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A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/12/2013

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].

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].

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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).

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/11/2013

Preparing for Contemplative Prayer - Meditation

    St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is considered one of the best of mystical writers and is a favorite of many, including me. She describes the journey a soul makes, through prayer, to union with God. Her three books, Book of Her Life, Way of Perfection, and Interior Castle, are all on contemplative prayer. In her book, Interior Castle, she uses the term mansions, and in Spain that is the title of the book, "Las Moradas" (The Mansions). She lists seven of them. The first three pertain to vocal prayer and meditation, the last four pertain to mystical prayer, what happens to the soul when God touches it. These last four are stages of contemplative prayer and the person praying has no control over these stages. In other words, he cannot do something to bring the effects about on his soul. People may have consolations in nature and they end in God, but spiritual consolations have their source in God and people enjoy them in a natural way [Interior Castle, p. 72-74].

    In the seventh and innermost mansion dwells "the King of Glory, the greatest splendor. . . . The nearer one got to the center, the stronger was the light" [p.8]. The "mansion" is a person's soul and St. Teresa was given an image of it by Our Lord, as if it were a castle made like a diamond, in which there are many facets or rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions [p.28].

    St. Teresa is different than most writers on contemplative prayer as she describes how one experiences contemplative prayer. The words, "stages", "levels", "grades", "mansions", should not be thought of as happening chronologically. Nor do people pass through them at the same speed. God sometimes will touch a person who is just a beginner with the higher level of contemplative prayer. Sometimes a person who prays a lot may never experience contemplative prayer. St. Teresa says the King does not give Himself to those who do not give themselves totally to Him - but rather to those who serve Him - those who do His will moment by moment, day after day [Thomas Dubay, Fire Within (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989) 111ff.

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Saint Teresa of Avil, Interior Castle, trans. E. Allison Peers (New York: Image Books, 1961).

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/10/2013

Preparing for Contemplative Prayer - Meditation - the Purgative & Illuminative Way

       During your time of meditation, a person must seek out malice, says St. Bonaventure. Its roots are anger, envy and luke-warmness. Anger is manifested by gestures and speech, envy by sadness of the good of another, and luke-warmness by unfavorable suspicions, and by blasphemous thoughts.

          Bonaventure teaches that by looking over these things, a person must always keep in mind his death and that it is imminent. He must always keep in mind that the eyes of the Judge are fixed upon him, and also that the Blood of the Cross has been spilled for him. After examining his conscience in his meditation, he must follow through with correction by acquiring the virtues of generosity, austerity and gentleness. Bonaventrue quotes the prophet Micah (6:8): "I have shown you, man, what is good, and this is required of the Lord, only this, to do what is right, to love mercifulness, and to walk humbly with your God."

      In the Illuminative Way, Bonaventrue says, a person thinks about: First, his debt to God - what a price Jesus paid for him - and the sins that God has forgiven and the punishment he merits. Second, he thinks about the favors that God has granted him. And finally he thinks about the promised rewards.
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Saint Bonaventure, La Triple Voie, 1269-1270. Available in French from the internet. http://jesusmarie.free.fr/bonaventure_la_triple_voie.html , (Accessed 12/18/08). Translation my own.

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/9/2013

St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) a Franciscan whom Pope Leo XIII called "the Prince of Mystics" and whom others call the greatest theologian of the spiritual life among the Franciscans, in La Triple Voie, which he wrote around 1270, uses the word "steps" or "way" ("Voie") and he lists three major ones under the mjor headings of the Purgative, Illuminiative and Unitive ways. He says that you must make use of the sting of conscience to be purified, [Purgative Way], the light of reason to have clear sight, [Illuminiative] and the spark of wisdom to become perfect [Unitive].

In the Purgative way, Bonaventrue teaches that during meditation the Spirit excites the sting of conscience. The Spirit helps a person to not neglect to watch over his heart, and his time - so it is employed usefully, and his purity of intention - so that his work is aimed to his eternal end. [What are the joys of your heart? What pleases you? And do these things help you gain your eternal end?] Next, a person must not neglect prayer, studies, and good works. The last thing a person must not neglect is to repent of his sin and to cry over it, to resist evil and all temptations, and to advance in virtues so that he can arrive at the Promised Land.

Bonaventure says that one must examine his attitudes to root out concupiscence [man's natural tendency to sin - a result of Adam and Eve's actions] within himself. He tells of these signs: the lust of the flesh is betrayed by the need of candy, of gratification of the senses, of the search for softness, [I love those fleece blankets - my old army blanket is tucked away somewhere!] for comfortable clothes, for sensual conversation and entertainment. The lust of the eyes is the desire to know secret things, the need to have rare and precious objects. The lust of the spirit or pride is when one seeks out the best treatment, the best music, and honors - things that render a person vain. In all these tendencies, the sting of the conscience must stimulate remorse of the heart.

