Contemplation and Mysticism

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hazcompat said:
I used to own a small blue booklet. In it, on the path of the Joyous mysteries, he( Bonaventure) wrote something like…’ like Mary we each can conceive Jesus in our hearts. like Mary we can make him through the desert to our cousin, like Mary we can…'Anyone know where this is from?

peace
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This is part of the letter that he wrote commanding the instiution of First Saturdays in honor of the Blessed Virgin. I don’t know where he got to the wording, if it’s his own or he’s quoting.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
  1. On Prayer
A man who has decided to serve the Lord God must practice awareness of God and uninterrupted prayer to Jesus Christ, mentally repeating: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” After dinner one can say this prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, through the prayers of the Theotokos, have mercy upon me, a sinner;” or resort directly to the Most Holy Theotokos, praying: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us;” or repeating the angelic greeting: “Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos.” With such exercise, with preservation from distraction and with the maintenance of peace of mind, it is possible to come to God and become one with Him. For, according to the words of Issac the Syrian, we cannot come near to God without uninterrupted prayer (Homily 69).

St. John Chrysostom well described the virtue of prayer. Prayer, he said, is a mighty weapon, an unlimited treasure, independent wealth, a quiet haven, a reservoir of silence; it is the root and the source and the mother of ten thousand blessings (Homily on Inscrutability, 5).

If in prayer it happens that the mind is caught up by distracting thoughts, then one should bow down to our Lord God and ask for forgiveness, saying: I have sinned, O Lord, in word, deed and thought, and all my senses.

One must always strive against giving in to mental distractions. Through these the soul is turned away from the consciousness of God and His love to the activity of the devil. As St. Macarios says: “All the eagerness of our enemy is to turn our thought away from remembrance of God and of fear and love of Him” (Homily 2, Ch. 15).

When the mind and the heart are united in prayer, and nothing disturbs the soul’s contemplation, then the heart is warmed by spiritual heat and the light of Christ operates, filling the whole inner man with peace and joy.

peace and joy

ekekraxa.blogspot.com/2010/01/st-seraphim-of-sarov-ten-sayings.html
 
A PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

by Saint Padre Pio, OFM Cap.

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I wish it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes, death, judgement, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You.

Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but, the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for. Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.

With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.

Amen

peace

feastofsaints.com/padrepioprayer.htm
 
hazcompat said:
One must always strive against giving in to mental distractions. Through these the soul is turned away from the consciousness of God and His love to the activity of the devil. As St. Macarios says: “All the eagerness of our enemy is to turn our thought away from remembrance of God and of fear and love of Him” (Homily 2, Ch. 15).

When the mind and the heart are united in prayer, and nothing disturbs the soul’s contemplation, then the heart is warmed by spiritual heat and the light of Christ operates, filling the whole inner man with peace and joy.

peace and joy

ekekraxa.blogspot.com/2010/01/st-seraphim-of-sarov-ten-sayings.html
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This is good. I will try to apply this next time I am at adoration because I am always getting distracted/sleepy. A holy hour of adoration feels like three. 😦
 
TrueLight said:
This is good. I will try to apply this next time I am at adoration because I am always getting distracted/sleepy. A holy hour of adoration feels like three. 😦
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He loves you perfectly. Lay your head on His chest and sleep. When I was 14 I was an altar boy scheduled for one hour in our Forty-Hours Exposition and Adoration. My relief whispered “you,ve been here for three hours”, I thought it was only minutes. By His Grace.

peace
 
hazcompat said:
He loves you perfectly. Lay your head on His chest and sleep. When I was 14 I was an altar boy scheduled for one hour in our Forty-Hours Exposition and Adoration. My relief whispered “you,ve been here for three hours”, I thought it was only minutes. By His Grace.

peace
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Wow! At 14? That is awesome!
 
