The Rule of Saint Albert

[1] Albert, called by God’s favour to be Patriarch of the Church of Jerusalem, bids health in the Lord and the blessing of the Holy Spirit to his beloved sons in Christ, B. and the other hermits living under obedience to him, who live near the spring on Mount Carmel.

[2] Many and varied are the ways in which our saintly forefathers laid down how everyone, whatever his station or the kind of religious observance he has chosen, should live a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ – how, pure in heart and stout in conscience, he must be unswerving in the service of the Master.

[3] It is to me, however, that you have come for a rule of life in keeping with your avowed purpose, a rule you may hold fast to henceforward; and therefore:

[4] The first thing I require is for you to have a Prior, one of yourselves, who is to be chosen for the office by common consent, or that of the greater and maturer part of you. Each of the others must promise him obedience – of which, once promised, he must try to make his deeds the true reflection – and also chastity and the renunciation of ownership.

[5] If the Prior and the brothers see fit, you may have foundations in solitary places, or where you are given a site suitable and convenient for the observance proper to your Order.

[6] Next, each one of you is to have a separate cell, situated as the lie of the land you propose to occupy may dictate, and allotted by disposition of the Prior with the agreement of the other brothers, or the more mature among them.

[7] However, you are to eat whatever may have been given you in a common refectory, listening together meanwhile to a reading from Holy Scripture where that can be done without difficulty.

[8] None of the brothers is to occupy a cell other than that allotted to him, or to exchange cells with another, without leave of whoever is Prior at the time.

[9] The Prior’s cell should stand near the entrance to your property, so that he may be the first to meet those who approach, and whatever has to be done in consequence may all be carried out as he may decide and order.

[10] Each one of you is to stay in his own cell or nearby, pondering the Lord’s law day and night and keeping watch at his prayers unless attending to some other duty.

[11] Those who know how to say the canonical hours with those in orders should do so, in the way those holy forefathers of ours laid down, and according to the Church’s approved custom. Those who do not know the hours must say twenty-five ‘Our Fathers’ for the night office, except on Sundays and solemnities when that number is to be doubled so that the ‘Our Father’ is said fifty times; the same prayer must be said seven times in the morning in place of Lauds, and seven times too for each of the other hours, except for Vespers when it must be said fifteen times.

[12] None of the brothers must lay claim to anything as his own, but you are to possess everything in common; and each is to receive from the Prior – that is from the brother he appoints for the purpose – whatever befits his age and needs.

[13] You may have as many asses and mules as you need, however, and may keep a certain amount of livestock or poultry.

[14] An oratory should be built as conveniently as possible among the cells, where, if it can be done without difficulty, you are to gather each morning to hear Mass.

[15] On Sundays too, or other days if necessary, you should discuss matters of discipline and your spiritual welfare; and on this occasion the indiscretions and failings of the brothers, if any be found at fault, should be lovingly corrected.

[16] You are to fast every day, except Sundays, from the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross until Easter Day, unless bodily sickness or feebleness, or some other good reason, demand a dispensation from the fast; for necessity overrides every law.

[17] You are to abstain from meat, except as a remedy for sickness or feebleness. But as, when you are on a journey, you more often than not have to beg your way, outside your own houses you may eat foodstuffs that have been cooked with meat, so as to avoid giving trouble to your hosts. At sea, however, meat may be eaten.

[18] Since man’s life on earth is a time of trial, and all who would live devotedly in Christ must undergo persecution, and the devil your foe is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking for prey to devour, you must use every care to clothe yourselves in God’s armour so that you may be ready to withstand the enemy’s ambush. 

[19] Your loins are to be girt with chastity, your breast fortified by holy meditations, for as Scripture has it, holy meditation will save you. Put on holiness as your breastplate, and it will enable you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself. Faith must be your shield on all occasions, and with it you will be able to quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked one: there can be no pleasing God without faith; and the victory lies in this – your faith. On your head set the helmet of salvation, and so be sure of deliverance by our only Saviour, who sets his own free from their sins. The sword of the spirit, the word of God, must abound in your mouths and hearts. Let all you do have the Lord’s word for accompaniment.

[20] You must give yourselves to work of some kind, so that the devil may always find you busy; no idleness on your part must give him a chance to pierce the defences of your souls. In this respect you have both the teaching and the example of Saint Paul the Apostle, into whose mouth Christ put his own words. God made him preacher and teacher of faith and truth to the nations: with him as your teacher you cannot go astray. We lived among you, he said, labouring and weary, toiling night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you; not because we had no power to do otherwise but so as to give you, in your own selves, as an example you might imitate. For the charge we gave you when we were with you was this: that whoever is not willing to work should not be allowed to eat either. For we have heard that there are certain restless idlers among you. We charge people of this kind, and implore them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they earn their own bread by silent toil. This is the way of holiness and goodness: see that you follow it.