St. Bonaventure, La Triple Voie, 1269-1270. Available from the internet in French. Translation my own.

We visited the home of St. Bonaventure when we were in Italy. Civita di Bagnoregio is perched on a hill and the hill all around it is gradually falling away. To get to the town you must walk out on a long bridge. When we arrived it stopped raining and we were able to see a double rainbow. Click on a photo to enlarge it.

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/8/2013

Preparing for Contemplative Prayer - meditation.

The next form of prayer is meditation. St. Teresa of Avila does not separate these forms (oral prayer and meditation) for when one is saying oral prayers he should certainly meditate on what he is saying. He should know to whom he is addressing and what he is asking for, and to whom he is asking. [Interior Castle p. 32]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that it is a quest, a person trying to understand and respond to the life asked of him by Jesus Christ. The best way to do this is by reading scripture, especially the Gospels, by looking at holy icons, by reading the Church Fathers and other spiritual writers. One does this to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Christian meditation should go further: "to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with Him" [#2705-2708].

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/7/2013

Preparing for Contemplative Prayer
    There are several expressions of prayer. There is vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer. The first two help prepare for contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer is a gift, a grace, as all prayer is, but contemplative prayer is the total response within a love relationship with God. It can only be accepted in poverty and humility. Vocal prayer and meditation help us obtain
these virtues. If there is no progress in humility, St. Teresa of Avila says, then everything will be ruined.
    According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, [#2700-2704] vocal prayer is using words, mental or vocal, to talk to God. Jesus taught vocal prayer when He taught the Our Father and when He prayed the liturgical prayers in the synagogue. One should enter into this prayer with his heart and his feelings. God seeks worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and thus prayer should rise from the depth of one's soul. The Catholic Church is a church of unity, and thus vocal prayer and memorized prayer is accessible to groups. One also uses vocal prayer when praying internally. When it is internalized to the extent that one becomes aware of Him "to whom we speak" as St. Teresa of Avila in the Way of Perfection teaches, vocal prayer becomes the beginning form of contemplative prayer.
    "God is conceived of as an 'object'", wrote Father George Maloney, SJ, in Journey Into Contemplation, (p12) "to which you direct your affectivity [expressed emotions], your petitions, your sorrow, your deep gratitude for His kindnesses in His gifts given to you. Prayer, therefore, is the general art whereby you as a human being communicate with God in knowledge and love. You lift your mind and your heart toward God".

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/4/2013

How offering up your suffering, helps those for whom you are praying...

The Eternal Truth said to St. Catherine of Siena: "I will pardon both sin and punishment in those who humbly and reverently accept the teaching of my servants. How?" They will receive grace to truly know and regret their sins. And the more that they accept this grace, the more they will receive, but if they are not willing, they will receive less grace.

"I am saying that through your desires they will receive both forgiveness and its gifts, unless their stubbornness is such that they despair. (Then I would reject them for scorning the blood by which they have so tenderly been bought.)

"What fruit do they receive? Pressed by my servants' prayers, I look on them and give them light. I rouse the dog of conscience within them. I make them sensitive to the perfume of virtue and give them delight in the fellowship of my servants. Sometimes I allow the world to show them its true colors, letting them feel all sorts of emotions, so that they may know how inconstant it is and be more eager to seek their homeland of eternal life. The eye cannot see, nor the tongue tell, nor can the heart imagine how many paths and methods I have, solely for love and to lead them back to grace so that my truth may be realized in them!"

St. Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue, Translation by Suzanne Noffke. O.P.,(Paulist Press, New York)

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/3/2013

What it means to "offer it up" - And for those who wish to do the will of God in their lives -

The Eternal Truth spoke to St. Catherine of Siena: "You ask me for suffering to atone for the offenses my creatures commit against me. And you ask for the will to know and love me, supreme Truth. Here is the way, if you would come to perfect knowledge and enjoyment of me, eternal Life: Never leave the knowledge of yourself. Then, put down as you are in the valley of humility you will know me in yourself, and from this knowledge you will draw all that you need.

"No virtue can have life in it except from charity, and charity is nursed and mothered by humility. You will find humility in the knowledge of yourself when you see that even your own existence comes not from yourself but from me, for I loved you before you came into being. And in my unspeakable love for you I willed to create you anew in grace. So I washed you and made you a new creation in the blood that my only-begotten Son poured out with such burning love.

