Prayer Lesson 4

                      Prayer

                            Lesson 4
                        Contemplation

Let us pray.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Contemplative prayer should be our goal in prayer. Unlike vocal prayer and meditation, contemplative prayer is a gift we receive from God when we are ready for it. The purpose of this lesson is to help you learn what contemplation is and what it is not. What you can do to make contemplation possible, and what you can do to remove obstacles to contemplative prayer.

Contemplative prayer is not

Contemplative prayer is not what most people think of when someone mentions contemplation. It is not something like Transcendental Meditation or other oriental states of impersonal awareness. Nor is it some sort of introspection, where one dwells on their own feelings or thoughts. If people do not think about the above types of contemplation then they think of a kind of contemplation where one thinks things over. Nor is it the kind of thing where one has strong emotional feelings about God.

Contemplative prayer is

In vocal prayer we talk to God. We praise Him, thank Him, worship Him, petition Him, tell Him of our sorrow for sin and marvel at the greatness of His creation. In meditation we have an internal dialogue with the indwelling Trinity. Contemplative prayer according to Father Dubey is “a real awareness of God, desiring and loving Him, which we do not produce but simply receive from Him when we are ready for it. There are no images, ideas or words."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides several definitions of contemplative prayer.

2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more. But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son.

2713 Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty. Contemplative prayer is a covenant relationship established by God within our hearts. Contemplative prayer is a communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, "to his likeness."

2714 Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" and we may be "grounded in love."

2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his holy cure about his prayer before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him.

2716 Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the "Yes" of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God's lowly handmaid.

2717 Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" or "silent love." Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.

2718 Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.

2719 Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith. The Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb - the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak") brings to life in prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with [him] one hour."

Increasing your Understanding

Read over the definitions of contemplative prayer given above and develop a list of the key characteristics of contemplative prayer.

Preparing for contemplative prayer

From the above it should be obvious that we can not initiate contemplative prayer. We can only make ourselves ready to receive it. It is a gift from God given to those who truly love Him and want to serve Him with all their heart, soul and mind. It is a slow process moving from meditative prayer to contemplative prayer. It can not be rushed. God gives us this gift when we are ready, not when we think we are ready. We get ready by spending time daily in meditative prayer and in getting rid of venial sin. When sufficiently purified we will notice an occasional inclination during prayer to leave thinking aside. We will have a desire to be with God in a wordless way. This begins our transition from to contemplative prayer.

Contemplative prayer consists of many levels. As we grow in our love of God and our willingness to do His will He will give us greater union with Him. Both Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila describe the various levels of contemplative prayer. Father Dubay in his book Fire Within gives a very good summation of these two Saints. Here I will provide a brief summary of the seven castles described by St. Teresa of Avila in her book Interior Castle. My summary relies to a great extent on the work of Father Dubay.

The First Mansions

St. Teresa describes growth in prayer by using a picture of seven castles. The first three, to some extent, deal with prayer leading up to infused contemplation. But as you will see she is more concerned in these first three castles with describing the preparation needed for one prior to reaching the last four interior castles. As we discuss these seven castles it is important to keep in mind that although she talks about them as if prayer life is a smooth progression in reality it is not. As she and St John point out it is a up and down, slow and fast process.

Unlike a great many present day writers St Teresa had little concern for technique. She and St. John both taught that what was needed for a serious prayer life was an earnest, continuing effort to rid oneself of sins, imperfections and attachments. Father Dubay describes her thoughts this way:

Christic communion cannot be produced by techniques, because it is above all a love matter before it is anything else -- and precisely because interpersonal intimacy is its heart, it is suffocated, even killed, by selfishness in any form. Hence in writing of the first three mansions, the saint wisely spends much time explaining how the beginner, even though in the state of grace, can and must emerge from a whole web of more or less petty faults.

Most of us at the beginning of our prayer life although living in the state of grace are still far more concerned with and absorbed in the things of the world rather than the things of God. God resides in their castle, but our ties with Him are very tenuous. So to grow in Christ (in prayer) we need to grow in Christian maturity.We need to start putting away the things of this world. This does not necessarily mean giving up the things of the world, but it does mean to give up the spirit of he world. Thus in the first stage of prayer our job is to make a determined turnabout from preoccupation with this world to a life centered in the Trinity. This will be a long an arduous journey, but will be well worth the effort.

The finally we should keep in mind as we start this journey these words of St. Teresa:

If you would progress a long way on the road and ascend to the Mansions of your desire, the important thing is not to think much, but to love much.

The Second Mansions

St. Teresa in her discussion of the second mansion mainly talks about the traits of people going through this stage and provides them with advise. People in the second mansions are people that have started to spend time in prayer and want to grow, but are still engaged in worldly pastimes, half giving them up and half clinging to them. God is calling them and they hear Him. Yet they are unable to do God's bidding. They are weak and have yet to resolve to do His will in all things. They are in the middle of a tug of war. On one side is the world, on the other side is God. For people in this stage:

      worldly pleasure still seem attractive,

      the soul still finds esteem attractive,

     there is still a selfish clinging to family and friends

     the person fears doing penance to which it is now called, and

     the person vacillates between returning to the first mansions or striving on.

