Centering and contemplative prayer???

[Godlovestrength]

What is the difference,
Please I am not that able to understand subjective language so as simple as possible please.
I found this

centeringprayer.com/frntpage.htm

Thanks
Godbless

 

[Joysong]

I think we are jumping into too many threads on this subject.

From footnote 298 at the bottom of this page on St. John of the Cross’s writing.

catholictreasury.info/Ascent/asc29.htm

All agree that, in the act of contemplation of which St. John of the Cross here speaks, the understanding must be stripped of forms and species of the imagination and that the reasonings and reflections of meditation must be set aside. This is to be understood, both of the contemplation that transcends all human methods, and also of that which is practised according to these human methods with the ordinary aid of grace.

[Some call this centering prayer, because the person is attentively centering on God with the aid of grace; i.e. using or NOT using an ejaculation or sacred word to stay attentive, or centered. Imagination, thought, meditation is set aside.]

But there is this important difference, that those who enjoy the first kind of contemplation set aside all intellectual reasoning as well as processes of the fancy and the imagination, whereas, for the second kind, reasoning prior to the act of contemplation is normally necessary, though it ceases at the act of contemplation, and there is then substituted for it simple and loving intuition of eternal truth. It should be clearly understood that this is not of habitual occurrence in the contemplative soul, but occurs only during the act of contemplation, which is commonly of short duration.

[The first kind is that which the person does himself through ordinary grace. The second kind of contemplation is supernatural and is an infused, unearned gift of God that is of short duration. God may sometimes grant this while the person is ‘centering’ attentively, quietly, formlessly, thoughtlessly, just ‘being’ in His presence.]

You will note the most certain sign to leave the road of meditation is explained by John, together with the other two signs - but this is the most important.

1. The third and surest sign is that the soul takes pleasure in being alone, and waits with loving attentiveness upon God, without making any particular meditation, in inward peace and quietness and rest, and without acts and exercises of the faculties – memory, understanding and will – at least, without discursive acts, that is, without passing from one thing to another; the soul is alone, with an attentiveness and a knowledge, general and loving, as we said, but without any particular understanding, and adverting not to that which it is contemplating.

This is an outgrowth of prayer when one has advanced from ‘peeling the rind’ off the orange, to eating the fruit. God does not desire us to always be peeling. When prayer has advanced because the understanding has sought Him over many years of meditation, it now finds Him instantly and lovingly when it comes to pray. There is no desire to peel the rind again. The understanding has no desire to work, nor does God wish it to.

Can you now understand why CP is a good for only SOME people? Others must still do their work until God calls them into this rest of contemplative prayer. Granted, many who still meditate will move from one mode to the other, using both forms of prayer – meditation and contemplation. And this is normal, John says. As long as they can meditate, they must continue to do so. But then the day does come when meditation is virtually impossible. A new path is being formed into the unknown, the dark night.

May God enlighten you.

 

[blessedstar]

Centering prayer is not contemplative prayer; contemplative prayer is a prayer that God brings about in the soul.

In the Living Prayer of my life

 

[Joysong]

Blessedstar,

Why are you so ‘hell-bent’ to use your word from another thread, on misleading everyone. This subject is difficult enough to understand, let alone have someone like yourself destroy very credible teachings to help people. I shared with you many years ago that I was Mistress of Formation in Carmel where I joined in 1981, so I do know what I am sharing here. You are a novice. Please go to someone else in authority if you do not wish to hear these things from me, and NOT from a casual website which can be full of error.

Contemplation has two forms, active and passive.

It has been discussed in many, many threads that you participate in. May I ask that you refer this matter to your Carmelite community President, and if that does not bring satisfaction, then go to the Provincial in the UK. Or else you may write to our provincial.

The only problem is your dislike of the word that is chosen to describe the spiritual reality, but words are only vehicles to describe an intangible spiritual experience. Many of them can mean the same thing, and in this case - it DOES. It refers to one’s active contemplation - not the passive gift that God sometimes bestows while ‘actively’ contemplating. You pick the word, then:

Quietude with God?
Focus on God?
Centering on God?
Contemplating God?
Listening in prayer to God?
Attentive to God’s presence?

When one is actively doing all of the above, no matter WHAT name you give it, we are speaking of the same inner reality. These definitions all signify relinquished thought, yet one may sometimes utter a quiet word of adoration to re-focus, re-center, re-contemplate.

There are websites and articles that describe CP in a wrong light due to lack of knowledge of the real thing, just as people do with scripture. That’s why we have zillions of denominations. But there is ONE TRUTH among these zillions, just as there is ONE TRUTH regarding CP. You simply hate the subject, and it is very obvious. Your wrangling will add nothing to these discussions but dissension. Please stop harrassing

You:

I so desire that centering prayer would be wiped from the face of the earth and I do not care what anyone has to say to me about my comments.

I am so adverse to centering prayer that I could explode because it is a deception of contemplative prayer.

I pray there was an end to such things as centering prayer and swiftly may it come.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost…8&postcount=41

Yes, yes, I see you are reporting this post as you did the other day. How sad that you cannot take constructive criticism.

 

[Joysong]

For any who misunderstand the words centering and contemplating, here are many more synonyms from the thesaurus:

Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: concentrate
Part of Speech: verb 1
Definition: think
Synonyms: apply, attend, brood over, center, consider closely, contemplate, direct attention, establish, examine, fix attention, fixate, focus, give attention, hammer*, head trip*, intensify, knuckle down, meditate, muse, need, occupy thoughts, peruse, ponder, put, rivet, ruminate, scrutinize, set, settle, study, sweat, think hard, weigh

Because we are speaking of prayer, it is perfectly acceptable to use a different synonym, providing we are speaking about the same reality. Our saints often lamented the fact that it is difficult to put into fleshly terminology that which is purely spiritual - hence many different terms are used, but say basically the same thing. There is not a universal language when it comes to spiritual matters, but we are striving to come to some depth of understanding in these threads.

 

[Catherine_Grant]

Because you are unlikely to get a balanced answer due to the heightened emotions surrounding this issue on the many current threads dealing with it, I am closing this thread with the advice of our staff apologists on centering prayer and contemplative prayer.

May God Bless You Abundantly,
Catherine

Is Centering Prayer Catholic meditation?
Is Centering Prayer an authentic spirituality?
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**What is an ecstasy?
**