"This blood gives you knowledge of the truth when knowledge of yourself leads you to shed the cloud of selfish love. There is no other way to know the truth. In so knowing me the soul catches fire with unspeakable love, which in turn brings continual pain. Indeed, because she has known my truth as well as her own sin and her neighbors' ingratitude and blindness, the soul suffers intolerably. Still, this is not a pain that troubles or shrivels up the soul. On the contrary, it makes her grow fat. For she suffers because she loves me, nor would she suffer if she did not love me.

"Thus, as soon as you and my other servants come in this way to know my truth you will, for the glory and praise of my name, have to endure great trials, insults, adn reproaches in word and in deed, even to the point of death.

"Behave, then, with true patience, with sorrow for sin and love of virtue, for the glory and praise of my name. If you do, I shall be appeased for your sins and those of my other servants. The sufferings you endure will, through the power of charity, suffice to win both atonement and reward for you and for others.

"For you will win the fruit of life: The stains of your foolishness will be blotted out, and I will no longer remember that you had ever offended me. As for others, because of your loving charity I will pardon them in proportion to their receptiveness."

A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/2/2013

We should offer up our sufferings, united with Jesus Christ, to God Our Heavenly Father.

I once asked someone, what do you think, when you have a headache and I say to you, "Offer it up". The person responded, "That you have no pity for me."

Many of us have grown up with the phrase, "Offer it up", without an explanation of what it means. Then it becomes a trite phrase showing no pity.

Catherine of Siena was a mystic and when she was in ecstasy, she would speak aloud what the Eternal Truth was saying to her, and secretaries would write down her words. The book "Dialogue" was written in 1377-1378 and the first chapter tells what it means to "offer it up". All the suffering one endures within a person's life time is not enough to punish one for the smallest sin, for a sin is an offense against the infinite Good, and demands infinite satisfaction. Not all suffering is given for punishment, but rather for correction, to chastise the child who offends. True contrition and sorrow for sin can make satisfaction, but not by virtue of any suffering we may bear, but by virtue of one's infinite desire.

Only God has infinite love and infinite sorrow. The sorrow God wills us to have is twofold: for the offense we have committed against our Creator and for the offense we see our neighbor commit. Those united with God grieve when they sin or they see others sinning.

St. Paul taught: "If I had an angelic tongue, knew the future, gave what is mine to the poor, and gave my body to be burned, but did not have charity, it would be worth nothing to me." [1 Co. 13:1-3]

Gentle Truth said: "...In this life, guilt is not atoned for by any suffering simply as suffering, but rather by suffering borne with desire, love and contrition of heart. The value is not in the suffering but in the soul's desire. Likewise, neither desire nor any other virtue has value or life except through my only-begotten Son, Christ crucified, since the soul has drawn love from him and in virtue follows his footsteps. In this way, and in no other is suffering of value."

Suffering satisfies for sin through knowledge of God's goodness and from contrition and sorrow that the heart finds in the knowledge of itself and its own sins.

One must have heartfelt contrition, love for true patience, and that true humility which considers oneself worth of punishment and unworthy of reward, and thus suffer with patience and so make atonement.

A Spiritual Journey

2/1/2013

Yesterday I went with Sister to a get together with several of her classmates. They graduated from high school the year I was born. I enjoyed the morning even though I didn't know the people, and afterwards Sister thanked me for going with her. It is always more fun when you do something or go somewhere with a friend. Jesus sent his disciples out two by two - probably for many reasons. Before I joined Sister, I did most everything alone. I was married to a busy rancher so I went to school activities alone, movies alone, horse riding alone, raised my boys alone. Then I lived alone for ten years before I joined Sister. I was very lonely - and could not say the words "I am lonely" without choking up. Of course that was a long time ago,(I have been with Sister over 15 years now) and God healed me of my loneliness by revealing to me His constant presence in my life.

Sister said to me, "And I'm sure you offered this suffering up to the Lord."

I answered, "I don't recall if it came to my mind to do so."

And she said, "It is not too late to do it now, for there is no time with God."

We've been talking about forgiveness and the healing of our hurts. You can offer up these hurts to God now - it is not too late. What you are doing is uniting your hurts, your pain to the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Jesus Christ. One time Sister was having trouble with her neck, which bothers her ever since a car accident and whip-lash, and she offered up her pain for 10,000 souls, and the Lord spoke to her heart - "Not only for 10,000, but for all of them."

Paul wrote to the Colossians: Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. (1:24)

The letter to the Hebrews describes associating our suffering with others, being united in our faith in this way: Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering. at times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated. You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense. You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.