[21] The Apostle would have us keep silence, for in silence he tells us to work. As the Prophet also makes known to us: Silence is the way to foster holiness. Elsewhere he says: Your strength will lie in silence and hope. For this reason I lay down that you are to keep silence from after Compline until after Prime the next day. At other times, although you need not keep silence so strictly, be careful not to indulge in a great deal of talk, for as Scripture has it – and experience teaches us no less – Sin will not be wanting where there is much talk, and He who is careless in speech will come to harm; and elsewhere: The use of many words brings harm to the speaker’s soul. And our Lord says in the Gospel: Every rash word uttered will have to be accounted for on judgment day. Make a balance then, each of you, to weigh his words in; keep a tight rein on your mouths, lest you should stumble and fall in speech, and your fall be irreparable and prove mortal. Like the Prophet, watch your step lest your tongue give offence, and employ every care in keeping silent, which is the way to foster holiness.

[22] You, brother B., and whoever may succeed you as Prior, must always keep in mind and put into practice what our Lord said in the Gospel: Whoever has a mind to become a leader among you must make yourself servant to the rest, and whichever of you would be first must become your bondsman. 

[23] You other brothers too, hold your Prior in humble reverence, your minds not on him but on Christ who has placed him over you, and who, to those who rule the Churches, addressed these words: Whoever pays you heed pays heed to me, and whoever treats you with dishonour dishonours me; if you remain so minded you will not be found guilty of contempt, but will merit life eternal as fit reward for your obedience.

[24] Here then are a few points I have written down to provide you with a standard of conduct to live up to; but our Lord, at his second coming, will reward anyone who does more than he is obliged to do. See that the bounds of common sense are not exceeded, however, for common sense is the guide of the virtues.

The Heart of the World

 

 The Message of Monastic Life

 by Fr. Thomas Keating

Monastic life has been the guardian of much of Christian spirituality throughout the ages. Christian monasticism dates from the early part of the fourth century. It sprang up almost simultaneously in Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor While it expressed its inspiration in various concrete forms, all of them shared the same fundamental dedication to the search for God through silence, solitude, simplicity of lifestyle, and a discipline of prayer. These spiritual values were generally lived within a community which provided an environment conducive to the search for God.

Spiritual development is the birthright of every man and woman, not only of cloistered monks and nuns. Monastic life is simply a professional way of going about it. While the world as a whole tends to neglect and forget the knowledge of how to pursue and live a spiritual life, the monastic world has been occupied through the ages in trying to preserve that knowledge. At this moment of history, there are large numbers of genuine seekers after truth. Many of them never had a specific commitment to one of the Christian denominations, or even to any religion.

Others, who were raised as Christians or Jews, never heard any challenge to lead an interior life of prayer and union with God in their local churches or church-related schools.

During the last three or four centuries, the Christian spirituality of earlier times has become lost to view, and it is principally in monasteries that a continuing tradition of contemplation has been handed down. For this reason many of these seekers, both Christian and non-Christian, are turning to monasteries for some kind of guidance. This is especially true since the Vatican Council (1961-1965), which set in motion a vast program for the spiritual renewal of the Roman Catholic Church. This movement has awakened the interest of those in other Christian churches and in other religions who are seeking the spiritual renewal of their own traditions.

A contemplative monastery is a visible sign of our common human groping for interiority or wholeness and for what is deepest in human values. It is the sign of the Church’s groping for the fullness of the Christian mystery–oneness with God and with all creation. The monastic life-style is designed to lead those who enter it into a new attitude towards all reality. A certain measure of solitude and silence, and the practice of the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, reduce the distracting stimuli which reinforce our view of ourselves and the world. This gradual silencing of our habitual ways of thinking and reacting opens up our awareness to other realities and other values, especially the value of every other human being at the deepest level. The ultimate purpose of monastic life is to experience oneness with everyone else–and to bear all the consequences of that experience.

A certain experience of God is quite common in the population. People do not talk about it because they think that if they mention their experience to their friends, everyone will think they are crazy. People who are not even religiously minded have an experience of transcendence now and then, but they do not know how to articulate it. If they should hear a few words indicating knowledge of an experience which is beyond thoughts, which is very peaceful, and which arises spontaneously, this will awaken memories of experiences which were very real to them at one time. We have to begin to understand that it is normal to be contemplative; it just needs to be cultivated.

Have you ever experienced a few moments of interior silence? How would you describe it? Is there not a sense of a very deep, all-pervading peace, a sense of well-being, and a delicate joy, all at once? Why is it such a difficult state to maintain or return to? It seems easier to forget about the whole experience than to be plagued by the pain of lingering outside a door that seems to be locked from the inside. Yet, in spite of this lingering pain, the repeated experience of interior silence is a need that everyone has in order to be fully human. Our capacity for the transcendent is precisely what distinguishes us most from the rest of visible creation. It is what makes us most human.

