with the well-known prayer in the East called the Jesus prayer. The basic principle is “to have Jesus enter the heart” (heart in the Biblical sense, that is, is the primary source of all of a man’s life and activities). The Jesus prayer consists of repeating slowly and indistinctly, in rhythm with the inhaling and exhaling of air—that is, in rhythm with the breath of life itself—this Gospel-like invocation in which one can easily recognize the prayer of the man born blind and the prayer of the publican: “Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This simple formula contains …the whole mystery of Christian life: living with the resurrected Jesus Christ. It can be simplified even more. At its peak, the Jesus prayer consists in merely repeating the name “Jesus” and finally in the simple awareness of his presence in the deepest part of one’s heart.

There are other methods of prayer. Some of these have even come from non-Christian religions, for example, Zen and yoga. No method of prayer should be disdained. It is up to each person to choose the type that best suits his temperament and the grace he has received. What is essential is that one be recollected and find the living, personal, “good” God within himself, “at the heart of his heart”, so that faith, hope, and charity will expand in him.

Today, rather than concerning ourselves with methods, we would rather deal with that with which every prayer should be concerned: alienation, loneliness, the intimate realization of the needs of the Church and of the world, the knowledge of the Word of God, etc. But we should remember that one category does not exclude consideration of the other!