According to Scaramelli the office of this gift, at least to a certain extent, is to render God present to the soul and so much the more present as the gift is more abundant. The gift of wisdom is especially employed in this degree, as it is in every degree of contemplation. The certain sight of God therein obtained is not the same as the light of faith, though it is founded upon faith. It is God Himself who makes His presence felt in the inmost soul. This mystic gift cannot be acquired, because it is supernatural. The manifestation increases in distinctness, as the union with God becomes of a higher order. In this prayer God gives to the soul an intellectual knowledge of His presence, and makes it feel that it is really in communication with Him, although He does this in a somewhat obscure manner. As the name implies the prayer of quiet is that in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating God as present. It holds an intermediary place between the latter and the prayer of union. It has to be distinguished therefore from meditation and from affective prayer. Quiet, PRAYER OF The Prayer of Quiet is regarded by all writers on mystical theology as one of the degrees of contemplation.
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