Pascal's Prayers
Pascal's Prayers
with “The Grandeur and Misery of Man” by Pope Francis
Foreword by Peter Kreeft
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Blaise Pascal—a celebrated philosopher, mathematician, and inventor best known for his Pensées—is not often counted among the great Christian mystics. But the philosopher also composed two prayers, both of which display an unexpected spiritual depth.
In this thoughtful study, author William C. Hackett presents new translations of, and commentary on, these two prayers of Pascal: the “Prayer Asking God for the Good Use of Illness,” a series of deathbed reflections on faith amid suffering, and the mysterious “Memorial,” an account of his mystical encounter with Christ on the “night of fire” in November 1654. Also included are Pope Francis’s 2023 apostolic letter on Pascal, “The Grandeur and Misery of Man,” and a series of reflections on Pascal’s complex relationship with the Jansenism of seventeenth-century France.
Spanning the depths of anguish and the height of exaltation, Pascal’s Prayers offers religious and nonreligious readers alike stark insight into the human condition—and a glimpse into the throbbing heart of what it means to live and die a Christian.
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What People are Saying
“This little gem of a book you’re holding now is about just two prayers of Pascal, one fairly long (about ten ordinary pages) and one short (one page). But those two prayers are like a biopsy—narrow like a needle but diving deep into invisible but living cells—or like a sharp, powerful probe deep into the earth or into Arctic or Antarctic ice. They move us from our comfortable surface illusions down into the depths of reality, and if Pascal is eventually canonized, they may well be the primary data for it. Reader, beware of this book. Read it only if you, too, are, or even passionately want to be, a realist—that is, open to all reality, to the end and the edge of it. For the earth is not round spiritually; it has an edge, and we all fall off that edge, either into nothingness or into everlasting arms.”
—Peter Kreeft, author of Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal’s “Pensées” Edited, Outlined, and Explained, from the foreword
“Pascal’s prayers are extraordinary. They are deeply personal, filled with intimacy, immediacy and honesty, and touch on things that matter to all of us - sickness, the search for happiness, and finding God. Pascal was a man who wrestled with God throughout his life and these prayers give a glimpse into his own spiritual life and hard-won wisdom. This volume presents two of his most celebrated prayers, offers a rich and detailed commentary on them and combines them with the Jesuit Pope Francis’ generous appreciation of this great Christian - who was no friend to the Jesuits in his time - yet who still speaks powerfully to us today of the transforming grace of God.”
—Graham Tomlin, author of Blaise Pascal: The Man who Made the Modern World (Hodder 2025)
“We struggling moderns need the thoughts and especially prayers of Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century polymath who helped usher in this technological world while exemplifying the spiritual commitment required for living in it. In Pascal’s Prayers, William Hackett gives us two precious texts with austere power: Pascal’s ‘Prayer Asking God for the Good Use of Illness’ and his ‘Memorial.’ Hackett has set these two spiritual gems in the gold of historical and religious commentary, allowing the man who prayed them to shine alongside the prayers themselves. Pascal and his prayers provide aid and comfort for those seeking to find God amid the harshness of reality and the seemingly eternal silence of infinite space.”
—Father Bonaventure Chapman, OP, cohost of Godsplaining