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On Prayer and the Contemplative Life
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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First published January 1, 1914
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About the author
Thomas Aquinas
2,534 books1,105 followersPhilosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican friar and theologian of Italy and the most influential thinker of the medieval period, combined doctrine of Aristotle and elements of Neoplatonism, a system that Plotinus and his successors developed and based on that of Plato, within a context of Christian thought; his works include the
Summa contra gentiles
(1259-1264) and the
Summa theologiae
or theologica (1266-1273).
Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.
People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."
Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.
Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.
People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."
Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 1, 2023
On when, how, and why one should pray, Saint Thomas Aquinas had a great deal to say – just as he had much to say regarding the merits of a contemplative life. And the interested reader can draw much from the excerpts from Aquinas’ Summa Theologica that are here collected as On Prayer and the Contemplative Life.
The Sicilian-born Tommaso d’Aquino came to be better known to history as Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), one of the greatest theologians of the medieval Catholic Church. Right up to his death in the Papal States in his late forties, he was a leader of the Dominican religious order, and a prolific author on all things related to Catholic life and doctrine. He is known for having reconciled Aristotelian philosophy with the Christian faith, at a time when some Christian clerics might well have wanted to burn every work of “pagan” Aristotle that they could find.
Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, while unfinished at his death, is one of the pre-eminent works of Catholic thought, and it was originally written with the intent of guiding theological students at the beginning of their studies. As such, it tends to be relatively dry and abstruse, in accordance with the tradition of medieval scholasticism of which Aquinas was a leading practitioner. It is fascinating, and at the same time it is not for the casual reader.
Aquinas holds that prayer is to be taken very seriously – “For it is [God] to Whom we ought to be especially bound as our indefectible principle; to Him must we assiduously direct our choice as our ultimate end; He it is Whom we negligently lose by sin and Whom we must regain by believing in Him and by professing our faith in Him.”
At the same time, Aquinas does not see prayer, or religious life generally, as an ivory-tower refuge from quotidian reality: “Religion…is not limited to our relation to God, but embraces our neighbour as well.” Prayer becomes a means by which the Christian believer can move toward virtuous behaviour: “A virtue is that which both renders its possessor, as also his work, good. Hence we must say that every good act comes under virtue.”
One difference between Catholic and Protestant Christianity that is much remarked-upon – at least here in the United States of America – relates to the Catholic tradition of praying to saints for intercession with God Almighty, the way a peasant or artisan in a medieval kingdom might ask a knight or a duchess to put in a good word for them with the King. When it comes to that practice of praying to saints for intercession, Aquinas assures the reader that “a man becomes deserving that some Saint should pray for him from the very fact that with pure-hearted devotion he has recourse to him in his needs. Hence it is not superfluous to pray to the Saints.” Aquinas adds that “the Church’s custom confirms” that the Saints’ prayers to God on our behalf are always heard, “for she frequently asks to be helped by the prayers of the Saints.”
And when it comes to the question of whether the active life or the contemplative life is more meritorious, St. Thomas Aquinas comes down firmly on the side of the contemplative life: “It is more meritorious that a man should offer to God his own soul and the soul of others than that he should offer any other external gift whatsoever.”
This edition of On Prayer and the Contemplative Life was published at London in 1914 – a time when being an English Catholic was still not necessarily an easy thing – and it has introductory material from two Catholic priests who seem to feel that most of the audience for the book will consist of Catholic clergy, or at least of exceptionally devout laypersons.
The introductory foreword indicates that “The Mystical life is the life of union with God, and it is based essentially on Prayer and Contemplation” – hence the editors’ decision to cull these materials from the larger body of the Summa Theologica.
While the editors state that “It is preferable to read the Bible than what men have said about the Bible”, they seem to anticipate that there will be a hunger among some believers for scholarly exegesis of Biblical passages and principles: “The human soul, ‘naturally Christian,’ as Tertullian would say, is also naturally Divine in the sense that, as Saint Augustine so often insists, no rest is possible for it save in God.”
Focusing specifically on Aquinas’ ideas regarding the contemplative life, the editors urge the reader away from envisioning that life as an unending spectacle of ecstatic mystical visions: “For Saint Thomas [Aquinas]…the Contemplative Life is but the natural life of a man who is serving God and who devotes a certain portion of his time to the study and contemplation of Divine things.”