A while ago a group of university students visited the Abbey on a field trip in connection with a course in mysticism they were taking in school. After a few brief introductions, they wanted to know about my past life, my reasons for entering the monastery, and what possessed me to reach such a decision. Having answered as best I could without completely undermining my reputation, I said to them, “May I now ask you a question? Have you ever experienced a few moments of interior silence?”

They thought about that for a few moments, and then, very gradually, began to respond. I doubt if any of them were church-goers. Their professor said later that their interest in Christian mysticism did not coincide with church-going, at least not much of it. It was intriguing to hear four or five of these young people discuss their various experiences of interior silence.

So I pursued it a little further. “What was it like?”

One girl said, “I can remember a few times when I was lying on my bed, and a sense of well-being came over me along with deep interior silence, peace and joy. The only trouble with it was that I couldn’t make it last. There was also no way of getting back to it after it had gone.”

Another made this observation: “It is like having a door inside of you that is normally closed. You would like to get in, but can’t; and yet, every now and then, it just opens up. The feeling is just wonderful. It is like coming home.”

I said, “Well, you can’t make it come about then?”

Several replied at once, “No.”

I said, “If you can’t bring it about, who is it that opens the door?”

They were not prepared to answer that question, except that they knew it was not themselves. As a result of experiencing these moments of interior silence, they seem never to have forgotten the occasions, even if they happened only once. Evidently, the experiences had made a great impression and had influenced their actions for some time afterward. But little by little they faded away, as the students got immersed once again in the daily round. One other point made by these young people was that the experience of inner silence was like being really one’s true self for a few moments, rooted in one’s self. It was a deep affirmation of their being.

Interior silence is a fairly frequent and even ordinary human experience. It is not something given only to very spiritual or holy people. It seems to respond to a real need, as real and vital as eating or sleeping. You can survive, of course, without moments of interior silence, while you cannot survive without eating or sleeping; but a question could be raised about the quality of your survival. If this spiritual need is not appeased, it will take revenge in strange ways, such as an uncomfortable hunger. We may find ourselves trying to cover up the remembrance of this hunger in order not to feel its pangs. A lot of compulsive behavior–drugs, sexual license, hyper activity, work for work’s sake–can be means of escaping from the awareness of this hunger. Nature seems to have provided us with the need of interior silence. We seek it as we seek returning to a place of security, warmth, and love. Christian revelation addresses itself to this natural tendency and tells us Who it is that opens the door and lets us in.

A contemplative monastery is a visible expression of the fact that a state or place of interior silence is really available to all, and that everyone is invited. Such a place possesses a mysterious fascination. People do not come merely to look at the liturgy. They do not come just to sniff incense or pick up religious vibrations in the church. They feel intuitively that a contemplative monastery has something they are looking for. The buildings suggest it; the solitude suggests it; the silence suggests it. A group of people seeking interior silence as a life’s work is a call to others to do something similar in their lives. This call is a significant service in our day; one, however, that is impossible to measure with any kind of tool.

But what are the consequences of responding to this call?

When you reduce the ordinary flow of thoughts and your emotional reactions to them, you enter into a new world of reality. Even on the level of the senses we hear sounds only within a certain frequency or see things at a certain distance. Dogs hear much more than we do. Hawks see much farther than we do. If the range of our senses is limited in these areas, it should be no surprise that there are other levels of awareness that our ordinary sense experiences do not perceive either. This is especially true of the level of spiritual reality, which is the level of the mysteries of the Christian faith. Ordinary hearing does not grasp them. Ordinary seeing does not perceive them. Thus, Jesus repeatedly reminded his listeners, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15), hinting that we must develop a greater capacity for hearing than the external ear alone. Christian tradition teaches that there are faculties of finer spiritual perception which develop in a climate of interior silence.

The principal means monks use to cultivate interior silence–external silence, a certain measure of solitude, and a non-possessive attitude–can be put into a concentrated form, like a capsule, to be taken daily, or several times a day. The traditional word for this is contemplative prayer.

Mary of Bethany gives us an example of how we might proceed. In the Gospel of Luke we read that “she seated herself at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching” (Luke 10:39). It is clear from the remarks of Jesus in her defense that she was engaged in some special kind of activity of greater value than Martha’s in preparation of his meal. Mary was listening to the Word of God–the divine person–a reality deeper than the human words falling upon her sense of hearing and resounding in her imagination. She was listening with her whole being. Her identity was melting into the presence of the Word of God within her. John, resting in the bosom of Jesus at the Last Supper, prayed in the same way that Mary of Bethany listened. He was not thinking or talking, but resting.

