St Joseph Healing Ministry
St. Joseph Prayer Ministry
  • Home
    • Leave Comments
    • Who we are
    • Obituary
    • Bio
    • Photos of Sister Mary Matthew
    • Miracles attributed to Sister Mary Matthew
    • Our Programs >
      • Prayer Ministry
      • 2012 Christmas letter
    • Mass in Thanksgiving for the Canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
  • classes
    • Prayer Ministry
  • Pro Life
    • 2014 speeches
    • review of Fr. Spitzer's book
  • Blogs
    • Blog - Be Positive
    • Blog - Steps in a journey
  • Photos
    • Ft. Worden Retreat >
      • Ft. Worden Retreat 2009 >
        • More photos for 2009
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2014
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
      • 2020
  • Retreats
    • Ft. Worden Retreat 2021 click here for map, registration form >
      • History
      • Prayer for retreat
      • Speakers
      • Registration
  • Sale Items
    • Books
    • DVDs
    • CD's
  • Contact Us

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/12/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Contemplative Prayer - Doing everything for God with love and charity

     John Welch (1939-), a Catholic priest of the Carmelite Order, and chair of Carmelite Studies at the Washington Theological Union, in his book, The Carmelite Way, An Ancient Path for Today's Pilgrim, says that St. Teresa of Avila warns that in the third mansion, a person could become too content to leave this place.  But the purpose of prayer, Teresa reminds people, is conformity with God's will, not consolations.  If one wants to do what God wants, this desire is expressed in the way a person lives his life [68].

Picture
St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, describes the purgations that a soul experiences as it passes through the various levels on its way toward the divine light of perfect union with God.  These purgations are purifications of the soul.  These purgations also fit in with St. Bonaventure's descriptions of the Purgative and Illuminative way.  On the journey, the person must first deprive himself of his desire for worldly possessions, as Bonaventure describes - the best candy, the softest clothes, and the most expensive apartment.  John calls this mortification of the appetites.  Since the senses are deprived of such things, it is like a night to them.  As a person travels on this road, he goes by faith, and to the intellect, faith is like a dark night.  He is traveling toward God, who is also like a dark night to a soul in this life [73-74, Ch 1, par 1-6].

________________________
John Welch, O. Carm., The Carmelite Way, An Ancient Path for Today's Pilgrim (New Jersey:  Paulist Press, 1996).
John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, in the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh, and Otilio Rodriguez (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1973).

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Kathy

    Invite God into your heart to renew it and to instruct you.

    Archives

    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Abandonment To Divine Providence
    Benedict Xvi
    Come Holy Spirit
    Consolations
    Contemplative Prayer
    Deus Caritas Est
    Elizabeth Of The Trinity
    Francisco De Osuna
    God Is Love
    Illuminative Way
    Inspiration
    Jean-Pierre De Caussade
    Lumen Gentium
    Meditation
    Mysticism
    Positive Thinking
    Prayer
    Second Vatian Council
    Spirituality
    Spiritual Journey
    St. Bonaventure
    St. Catherine Of Siena
    St. John Of The Cross
    St. Nil Sorsky
    St. Paul
    St. Teresa Of Avila
    St. Therese Of Lisieux
    The Cloud Of Unknowing
    The Purgative Way
    The Unitive Way
    Thomas Dubay

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.