Universal Call to Contemplation

[Vouthon]

This is from a man called Bishop Hedley of Newport. He was a great 19th century writer on contemplative prayer in the Catholic tradition.

He explained how all Catholics were called to contemplative prayer, including laity and distinguished this highest form of mystical prayer from visions, revelations or other paranormal experiences.

I hope you enjoy reading it

It is from:

Dublin Review, 1876, on the re-edition of Fr Baker’s Sancta Sophia or Holy Wisdom, It was reprinted in 1916 as a Catholic Truth Society tract, under the title Prayer and Contemplation:

"…Contemplation is the queen and sovereign act among all the acts of the heart of man. For the perfect flower of the heart is the act of charity; and contemplation is charity or love when it is actual, constant, pure, and flowing under the pressure of the Holy Spirit,** Contemplation is not ordinary prayer. Yet it is not one of those, extraordinary gifts which humble souls may not aspire to. It is the very aim of the teaching of Fr Baker and his school that ‘extraordinary’ prayer should be an ordinary state for Christian souls; for priests, for religious, for devout lay folk, and for the poor and unlearned who love God with all their heart.** It is true that few arrive at true ‘interior’ prayer until after many years of patient exercise. But still, in the sense that, with due perseverance and by the help of God, it will come at last, we may say that it is ‘ordinary’. It is thus that it differs from ecstasy, rapture, visions and other miraculous supernatural favours. These no one has a right to aspire to or expect. The whole progress of the ‘art’ of prayer is supernatural, and depends on the ever-present help of God, Yet because this help, or grace, is always ready, and (up to a certain, not easily determined, point) a matter upon which man may calculate with certainty, we may proceed in our speculation concerning prayer almost as if it were a natural art, depending for its perfection upon the energy of the human will in asceticism and concentration. Not that any one advances in prayer unless, amongst other things, he is fully impressed that God alone can give him the gift of prayer. But the laws of Gods gifts and of His grace have become, as a fact, not as a right, the laws of the human soul, when the soul is regenerate. The end and object of the man of prayer is to attain to contemplation. Yet here we must make careful reservations. We may desire and sigh for contemplation; yet we must be well aware that, in ourselves, we have no power or means to attain to it; and we must not conceal from ourselves that even the virtues and gifts of a sanctified soul do not give us directly the key which will admit us to contemplation. Neither mortification, nor purity of heart, nor humility, nor meditation of point after point, nor the most strenuous exercise of affective aspiration, nor all of these together, can ever produce a state near enough to contemplation to pass into that perfect state by its own force and weight.

Contemplation is the state in which ordinary prayer becomes perfect. It is not a miraculous state. It is merely the perfection of ordinary supernatural prayer; ordinary, in this sense, that God ordinarily gives it to those who remove obstacles and take the requisite means. Contemplation is a great and a ‘perfect’ state of prayer. To arrive at it, sanctifying or habitual grace is not enough; faith, hope, and charity are not enough; there is also required that touch of the finger of God’s right hand, and that quick response of the soul thereto, which imply the active operation of the seven great gifts of the Holy Ghost. And among the gifts which confer the privilege of contemplation gifts which every one not in mortal sin possesses, but which so few stir up within them the chief are, the gift of knowledge, the gift of understanding, and the gift of wisdom. It is the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which pour on the soul that exquisite and subtle light, that rapture of attention, that spiritual sensibility, as if new senses had been given us, which combine to elevate ordinary meditation and affection into contemplation.

There is a state of mental prayer, ordinarily preceded by less
perfect states, which has the following characteristics:

1. It dispenses, to a very great extent, with the use of sensible
   images or pictures in the mind. Instead of "pictures’, the soul seems
   overshadowed by a spreading, silent sense as of something near at
   hand, vague in outline, colourless and dim; such a sense as might
   fall upon one who watches intently some dark curtain which hides
   an awful presence.

1. It dispenses with reasoning, or what is called ‘discourse’. In
   the state of prayer which is called contemplation, the mind remains
   steadfast and fixed in one simple gaze.

1. This intuition is accompanied by ardent love. An intuition
   by which we gaze upon our last end and only good, not in any
   abstract way,’ but as, here and now, our complete joy and perfect
   bliss, means an intuition of love.

1. Whilst contemplation lasts, the soul does not perceive what
   she is doing. She is so engaged with God that she does not turn in
   reflection upon herself. She does not need to invent motives she
   has attained, for a time, the object and end of all motive. Hence
   the dictum of the desert, that he who was conscious he was praying,
   was not yet arrived at perfect prayer’. Contemplation is ‘perfect’ prayer,
   comparatively with the states that precede it; but in itself it is merely the
   first resting-place of a mountain region in which height reaches beyond
   height until human thought refuses to follow…"

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Contemplation update:

I had moments of perfect clarity this morning. It was amazing. And my music was in top form. My eyes poured out water while I played the Gloria.

