Contemplative Prayer

[TOP]

Isn’t all non-verbal prayer contemplative? If I’m correct , to contemplate is to meditate the reason, right? But even verbal prayer, like the Rosary is contemplative as we meditate on the mysteries and sometimes have revelations of the deeper meaning of the mystery. If this is not contemplative prayer, can someone explain it to me or affirm what I think it is? I’m sorry if this may seem elementary to some, but I have a habit of taking things for granted and I really don’t know how common this is. Thanks, Tim

 

[InLight247]

You raised a good question, a question with no easy and straight forward answers.

Rosary is a vocal prayer but with the meditation of the mysteries, Rosary could lead us to contemplation. When we meditate on the mysteries, i.e. the life of Jesus, our hearts could be led to pious affections. This original vocal prayer then becomes affective prayer.

The more recollection of faith, hope and love we develop as we pray, the closer we get to God. When we focus so much on God and have less distraction of our own thoughts, God’s truth and love take over our attention. We lose ourselves in the Lord without realizing it. Such union with God is different from meditation or reflection, and may be considered as contemplation.

This is my understanding. I don’t know if it is right.

 

[mangy_dog]

Contemplation may start as a prayer or meditation on one of the mysteries of the Rosary. Or just a mystery of our faith. The important thing with contemplation is not to try to “reach for” or attempt to grasp a feeling. Contemplation is not about feeling, it is the mind elevated on a divine truth and resting in God.

That’s probably as clear as mud and I apologize for this because
it is easier to enumerate the things that contemplation is not than to say what it is.

I’ll just leave well enough alone…if you find yourself reading the scriptures and a specific passage or word fills you with joy or wonderment…stop right there and allow God to act on your mind and spirit.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

 

[TOP]

Thanks Inlight, I read up on contemplative prayer a bit and discovered alot of reference’s to centering prayer. To empty the mind but focusing on one word. I don’t get that. I like to focus on the passion during certain prayers. It is where I am more familiar. If I focus enough, the prayer is more of a vehicle to occupy my extra thoughts. This is esp. true if I verbalize the prayer. I struggle with intrusive thoughts during prayer and saying the prayer verbally helps me to think of the subject of the prayer with more focus. If the subject is the prayer, then it is a plead, if it is the divine mercy chaplet, it is the passion, the rosary, its the mysteries. Is this pretty common for most? Tim

 

[JimR-OCDS]

TOP

Isn’t all non-verbal prayer contemplative?

No.

If I’m correct , to contemplate is to meditate the reason, right?

Not sure what you mean?

But even verbal prayer, like the Rosary is contemplative as we meditate on the mysteries and sometimes have revelations of the deeper meaning of the mystery.

It can open us up to contemplation, but not everyone who prayers the Rosrary, moves into contemplation.

Here’s what Fr. Keating says;

Contemplation is basically the predominance of the Gifts of the Spirit over our own activity during the time of prayer. At the same time, it gradually works itself into daily life through the active gifts of the Spirit: counsel, prudence, fortitude and knowledge.

In other words, nothing we do, no prayer method or devotional activity, brings us into contemplation, but rather, it is Christ himself, who does it. What we do by praying, is open ourselves up to God, for the grace of contemplation.

Here’s Fr Keatings book, Open Mind Open Heart, where he gives a good explanation of what Contemplation is not;

centeringprayer.com/OpenHeart/open01.htm

The entire book is on line here;

centeringprayer.com/OpenHeart/

Jim

 

[TOP]

Thanks for the answers and links. I think I have been doing this with pictures instead of words. I see the Lords face during the passion (as I imagine) and focus on that and it’s reasons. That reason is for God alone, to glorify Him. That is what I meant by “meditate of the reason” Jim. Tim

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Thanks for the answers and links. I think I have been doing this with pictures instead of words. I see the Lords face during the passion (as I imagine) and focus on that and it’s reasons. That reason is for God alone, to glorify Him. That is what I meant by “meditate of the reason” Jim. Tim

There will come a point where you will move beyond thoughts and images, but rather, rest in the presence of God.

In that period of prayer, nothing is asked for, nothing is expected. Only love of God.

As the author of the Cloud of Unknowing says;

“God can not be grasped, except through love.”

St. John of the Cross, explains the entire spiritual journy best, in his poem, “The Spiritual Canticle.”

