Contemplatives, Mystics and Prayer life

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Further Points to be Checked


  1. *]Do we have an entirely authentic text? Some things have been suppressed or corrected in some cases. There may also have been additions.
    *]Is the teaching in full accord with the teachings of the Church and with the certain conclusions of history and of science? If free from all errors, this need not prove it is of divine origin. But also, since there can be mixtures in private revelations, one false teaching need not lead us to conclude that all points are false.
    *]Is there a revelation of the vices and sins of others? This does not always prove a revelation is false, but calls for careful checking. Some Saints have had a knowledge of the secrets of hearts, which helped in reforming souls: St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John Vianney. St. John of the Cross, in “Ascent” II.26 warns that satan at times will make false revelations of the sins of others. Further, sometimes seeming knowledge is only the result of imagination. The Secret of Melanie of La Salette has harsh accusations on clergy and religious in the period 1840 to 1865 - historically untrue. It was the time of Pius IX, St. John Bosco, St. John Vianney.
    *]Is the information useful for salvation of souls? If it is merely to satisfy curiosity it is unlikely to be of divine origin. Some seeming seers act like mediums, give information on births, marriages, legal processes, diseases, political events etc. God does not run an Inquiry Office. Some are very clever at observing and can work with little things. Seances often push furniture about and cause vibrations in musical instruments etc. God does not do these things. If a revelation claims to solve a theological problem, it is suspect. Also revelations that merely give truisms are suspect.

    A large abundance of revelations taken alone does not disprove. We have cases like this in St. Bridget, St. Gertrude, St. Frances of Rome, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Margaret Mary, St. Ignatius and others.
    *]Is all in accord with the dignity and gravity of the Divine Majesty? Some alleged revelations descend into vulgar speech. If there is neurotic exaltation and crowds weeping over their sins as at revivals, it is at least suspect. Satan at times appears taking repulsive shapes. On the other hand, St. Frances of Rome once saw 6 devils in the form of 6 beautiful doves - when she saw through it, they changed to crows and tried to harm her. Satan at times takes on the appearance of Christ Himself.
    *]Are there sentiments of peace of disquiet? St. Ignatius considers this sign important. The good Spirit may cause momentary disquiet, but then brings peace. It is the opposite with satan. But the peace alone will not prove the words are divine.
    *]Revelations to direct princes or clergy are suspect: Mary of Agreda kept up correspondence with Philip IV of Spain for 20 years. The King divided his sheets of paper into two columns so she could comment in the opposite column. But the comments are mostly commonplace, with general advice anyone could have given. She had no comments on the King’s relaxed morality and his culpable carelessness on things for which he was responsible.
    continued
 
Rules of St. Ignatius


  1. *]To sinners, devil proposes pleasures to hold them; the good spirit stirs conscience with remorse for sins.
    *]In souls that have sincerely returned to God, devil causes sadness, torment of conscience. Good spirit gives courage, energy, good thoughts.
    *]Spiritual consolations come from a good spirit: a) when they arouse fervor; 2) when they cause tears that are a true expression of interior sorrow and love; 3) when they increase faith, hope, love, and bring quiet and peace.
    *]As to spiritual desolation or inclination of soul to lower things, when these come we must not make any change as to good resolutions previously formed – value of a private rule; We should take advantage of them to grow in fervor, and rely on divine help, even though it is not felt. We must be patient. We should realize that desolation may be punishment for lukewarmness.
    *]In time of consolation gather strength for time of desolation.
    *]Devil is weak in the face of resistance, but fiery and cruel to those who yield. He tries to keep the victim from disclosing things to the spiritual director. He attacks the person at his weakest point: so check on that in examination of conscience.
    continued
 

  1. *]COMMENTS:

    1. *]Both aridity and consolation can be good or bad. God often sends consolations at the second conversion, to help soul break with things of world. But this should not continue, or one may love the consolations of God rather than the God of consolations as St. Francis de Sales said. “Introduction” 4.13, St. John of the Cross, in “Ascent” 3.39.1 compares consolations to toys. He says if a baby picks up a sharp knife, we do not take it away from him, but instead, dangle a toy before him, so he will drop the knife. God uses consolations this way, to detach souls from this world. Satan may tempt a soul that is having consolations to spiritual pride, to thinking it is a Saint. Or in dryness he may tempt t pride again, to make the soul say: I am a strong soul, I do not need consolations.

      Further, aridity may come from the person’s fault, or merely from sluggish bodily dispositions. And some by temperament are more inclined to emotion than others- cf. St. Augustine who in his “Confessions” 9. 4, tells his emotional state after his conversion when he recited Psalm 4.

