Contemplative Prayer--Do you?

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Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?" Matthew 26:40

I’ve recently been encouraged to practice Contemplative Prayer, as described in the Catechism, 2709-2719. This is my second day of entering into contemplative prayer, with the goal of wanting to pray an hour each morning.

I’m looking for others who also engage in this practice, for suggestions and mutual encouragement and support. Let me know anything interesting or helpful or what you have learned from this practice. Thank you and God Bless.
 
The biggest thing that I learned it takes God’s grace. We can try and try and try, but it is something that we never can earn the right to experience, it its God’s gift. We however can dispose ourselves to contemplative prayer.

I have found that any prayer practice can usually lead one into contemplative prayer, what works best for me is Mind in the Heart prayer and sometimes lectio divina.

This is going to be an interesting thread to watch, to see what others post.

God bless.
 
Good morning,

I’ve always been interested in this type of prayer. I have a book and I just started reading it again. I haven’t started yet, reading the intro, instructions, etc.

I’m going to look at it tonight. Thanks. 😉
 
vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9M.HTM

Very good description.

However I am wondering why the Catechism does not mention the dangers of the Centering prayer: One can easily empty his mind and believe that God talks to him.

The traditional teaching was that contemplative prayer always need strong spiritual director.
 
St Theresa of Avila has some helpful hints and advice, and I think she’s a pretty good model to follow, so I’ve been using some of her ideas (Look at him… just look at him). Lectio, too, is a great starting point and I’ve been using passages in the bible to help focus my mind. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I just fall asleep - so LittleOne is absolutely right when they say that God’s grace plays an important part in the contemplation!

But the effort is there, and important, and so is practice. 🙂
 
Clarissa51 said:
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?" Matthew 26:40

I’ve recently been encouraged to practice Contemplative Prayer, as described in the Catechism, 2709-2719. This is my second day of entering into contemplative prayer, with the goal of wanting to pray an hour each morning.

I’m looking for others who also engage in this practice, for suggestions and mutual encouragement and support. Let me know anything interesting or helpful or what you have learned from this practice. Thank you and God Bless.
Click to expand...
Amazing; I was just about to start a thread to ask the same question. I will also follow the posts with great interest.

Glennonite
 
I long to see the burning bush. Not sure I would recognize it if I saw it though.

In another life I might have been a Cistercian.

-Tim-
 
laszlo said:
vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9M.HTM

Very good description.

However I am wondering why the Catechism does not mention the dangers of the Centering prayer: One can easily empty his mind and believe that God talks to him.

The traditional teaching was that contemplative prayer always need strong spiritual director.
Click to expand...
Can you go a little more into the dangers of the centering prayer?
Why does one need a spiritual director to pray, even if it is contemplative prayer?
Does God not talk to us?
 
cradlecatholic5 said:
Good morning,

I’ve always been interested in this type of prayer. I have a book and I just started reading it again. I haven’t started yet, reading the intro, instructions, etc.

I’m going to look at it tonight. Thanks. 😉
Click to expand...
Evening or rather Morning,

What book are you reading?

God bless.
 
In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. Psalm 5:3

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, I think that I’m trying to do too long a time for a beginner. I did one hour both yesterday and the day before; beginning today, I’m going to try 30 Minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at lunch time. Maybe a shorter time, for a month or two, will build me up.

I just sit in a quiet room, alone, and keep repeating Jesus’ name silently. I imagine that He is sitting in the room with me. The first day I did this, at the end I had like a 10-second feeling of His love, so warm…The second day, after the hour, I felt very very relaxed. This morning I’m going to do 30 minutes and at lunch I plan to do 15 minutes.

It’s difficult to change your daily routine but I think that this is important and I’m going to keep asking God for discernment in this endeavor.

To “At Trent” yes I agree Centering prayer is not a good thing to do. However, Contemplative Prayer is not the same thing …check the Catechism…God bless
 
Clarissa51 said:
In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. Psalm 5:3

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, I think that I’m trying to do too long a time for a beginner. I did one hour both yesterday and the day before; beginning today, I’m going to try 30 Minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at lunch time. Maybe a shorter time, for a month or two, will build me up.

I just sit in a quiet room, alone, and keep repeating Jesus’ name silently. I imagine that He is sitting in the room with me. The first day I did this, at the end I had like a 10-second feeling of His love, so warm…The second day, after the hour, I felt very very relaxed. This morning I’m going to do 30 minutes and at lunch I plan to do 15 minutes.