Contemplative prayer allows the hunger and thirst for God to well up. “On the last and great day of the Feast, Jesus stood up in the Temple and cried out with a loud voice: “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. Out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water. This he said of the Holy Spirit who was to be given to those who believe”‘ (John 7:37-38). By these words, we are urgently invited to put aside our preoccupations and come to Christ in the depth of our being. This movement and the experience which results from it are the basis for every genuine form of Christian spirituality.

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CHAPTER XIV

Of three Stages by which a Man is led upwards till he attaineth true Perfection.

Now be assured that no one can be enlightened unless he be first cleansed or purified and stripped. So also, no one can be united with God unless he be first enlightened. Thus there are three stages: first, the purification; secondly, the enlightening; thirdly, the union. The purification concerneth those who are beginning or repenting, and is brought to pass in a threefold wise; by contrition and sorrow for sin, by full confession, by hearty amendment, The enlightening belongeth to such as are growing, and also taketh place in three ways: to wit, by the eschewal of sin, by the practice of virtue and good works, and by the willing endurance of all manner of temptation and trials. The union belongeth to such as are perfect, and also is brought to pass in three ways: to wit, by pureness and singleness of heart, by love, and by the contemplation of God, the Creator of all things.

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CHAPTER ~ XIII

How a Man may cast aside Images too soon.

Tauler saith: ” There be some men at the present time, who take leave of types and symbols too soon, before they have drawn out all the truth and instruction contained therein.” Hence they are scarcely or perhaps never able to understand the truth aright. For such men will follow no one, and lean unto their own understandings, and desire to fly before they are fledged. They would fain mount up to heaven in one flight; albeit Christ did not so, for after His resurrection, He remained full forty days with His beloved disciples. No one can be made perfect in a day. A man must begin by denying himself, and willingly forsaking all things for God’s sake, and must give up his own will, and all his natural inclinations, and separate and cleanse himself thoroughly from all sins and evil ways. After this, let him humbly take up the cross and follow Christ. Also let him take and receive example and instruction, reproof, counsel and teaching from devout and perfect servants of God, and not follow his own guidance. Thus the work shall be established and come to a good end. And when a man hath thus broken loose from and outleaped all temporal things and creatures, he may afterwards become perfect in a life of contemplation. For he who will have the one must let the other go. There is no other way.

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CHAPTER ~ XII

Touching that true inward Peace, which Christ left to His Disciples at the last.

Many say they have no peace nor rest, but so many crosses and trials, afflictions and sorrows, that they know not how they shall ever get through them. Now he who in truth will perceive and take note, perceiveth clearly, that true peace and rest lie not in outward things; for if it were so, the Evil Spirit also would have peace when things go according to his will which is nowise the case; for the prophet declareth, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked”. And therefore we must consider and see what is that peace which Christ left to His disciples at the last, when He said: “My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” We may perceive that in these words Christ did not mean a bodily and outward peace; for His beloved disciples, with all His friends and followers, have ever suffered, from the beginning, great affliction, persecution, nay, often martyrdom, as Christ Himself said: “In this world ye shall have tribulation.” But Christ meant that true, inward peace of the heart, which beginneth here, and endureth for ever hereafter. Therefore He said: “Not as the world giveth,” for the world is false, and deceiveth in her gifts. She promiseth much, and performeth little. Moreover there liveth no man on earth who may always have rest and peace without troubles and crosses, with whom things always go according to his will; there is always something to be suffered here, turn which way you will. And as soon as you are quit of one assault, perhaps two come in its place. Wherefore yield thyself willingly to them, and seek only that true peace of the heart, which none can take away from thee, that thou mayest overcome all assaults.

Thus then, Christ meant that inward peace which can break through all assaults and crosses of oppression, suffering, misery, humiliation and what more there may be of the like, so that a man may be joyful and patient therein, like the beloved disciples and followers of Christ. Now he who will in love give his whole diligence and might thereto, will verily come to know that true eternal peace which is God Himself, as far as it is possible to a creature; insomuch that what was bitter to him before, shall become sweet, and his heart shall remain unmoved under all changes, at all times, and after this life, he shall attain unto everlasting peace.

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CHAPTER ~ XI

How a righteous Man in this present Time is brought into hell, and there cannot be comforted, and how he is taken out of Hell and carried into Heaven, and there cannot be troubled.