      Yet, God has myriad ways to lead souls to Himself. So although some authors, e.g., Garrigou-Lagrange, think that infused contemplation is a necessary feature of the growth of a soul, yet, at least the sweet forms of contemplation, seem not necessary. Here are some statements from St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Francis de Sales, which seem to imply that aridity is the more normal state for many souls:

      St. Therese of Lisieux, “Autobiography” (Cap 13, p. 196, Kenedy edition): “Do not think that I am overwhelmed with consolations. Far from it! My joy consists in being deprived of all joy here on earth. Jesus does not guide me openly: I neither see nor hear Him.”

      St. Therese of Lisieux “Poem:” “I know that at Nazareth, Virgin full of graces/ You lived in great poverty, not wishing anything more; No raptures, no miracles, no ecstasies/ embellished your life, O Queen of the elect./ The number of little ones is very great upon the earth./ They can, without trembling, lift up their eyes to you. /It pleases you to walk among the common way,/ Incomparable Mother, to guide them to the heavens.”

      St. Francis de Sales, Letter 764 to St. Jane de Chantal: “It is the height of holy disinterestedness to be content with naked, dry, and insensible acts carried out by the superior will alone. You have expressed your suffering well to me and there is nothing to do to remedy it but what you are doing: affirming to our Lord, sometimes aloud and sometimes in song, that you even will to live and to eat as the dead do, without taste, feeling or knowledge. In the end, the Savior wants us to be His so perfectly that nothing else remains for us, and to abandon ourselves entirely to the mercy of His providence without reservation.”

      continued
 
  1. Code: 
     For certain, it is not good to center one's spiritual life around apparitions especially those had by others. Growth in holiness consists essentially in the alignment of our will with the will of God. Somatic resonance develops gradually, and hence such progress is necessarily gradual, except in instances of great strain, when and if one really does accept the will of God heartily, there can be a large advance, instead of the usual small advances. And we should remember, the divine presence in the tabernacle is beyond doubt real. And the Mass is greater than any alleged apparition. In this connection we recall too the strong words of St. John of the Cross saying that to wish to see is to go in the direction opposite to faith: Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed.
  2. Code: 
     Comments on some major apparitions of the past, such as the Scapular vision, and the Sacred Heart revelations, and on some specific apparitions of our own day.
  3. Code: 
     We might sum up characteristics thus: 1) Signs of the spirit of God: fits with teaching of Church; serious; gives light to the soul, docility, discretion: no hurriedness or exaggerations; humble thoughts; confidence in God, rightness of intention, patience in suffering, self-denial, sincerity and simplicity in conduct, no attachments not even to the gifts, great desire to imitate Christ in all things (a very strong sign), gentleness, kindness; 2) Signs of the evil spirit: (the opposite of the above - spirit of falseness or lie, suggestion of useless things, curious things, impertinent things, darkness, restlessness in the soul, a bold, obstinate spirit, many indiscretions, pride, lack of hope, disobedience, vanity, self-satisfaction, impatience, rebellion of the passions, hypocrisy, pretense, attachment to earthly things, forgetfulness of Christ and of imitating him, a false charity including bitter zeal, indiscretion. 

                 continued
 
Supplement: Appearances compared to revelation

Either one, revelation or vision, may come without the other. There are three kinds of appearances:


  1. *]Sensory or corporeal: The senses perceive a real object which is normally invisible. Need not be a real human body that is seen - may be a sensory or luminous form, or God or His agent may produce that image on the eyes of the one who sees the vision.

    Note on Eucharistic visions: St. Thomas III 76.8 holds that Jesus does not appear in visible form in His real body since the Ascension. The appearances may come: (a) by His working on the exterior senses (usually when only one person sees the vision), so that there is nothing there in external reality. (b) There is something in external reality, but in the case of the Eucharist, there is a change in the figure, color etc. of the accidents of the Real Presence. (This is usual when more than one person sees or when the apparition continues and even is exhibited in a shrine).- St. Teresa of Avila, “Relations” XV (Peers edition I pp. 341-42) seems to agree with St. Thomas: “From some of the things He said to me, I learned that, since ascending into the heavens, He had never come down to earth again to communicate Himself to anyone, except in the Most Holy Sacrament.” - But others thinks there is a real presence, especially when He appears in proximity to the Sacred Host (cf. also the words cited above for St. Teresa, “except in the Most Holy Sacrament”. When elsewhere, some think it is merely moral presence - others think there is a physical presence, and cite the case of St. Anthony kissing the Infant Jesus - a scene witnessed by the owner of the house where it happened: Cf. Poulain, “Graces of Interior Prayer,” pp. 315-16. On visions in general, cf. Poulain, pp. 301-02, and Royo Marin, “Teología de la Perfección Cristiana,” pp. 815-19, A. Tanquerey, “The Spiritual Life,” pp. 701-02.

