FIFTEEN MINUTES
FIFTEEN MINUTES OF PRAYER A DAY
Saint Ignatius on Prayer as a Spiritual Exercise
Ignatius claims that the "truly mortified person," one who has died to selfishness in order to seek God in all things (e.g. their families and their work), will profit more from fifteen minutes of prayer than the self-centered person who spends two hours in prayer. Hallowed by Thy Name! Thy will be done!
Quality of prayer is more important that quantity. Ignatius would have us begin any spiritual exercise by directing ourselves purely to the service and praise of the God. Then we should employ our imagination to experience both positive and negative emotions in our prayers.
“What fills and satisfies the soul consists, not in knowing much, but in our understanding the realities profoundly and in savoring them interiorly." Ignatius suggests we repeat prayer especially dwelling on whatever has brought us the deepest spiritual experiences.
Prayer as Friendship with God
Based on his research, Robert Dunbar claims that the average person is capable of having only about 150 meaningful relationships at one time. He calls these “friends” in contrast to “acquaintances," people we simply recognize. Friends include family and work relationships about which we often have no choice. They can include dead persons and most importantly for us, God! We are limited in our relationships by two factors: our cognitive capacity to process relationships and the limited amount of time we have each day for socializing.
Dunbar describes our relationships in terms of three concentric circles. We spend 40% of our social time with an inner circle of about 5 very close friends, averaging 8.5 hours a month which is only 17 minutes a day. We spent 20% of our social time with about 10 best friends, averaging 2.1 hours per month. Finally, we spend the remaining 40% of socializing with an outer circle of 135 good friends, averaging only 20 minutes a month. We see most good friends for an hour or so several times a year, e.g. at professional meetings, or sports events, or during holidays.
In what circle does God fit? If our relationship consists only of going to church for an hour each Sunday, God is a best friend but not a close, intimate friend. If our relationship consists of going to church about once-a-month God is just a good friend rather than a best friend. Many more people pray daily than go to church weekly. If we pray only one of the Hours daily (about 17 minutes) God becomes a close, intimate friend! Most people who pray daily probably spend less than 17 minutes, e.g. grace at meals, or the Lord's Pray or some requests on rising, or thoughts before going to sleep. Therefore, praying just one of the Hours, especially if it is quality prayer, can deepen our relationship with Christ into a close intimate friendship.
Using Small Amounts of Time: The Better Way.
Robert Boice, who was one of my graduate mentors, wrote a book of advice to young faculty members based upon his research into what makes for successful researchers, teachers, and colleagues. The answers are simple. First, tackle any task with small amounts of time (e.g. fifteen minutes) rather than large amounts of time (hours). Second, share your work with others. Among his principles which can be applied to praying the Hours: wait expectantly, begin before you are ready, pause often, stop before you are finished, i.e. leave something to start the next session!
Since we can now celebrate the Hours "anywhere, anytime with anyone" we need not limit praying the Hours to a consecutive fifteen minutes done at the same place! Like Boice outlining a lecture we could pray an Hour during TV commercials, or even spread Morning Prayer over the entire morning, starting and stopping in tune with our prayer experiences and circumstances. Following Ignatius, we can pause and meditate on a psalm, or repeat a Hymn setting that has moved us. We could conclude our morning prayer with others by asking someone to join us for the Gospel Canticle, petitions, Lord’s Prayer and lunch! Quality praying with Christ and the Church a few minutes at a time that add up to more than fifteen minutes.