It’s difficult to change your daily routine but I think that this is important and I’m going to keep asking God for discernment in this endeavor.

To “At Trent” yes I agree Centering prayer is not a good thing to do. However, Contemplative Prayer is not the same thing …check the Catechism…God bless
Click to expand...
Hi,

I remember when I started out with contemplativie prayer, my SD told me to start out in small chunks. He said to set the alarm to go off in 15 or 30 minutes. He said that praying in the morning is the best time, and I would have to agree [early morning that is] because everything is peaceful and there is little to no noise. The problem I would have though is falling asleep, but he seemed okay with it.

He explained contemplative prayer is like struggling through a blizzard, but one can dispose themselves to it anyway, and should God’s grace come, it’s like you step out into a warm spring day when you do experience contemplative prayer.

As time went on, the periods of prayer got longer and longer. And at times I was graced to experience contemplative prayer, some days lasting a few seconds, other days maybe an hour. How I would love it if I could live in a state of contemplative prayer and I try to dispose myself for this, but I am not sure if this is possible. I think it is, but I am not sure.

I think you are doing well.

May the Holy Spirit enlighten your mind, your soul, your heart, and your body as to regards to contemplative prayer.

God bless.
 
This is copied from the Catechism

2709
What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: “Contemplative prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Contemplative prayer seeks him “whom my soul loves.” It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.

2710
The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith.

2711
Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we “gather up” the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed.

2712
Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more.8 But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son.

2713
Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty. Contemplative prayer is a covenant relationship established by God within our hearts.9 Contemplative prayer is a communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, “to his likeness.”

2714
Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit “that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith” and we may be "grounded in love."10

2715
Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. “I look at him and he looks at me”: this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy curé used to say while praying before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the “interior knowledge of our Lord,” the more to love him and follow him.11

2716
Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the “Yes” of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God’s lowly handmaid.

2717
Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come"12 or "silent love."13 Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the “outer” man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.

2718
Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.

2719
Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith. The Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb—the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit (and not “the flesh [which] is weak”) brings to life in prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with [him] one hour."14
 
Just to be clear, no one can simply enter into contemplative prayer. The contemplation of God is a divine gift of the Holy Spirit. It is when you gaze upon God and allow his presence to fill your being. It is not necessarilly rational or discursive.

And you can not gaze upon God on your own power; only your imagination, the weak empty shadow, of him.

But you can prepare for it, by being faithful in simple prayer rules and reading scripture. And occasionally, offer the glance of the WILL toward God. WILL that you be in his presence, and you WILL be. But this is not supernatural, simply the soul reaching out with its power.
 
But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6

This is my first week. It’s a lot different than I expected.
 
Gregory_I said:
Just to be clear, no one can simply enter into contemplative prayer. The contemplation of God is a divine gift of the Holy Spirit. It is when you gaze upon God and allow his presence to fill your being. It is not necessarilly rational or discursive.

And you can not gaze upon God on your own power; only your imagination, the weak empty shadow, of him.

But you can prepare for it, by being faithful in simple prayer rules and reading scripture. And occasionally, offer the glance of the WILL toward God. WILL that you be in his presence, and you WILL be. But this is not supernatural, simply the soul reaching out with its power.
Click to expand...
:amen:
 
Here’s what the Holy Father said about contemplative prayer, referring to praying the Rosary:

The Rosary is a school of contemplation and silence. At first glance, it could seem a prayer that accumulates words, therefore difficult to reconcile with the silence that is rightly recommended for meditation and contemplation. In fact, this cadent repetition of the Hail Mary does not disturb inner silence but indeed both demands and nourishes it. Similarly to what happens for the Psalms when one prays the Liturgy of the Hours, the silence surfaces through the words and sentences, not as emptiness, but rather as the presence of an ultimate meaning that transcends the words themselves and through them speaks to the heart. Thus, in reciting the Hail Mary, we must be careful that our voices do not “cover” the voice of God who always speaks through the silence like the “still small voice” of a gentle breeze (1 Kgs 19: 12). Then how important it is to foster this silence full of God, both in one’s personal recitation and in its recitation with the community! Even when the Rosary is prayed, as today, by great assemblies, and as you do in this Shrine every day, **it must be perceived as a contemplative prayer. **And this cannot happen without an atmosphere of inner silence.

Pontifical Shrine of Pompeii
Sunday, 19 October 2008
 
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