Christ’s soul must needs descend into hell, before it ascended into heaven. So must also the soul of man. But mark ye in what manner this cometh to pass. When a man truly Perceiveth and considereth himself, who and what he is, and findeth himself utterly vile and wicked, and unworthy of all the comfort and kindness that he hath ever received from God, or from the creatures, he falleth into such a deep abasement and despising of himself, that he thinketh himself unworthy that the earth should bear him, and it seemeth to him reasonable that all creatures in heaven and earth should rise up against him and avenge their Creator on him, and should punish and torment him; and that he were unworthy even of that. And it seemeth to him that he shall be eternally lost and damned, and a footstool to all the devils in hell, and that this is right and just and all too little compared to his sins which he so often and in so many ways hath committed against God his Creator. And therefore also he will not and dare not desire any consolation or release, either from God or from any creature that is in heaven or on earth; but he is willing to be unconsoled and unreleased, and he doth not grieve over his condemnation and sufferings; for they are right and just, and not contrary to God, but according to the will of God. Therefore they are right in his eyes, and he hath nothing to say against them. Nothing grieveth him but his own guilt and wickedness; for that is not right and is contrary to God, and for that cause he is grieved and troubled in spirit.

This is what is meant by true repentance for sin. And he who in this Present time entereth into this hell, entereth afterward into the Kingdom of Heaven, and obtaineth a foretaste there of which excelleth all the delight and joy which he ever hath had or could have in this present time from temporal things. But whilst a man is thus in hell, none may console him, neither God nor the creature, as it is written, “In hell there is no redemption.” Of this state hath one said, “Let me perish, let me die! I live without hope; from within and from without I am condemned, let no one pray that I may be released.”

Now God hath not forsaken a man in this hell, but He is laying His hand upon him, that the man may not desire nor regard anything but the Eternal Good only, and may come to know that that is so noble and passing good, that none can search out or express its bliss, consolation and joy, peace, rest and satisfaction. And then, when the man neither careth for, nor seeketh, nor desireth, anything but the Eternal Good alone, and seeketh not himself, nor his own things, but the honour of God only, he is made a partaker of all manner of joy, bliss, peace, rest and consolation, and so the man is henceforth in the Kingdom of Heaven.

This hell and this heaven are two good, safe ways for a man in this present time, and happy is he who truly findeth them.

For this hell shall pass away, But Heaven shall endure for aye.

Also let a man mark, when he is in this hell, nothing may console him; and he cannot believe that he shall ever be released or comforted. But when he is in heaven, nothing can trouble him; he believeth also that none will ever be able to offend or trouble him, albeit it is indeed true, that after this hell he may be comforted and released, and after this heaven he may be troubled and left without consolation.

Again: this hell and this heaven come about a man in such sort, that he knoweth not whence they come; and whether they come to him, or depart from him, he can of himself do nothing towards it. Of these things he can neither give nor take away from himself, bring them nor banish them, but as it is written, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,” that is to say, at this time present, “but thou knowest not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.” And when a man is in one of these two states, all is right with him, and he is as safe in hell as in heaven, and so long as a man is on earth, it is possible for him to pass ofttimes from the one into the other; nay even within the space of a day and night, and all without his own doing. But when the man is in neither of these two states he holdeth converse with the creature, and wavereth hither and thither, and knoweth not what manner of man he is. Therefore he shall never forget either of them, but lay up the remembrance of them in his heart.

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CHAPTER ~ X

How the perfect Men have no other Desire than that they may be to the Eternal Goodness what His Hand is to a Man, and how they have lost the Fear of Hell, and Hope of Heaven.

Now let us mark: Where men are enlightened with the true light, they perceive that all which they might desire or choose, is nothing to that which all creatures, as creatures, ever desired or chose or knew,

Therefore they renounce all desire and choice, and commit and commend themselves and all things to the Eternal Goodness. Nevertheless, there remaineth in them a desire to go forward and get nearer to the Eternal Goodness; that is, to come to a clearer knowledge, and warmer love, and more comfortable assurance, and perfect obedience and subjection; so that every enlightened man could say: “I would fain be to the Eternal Goodness, what His own hand is to a man.” And he feareth always that he is not enough so, and longeth for the salvation of all men. And such men do not call this longing their own, nor take it unto themselves, for they know well that this desire is not of man, but of the Eternal Goodness; for whatsoever is good shall no one take unto himself as his own, seeing that it belongeth to the Eternal Goodness, only.

Moreover, these men are in a state of freedom, because they have lost the fear of pain or hell, and the hope of reward or heaven, but are living in pure submission to the Eternal Goodness, in the perfect freedom of fervent love. This mind was in Christ in perfection, and is also in His followers, in some more, and in some less. But it is a sorrow and shame to think that the Eternal Goodness is ever most graciously guiding and drawing us, and we will not yield to it. What is better and nobler than true poorness in spirit? Yet when that is held up before us, we will have none of it, but are always seeking ourselves, and our own things. We like to have our mouths always filled with good things, that we may have in ourselves a lively taste of pleasure and sweetness. When this is so, we are well pleased, and think it standeth not amiss with us. But we are yet a long way off from a perfect life. For when God will draw us up to something higher, that is, to an utter loss and forsaking of our own things, spiritual and natural, and withdraweth His comfort and sweetness from us, we faint and are troubled, and can in no wise bring our minds to it; and we forget God and neglect holy exercises, and fancy we are lost for ever. This is a great error and a bad sign. For a true lover of God, loveth Him or the Eternal Goodness alike, in having and in not having, in sweetness and bitterness, in good or evil report, and the like, for he seeketh alone the honour of God, and not his own, either in spiritual or natural things. And therefore he standeth alike unshaken in all things, at all seasons. Hereby let every man prove himself, how he standeth towards God, his Creator and Lord.

