Contemplative prayer and images?

[braeden_mackay]

Hi, i have been recently really trying to start to pray contemplatively and i have been having some difficulty. I have read Saint Teresa of Avila works on the subject and i have one question that my spiritual director didn’t really understand. Is it okay to use a image of jesus to concentrate on while praying or should i avoid the use of outside influences for this type of prayer?

thank you!

 

[Deus_tecum]

IMO, you should not use an image because any image would be a construct of your own mind or copy of what some artist has depicted and which was merely a construct from his own mind.

 

[DBT]

Hi Braeden -

I think the answer to your question depends a lot on where you’re at in your prayer life. There’s many, many ways to pray “contemplatively.”

You mention St. Teresa. Above all she was affectionate in her prayer. And she struggled greatly with discursive methods. So prayer for her could be very simple and straightforward. Perhaps reading a few lines from Scripture to serve as a launching pad to enter into conversation with Christ. Or, maybe, looking at a favorite picture as you say to do the same. Long story short, practice what she often said: “do that which most moves you to love.”

Certainly there are contemplative ways of prayer that go beyond the use of images … and there very well may come a time for that. But “normally” one proceeds by stages or degrees to the type of simplified prayer you seem to be alluding to. And it’s the Holy Spirit that tugs us in that direction if that’s God’s will for us. To aid in discernment, Sts. Teresa and John offer many counsels or signs to help determine if one is called in that way.

Maybe that’s a subject you can ask your spiritual director about?

Blessings to you!
Dave

 

[crumblymunky]

If you want to try then definitely go for it, but use an Icon. Icons usually depict Christ in an almost abstract yet theologically sound way, so as to leave the mystery of his true form. I’ve heard that to pray with an Icon, you look beyond the image itself into the heavenly reality represented by the Icon. The first Icons were painted by one of the Apostles and have been a major part of the Byzantine tradition since then.

Remember to get your Icon blessed though.

 

[ready]

Do whatever works for you, until it no longer works for you. It is not sinful to use an image of Jesus Christ to help unite you to Him and pray; sacred images can be very helpful. If a picture or crucifix helps unite me to Jesus, then why should I have a problem looking at it during my prayer? Uniting my soul to Jesus and loving Him and being loved by Him is all that really matters. I have read the collected works of St. John of the Cross and have no problem with images, if they help … and they can and do help very much at certain times. God bless you.

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

You can definitely use a picture or an icon for contemplation! According to the Catechism, “Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ” (#2715). That’s why the Holy Rosary can be a powerful prayer of contemplation.

However, I think it is better to use that image first for meditation for the next several weeks or even months. You need first to be able to understand all that you can from that image before you can move beyond that image, for that is what contemplating the mysteries of the life of Christ is about: acknowledging that, since they are mysteries, you can only penetrate their truths up to a certain point, beyond which you can do nothing but just “be there” in a loving way. But you have to reach that certain point first, the point in which reasoning can go no further, before you can contemplate adequately.

Also, I would recommend a rather complex picture. For example, one of my favorite paintings of the Holy Family, with some of my explanations for it: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=507611