Bede Frost’s "The Art of Mental Prayer" (1931)
A Review by The Rev. Ben Jeffries, ’14
The cornerstone of Nashotah House Press at present is the 'Anglo-Catholic Classics' series, which centers around reprinting texts that the Tractarians themselves either wrote, re-issued, or translated. There are a few works in the series that post-date the Tractarians themselves (E.B. Pusey died in 1882) but which are earnest continuations in the same direction. Darwell Stone, previously reviewed, is one of those, and also this unparalleled work by Bede Frost, who was a monk at Nashdom abbey. The Tractarians were men of prayer, first and foremost. They understood and embodied Evagrius' famous maxim, "a theologian is one who prays truly, and one who prays truly is a theologian." What they wrote about God, they knew from first hand experience in their own soul from their time spent in prayer. As well as praying the Offices and prayers during Communion, the Tractarians meditated deeply on Scripture, utilizing methods they learned from their own Old High Church formations, as well as from the spiritual masters of the counter-reformation whom they also read and assimilated. Keble and Pusey especially directed many individual souls in the Way of Prayer, but neither of them left behind a written work devoted to the subject.
Bede Frost provides a thorough and discerning exhibition of the different schools of mental prayer. Helpful for the scholar wishing to learn, and of great benefit to the catholic desiring to learn how to pray. Available from Nashotah House Press.
The absence of such a work is well supplied by Dom Bede Frost. The Art of Mental Prayer does three things: It begins by surveying at a birds-eye view the absolute necessity of mental prayer (also known as "meditation") for the Christian who would grow in their life in Christ, and shines light on the devotional cooling of his own era (1900-1940) within Anglo-Catholic circles as being a consequence of side-lining the role of mental prayer. He then spends the bulk of the book describing in practical detail the different methods of mental prayer as maintained by the different "schools" that have their own variations of practice: Ignatian, Carmelite, Oratorian, etc. A fascinating survey, full of rich spiritual direction and copious primary source quotation. In the final chapters of the book, Frost then synthesizes the whole and offers clear direction and guidance on the adventure of incorporating mental prayer into one's own Christian Life. Equal parts historical survey and personal spiritual direction, this book blesses the reader at many levels as it systematically presents an aspect of the Spiritual life so essential to the Tractarian ethos.
The Rev. Ben Jefferies, '14, is the first rector of The Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Opelika, Alabama, co-founder of the Cellar of St. Gambrinus and an honorary member of the Society of St. Moses the Jacked. He is married to Carrie and they have three adorable daughters. His heroes are E.B. Pusey and The Rev. Lars Skoglund, ’14.
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