Where have you hidden,

Beloved, and left me moaning?

you fled like the stag

after wounding me;

I went out calling you, but you were gone.

Read the commentary;

Commentary

1. In this first stanza the soul, enamored of the Word, her Bridegroom, the Son of God, longs for union with him through clear and essential vision. She records her longings of love and complains to him of his absence, especially since his love wounds her. Through this love she went out from all creatures and from herself, and yet she must suffer her Beloved’s absence, for she is not freed from mortal flesh as the enjoyment of him in the glory of eternity requires.1 Accordingly she says:

Where have you hidden?

The rest of the book with the commentary says it all.

available on line: karmel.at/ics/john/cn.html

In Jesus Name
Jim

 

[RobNY]

Thelma Hall (in Too Deep for Words) gives a very simple distinction between meditation and contemplation:

1. meditation refers to using the process of discursive reasoning to make the content of the prayer relate to yourself;
2. contemplation refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I’ve more or less found that distinction in other things I’ve read as well. If we use contemplation in a strict sense it means the infused gift of the Holy Spirit.

In a more general sense, in the Ignatian prayer tradition, contemplation often refers to making images to reflect on. This would fall under meditation in the above definitions.

Perhaps you’re thinking of ‘affective prayer’ or prayer of the heart-- as InLight said, the vocal prayer or meditative prayer causes the heart to have pious sentiments.

I’ve found there’s a lot of terminology which is often used rather fuzzily, or with little explanation, which makes talking about prayer very difficult.

-Rob

 

[TOP]

There will come a point where you will move beyond thoughts and images, but rather, rest in the presence of God.

In that peoriod of prayer, nothing is asked for, nothing is expected. Only love of God.

As the author of the Cloud of Unknowing says;

“God can not be grasped, except through love.”

In Jesus Name
Jim

Its weird you said that. Every night for awhile now, I become numb spiritually for a couple of hours. It is hard to pray and I am even afraid to think as to not offend. In another thread, someone mentioned the “night of the sense” and I am currently discerning if that is what it is or if it is just emotional response to ptsd. Is this a natural step to contemplation? Tim

 

[TOP]

This is over my head I think, Thanks for your help folks, Tim

 

[DBT]

We lose ourselves in the Lord without realizing it.

Tim, this is as good an explanation as there probably is. It’s so difficult to explain the unexplainable . . . no wonder the Saints often felt incapable of describing it.

Let me use this poor analogy to expand further on what InLight says . . .

Know what it’s like to fall asleep at night? One minute you’re laying awake, maybe thinking about your day. The next minute . . . you’re gone, out like a light.

So it is with contemplative prayer. One minute you might be praying the rosary, gazing upon the tabernacle - whatever. The next minute . . . well you get the idea.

Theologians will sometimes use the analogy of “spiritual sleep” to explain this . . . it just somehow seems like an apt way of describing the onset of contemplative prayer.

To take the analogy further, know how you toss and turn when you sleep and are aware of dreams? On the spiritual plain, this might be likened to St. Teresa’s description of the Prayer of Quiet. Dozing or drifting off to sleep is like recollection - the turtle withdrawing it’s head inside it’s shell in St. Teresa’s terms. A deep slumber without dreams can be likened to St. Teresa’s description of the Prayer of Union . . . all our faculties (intellect, will and memory) have been absorbed by God and there are no distractions.

Back to the discussion in the other thread about the night of sense: souls going through this night are new to contemplative prayer, don’t know what it is and resist the grace that is being given. To use the analogy once more, to resist the grace of contemplative prayer is similiar to fighting off sleep when your body very much wants and needs to go to it’s place of rest. This is what happens when souls try to return to discursive meditation when God is calling them to simply “be.”

I don’t know if this helps or not, but it’s what came to mind when I saw Inlights quote.

Dave.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Its weird you said that. Every night for awhile now, I become numb spiritually for a couple of hours. It is hard to pray and I am even afraid to think as to not offend. In another thread, someone mentioned the “night of the sense” and I am currently discerning if that is what it is or if it is just emotional response to ptsd. Is this a natural step to contemplation? Tim

Well, the dark night of sense, is actually the detachment from things of the flesh, which prevent us from moving toward contemplation. When we first encounter God, we’re drawn toward him, yet, we still hang onto things that prevent us from making more progress. St. John of the Cross says that detachment from those things, is a painful process. We love created things yet, having been wounded by the love of God, we long for Him more, but the process of detachmen, isn’t easy. Through God’s grace, he moves us away from the created things and we are able to detach ourselves from them, and move toward union with Him.

