Contemplative or mental prayer

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Many of us have various “appointments” with God and the Virgin Mother during the day.

It’s wonderful, but sometimes we don’t even put in 10 minutes for mental prayer, or contemplative prayer.

Pope Francis talks about it so often that it suggests an obsession 😉

It consists in taking the Gospel, reading a few lines, pausing, contemplating the scene, talking about it with Jesus, extending the dialogue with God to what we want: Him, us, our loved ones, the problems of the world.

Then, read a few more lines and repeat the “procedure”, until the end of the set time.

This is the practice of which Saint Teresa of Avila said: “Whoever does not do a quarter of an hour of mental prayer, it is useless for the devil to tempt him, because he goes to hell alone”

🙂
 
brown_bear said:
Many of us have various “appointments” with God and the Virgin Mother during the day.

It’s wonderful, but sometimes we don’t even put in 10 minutes for mental prayer, or contemplative prayer.

Pope Francis talks about it so often that it suggests an obsession 😉

It consists in taking the Gospel, reading a few lines, pausing, contemplating the scene, talking about it with Jesus, extending the dialogue with God to what we want: Him, us, our loved ones, the problems of the world.

Then, read a few more lines and repeat the “procedure”, until the end of the set time.

This is the practice of which Saint Teresa of Avila said: “Whoever does not do a quarter of an hour of mental prayer, it is useless for the devil to tempt him, because he goes to hell alone”

🙂
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Examples from the Catechism
2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.

2709 What is contemplative prayer? … In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.
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Contemplative Prayer is not a work of human effort or skill. It’s truly a divine work, a work where the one “contemplative praying” is silent and still and “listens” to the Lord in a state of no thought or, as the Saints say “unknowing.”

The only “work” one does in contemplative Prayer is remove from oneself any thought, idea, concept, label etc and purely retain a yearning or stretching out to God (yet no thought of Him or his works as He is transcendent) in self-forgetting love while awaiting the Lord’s Hand.
 
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brown_bear said:
Many of us have various “appointments” with God and the Virgin Mother during the day.

It’s wonderful, but sometimes we don’t even put in 10 minutes for mental prayer, or contemplative prayer.
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Sorry, either I don’t understand or don’t agree with your premise. Are you implying that praying the Rosary is not contemplative?
 
Do you know what the problem is?

That it is not easy to translate the expressions of spiritual life in use from one language to another, which is even more difficult than the translation of individual words.

So, to make ourselves understood, we multiply the synonymous expressions, but in doing so we end up being inaccurate.

Of course, the Holy Rosary can be a contemplative prayer for those who contemplate the Mysteries.
 
The Pope’s suggested practice is what I’d expect, as it’s basically a type of lectio divina as practiced by Jesuits. I’ve seen other Jesuit prayer guides that propose similar steps. They’re big on imagining the scene, or imagining yourself in the scene.

It’s a fine way to pray. So is the Rosary. There are also other methods of contemplative prayer.

I’m personally not all that big on “lectio divina” methods of prayer. When I want to read the Scriptures, I just sit down and read the Scriptures thoughtfully for a half hour. I can appreciate nuances and picture the scene as I read without having to go through all the steps of a guided prayer exercise. Perhaps this is because I’m old and have prayed a lot. Perhaps it’s because in my life I have read a lot. I’ve certainly heard Scripture, especially the New Testament, a lot.

I appreciate that others may need more guidance if they are new to these practices. Much of this type of guidance seems to be aimed at people who have not prayed much or not read Scripture much. Perhaps that is most of the people in the world, I don’t know. But I mostly grew up and interacted with people who were no strangers to prayers or Bible.
 
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I need a word or an expression that would translate a time spent with Jesus, more or less like this:

“Jesus, what do you want to tell me with the episode of the calmed storm that I am reading?”
“Jesus, what does the Psalm read today in the Holy Mass mean?”
“Jesus, I feel fatigued, what do you tell me?”
"Jesus, how is it that in the morning I am full of good intentions and then I collapse? "
“Jesus, why is my best friend not getting converted yet?”
«Jesus, could you make Covid disappear? It’s becoming a nightmare "

Here: all this in Italian can be called “orazione mentale”.