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CHAPTER ~ IX

How it is better and more profitable for a Man that he should perceive what God will do with him, or to what end He will make Use of him, than if he knew all that Gad had ever wrought, or would ever work through all the Creatures; and how Blessedness lieth alone in God, and not in the Creatures, or in any Works.

We should mark and know of a very truth that all manner of virtue and goodness, and even that Eternal Good which is God Himself, can never make a man virtuous, good, or happy, so long as it is outside the soul; that is, so long as the man is holding converse with outward things through his senses and reason, and doth not withdraw into himself and learn to understand his own life, who and what he is. The like is true of sin and evil. For all manner of sin and wickedness can never make us evil, so long as it is outside of us; that is, so long as we do not commit it, or do not give consent to it.

Therefore although it be good and profitable that we should ask, and learn and know, what good and holy men have wrought and suffered, and how God hath dealt with them, and what He hath wrought in and through them, yet it were a thousand times better that we should in ourselves learn and perceive and understand, who we are, how and what our own life is, what God is and is doing in us, what He will have from us, and to what ends He will or will not make use of us. For, of a truth, thoroughly to know oneself, is above all art, for it is the highest art. If thou knowest thyself well, thou art better and more praiseworthy before God, than if thou didst not know thyself, but didst understand the course of the heavens and of all the planets and stars, also the dispositions of all mankind, also the nature of all beasts, and, in such matters, hadst all the skill of all who are in heaven and on earth. For it is said, there came a voice from heaven, saying, “Man, know thyself.” Thus that proverb is still true, “Going out were never so good, but staying at home were much better.”

Further, ye should learn that eternal blessedness lieth in one thing alone, and in nought else. And if ever man or the soul is to be made blessed, that one thing alone must be in the soul. Now some might ask, “But what is that one thing?” I answer, it is Goodness, or that which hath been made good; and yet neither this good nor that, which we can name, or perceive or show; but it is all and above all good things.

Moreover, it needeth not to enter into the soul, for it is there already, only it is unperceived. When we say we should come unto it, we mean that we should seek it, feel it, and taste it. And now since it is One, unity and singleness is better than manifoldness. For blessedness lieth not in much and many, but in One and oneness. In one word, blessedness lieth not in any creature, or work of the creatures, but it lieth alone in God and in His works. Therefore I must wait only on God and His work, and leave on one side all creatures with their works, and first of all myself. In like manner all the great works and wonders that God has ever wrought or shall ever work in or through the creatures, or even God Himself with all His goodness, so far as these things exist or are done outside of me, can never make me blessed, but only in so far as they exist and are done and loved, known, tasted and felt within me.

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CHAPTER ~ VIII

How the Soul of Man, while it is yet in the Body, may obtain a Foretaste of eternal Blessedness.

It hath been asked whether it be possible for the soul, while it is yet in the body, to reach so high as to cast a, glance into eternity, and receive a foretaste of eternal life and eternal blessedness. This is commonly denied; and truly so in a sense. For it indeed cannot be so long as the soul is taking heed to the body, and the things which minister and appertain thereto, and to time and the creature, and is disturbed and troubled and distracted thereby. For if the soul shall rise to such a state, she must be quite pure, wholly stripped and bare of all images, and be entirely separate from all creatures, and above all from herself. Now many think this is not to be done and is impossible in this present time. But St. Dionysius maintains that it is possible, as we find from his words in his Epistle to Timothy, where he saith: “For the beholding of the hidden things of God, shalt thou forsake sense and the things of the flesh, and all that the senses can apprehend, and that reason of her own powers can bring forth, and all things created and uncreated that reason is able to comprehend and know, and shalt take thy stand upon an utter abandonment of thyself, and as knowing none of the aforesaid things, and enter into union with Him who is, and who is above all existence and all knowledge.” Now if he did not hold this to be possible in this present time, why should he teach it and enjoin it on us in this present time But it behoveth you to know that a master hath said on this passage of St. Dionysius, that it is possible, and may happen to a man often, till he become so accustomed to it, as to be able to look into eternity whenever he will. For when a thing is at first very hard to a man and strange, and seemingly quite impossible, if he put all his strength and energy into it, and persevere therein, that will afterward grow quite light and easy, which he at first thought quite out of reach, seeing that it is of no use to begin any work, unless it may be brought to a good end.