However, next is the Dark Night of the Soul, which can be more painful. This is where we pray and receive no consolations from God. Our love for God is strong, but it sometimes feels like God has left us to drift on our own. Mother Teresa went through an extreme level of the Dark Night of the Soul. That being said, God takes us through it and differs for every soul.

Jim

 

[TOP]

I think I’m attached to my cross. Cancer, pain, death, but also consolations that followed. This is where ptsd and spirituality clash together. The consolations are the basis of my knowledge in the existence of God and they continue to a lesser degree each day. Maybe He is trying to get me to move on and mature in real faith. Tim

 

[InLight247]

…
Know what it’s like to fall asleep at night? One minute you’re laying awake, maybe thinking about your day. The next minute . . . you’re gone, out like a light.

So it is with contemplative prayer. One minute you might be praying the rosary, gazing upon the tabernacle - whatever. The next minute . . . well you get the idea.

Theologians will sometimes use the analogy of “spiritual sleep” to explain this . . . it just somehow seems like an apt way of describing the onset of contemplative prayer.

To take the analogy further, know how you toss and turn when you sleep and are aware of dreams? On the spiritual plain, this might be likened to St. Teresa’s description of the Prayer of Quiet. Dozing or drifting off to sleep is like recollection - the turtle withdrawing it’s head inside it’s shell in St. Teresa’s terms. A deep slumber without dreams can be likened to St. Teresa’s description of the Prayer of Union . . . all our faculties (intellect, will and memory) have been absorbed by God and there are no distractions.

Dave.

Good analogy, Dave! I always learn from your writings.

As a mother, I can also think of the following analogy:

Contemplation is like a mother having a precious time with her baby.
She kisses the baby, smells the baby, counting the baby’s fingers and toes.
She admires this miracle, the extension of her own life, so much.
She nurses her baby. She senses the closeness of the love touch.
She hums a lullaby. Her heart is full of love and joy. She is so fascinated and satisfied.
Her heart is full of gratitude. With tears in eyes and smiles on lips, she feels like having the entire world. She is so carried away. When her husband calls her she doesn’t even hear.
She is in her own wonderland of love.

St. Teresa told us to love much.
Contemplation, the union with God, is all to do with “love much”.

This love is not only love at the moment of prayer.
This love is to live a generous Gospel life and strive for all the virtues and holiness in our daily lives.

When we love much, to God and to men, our prayer life will be enhanced.
And as God wills, the infused contemplation may come.

Before then, the acquired contemplation, the prayer of recollection can be achieved with our own efforts.

 

[TOP]

Thanks for the analogies and others response’s. I’m just not there yet and don’t know if I’ll ever be. I have had one union with God that may be enough to last me the rest of my life. I don’t see how anything can be greater then feeling the love our creator has for us/me. I mourn the loss of that union and I’m trying to have it back, but if I never feel it again, it was enough to last me and get me through life. Faith lets me know I’m still with Him if I’m in grace, despite feelings. But how powerful it was and how I want it. So I should be thankful for that glimpse and take what comes along. Tim

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Good analogy, Dave! I always learn from your writings.

As a mother, I can also think of the following analogy:

Contemplation is like a mother having a precious time with her baby.
She kisses the baby, smells the baby, counting the baby’s fingers and toes.
She admires this miracle, the extension of her own life, so much.
She nurses her baby. She senses the closeness of the love touch.
She hums a lullaby. Her heart is full of love and joy. She is so fascinated and satisfied.
Her heart is full of gratitude. With tears in eyes and smiles on lips, she feels like having the entire world. She is so carried away. When her husband calls her she doesn’t even hear.
She is in her own wonderland of love.

St. Teresa told us to love much.
Contemplation, the union with God, is all to do with “love much”.

This love is not only love at the moment of prayer.
This love is to live a generous Gospel life and strive for all the virtues and holiness in our daily lives.

When we love much, to God and to men, our prayer life will be enhanced.
And as God wills, the infused contemplation may come.

Before then, the acquired contemplation, the prayer of recollection can be achieved with our own efforts.

