My annual “Quotes Month” (July) has extended a third of the way into August now. It is time that I get to say something of my own, and I want to address an issue that (I think) concerns most of us Christians in this gradually globalized world: There are certain kinds of “mysticism,” of “meditation,” and …
Tag Archives: Meditation
To Pray Is…
To pray is, at the least, to look towards God; to pray is to think of God, to speak to God, or to entreat God – whether it be with spoken words or with ideas or mental images or, more simply, with the infinitely deeper but obscure regard of contemplation. When there is none of …
Pure Faith, Not Relying on Imagination
Meditate in pure faith if it comes; spend not your time in vain imaginings. Saint Paul of the Cross
Scripture Alive in Us
A pure mind is to be gained by exercise in the Holy Scriptures. From thence come holy meditations which fill the heart of man; and therefore it is the sooner freed from all vain and wicked thoughts. Johannes Tauler OP (1300–1361)
Means of Union
What are the means of union with God? I think they can be broken down into at least two groups: those which arise from a contemplative life-state and those which arise from an active life-state. By this I do not mean that we can pass up either one. Each of us has active and contemplative …
Advice for Transitions Between Meditation and Contemplation
When the man becomes conscious of the Lord’s Presence, he must let his work alone and worship Him. All his powers must be still, and there must be calm. Otherwise the works of man [in meditation] would be but a hindrance, and his good works also; for he must do nothing but submit himself to …
Continue reading “Advice for Transitions Between Meditation and Contemplation”
If You Cannot Meditate on the Passion…
If you cannot meditate on the Passion of Jesus, speak about it to him: “Lord so loving, what was within your heart in the garden? Such pain, such blood, such bitter agony! And all for me?” At times, it will seem you can neither meditate nor remain lovingly attentive before God. You are like a …
From Meditation to Contemplation with Paul of the Cross
All the saints and teachers who are faithful to the tradition of prayer that stretches back to the Desert Fathers (and beyond!) tell us that individual, recollection-oriented Christian prayer starts with meditation and then progresses to contemplation. Neither of these terms is to be understood in, for example, a Buddhist sense. The terms have distinctly Christian …
Continue reading “From Meditation to Contemplation with Paul of the Cross”
Long Prayer and Words
Sometimes we have trouble praying for long. We know not only distractions but simply an inability to pray. Or so it seems. Perhaps, though, the problem sometimes arises by seeking only one kind of prayer, rather than being open to a larger variety of prayer. I think this really happens to us. I think Saint …
Beautiful Feet
In today’s readings at Mass (Latin Rite), Saint Paul tells us about those who bring good news: But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim …
Contemplative in the Mud 