And a single one of these excellent glances is better, worthier, higher and more pleasing to God, than all that the creature can perform as a creature. And as soon as a man turneth himself in spirit, and with his whole heart and mind entereth into the mind of God which is above time, all that ever he hath lost is restored in a moment. And if a man were to do thus a thousand times in a day, each time a fresh and real union would take place; and in this sweet and divine work standeth the truest and fullest union that may be in this present time. For he who hath attained thereto, asketh nothing further, for he hath found the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life on earth.

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CHAPTER ~VII

Of the Eyes of the Spirit wherewith Man looketh into Eternity and into Time, and how the one is hindered of the other in its Working.

Let us remember how it is written and said that the soul of Christ had two eyes, a right and a left eye. In the beginning, when the soul of Christ was created, she fixed her right eye upon eternity and the Godhead, and remained in the full intuition and enjoyment of the divine Essence and Eternal Perfection; and continued thus unmoved and undisturbed by all the accidents and travail, suffering, torment and pain that ever befell the outward man. But with the left eye she beheld the creature and perceived all things therein, and took note of the difference between the creatures, which were better or worse, nobler or meaner; and thereafter was the outward man of Christ ordered.

Thus the inner man of Christ, according to the right eye of His soul, stood in the full exercise of His divine nature, in perfect blessedness, joy and eternal peace. But the outward man and the left eye of Christ’s soul, stood with Him in perfect suffering, in all tribulation, affliction and travail; and this in such sort that the inward and right eye remained unmoved, unhindered and untouched by all the travail, suffering, grief and anguish that ever befell the outward man. It hath been said that when Christ was bound to the pillar and scourged, and when He hung upon the cross, according to the outward man, yet His inner man, or soul according to the right eye, stood in as full possession of divine joy and blessedness as it did after His ascension, or as it doth now. In like manner His outward man, or soul with the left eye, was never hindered, disturbed or troubled by the inward eye in its contemplation of the outward things that belonged to it.

Now the created soul of man hath also two eyes. The one is the power of seeing into eternity, the other of seeing into time and the creatures, of perceiving how they differ from each other as afore-said, of giving life and needful things to the body, and ordering and governing it for the best. But these two eyes of the soul of man cannot both perform their work at once; but if the__soul shall see with the right eye into eternity, then the left eye must close itself and refrain from working, and be as though it were dead.

For if the left eye be fulfilling its office toward outward things; that is, holding converse with time and the creatures; then must the right eye be hindered in its working; that is, in its contemplation. Therefore whosoever will have the one must let the other go; for “no man can serve two masters.”

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CH A P T E R ~ VI

How that which is best and noblest should also be loved above all Things by us, merely because it is the best.

A Master called Boetius saith, “It is of sin that we do not love that which is Best.” He hath spoken the truth. That which is best should be the dearest of all things to us; and in our love of it, neither helpfulness nor unhelpfulness, advantage nor injury, gain nor loss, honour nor dishonour, praise nor blame, nor anything of the kind should be regarded; but what is in truth the noblest and best of all things, should be also the dearest of all things, and that for no other cause than that it is the noblest and best.

Hereby may a man order his life within and without. His outward life: for among the creatures one is better than another, according as the Eternal Good manifesteth itself and worketh more in one than in another. Now that creature in which the Eternal Good most manifesteth itself, shineth forth, worketh, is most known and loved, is the best, and that wherein the Eternal Good is least manifested is the least good of all creatures. Therefore when we have to do with the creatures and hold converse with them, and take note of their diverse qualities, the best creatures must always be the dearest to us, and we must cleave to them, and unite ourselves to them, above all to those which we attribute to God as belonging to Him or divine, such as wisdom, truth, kindness, peace, love, justice, and the like. Hereby shall we order our outward man, and all that is contrary to these virtues we must eschew and flee from.

But if our inward man were to make a leap and spring into the Perfect, we should find and taste how that the Perfect is without measure, number or end, better and nobler than all which is imperfect and in part, and the Eternal above the temporal or perishable, and the fountain and source above all that floweth or can ever flow from it. Thus that which is imperfect and in part would become tasteless and be as nothing to us. Be assured of this: All that we have said must come to pass if we are to love that which is noblest, highest and best.

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C H A P T E R ~ V

How we are to take that Saying, that we must come to be without Will, Wisdom, Love, Desire, Knowledge, and the like.

