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A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/16/2013

Contemplative Prayer in Scripture and as Described by the Saints and Mystical Writers
                              Unworded Prayer

    The saints have pointed out the scriptures that best describe the experience of contemplative prayer. "Be still and acknowledge that I am God, supreme over nations, supreme over the world" (Psalm 46:10). Contemplative prayer is a gaze of faith, fixed upon Jesus. As a parishioner told the Cure of Ars, "I look at Him and He looks at me" (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2715).

    Contemplative prayer could last a moment - it could last several hours. A person realized that he has experienced it afterwards, as he realizes that he has changed. The psalms sing to his soul: "My whole being yearns and pines for Yahweh's courts, My heart and my body cry out for joy to the living God" (Psalm 84:2). He realizes that he is in love with God!

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See Thomas Dubay, Fire Within (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989) page 65-69. Also see Elizabeth of the Trinity, Heaven in Faith and also Last Retreat, for an explanation of scripture as it relates to contemplative prayer. These can be found in Elizabeth of the Trinity, The Complete Works, trans. Aletheia Kane, O.C.D., Volume One (Washington DC: ICS Publications, 1984) all pages.

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A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/14/2013

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Contemplative Prayer - is when God embraces our heart!

St. Bonaventure writes that one should consider that through this love comes all indulgences given by God -all good abundance - and through this love is possessed the desirable memory of His Presence - then He embraces a person's heart! This is the consummation of the Soul! The perfect step! The Unitive Step!

What an individual experiences is not the object of his imagination, for one cannot attribute to Him neither time, neither face, neither shadow, neither measurement, neither limit; for He cannot be represented - but it is all desirable . . . Last, it cannot be entered in the rational order, and it cannot be defined, neither proved, neither appreciated, neither understood, neither grasped, for His intelligibility exceeds all intelligence. . . . but He is all desirable.

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Bonaventure, La Triple Voie, 1269-1270. Available from the internet. http://jesusmarie.free.fr/bonaventrue_la_triple_voie.html
Translation my own. Third Section, Consummation of the Soul, XVII.5

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A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/10/2013

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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.

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A Spiritual Journey . . .

2/9/2013

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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.

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A Spiritual Journey . . .

A Spiritual Journey . . .

A Spiritual Journey . . .

A Spiritual Journey . . .

Kathy

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