Fr. Robert Maloney, C.M., writes:

I offer these “rules” for the use of those who seek to pray daily. They are not abstract principles; nor are they conclusions which are provable by some deductive method. They are simply a group of practical rules that experience teaches are helpful for those who want to pray. While I take responsibility for their formulation, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to others who have taught them to me.

From the article Mental Prayer: Yesterday and Today – Some Reflections on the Vincentian Tradition by Robert P. Maloney C.M. Available at: Vincentiana: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 14.