At the same time:

     Reason shows the person how mistaken the worlds view is,

     Significant growth has taken place that one is convinced that only in God is ones           security.

     The will is inclined to love God and to press on.

As you might expect, people in the second mansions are still children in the practice of humility, obedience, love and patience. If they are to continue in their journey they need to grow in depth. Gospel living must be perfected.

According to Fr. Dubay St. Teresa advises people in this stage to:

1. The soul should avoid a close association with "evil" and mediocre people and make a point to mix with the good, that is, not only with those in the early mansions but also with those who have advanced into the mansions "nearest the center",themselves where the king is. To be in close with these latter is a great help, for they bring others to higher things along with themselves.

2. There is a need to "embrace the Cross" along with the suffering Lord. Resignation is not enough; there must be a generous, willed welcome to hardships and dryness in prayer.

3. There is the typical teresian insistence on daily fidelity to the divine will: "all that the beginner in prayer has to do .... Is to labor and be resolute and prepare himself with all possible diligence to bring his will into conformity with the will of God."

4. When one falls, there is no reason to lose heart but rather to continue making serious efforts toward progressing

5. People in the second mansions need to exercise fidelity to prayer. We cannot enter heaven without first entering our own souls, getting to know ourselves better, reflecting on the divine goodness and our need for mercy: "the door by which we can enter this castle is prayer." There is no other, for Jesus is Himself the door.

The Third Mansions

Once again Teresa speaks more of preparation than she does of prayer in her description of the third mansions. Those in the third mansions are still using discursive prayer exclusively, but they have come along way on their journey. St. Teresa says the following about those that have reached the third mansions:

As for those who, by the mercy of God, have vanquished in these combats and persevered until they reached the third mansions, what can we say to them but 'blessed is the man that feareth the Lord'? ..... We may well call these souls blessed, for, as far as we can tell, unless they turn back in their course they are on safe the safe road to salvation. Now, my sisters, you see how important it is for them to conquer in their former struggles, for I am convinced that our Lord will henceforth never cease to keep them in security of conscience, which is no small boon.

Note that in the above, although she is writing to religious, she is talking about lay people also. St. Teresa believed all could grow in holiness and reach the last mansions. When speaking of those in the third mansions she says:

there are many souls in the world. These men and women of tender conscience are careful not to offend God: They avoid committing even venial sins; they love doing penance; they spend hours in recollection; they use their time well; they practice works of charity toward their neighbors; and they are very careful in their speech and dress and in the government of their household if they have one.

As we complete our discussion of the third mansions I would like to point out what St. Teresa had to say about those in the first three mansions and those in the last mansions. She points out that in the first three mansions human nature is an oppressive burden on the spirit, it is like a great load of the earth. In the latter mansions it will be different.

The Forth Mansions

Now we come to where according to St. Teresa infused contemplation starts. Fr. Dubay summarizes infused contemplation in contemporary ter, prolonged. ms this way:

Infused Contemplation is a divinely given, general, nonconceptual, loving awareness of God. There are no images, no concepts, no ideas, no visions. Sometimes this awareness of God takes the form of a loving attention, sometimes of a dry desire, sometimes of a strong thirsting. None of these experiences is the result of reading or reasoning -- they are given, received. The infusion is serene, purifying. It can be delicate and brief, or in advanced stages burning, powerful, absorbing, prolonged. Always it is transformative of the person, usually imperceptible and gradually but on occasion obviously and suddenly.

St. Teresa uses a water analogy to help explain the change from actively produced discursive prayer and infused prayer Discursive prayer for us is much like filling a bucket with water and transporting a long distance. Infused prayer is like having a bucket filled because it rest in the very source. Which, of course, in the case of prayer is God.

In describing infused prayer in the forth mansions St. Teresa describes two types of infused prayer:

1. The Initial recollection, and

2. The prayer of quiet.

She says that almost always those entering into the forth mansions will receive the prayer of recollection, which is an infused and gentle awareness given by God, and not produced by human effort. According to Fr. Dubay the key to the forth mansions is the occupation of the will with God. At the moment when this prayer is given, the soul is captive and is not free to love anything but God.

The Fifth through Seventh Mansions

By this time you have some idea of what contemplation is and what it is not. Most importantly you should understand that it is not something we bring about, but a gift from God. All we can do is prepare ourselves to receive this gift.

I feel that further discussion of the Mansions is going beyond the scope of this course which is to introduce people to the range of prayer and give sufficent information to you to assist in developing an effective prayer life. For those of you wanting more information on contemplation I would suggest Father Dubay's book Fire Within.