But if I say “mental prayer” will it be understood in the same way?

No vocabulary tells me!

So, to lower the risk of not being understood, I use other expressions, such as “contemplative prayer”, but this involves other risks of imprecision.

Here then springs from the heart the prayer of the inexperienced translator: Lord, make them understand the whole of what I want to say, and not nail me to the single words 😃
 
Contemplative prayer is good (all prayer is good). There are many ways to pray contemplatively. Even the LotH can be contemplative.
 
Mental prayer as St Teresa taught it, is being aware of being in the presence of God when we pray, regardless of the method used. It can be the prayers at Mass, vocal prayers, the Rosary, or other forms of prayers, like the Liturgy of the Hours.

However, she goes on to explain that the deepest form of prayer is “interior prayer,” where God dwells within the depth of our being. It is there that God speaks to us best.

Contemplative Prayer, is a method of prayer which St Teresa did not have the word for, but called it “interior prayer.”

Contemplative Prayer opens us up to Contemplation, which is a gift from God. Contemplation is not the prayer itself, but God himself giving his transforming grace through Divine Love.

Regardless of how you pray, keep in mind who it is you’re praying to, and that He is present within at all times.
 
Yes, thank you all 🙂

It wanted to be a very very practical topic, about talking face to face with God, but I made a mistake by introducing terminology that is not unique in a given language, let alone when, through the minds of the participants, two or three idioms come into play.

My fault.

Next time I have to describe the object and avoid giving it one or more controversial names.

🙂
 
Quite often people express fear or concern about inner silence, “no thoughts”, stillness, or emptiness as if it makes room for demons. St John of the Cross says just the opposite:

Ascent of Mt Carmel Book 2 Chapter 1

*"2. And thus the soul that journeys through this night, we may say, journeys in concealment and in hiding from the devil, as will be more clearly seen hereafter. *

Wherefore the soul says that it went forth ‘in darkness and secure’; for one that has such happiness as to be able to journey through the darkness of faith, taking faith for his guide, like to one that
is blind, and leaving behind all natural imaginings and spiritual reasonings, journeys very
*securely, as we have said. *

And so the soul says furthermore that it went forth through this
spiritual night, its ‘house being now at rest’ — that is to say, its spiritual and rational parts.

and that is not the only place. For example Book 3 chapter 6:
CHAPTER VI
Of the benefits which come to the soul from forgetfulness and emptiness of all thoughts
and knowledge which it may have in a natural way with respect to the memory.

So for those who may find themselves needing to just sit in silence, have no worries. Just be mindful you are in God’s presence with faith. If your mind and heart desire emptiness, in faith it becomes a secure disguise.

 
However we define it, there’s something about this way of prayer that I find very appealing and attractive. This quote from Bede Griffiths, which I read just this morning, sums it up well:

“Behind all words and gestures, behind all thoughts and feelings, there is an inner center of prayer where we can meet one another in the presence of God. It is this inner center which is the real source of all life and activity and of all love. If we could learn to live from this center we should be living from the heart of life and our whole being would be moved by love. Here alone can all the conflicts of this life be resolved and we can experience a love which is beyond time and change.”

Reading about it is one thing. Developing the discipline to practice it is another.
 
Thinking about contemplative or mental prayer, one can understand the call of the apostle about constant prayer
“pray continually” (1Thessalonians 5:17)
 
Bede Griffiths sums up “Centering Prayer,” perfectly. Notice how he points to the “center,” if our being, for it’s where God dwells.

St John of the Cross did the same in “The Living Flame of Love.”
 
Yes, I have it right here in fact, well, of course now I cant find it. But I just read, “The center of the soul is God.” Which would mean that are awareness is usually not at the center. Instead we are swirling around it with all our other thoughts, feelings and imaginations. hence the need for the Dark Night.
 
Christ is always present. Is he not?

How often do we feel and know that presence without doubt? Not just believe it because we should.

We don’t fully realize it because we are distracted with all our other thoughts and feelings.

Meanwhile He waits for us.
 
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