The introduction also includes a short and helpful biography of Aquinas, including a revelation made to Aquinas’ brethren by Aquinas’ companion Master Reginald, after Aquinas’ death in 1274:
“Brothers, I was forbidden by my Master to reveal during his life the marvels I had seen. One of those marvels was that his knowledge, which so wondrously surpassed that of other men, was not due to any human skill, but to the merits of his prayers. For whenever he would study, or dispute, or read, or write, or dictate, he would first betake himself to prayer in secret, and there with many tears would implore light wherewith to search rightly into the secret things of God.”
The reader can decide for him- or herself whether Reginald is right, or whether part of Aquinas’ brilliance may have come from his having been a conscientious student, a voracious reader, a dedicated critical thinker, and a hard-working writer.
Aquinas, like many of the scholastics, can be heavy going. He spends a great deal of his time seeking out and demolishing what he regards as incorrect interpretations of Christian doctrine – the sort of thing that sometimes gave the scholastics a bad reputation for indulging in too much idle and abstruse disputation -- “how many angels can fit on the head of a pin,” and that sort of thing. His work, for me, does not have the deeply personal quality of the prayers of Saint Anselm of Aosta; nor does he have the eye for detail or the sheer storytelling verve of Saint Augustine of Hippo. But I nonetheless enjoyed having this chance to wrestle with the ideas of one of the greatest thinkers of the Middle Ages.
The Sicilian-born Tommaso d’Aquino came to be better known to history as Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), one of the greatest theologians of the medieval Catholic Church. Right up to his death in the Papal States in his late forties, he was a leader of the Dominican religious order, and a prolific author on all things related to Catholic life and doctrine. He is known for having reconciled Aristotelian philosophy with the Christian faith, at a time when some Christian clerics might well have wanted to burn every work of “pagan” Aristotle that they could find.
Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, while unfinished at his death, is one of the pre-eminent works of Catholic thought, and it was originally written with the intent of guiding theological students at the beginning of their studies. As such, it tends to be relatively dry and abstruse, in accordance with the tradition of medieval scholasticism of which Aquinas was a leading practitioner. It is fascinating, and at the same time it is not for the casual reader.
Aquinas holds that prayer is to be taken very seriously – “For it is [God] to Whom we ought to be especially bound as our indefectible principle; to Him must we assiduously direct our choice as our ultimate end; He it is Whom we negligently lose by sin and Whom we must regain by believing in Him and by professing our faith in Him.”
At the same time, Aquinas does not see prayer, or religious life generally, as an ivory-tower refuge from quotidian reality: “Religion…is not limited to our relation to God, but embraces our neighbour as well.” Prayer becomes a means by which the Christian believer can move toward virtuous behaviour: “A virtue is that which both renders its possessor, as also his work, good. Hence we must say that every good act comes under virtue.”
One difference between Catholic and Protestant Christianity that is much remarked-upon – at least here in the United States of America – relates to the Catholic tradition of praying to saints for intercession with God Almighty, the way a peasant or artisan in a medieval kingdom might ask a knight or a duchess to put in a good word for them with the King. When it comes to that practice of praying to saints for intercession, Aquinas assures the reader that “a man becomes deserving that some Saint should pray for him from the very fact that with pure-hearted devotion he has recourse to him in his needs. Hence it is not superfluous to pray to the Saints.” Aquinas adds that “the Church’s custom confirms” that the Saints’ prayers to God on our behalf are always heard, “for she frequently asks to be helped by the prayers of the Saints.”
And when it comes to the question of whether the active life or the contemplative life is more meritorious, St. Thomas Aquinas comes down firmly on the side of the contemplative life: “It is more meritorious that a man should offer to God his own soul and the soul of others than that he should offer any other external gift whatsoever.”
This edition of On Prayer and the Contemplative Life was published at London in 1914 – a time when being an English Catholic was still not necessarily an easy thing – and it has introductory material from two Catholic priests who seem to feel that most of the audience for the book will consist of Catholic clergy, or at least of exceptionally devout laypersons.
The introductory foreword indicates that “The Mystical life is the life of union with God, and it is based essentially on Prayer and Contemplation” – hence the editors’ decision to cull these materials from the larger body of the Summa Theologica.