Journey of the Mind into God-St Bonaventure THE MIND’S ROAD TO GOD

Saint Bonaventura: 1221-1274

crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/666/Journey_of_the_Mind_into_God_St_Bonaventure.html
  1. Therefore to the cry of prayer through Christ crucified, by Whose blood
    we are purged of the filth of vice, do I first invite the reader, lest
    perchance he should believe that it suffices to read without unction,
    speculate without devotion, investigate without wonder, examine without
    exultation, work without piety, know without love, understand without
    humility, be zealous without divine grace, see without wisdom divinely
    inspired. Therefore to those predisposed by divine grace, to the humble and
    the pious, to those filled with compunction and devotion, anointed with the
    oil of gladness [Ps., 44, 8], to the lovers of divine wisdom, inflamed with
    desire for it, to those wishing to give themselves over to praising God, to
    wondering over Him and to delighting in Him, do I propose the following
    reflections, hinting that little or nothing is the outer mirror unless the
    mirror of the mind be clear and polished.
Bestir yourself then, O man of God, you who previously resisted the pricks
of conscience, before you raise your eyes to the rays of wisdom shining in
that mirror, lest by chance you fall into the lower pit of shadows from the
contemplation of those rays.

peace
 
hazcompat said:
He loves you perfectly. Lay your head on His chest and sleep. When I was 14 I was an altar boy scheduled for one hour in our Forty-Hours Exposition and Adoration. My relief whispered “you,ve been here for three hours”, I thought it was only minutes. By His Grace.

peace
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Hazcompat…that is beautiful…
TL…the Lord doesn’t mind that at all! I love Hazcompat’s “Lay your head on His chest and sleep”…I get lulled into rest in adoration by imagining I am in a boat (even if there is a storm all around) and then I look ahead and “see” our Lord’s face…and then I just share time with Him…don’t have to worry about all the storm any more!) …I just know He will take care of it all, and I get to just rest with Him taking care of everything…sweet peace…the Lord’s Sweetest Peace!!! Rest and enjoy!
Blessings…
 
hazcompat said:
Journey of the Mind into God-St Bonaventure THE MIND’S ROAD TO GOD

Saint Bonaventura: 1221-1274

crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/666/Journey_of_the_Mind_into_God_St_Bonaventure.html
  1. Therefore to the cry of prayer through Christ crucified, by Whose blood
    we are purged of the filth of vice, do I first invite the reader, lest
    perchance he should believe that it suffices to read without unction,
    speculate without devotion, investigate without wonder, examine without
    exultation, work without piety, know without love, understand without
    humility, be zealous without divine grace, see without wisdom divinely
    inspired. Therefore to those predisposed by divine grace, to the humble and
    the pious, to those filled with compunction and devotion, anointed with the
    oil of gladness [Ps., 44, 8], to the lovers of divine wisdom, inflamed with
    desire for it, to those wishing to give themselves over to praising God, to
    wondering over Him and to delighting in Him, do I propose the following
    reflections, hinting that little or nothing is the outer mirror unless the
    mirror of the mind be clear and polished.
Bestir yourself then, O man of God, you who previously resisted the pricks
of conscience, before you raise your eyes to the rays of wisdom shining in
that mirror, lest by chance you fall into the lower pit of shadows from the
contemplation of those rays.

peace
Click to expand...
Bonaventure takes us back to a previous thread that we had here on penance. He’s pointing to the fact that prayer comes along with a change of heart. It’s not enough to read and to pray. We must make a serious effort to overcome sin. Of course, this is a lifetime project.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
JReducation said:
Bonaventure takes us back to a previous thread that we had here on penance. He’s pointing to the fact that prayer comes along with a change of heart. It’s not enough to read and to pray. We must make a serious effort to overcome sin. Of course, this is a lifetime project.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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Which brings us back to the Way. The Way of the Cross. Come let us go die with Him.

