A Shot Prayer in the Legacy of the Venerable Marie Electa and the Tradition of the Church

P. Michael Špaček

Among the written materials from the estate of the first prioress of the Discalced Carmelites in Prague, Mother Elekta (+1663), there were found Sentences that she may have authored herself. They have never been published, so here we offer at least an illustrative selection from them. They are mostly taken from Scripture, some also from church tradition (e.g. 2b, 13b, 14, 27, 28, 40, etc.). They were intended to serve the sisters as short accompanying prayers (“aspirations”) for everything they do from the morning wake-up until evening. They impress us at first glance with their relevance and the beauty of the spiritual wealth they open up through their deeper insight into even the most ordinary things like dressing, descending stairs, or washing hands.

What place do such prayers hold in the church's tradition? Due to their brevity, they will certainly be categorized among the so-called ejaculatory prayers. They consist of the movement of the heart and mind towards God. They wish to strike God’s heart like an arrow and often pound on it like a gate of divine goodness. They are short formulas, drawn from Scripture or inspired by it, pronounced in a disposition of joy, goodness, peace, or pain and suffering, and we find them both among saints and many “ordinary” Christians.

They serve to revive the consciousness of God’s presence, strengthen the connection with God, and align our activities with God’s will in the present moment. Therefore, these are prayers that can be harmonized with daily tasks, allowing one to remain in the atmosphere of inner prayer without interrupting work.

Their origins can be found in the early church. St. Augustine writes in a letter to Proba (130,20) about Egyptian hermits: “They engage in frequent but brief prayers, as if quickly cast.” He expresses the dynamism of prayer, which is “cast” to God with the heart or will in the form of sighs, brief invocations. Ejaculatory prayer is thus also called a “sigh” (aspiratio), to capture the essence of prayer that is short and constant like breath. Benedictine Brother A. Baker (+1641) writes that “these sighs are brief, lively movements of the soul expressing thirst, the desire for God.” He provides several examples: “My God, you alone are sufficient for me!”, “May I be nothing and you be everything, my God!”, or even shorter: “O love!”, “Infinite Goodness!”.

Another author, Theatine L. Scupoli (+1610), asserts: “It is also customary to pray perfectly by remaining in God’s presence, occasionally casting sighs toward God with one’s mind – without speaking anything else – directing both eyes and heart to Him, longing to love Him. May a brief and ardent desire help you love Him purely, honor Him, and serve Him” (The Spiritual Combat, 2,14). A splendid example is the rapture of St. Francis of Assisi: “My God and my all!” The same path is taken by the famous “prayer of the heart,” which connects to the ancient hesychastic tradition of the East and became widely known primarily due to the text The Pilgrim of Russia.

A similar practice is found in various non-Christian religions. It is accompanied by an evident desire that the name of God moves from the lips to the mind and heart, which are the three great centers of the soul that we also mark with a small cross when crossing ourselves before the Gospel during Mass.

We can therefore summarize that ejaculatory prayers prepare the soul for connection with God and also lead it to Him. This is how St. Francis de Sales (Introduction to a Devout Life II,13), Teresa of Avila (The Interior Castle, Room 7,2), and St. John of the Cross (Flame, stanza 4) express themselves. They are not merely devout acts but a true access road to perfection and mystical experience.¹

From the Sentences of Mother Elekta, we can provide the following examples:

Some of the sentences of Mother Elekta (nos. 76-90) are of a different kind. They are intended as support or plea in temptations. St. Paul already advises: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6,11.17). The sayings of Scripture have great efficacy in the battle against the devil. Even Jesus repels Satan three times with them during temptation (Mt 4,3ff). In ancient times, monks recited Psalms day and especially at night; they were an effective weapon against the Prince of Darkness. Evagrius in the 4th century collected 487 biblical sayings suitable as defenses against the eight main categories of temptation (which in our Western tradition we know in somewhat altered form as “the seven deadly sins”). Such prayer is encouraged for the hermits on Carmel by St. Albert in the 14th chapter of the Rule.

However, since it was difficult to remember numerous biblical citations—especially for monks who could not read—something akin to a universal weapon was sought. This became the invocation of Jesus, which is “the staff to drive away all demons,” according to the words of St. Paul: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil 2,10).