While the editors state that “It is preferable to read the Bible than what men have said about the Bible”, they seem to anticipate that there will be a hunger among some believers for scholarly exegesis of Biblical passages and principles: “The human soul, ‘naturally Christian,’ as Tertullian would say, is also naturally Divine in the sense that, as Saint Augustine so often insists, no rest is possible for it save in God.”
Focusing specifically on Aquinas’ ideas regarding the contemplative life, the editors urge the reader away from envisioning that life as an unending spectacle of ecstatic mystical visions: “For Saint Thomas [Aquinas]…the Contemplative Life is but the natural life of a man who is serving God and who devotes a certain portion of his time to the study and contemplation of Divine things.”
The introduction also includes a short and helpful biography of Aquinas, including a revelation made to Aquinas’ brethren by Aquinas’ companion Master Reginald, after Aquinas’ death in 1274:
“Brothers, I was forbidden by my Master to reveal during his life the marvels I had seen. One of those marvels was that his knowledge, which so wondrously surpassed that of other men, was not due to any human skill, but to the merits of his prayers. For whenever he would study, or dispute, or read, or write, or dictate, he would first betake himself to prayer in secret, and there with many tears would implore light wherewith to search rightly into the secret things of God.”
The reader can decide for him- or herself whether Reginald is right, or whether part of Aquinas’ brilliance may have come from his having been a conscientious student, a voracious reader, a dedicated critical thinker, and a hard-working writer.
Aquinas, like many of the scholastics, can be heavy going. He spends a great deal of his time seeking out and demolishing what he regards as incorrect interpretations of Christian doctrine – the sort of thing that sometimes gave the scholastics a bad reputation for indulging in too much idle and abstruse disputation -- “how many angels can fit on the head of a pin,” and that sort of thing. His work, for me, does not have the deeply personal quality of the prayers of Saint Anselm of Aosta; nor does he have the eye for detail or the sheer storytelling verve of Saint Augustine of Hippo. But I nonetheless enjoyed having this chance to wrestle with the ideas of one of the greatest thinkers of the Middle Ages.
October 31, 2019
As this was actual extracts from the Angelic Doctor’s Summa Theologica, 5 Vols, I cannot begin to say how excited I am to have made it through! Now please don’t ask me any questions about it, as I only listened to it and attempted to comprehend these deep mysteries while also exercising. How much went in ... well, that, is another story. However, I do know that, for the most part, I understood much of the discussion material after the questions, even if I did not successfully follow the train of argument as it unfolded. It would take a NUMBER of additional readings for your truly to master his excellent arguments.
WELL worth the time!
I will be up for future difficult theological works to be taken in this manner in the future. At least I know my brain/soul are being fed good spiritual food...
WELL worth the time!
I will be up for future difficult theological works to be taken in this manner in the future. At least I know my brain/soul are being fed good spiritual food...
March 12, 2015
There is a lot of good to be said about this book. First of all it gives a good historical perspective on things like praying to the Saints and to religious orders. It also offers a window into the personal theology of S. Thomas Aquinas especially on issues such as free will, and primary and secondary causes. But my favorite parts were those that offered insight into the good of prayer and reflection. S. Aquinas also pulls in quotes from earlier church fathers which I found to be beneficial.
September 11, 2012
Although the book's introduction gives a great summary of the saint's life, and although Aquinas' insights are at times inspiring, the rhetorical method in which he presents his arguments (as article-objections-Sed contra) is tiresome and breaks up the continuity of the work to such a degree that I'd skip this one unless you're interested in it from a historio-theological viewpoint.
April 23, 2011
St. Thomas Aquinas is one several theologians and thinkers who have over the centuries had great impact on Catholic theology. He was a prolific writer, which is all the more remarkable for the fact that his writing is rather technical and "dense". He strove for logical and theological clarity, and his arguments had a coherent and precise structure.
In this “On Prayer and The Contemplative Life,” the reader gets an introduction to St. Thomas’ thought and writing structure which consist of: 1. A theological question or statement. 2. Objections to the question or the statement, 3. A quotation of an opinion or a statement that contradicts the objections. 4. The answer to the question. 5. The refutation of the objections.
In this “On Prayer and The Contemplative Life,” the reader gets an introduction to St. Thomas’ thought and writing structure which consist of: 1. A theological question or statement. 2. Objections to the question or the statement, 3. A quotation of an opinion or a statement that contradicts the objections. 4. The answer to the question. 5. The refutation of the objections.