Romans Chapter 6

3 You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death.
4 So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life.
5 If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by a resurrection like his;
6 realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin.
7 Someone who has died, of course, no longer has to answer for sin.
8 But we believe that, if we died with Christ, then we shall live with him too.
9 We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more.
10 For by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that he lives is life with God.
11 In the same way, you must see yourselves as being dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.
12 That is why you must not allow sin to reign over your mortal bodies and make you obey their desires;
13 or give any parts of your bodies over to sin to be used as instruments of evil. Instead, give yourselves to God, as people brought to life from the dead, and give every part of your bodies to God to be instruments of uprightness;
14 and then sin will no longer have any power over you – you are living not under law, but under grace.

grace and peace
 
Introduction to the Devout Life
ccel.org/ccel/desales/devout_life.iii.viii.html
CHAPTER VIII. How to effect this Second Purification.

THE first inducement to attain this second purification is a keen and lively apprehension of the great evils resulting from sin, by means of which we acquire a deep, hearty contrition. For just as contrition, (so far as it is real,) however slight, when joined to the virtue of the Sacraments, purges away sin; so, when it 23 becomes strong and urgent, it purges away all the affections which cling around habits of sin. A moderate, slight hatred makes men dislike its object and avoid his society; but when a violent, mortal hatred exists, they not only abhor and shun the person who excites it, but they loathe him, they cannot endure the approach of his relations or connexions, nor even his likeness or anything that concerns him. Just so when a penitent only hates sin through a weakly although real contrition, he will resolve to avoid overt acts of sin; but when his contrition is strong and hearty, he will not merely abhor sin, but every affection, every link and tendency to sin.

Jeremiah 3:20 20 But like a woman betraying her lover, House of Israel, you have betrayed me,’ Yahweh declares

More than the love between spouses is Gods love for us. He has known us longer, and loved us more deeply than a mother her child. Our slightest sin is as hurtful as an unfaithful spouse, and the ingratitude of children.

Never permit me to offend thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always. Then do with me as you will. doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com/AL.html

peace
 
God is Love and acceptance. When people contemplate& give praise to God in formal prayer and enter into a mystical profound relationship with God, love and acceptance is in flower. Peace in divine acceptence… It is real.

The loving accepting God is known by direct experience. The experience in good will directly from God himself must follow with same good will with mother virtue charity. Without a proportionately marked effort towards charity there is no gratitude in received acceptance from God himself. The contemplation is then in fact an illusion as we know the fruits of a holy life, is in charity only. Not self wonder, self triumph in acceptance or a universal elatedness.

Having read The Dialog(Catherine) many years ago and her wonderful commentary on virtue we learn if we read for inspiration that “Charity” is the mother of all virtue.

The Imitation of Jesus is all about , good will, charity, unity for fellow man
The crucifixion is the ultimate act of Charity. Contemplation is for “promoting charity” nothing else will do, nothing else can show true prayer.

Yet… good will, charity, our fellow man, the true imitation and idea for mysticism. …are not mentioned in a full 10 pages of Catholic Discussion. The very words themselves are not to be found !

Theres no such thing as “Christian” mysticism, prayer and contemplation
without a whole and complete initiative in “theme”,toward good-will & charity.
 
There is a lot of good stuff here. Notice that traditional Catholic Spirituality always points to the same place, to the perfection of charity.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Perfect Love casts out all fear. Where the heart is there your treasure is. Of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. Ubi Caritas Et Amor Deus Ibi Est.

WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
Christ’s love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.

WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.

preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/UbiCaritas.html

peace
 
FurtherSuntime said:
God is Love and acceptance. When people contemplate& give praise to God in formal prayer and enter into a mystical profound relationship with God, love and acceptance is in flower. Peace in divine acceptence… It is real.

The loving accepting God is known by direct experience. The experience in good will directly from God himself must follow with same good will with mother virtue charity. Without a proportionately marked effort towards charity there is no gratitude in received acceptance from God himself. The contemplation is then in fact an illusion as we know the fruits of a holy life, is in charity only. Not self wonder, self triumph in acceptance or a universal elatedness.

Having read The Dialog(Catherine) many years ago and her wonderful commentary on virtue we learn if we read for inspiration that “Charity” is the mother of all virtue.

The Imitation of Jesus is all about , good will, charity, unity for fellow man
The crucifixion is the ultimate act of Charity. Contemplation is for “promoting charity” nothing else will do, nothing else can show true prayer.