The sentences 76–90 on the list of Mother Elekta connect to this ancient tradition. They belong to the armory against temptation, whether as the word of God to us or as our invocation to the Lord for help:

Most of the Sentences of Mother Elekta, however, are intended as accompaniment to various daily actions:

These sentences also remind us of the ancient Jewish prayers berakot, which are an integral part of personal and communal Jewish life. They, too, echo biblical sayings. They permeate all actions and events of the day and are also building blocks of every service.

Already the actions of morning rising are accompanied by a series of short berakot, for example:
– upon opening the eyes: Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who makes the blind see,
– upon stepping on the floor: ...who spread the earth upon the waters,
– upon walking: ...who directs the steps of man,
– upon covering the head: ...who crowns Israel with glory.

Berakot are also pronounced during various occurrences, for example:
– upon seeing lightning, during an earthquake, thunder: Blessed is he, whose strength and might fills the world,
– upon seeing a rainbow: ...who remembers the covenant, is faithful to his covenant, and will fulfill his word,
– upon good news: ...who is good and does good,
– upon bad news: ...who is a just judge.

These berakot arise from the awareness that our life with all it brings is a service to the living God, present in creation and his history.² And conversely, they return the person to this awareness. The visible world around us and our daily activity in it can greatly obscure God’s presence. These prayers, in turn, make everything, even the most ordinary, a reminder of God and his care for us.

In the Middle Ages and the Baroque period, books explaining the “symbols of the world” were therefore popular. We read that doves, for example, remind of a contemplative life, grass represents the transience of life, and eagles symbolize the ascent to God, etc. This was often substantiated by verses from Scripture, for example, “I will meditate like a dove” (Jer 38,14). This symbolism relied on the law of association. If we connect two ideas, the second one always comes to mind upon recalling the first. Thus, just a glance at a dove reminded a person of the need to meditate, and while cutting grass, one could not avoid reflections on death and the purpose of life.

Bishop Tikhon Zadonsky (+1783), venerated as a saint in the Russian Church, wrote a work The Spiritual Treasure Gathered in Nature. He imitates the earlier work of Anglican Bishop Hall, who drew nearly verbatim from medieval Catholic authors. They are short meditations that may come to mind when looking at things we see daily. For those who get used to them, contact with the outside world becomes a constant spiritual reading.

St. Catherine of Siena would “translate” everything she saw into spiritual language. “Translation” is indeed used so that a foreign language becomes intelligible to us. If sin and bad inclinations make the language of the world sound foreign, spiritual understanding translates it into our mother tongue.³

If contemplation means seeing deeper spiritual realities beneath the surface, God’s presence, and message, then prayers of the mentioned type connect the visible with the invisible. They are a window leading to contemplation.

Similarly, the prayers or rather biblical quotes that accompany every priest's or deacon's act of dressing before the Holy Liturgies are meant to serve.

Can such a way of praying, which has such a long history, be useful for today’s person? Father T. Špidlík says this:

Whoever works with good intention prays. However, even when we begin work with the best of intentions, other, foreign motives gradually intrude without us even realizing it. St. Bernard noticed this too when he enthusiastically preached. He started well, driven by zeal. However, in the middle of his fervor, he observed how pleased he was that people admired him. It seemed to him he was no longer preaching for God’s glory.

It is like an arrow aimed into the distance, but it soon starts to fall to the ground due to its weight. Our good intention, too, fades away; it needs to be renewed and given a new impulse. Ejaculatory prayers are very suitable for this. These short exclamations have the advantage that they fit directly into life situations, making them very sincere. Because they are so brief, we do not have to struggle with distraction and fatigue. “A brief prayer is a great treasure,” the Fathers said. The old monks preferred verses from the Psalms. They mostly knew them by heart. One of them became legendary. Before every work, journey, or decision, the monks would cross themselves and say the verse from Psalm 69,2: “Lord, hasten to my aid!” To this day, that is how they start the Hours of the Breviary.

A short ejaculatory prayer, which is often repeated, penetrates through a mysterious psychological process into our mentality, becoming a part of our very self, transforming us, and giving direction to our lives. Empty slogans and advertisements, often repeated, can impoverish a person and often prepare them for the loss of calmness. If a true supernatural truth enters us following the same psychological process, it enriches and develops our inner life. Such a short prayer then indeed becomes a great treasure.⁴