Montaigne on Prayer: Sincerity, Ritual, and Freemasonry
What does it truly mean to pray? Is prayer merely a formula you recite, or should it reflect something genuine about who you really are? Michel de Montaigne posed this question in the sixteenth century, and his answer remains strikingly relevant today. In Essay 56 of the first book of his Essays, titled “On Prayers,” he examines the tension between outward display and inner sincerity — a theme that also occupies a central place in Freemasonry. What Is This Essay Really About? In “On Prayers,” Montaigne takes up a seemingly simple subject: prayer, and specifically the Lord’s Prayer. But as so often with Montaigne, the surface is deceptive. This is not a theological treatise but a moral-philosophical exploration. The central question he raises is this: does a prayer have any value if it is not accompanied by a genuinely upright inner life? Montaigne argues that praying without making any effort to improve your conduct is a form of hypocrisy. You cannot call upon God with the same lips that have just uttered lies or curses. He writes during a period of devastating religious wars tearing France apart, watching both Catholics and Protestants invoke the Almighty to justify their violence. That […]