Yet… good will, charity, our fellow man, the true imitation and idea for mysticism. …are not mentioned in a full 10 pages of Catholic Discussion. The very words themselves are not to be found !

Theres no such thing as “Christian” mysticism, prayer and contemplation
without a whole and complete initiative in “theme”,toward good-will & charity.
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Psalm 38

Rebuke me not in Thy anger, neither chasten me in Thy wrath.
For Thine arrows have sunk deep in me, and Thy hand is heavy upon me.

peace
 
On the topic of charity and fruits of contemplation, I am thinking that during contemplation there is a shift from “me,me,me” to “God and me” and “God”…more of Him and less of me…and of course then we are blessed to be able to be more of an instrument to God who is the Perfection of charity! God can use us to do what He wills, rather than us trying to manipulate things to happen in the way we think they ought to go…even when struggling to achieve goodness… Being a mom , I was listening to Veggie Tales music on the way to drop my daughter off early this morning:bigyikes:…and the song that kept playing over and over was about , “This is God’s battle , not yours”…made me think of this thread…how awesome it would be for me to be able to always focus back on God and remember He is the Leader…and to surrender to that completely…
This is a great thread…let’s keep it going!👍
 
rainbow1 said:
On the topic of charity and fruits of contemplation, I am thinking that during contemplation there is a shift from “me,me,me” to “God and me” and “God”…more of Him and less of me…and of course then we are blessed to be able to be more of an instrument to God who is the Perfection of charity! God can use us to do what He wills, rather than us trying to manipulate things to happen in the way we think they ought to go…even when struggling to achieve goodness… Being a mom , I was listening to Veggie Tales music on the way to drop my daughter off early this morning:bigyikes:…and the song that kept playing over and over was about , “This is God’s battle , not yours”…made me think of this thread…how awesome it would be for me to be able to always focus back on God and remember He is the Leader…and to surrender to that completely…
This is a great thread…let’s keep it going!👍
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I think that one of the temporal effects of the contemplative life is that one learns to do teamwork with God. I was thrown into positions of authority very early in my religious life. It was funny, because I was always asked to start something. I was never given a post where I just followed in someone else’s footsteps and I’m still being asked to start something every time I get a new assignment.

In the past, I would worry about many of the details, especially the financial part. Well, right now I’m involved in another startup operation. The brothers asked me, “Where are we going to get the money?” I found myself spontaneously saying, “How should I know. If God wants this he knows that he has to pay for it.”

In my own life, I have experienced that transition from “everything depends on me” to “God has a plan. He just hasn’t filled me in on it yet.” It gradually unfolds as we do our part. I don’t think that this would be possible without prayer. Through prayer, you come to know the Beloved as one whom you can trust.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
From the Journey of the Mind to God, chapter 7:
  1. Moreover if you seek, in what manner these things occur, interrogate grace, not doctrine, desire, not understanding; the groan of praying, not the study of reading; the spouse, not the teacher; God, not man, darkness, not brightness; not light, but the fire totally inflaming, transferring one into God both by its excessive unctions and by its most ardent affections. Who indeed is the God of fire, and whose forge is in Jerusalem, and Christ ignites this in the fervor, of His most ardent Passion, which He alone truly perceived, who said: My soul has chosen suspense, and my bones death. He who loves this death can see God, because it is indubitably true: No man will see Me and live. Therefore let us die and step into the darkness, let us put on silence with its cares, and concupiscences and phantasms; let us pass over together with Christ Crucified from this world to the Father, that, by showing us the Father, we may say with Phillip: It suffices for us; let us hear with Paul: My grace is sufficient for you; let us exult with David saying: My flesh and my heart failed, God of my heart and my portion God forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let every people say: Fiat, Fiat. Amen.
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I have read in a couple of books an admonition to not spend too much time reading, and acquiring knowledge, but to spend more time in prayer.

That is not to say that we shouldn’t strive to learn, but not at the expense of not choosing the “better part”.

At least for me, it is easier to read, then to spend time in silence before God. Anyone else experience this?
 
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