A recent comment has got me thinking. The question is about the relationship between the sacraments of the Church and contemplation. The line of thinking goes something like this.

I start by thinking about many quotes that come easily to mind. In a retreat on prayer, Charles Cardinal Journet said,

Every truly Christian life, even in its initial stages, must carry within itself something of the beginning of an orientation to contemplation.

We might also take the first words of Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP’s book on The Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life:

The interior life is for all the one thing necessary.

By this he explains throughout the text, that all must journey into contemplation, be it contemplation primarily in itself or contemplation that nourishes apostolic life.

Echoing the same text about the sisters at Bethany (Lk 10:38–42), Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity says,

This “better part,” which seems my privilege in my beloved solitude in Carmel, is offered by God to every Christian soul. He offers it to you, dear Madame, among all your cares and anxieties.

The common thread in these quotes – and many that could be added to them – is that contemplation is a gift and promise, and challenge and invitation, made in Baptism, made when we became Christians. Its origin goes far back. Its origin goes back, at least, to baptism. The universal call to sanctity in fact implies something of a universal orientation towards contemplative love. It is no extraordinary thing. (It is shame that the word “mystic” sometimes gives this impression in English.) It is just a gift and promise made in Baptism.

Those are some words about Baptism and contemplation.

But what else is contemplation? What is the relationship of “suffering things divine” to the sacramental life?

In relation to Confirmation, for example, contemplation is of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit strengthened in us, confirmed in us, made in us more “adult” in its way of acting, when we received that sacrament.

What about the other sacraments? Do you have any thoughts on this? Despite the fact that I know the sacramental life and spiritual life are totally intertwined, I have given very little thought to many of the specifics. What do you think?