    The same principles would apply to visions of the Blessed Virgin - and we note the varied images in which she appears.
    Code: 
            continued
 

  1. *]Imaginative visions: produced in the imagination by God or angels or Saints, during sleep or when awake. Often an intellectual vision accompanies, which explains the meaning. – These can be produced in three ways: (1) Awakening of images already present in memory, (2) Supernatural combination of such images held in memory, (3) Newly infused images.-the devil can work in the first two ways, not in the third.

    Such visions may come in sleep or while awake. May deal with things past or future as well as present. Cf. the case of the dreams of Joseph the patriarch. They may also be symbolic.

    1. *]Intellectual visions: There is no sensory image present in these, the effect is directly supernatural on the intellect. There will be more clarity and force than what one would have from the natural powers. May come by way of ideas already acquired but coordinated or modified by God, or through infused ideas. The visions may be obscure, manifesting only the presence of the object, or they may be clear.

      These intellectual visions may last a long time, days, weeks, even years. Cf. St. Teresa, “Interior Castle” 6.8.3. The effects may include profound understanding or love. They are apt to bring absolute certitude that they come from God: cf. St.Teresa, “Life,” 27.5.

      Combinations: In the Damascus road instance, Paul saw with his eyes a sensory vision, with his imagination he saw Ananias coming to him, in his mind he understood God’s will.
      Code: 
              continued
 
Three kinds of revelations:

(Preliminary: distinguish public, found in Scripture and Tradition, completed when last Apostle died and NT was finished. Cf. “Dei verbum” # 4 - and private revelations: all else).


  1. *]Auricular: A sound is produced in the air by a good or evil spirit. They may seem to come from a vision.
    *]Imaginary: This does not mean false, but rather, a locution not perceived by the ears but by the power of image making. May be received while asleep or awake, and may come from God or a good or bad angel. The fruits produced in the soul - if one examines all fruits, not just some – can see if the source is good or bad. Satan can afford to produce some seeming good fruits, if in the long run he can get evil results, such as disobedience to the Church over alleged visions, or pride, or may suggest great projects, beyond the ability of the soul, which will later give up all effort.
    *]Intellectual: Impressed directly on the mind, with no images received in senses or imagination. There are three classes, according to St. John of the Cross - whom others follow (“Ascent of Mt. Carmel” II.28-31): successive, formal, substantial.

    1. *]Successive: These are formed by the soul, reasoning, with much facility, especially during meditation. They are the combined effect of the soul and the Holy Spirit. Illusion and error are quite possible here. St. John of Cross in II.39.4 says sometimes pure heresy can come in, created by the imagination of the soul or by the devil.
      *]Formal: These seem to come from outside, whereas the successive seem to originate within the soul, even though the Holy Spirit may have a part in producing them. They, unlike the successive, may come even when one is distracted: thus the exterior origin is known. Illusion by the devil is possible here.
      *]Substantial: Same as formal, but they produce in the soul the effects they signify, e.g, if God says to the soul: be quiet, be humble. Royo Marin, op. cit, p. 821, thinks no illusion possible in such a case.

      Note:1) These locutions and visions belong to the category of “gratiae gratis datae” or charismatic, and “per se” are not necessary for spiritual growth of the soul, even though “per accidens” they may aid it. They do not even prove a soul is in the state of grace: cf. Mt 7:22-23. But one should not desire these – danger of self-deception or devilish deception. St. Teresa of Avila warns (“Interior Castle” 6.9), cited above, warns of dangers.

      The end
 
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forum.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=2
 
Good Morning Church

We are up and running again.
Thank you Anne for saving this thread. We have had some really nice posts in here and it would appear that folks are still interested in discussing this topic.

Hope you are all ready to begin again, where we left off.
I loved the post on St Theresa of Avillas book.

I guess we must be careful about long long, posts though.
 
Roberta,

I’m really glad that you started this thread because it has really given me the desire for Contemplative prayer again.
In this busy world we need often to keep our thoughts on Jesus…I offer all I say and do for Him …in the midst of my daily work. Now I am going back to spending 15 to 30 minutes just contemplating the Face of Christ…
 
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