The benefits are still rolling in. They are trying to establish an ongoing condition. My prayer has lifted my spirits to the greatest level yet. I didn’t even tell my pastor how I was doing this morning, but in its place we had awesome eye contact while he told his stories.

And just to think there are still more layers to this onion…

Contemplative prayer: “worked for me.”

Alan

 

[Doeco]

Hmmm, I will have to check out his writings. Thank you for sharing this!

 

[AlanFromWichita]

This part really interested me:

1. Whilst contemplation lasts, the soul does not perceive what
   she is doing. She is so engaged with God that she does not turn in
   reflection upon herself. She does not need to invent motives she
   has attained, for a time, the object and end of all motive. Hence
   the dictum of the desert, that he who was conscious he was praying,
   was not yet arrived at perfect prayer’. Contemplation is ‘perfect’ prayer,
   comparatively with the states that precede it; but in itself it is merely the
   first resting-place of a mountain region in which height reaches beyond
   height until human thought refuses to follow…"

This is why contemplative prayer may have strategies, but no “form” per se. If you are following a “format” then the prayer is not what you actually do. The prayer happens when you lose contact with the format and aren’t thinking about it. So like if I’m doing Lectio Divine and there is a five minute silence, I am nearly always aware that I am in a prayer group with others and that I am somewhere in the five minute “contemplatio” section. That awareness happens as part of the prayer, but I don’t see it as the prayer itself. When I’m not noticing that’s what I’m doing, then given there isn’t some greater distraction but it’s due to my letting go and becoming “quiet” to that awareness, is when I get the strongest notions of effect.

But the effects and notions during the prayer are but indicators that help me tweak the process for improved letting go.

I also very much agree that contemplation is a gift, but it very much matters how well you can become open to receiving it. I honestly think that some of God’s varied gifts in this area are in fact throttled by our point of surrender of our wills, and letting go of busy mind is the primary factor in receiving these gifts. Many writers say otherwise but I think this could be that the actual signs and signals of ready are sufficiently subtle that many praying will not observe these signs of readiness directly, as if by observation. Only by the resultant influx of blessings, which seem to come at arbitrary times, because whatever criteria that God may use to determine are not knows to a human mind and heart until it is very nearly perfect.

Please feel free to disregard any or all of this; it is my personal opinion.

Alan

 

[Bookcat]

Catechism:

scborromeo.org/ccc/p4s1c3a1.htm

It can be noted that there is acquired contemplation…and infused.

I should note that various authors and various schools use terms differently.…such needs to be kept in mind when one goes back and forth between them.

Basically acquired contemplation can be on a philosophical level (read Josef Pieper on “natural contempation”) or theological …or even the ordinary of a mother contemplating her sleeping child or nature or in the sense of a kind of contemplation in prayer where things become more of a intuitive gaze etc (such as prayer of simplicity).

The other is that which is given directly by God (infused contemplation such as prayer of quiet).

But that is getting into the more detailed “spiritual theology” of contemplation.

For a very short and practical work on mental prayer: scepterpublishers.org/product/index.php?FULL=557

frjacquesphilippe.com/

 

[englishredrose]

My priest showed me how to simply be aware of the Presence of God and that is perfect prayer for me. So simple. Later he gave me a book to read that said everything he been saying to me.

I just had an upside down day because in his sermon this morning he said something if we are just watching God then that is not enough. We need to be interactive with God. I had turned it on a downer in that viewed contemplative prayer as though it was watching. Except I watch and feel. I watch the world around me and feel God. I am aware of presence of God a lot. He knows I don’t, I can’t talk to God. I am I found out this year Aspergers (whether it due to heart failure as a baby or Aspergers in it own right I am waiting to find out at a clinic but it Aspergers) and I am thinking this might be a part of it because I been going to church for 25 year and never been able to talk to God. It since interacting on forums that has highlighted it more for me because I don’t ‘pray’ intercessions or words. One of my friends would text and I never knew what to say back in reality because I felt fake and did a quick, ‘done -so’ knowing I hadn’t because I can’t and hated it.

I don’t do the rest of christian prayer and whether that makes me a bad anglo catholic christian I think it might it some eyes for if I say I don’t do prayer I be judged as not being a full christian and if i say i down contemplative prayer then they still think I do the intercessionary bits since it is there. I have no idea how to describe my prayer style.

Being shown about being aware of the presence of God is so simple and perfect and so me. It hurts I can’t do the rest of prayer and I almost think it hurts more because I can do this prayer where as before I hardly noticed. I had odd moments of presence of God but couldn’t be there at any time where as I can now. No routine that I can put into words as such apart from simply being aware of God. No words just me being inner still. Is that interactive with God? Or watching God?

Anyway contemplative prayer is perfect for me and don’t do any visuals or candles or anything to get there. Just simply be aware of the presence of God.