Homecoming for Contemplative Prayer
For several centuries contemplative prayer was all but forbidden. It was considered appropriate for a few exceptional individuals who were considered very advanced in the spiritual life. It was extremely restricted. Discursive meditation, a more complicated method of prayer than Lectio Divina, was the norm for other serious seekers of spiritual growth.
In discursive prayer, the emphasis is on the pursuit of newer and deeper insights along with the resolution to do something good or avoid some fault. Discursive meditation, heavily dependent on the intellect and imagination, gradually grew to be more complicated and more removed from lay experience. Lay people, for the most part, were left with devotions, the rosary, novenas, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and other expressions of popular religiosity as the accepted expressions of their prayer life. Because these forms of prayer most often had no clear goal for personal transformation, there was a disconnect between the prayer and life. Most often, they became only prayers of petition. However, it is important to remember that Teresa taught that even the simplest forms of prayer are open to contemplation when there is enough love present. In the new movements of prayer in the Church today, contemplative prayer is considered a desirable goal for all.
In contemplative prayer, the emphasis is on loving and silent presence to God with minimal use or concern for the intellect or imagination. Contemplative prayer begins with the person’s own activity..
God is seeking to bring light, the gift of divine wisdom, to every person. However, our sins, faults, attachments and all the expressions of our selfishness block the light. The soul is like a window pane where bad acts and faults are like smudges. These dirty and darkening marks need to be removed to let in the light of Christ
Contemplative prayer begins with the effort of the individual. It is seeking a silent presence before God. This is beyond thinking, imagining and making affections. The hope in contemplative prayer is that it will flow into contemplation which is a free and extraordinary gift of God that brings knowledge by way of love. This is a new and direct presence of God. There is a re-making of the individual through the progressive stages of healing, purifying and transforming.
Our efforts of the spiritual life work to purify us, to set us fee from all the keeps us from God. This is what happens when we are faithful to deep personal prayer. Along with the transformation of consciousness there develops gradually a purity of heart. This is the fertile ground for contemplative prayer.
There is a delicate balance between contemplative prayer, in all its various forms, and contemplation. In contemplative prayer the person is active. In contemplation the person receives God’s action. As the individual continues to grow in purity of heart, contemplation, as a state of being and gift of God, becomes the more likely outcome.
The prayer journey can be described in three stages: the departure, the actual movement and the arrival. The starting point is the basic hunger in the heart. This hunger gradually evolves to identify in one way or another a need for God. This leads to a more focused search that gets direction from deep personal prayer. This prayer, in its normal maturation, moves from activity to rest, from many words and thoughts to silence, from strong personal effort to a simple openness to the Divine Presence. This is the journey to contemplative prayer. This is a movement guiding us to the elusive center where God dwells. Peace and order are the promise than beckons as the final goal of prayer. This is contemplation drawing us to be one with God. This is truly where we are going!
In discursive prayer, the emphasis is on the pursuit of newer and deeper insights along with the resolution to do something good or avoid some fault. Discursive meditation, heavily dependent on the intellect and imagination, gradually grew to be more complicated and more removed from lay experience. Lay people, for the most part, were left with devotions, the rosary, novenas, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and other expressions of popular religiosity as the accepted expressions of their prayer life. Because these forms of prayer most often had no clear goal for personal transformation, there was a disconnect between the prayer and life. Most often, they became only prayers of petition. However, it is important to remember that Teresa taught that even the simplest forms of prayer are open to contemplation when there is enough love present. In the new movements of prayer in the Church today, contemplative prayer is considered a desirable goal for all.
In contemplative prayer, the emphasis is on loving and silent presence to God with minimal use or concern for the intellect or imagination. Contemplative prayer begins with the person’s own activity..
God is seeking to bring light, the gift of divine wisdom, to every person. However, our sins, faults, attachments and all the expressions of our selfishness block the light. The soul is like a window pane where bad acts and faults are like smudges. These dirty and darkening marks need to be removed to let in the light of Christ
Contemplative prayer begins with the effort of the individual. It is seeking a silent presence before God. This is beyond thinking, imagining and making affections. The hope in contemplative prayer is that it will flow into contemplation which is a free and extraordinary gift of God that brings knowledge by way of love. This is a new and direct presence of God. There is a re-making of the individual through the progressive stages of healing, purifying and transforming.
Our efforts of the spiritual life work to purify us, to set us fee from all the keeps us from God. This is what happens when we are faithful to deep personal prayer. Along with the transformation of consciousness there develops gradually a purity of heart. This is the fertile ground for contemplative prayer.
Contemplative Prayer: The Hope for Contemplation
It is quite helpful to see contemplative prayer as leading to the state of contemplation. Contemplative prayer is the way, contemplation is the goal.There is a delicate balance between contemplative prayer, in all its various forms, and contemplation. In contemplative prayer the person is active. In contemplation the person receives God’s action. As the individual continues to grow in purity of heart, contemplation, as a state of being and gift of God, becomes the more likely outcome.
The prayer journey can be described in three stages: the departure, the actual movement and the arrival. The starting point is the basic hunger in the heart. This hunger gradually evolves to identify in one way or another a need for God. This leads to a more focused search that gets direction from deep personal prayer. This prayer, in its normal maturation, moves from activity to rest, from many words and thoughts to silence, from strong personal effort to a simple openness to the Divine Presence. This is the journey to contemplative prayer. This is a movement guiding us to the elusive center where God dwells. Peace and order are the promise than beckons as the final goal of prayer. This is contemplation drawing us to be one with God. This is truly where we are going!
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