MALAVAL, FRANÇOIS. - Quietist, born at Marseilles on 16 Dec. 1627, died there on 15 May 1719.
He owes his fame to *Pratique facile pour élever l'âme à la contemplation* (part 1, Paris 1664; parts 1 and 2, ibid. 1670), in which he appears as a convinced advocate of the prayer of quiet, since the soul called to contemplation can no longer meditate or meditates only with great unease. A man of sincere piety, Malaval was linked to the Roman ecclesiastical world (among other things, he corresponded with Molinos) and was very well known in the spiritual world of his time. Against him, Segneri wrote *I Sette principi*. Despite his friendships, the *Pratique* was condemned by the Holy Office on 1 Apr. 1688. His reputation for a holy life and the intervention of Cardinal Bona had, despite his blindness, enabled him to be ordained a cleric (1674).