April 20, 2020
Aquinas is so far beyond me that I didn’t grasp everything he argues in this book, but not through any fault of his. He explains things clearly, and what I did understand was edifying. Aquinas compares and contrasts the contemplative life and the active life in a very detailed way through a question and answer format.
August 15, 2011
This was my summer reading of something I've always wanted to read. I made it through it, and I had a few epiphanies during the summer of reading and contemplating.
November 22, 2024
This is a very good precursor to anyone interested in the Summa Theologica. Even though being a protestant there were a number of things I wasn't convinced of, namely the intercession of saints because I don't know how confidently we can speak about the order/structure of heaven, it introduced a new way of looking at and arguing for topics related to God. Set up the strongest objections to your argument, then quote the expert who says differently, then put your argument forth in detail, and finally dismantle the initial objections one by one.
What is prayer, is it useful, in what way does God answer all prayers? These questions this book addresses. What is better, to be actively engaged in work of the kingdom, or to contemplate the various wonderful aspects of God? Mary and Martha, and Rachael and Leah represent this dichotomy, and we have our answer, but how are we to put that into the practice of our lives?
If you want a thorough and in-depth survey of these topics and are willing to get used to a new structure of argument, this is a book for you!
What is prayer, is it useful, in what way does God answer all prayers? These questions this book addresses. What is better, to be actively engaged in work of the kingdom, or to contemplate the various wonderful aspects of God? Mary and Martha, and Rachael and Leah represent this dichotomy, and we have our answer, but how are we to put that into the practice of our lives?
If you want a thorough and in-depth survey of these topics and are willing to get used to a new structure of argument, this is a book for you!
June 6, 2024
It appears that the contemplative life is not as virtuous as the active life; it is the preferred mode of life nevertheless, because the active life is a hindrance to the contemplative life, which is our joint lot in the time when we are making our reconciliations with life in our old age, should we be lucky enough to stand up on that advantage. It strikes me that it is from this perspective, which is a higher one than those around us, where Aquinas bids us to remain clean and undefiled before God's holy presence.
April 3, 2024
Love St. Thomas Aquinas who's equal parts super intelligent and super saintly. This book from his perspective is the bee's knees in that he walks the reader through the relative hierarchy of contemplative vs. conquering in a way that is practical and easy to understand for even the busy modern worker. I've always been afraid of the giant Summa Theologica, and even of the Summa of the Summa, and so I'm always grateful of the smaller Aquinas reads like this one. Highly recommend it!
October 12, 2020
Excerpts
A few excerpts from the Summa on prayer and the contemplative versus active life. Aquinas provides insights into the power and forms of prayer, as well as the value of the contemplative life as the highest and purest form of life...and the model for heavenly bliss. A quick read and good translation.
A few excerpts from the Summa on prayer and the contemplative versus active life. Aquinas provides insights into the power and forms of prayer, as well as the value of the contemplative life as the highest and purest form of life...and the model for heavenly bliss. A quick read and good translation.
March 2, 2025
St Thomas Aquinas was a great scholar in his day and so his premises all follow a pattern of logic that I didn't always understand. There is, obviously, Catholic theology that I couldn't agree with, like asking dead saints to pray for you. But the section on the Lord's prayer was definitely worth the read!! This book is probably for people more intellectual than I! 😄
August 23, 2025
There are some aspects of this book which are pure gold and well worth reading. Then there are elements of Roman Catholic dogma which make it incredibly difficult to get through. In summary, this book has its pros and cons.
September 11, 2018
Having a prayer life is vital to a Christians life. I recommend believers to read this.
September 24, 2021
Interesting view of life from middle ages to now.
I found this work interesting as I agreed with much and disagreed with much. Certainly the role of women has changed.
I found this work interesting as I agreed with much and disagreed with much. Certainly the role of women has changed.
September 25, 2024
🖍️ Important truths are presented in this work that are apropos to today’s world:
🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
🕊️●▬●✿🕊️✿●▬●🕊️
A century ago, men's minds were sick unto death from too much science and too little mysticism. To-day the danger is that even the drawing-rooms are scented with a mysticism that anathematizes science.📙Published in 1914.
🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
🕊️●▬●✿🕊️✿●▬●🕊️
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews