Grade 1: Vocal Prayer

Even at the height of sanctity, one cannot omit altogether vocal prayer. The words spoken or sung aloud have immense power to purify or cleanse one's spirit, soul and body of all unwanted human and spiritual energies. They have also great power to ignite or re-ignite the omnipresent Divine Energy being buried deep within one's self and environment. Normally it works slowly in souls filled with sins or sinful energies, while faster in purer souls. Like what we do during Mass, it is always necessary to begin our prayer with an intense prayer of humility or humble repentance. In varying degrees we are all stained with sinful energies of various types.

In a way, one may say that our biggest obstacle in spiritual life is the ever-present veil which ceaselessly blocks us from experiencing God's omnipresence or omnipresent Energy. This veil consists simply of all the unwanted or unholy energies which have permeated us and the world through and through. In fact, we can become truly free from it only when we have fully entered into Heaven (in Heaven), i.e., enjoying Grade Ten in prayer. Each grade of prayer may then represent a greater degree of freedom from the untold bondage of the veil.

In fact, we may equate God's presence as our Heaven. As much as God is everywhere, our Heaven is everywhere. It is only blocked by the veil in our inability to be immune from its ceaseless attacks. This inability is our spiritual AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) which we have inherited from the negative effects of the original sin of our First Parents. It has affected us all on earth in every single dimension, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically, socially, etc. Without doubt, this inherited disease needs to be completely healed. "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:24-25)

It is sad to see that many Christians stop at this grade of prayer after a long vocal prayer or hymn singing. Even worse, many who lapsed have never known or experienced other grades. They fell without a good fight, a growth in grace, or a proper nourishment of their souls. To let the Spirit lead us to a higher grade in prayer, it seems better if we can do our vocal prayer at the beginning of our prayer time.