Jim

 

[rosary_for_life]

Hi! I have been getting into contemplative prayer lately, just being in the presence of God without many words, or as Fr. Thomas Dubay put it, “being alone with the supreme Alone.” My question is, does anyone have good advice for dealing with distractions?

 

[Joysong]

Distractions? [hee-hee] Reminds me of a fly that persisted in annoying me while I was on the computer a few weeks ago. I tried unsuccessfully to zap it with some papers nearby, but it outsmarted me. When that failed, I tried a flyswatter. No good. With my irritation mounting, I then tried to ignore it, but no, the critter was determined to pester me. Finally I sprayed a shot of “Flying Insect Killer” and it simply flopped over dead.

You are asking, I think, what kind of spiritual shot will kayo these distractions? Many authors advise not to let them get your goat and to simply brush them aside and move back into your prayer. They are like the flies, and the Lord is not offended, provided we don’t deliberately entertain them. In other words, if they are not willful, we can offer up the suffering of it for a good intention and obtain merit.

Honestly, the more simple our prayer life becomes, the more we are apt to have them. Have you considered using ejaculations? Just a brief prayer [or word] of your own choosing that helps to put you back in focus is sometimes very helpful.

When we are in the midst of very troubling circumstances where prayer is almost impossible, don’t be upset that you cannot focus. We then rely on the Body of Christ to support us, as the sap in the One True Vine flows through all the members, rendering life-giving substance.

 

[Joysong]

In my last post, I was speaking about ordinary distractions that occur with many who desire to pray without them, and it is a common matter with most people.

However, for a few who have advanced in prayer, and I don’t know who is reading here, there is a different advice to follow and I thought it would be helpful to post some direction from St. Teresa of Avila about this.

As I say, it happens at times – to-day has been one of them, so I have it clearly in mind – that I find my soul is becoming unwrought, because it wants to be wholly where the greater part of it is, yet it knows this to be impossible. Memory and imagination make such turmoil within it that they leave it helpless; and the other faculties, not being free, are unable to do anything, even harm. They do the soul extreme harm, of course, by disturbing it; but, when I say “unable to do harm”, I mean that they have no strength and cannot concentrate. The understanding gives the soul no help whatever by what it presents to the imagination; it rests nowhere, but goes from one thing to another, like nothing so much as those restless, importunate little moths that fly by night: just so the understanding flies from one extreme to another. This comparison, I think, is extremely apt; for though the understanding has not the strength to do any harm, it importunes those who observe it.

I do not know what remedy there is for this, for so far God has not revealed one to me. If He had, I would very willingly make use of it, for, as I say, I am often tormented in this way. Here we have a picture of our own wretchedness and a very clear one of God’s great power; the faculty which remains free causes us all this fatigue and harm, whereas the others, which are with His Majesty, bring us rest.
Ch. XVII - Life

To grasp the problem with the ‘understanding,’ she described it in her writings as peeling an orange. We remove more and more of the outer rind to get to the fruit. This is the sole work of the understanding as we meditate over a number of years and absorb all the understanding the Lord has for us until we have completely removed the rind.

This is one of the signs St. John of the Cross wrote about, that when the person has reached this point, it can no longer meditate discursively. It would be an attempt to peel the rind which has already been removed. Therefore, the understanding is left in a void with nothing more to occupy it without becoming increasingly arid and spiritually irritated. The will is in quiet just content to “be” with Christ, so the third faculty, the memory becomes a source of disquiet and distraction due to being left alone.

St. John tells the soul not to labor and work with the understanding, but simply to remain in that quiet, even though it believes it is doing nothing with regard to prayer, as the experience is not understood. This may be difficult for some to understand, but for those who are ready for it, it should be rather clear if you think about it a little. I would direct you therefore to St. John’s works for further instruction on this.

It is at this stage of development that centering prayer can be very helpful. Without having arrived that far, as St. John says, it could be harmful and he gave signs to recognize the transition.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Hi! I have been getting into contemplative prayer lately, just being in the presence of God without many words, or as Fr. Thomas Dubay put it, “being alone with the supreme Alone.” My question is, does anyone have good advice for dealing with distractions?

Use a simple prayer word. “Lord Jesus” is what I use, but any sacred word that has meaning for you. Repeat the word as you rest in the presence of God. When you find yourself distracted, just gently return to your prayer word.

Think of the prayer word as being like the needle of a compass.
It directs you back to your intention, which is being with God.

Jim