Christian prayer is embodied prayer. In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters we discovered an experienced devil giving lessons to a young temptor. At one point, the veteran orders his young charge to encourage his 'client,' a budding Christian, to envision prayer as something very 'interior' and 'mystical,' having little to do with posture or the position of the body. He wants the poor Christian to think that whether he stands, slouches, sits, or kneels is irrelevant to the quality of his communication with God. This, of course, is the Cartesian voice, the belief that our bodies and souls are independent and have little to do with each other.
But then consider the view of William James. In his Principles of Psychology, James writes that it is not so much sadness that makes us cry as crying that makes us feel sad. The body in a significant sense precedes the mind.
The same dynamic occurs when we pray. It is not so much keen feelings of devotion that force us to our knees as kneeling that gives rise to keen feelings of devotion.
If you're having difficulty in prayer today, try kneeling, or bowing, or making some sort of reverent gesture. The body often leads the mind into a deeper spiritual space. - Fr Robert Barron
Showing posts with label contemplation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemplation. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2014
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Whatever Is True, Whatever Is Noble, Whatever Is Pure, Whatever Is Lovely...
"...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." - Philippians 4:8
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Staying Still In Silence Before Jesus In The Blessed Sacrament Let's Us Perceive What He Wants From Us
It is by staying still, in silence, and possibly for long periods, before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, that we perceive what He wants from us, put aside our own plans to make way for His, and let God's light gradually penetrate the heart and heal it. - Fr. Cantalemessa
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Taste Of God In Contemplation Is More Precious Than Everything Else
The taste of God in contemplation is more precious than everything else; for, no matter what a man might wish for, it is nothing when compared to this. For when the spirit of a man stands before God and sees his happiness and tastes his delights, then in truth he as attained to paradise. — Saint Anthony of Padua
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
God Enriches The Soul Which Empties Itself Of Everything
God enriches the soul which empties itself of everything. - Saint Padre Pio
Sunday, May 29, 2011
She Was More Absorbed In What Was Happening Within Her Than Without, For Within Her Was Her Treasure, The Gentle Secret That Left Her Amazed And Speechless
Only when the divine life we receive in the sacraments has been assimilated in contemplation, can it be practically expressed in action - in the practice of the virtues and especially charity. Just as there is no human action that doesn't originate in thought (if it does, it is useless, or extremely dangerous), there is no Christian virtue that doesn't originate in contemplation...Perfection in Christian life consists in being fully like Christ, first in the inner heart and then in exterior action.
Contemplation is, then, the set course for passing from communion with Christ in Mass to the imitation of Christ in life. Therefore, just as everyone in the Church is called to holiness, we can equally talk of everyone in the Church being called to contemplation. The way to Christian perfection goes from the mysteries to contemplation and from contemplation to action.
As soon as we try to apply these general premises on the mysteries of the Eucharist, their importance and relevance is immediately obvious. The result is that to be like Christ it is not enough to eat His Body and drink His Blood; this mystery must be contemplated. There is a big affinity between the Eucharist and the incarnation. St Augustine says that in the incarnation "Mary conceived the Word first in her mind and then in her body" (Prius concepit mente quam corpore). Actually, he adds, it would have been worth nothing to her to have carried Christ in her womb if she had also carried Him with love in her heart.
After the incarnation, therefore, Mary was full of Jesus not only in her body but in her spirit too. She was full of Jesus because she thought of Him and awaited Him (and how she awaited Him!); she loved Jesus. Like any woman expecting a child, but in a much more perfect way, she was more absorbed in what was happening within her than without, for within her was her treasure, the gentle secret that left her amazed and speechless. St. Luke tells us: "Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). In this she is the most perfect model of Eucharistic contemplation: that is what the Christians who have just received Jesus in the Eucharist must be like. They too must receive Jesus with their minds after receiving after receiving Him into their bodies. And to receive Jesus with the mind mean to think of Him and have one's gaze fixed on Him.
- Father Cantalemessa
Contemplation is, then, the set course for passing from communion with Christ in Mass to the imitation of Christ in life. Therefore, just as everyone in the Church is called to holiness, we can equally talk of everyone in the Church being called to contemplation. The way to Christian perfection goes from the mysteries to contemplation and from contemplation to action.
As soon as we try to apply these general premises on the mysteries of the Eucharist, their importance and relevance is immediately obvious. The result is that to be like Christ it is not enough to eat His Body and drink His Blood; this mystery must be contemplated. There is a big affinity between the Eucharist and the incarnation. St Augustine says that in the incarnation "Mary conceived the Word first in her mind and then in her body" (Prius concepit mente quam corpore). Actually, he adds, it would have been worth nothing to her to have carried Christ in her womb if she had also carried Him with love in her heart.
After the incarnation, therefore, Mary was full of Jesus not only in her body but in her spirit too. She was full of Jesus because she thought of Him and awaited Him (and how she awaited Him!); she loved Jesus. Like any woman expecting a child, but in a much more perfect way, she was more absorbed in what was happening within her than without, for within her was her treasure, the gentle secret that left her amazed and speechless. St. Luke tells us: "Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). In this she is the most perfect model of Eucharistic contemplation: that is what the Christians who have just received Jesus in the Eucharist must be like. They too must receive Jesus with their minds after receiving after receiving Him into their bodies. And to receive Jesus with the mind mean to think of Him and have one's gaze fixed on Him.
- Father Cantalemessa
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