CERTAIN men say that we ought to be without will, wisdom, love, desire, knowledge, and the like. Hereby is not to be understood that there is to be no knowledge in man, and that God is not to be loved by him, nor desired and longed for, nor praised and honoured; for that were a great loss, and man were like the beasts [and as the brutes that have no reason]. But it meaneth that man’s knowledge should be so clear and perfect that he should acknowledge of a truth [that in himself he neither hath nor can do any good thing, and that none of his knowledge, wisdom and art, his will, love and good works do come from himself, nor are of man, nor of any creature, but] that all these are of the eternal God, from whom they all proceed. [As Christ Himself saith, “Without Me, ye can do nothing.” St. Paul saith also, “What hast thou that thou hast not received?” As much as to say — nothing. “Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” Again he saith, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.”] Now when a man duly perceiveth these things in himself, he and the creature fall behind, and he doth not call anything his own, and the less he taketh this knowledge unto himself, the more perfect doth it become. So also is it with the will, and love and desire, and the like. For the less we call these things our own, the more perfect and noble and Godlike do they become, and the more we think them our own, the baser and less pure and perfect do they become.

Behold on this sort must we cast all things from us, and strip ourselves of them; we must refrain from claiming anything for our own. When we do this, we shall have the best, fullest, clearest and noblest knowledge that a man can have, and also the noblest and purest love, will and desire; for then these will be all of God alone. It is much better that they should be God’s than the creature’s. Now that I ascribe anything good to myself, as if I were, or had done, or knew, or could perform any good thing, or that it were mine, this is all of sin and folly. For if the truth were rightly known by me, I should also know that I am not that good thing and that it is not mine, nor of me, and that I do not know it, and cannot do it, and the like. If this came to pass, I should needs cease to call anything my own.

It is better that God, or His works, should be known, as far as it be possible to us, and loved, praised and honoured, and the like, and even that man should vainly imagine he loveth or praiseth God, than that God should be altogether unpraised, unloved, unhonoured and unknown. For when the vain imagination and ignorance are turned into an understanding and knowledge of the truth, the claiming anything for our own will cease of itself. Then the man says: “Behold! I, poor fool that I was, imagined it was I, but behold! it is and was, of a truth, God!”

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C H A P T E R ~ IV

How Man, when he claimeth any good Thing for his own, falleth, and toucheth God in His Honour.

GOD saith, “I will not give My glory to another.” This is as much as to say, that praise and honour and glory belong to none but to God only. But now, if I call any good thing my own, as if I were it, or of myself had power or did or knew anything, or as if anything were mine or of me, or belonged to me, or were due to me or the like, I take unto myself somewhat of honour and glory, and do two evil things: First, I fall and go astray as aforesaid: Secondly, I touch God in His honour and take unto myself what belongeth to God only. For all that must be called good belongeth to none but to the true eternal Goodness which is God only, and whoso taketh it unto himself, committeth unrighteousness and is against God.

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C H A P T E R ~ III

How Man’s Fall and going astray must be amended as Adam’s Fall was.

WHAT else did Adam do but this same thing? It is said, it was because Adam ate the apple that he was lost, or fell. I say, it was because of his claiming something for his own, and because of his I, Mine, Me, and the like. Had he eaten seven apples, and yet never claimed anything for his own, he would not have fallen: but as soon as he called something his own, he fell, and would have fallen if he had never touched an apple. Behold! I have fallen a hundred times more often and deeply, and gone a hundred times farther astray than Adam; and not all mankind could mend his fall, or bring him back from going astray. But how shall my fall be amended? It must be healed as Adam’s fall was healed, and on the self-same wise. By whom, and on what wise was that healing brought to pass? Mark this: man could not without God, and God should not without man. Wherefore God took human nature or manhood upon Himself and was made man, and man was made divine. Thus the healing was brought to pass. So also must my fall be healed. I cannot do the work without God, and God may not or will not without me; for if it shall be accomplished, in me, too, God must be made man; in such sort that God must take to Himself all that is in me, within and without, so that there may be nothing in me which striveth against God or hindereth His Work. Now if God took to Himself all men that are in the world, or ever were, and were made man in them, and they were made divine in Him, and this work were not fulfilled in me, my fall and my wandering would never be amended except it were fulfilled in me also. And in this bringing back and healing, I can, or may, or shall do nothing of myself, but just simply yield to God, so that He alone may do all things in me and work, and I may suffer Him and all His work and His divine will. And because I will not do so, but I count myself to be my own, and say “I,” “Mine,” “Me” and the like, God is hindered, so that He cannot do His work in me alone and without hindrance; for this cause my fall and my going astray remain unhealed. Behold! this all cometh of my claiming somewhat for my own.

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C H A P T E R ~ II

Of what Sin is, and how we must not take unto ourselves any good Thing, seeing that it belongeth unto the true Good alone.

THE Scripture and the Faith and the Truth say, Sin is nought else, but that the creature turneth away from the unchangeable Good and betaketh itself to the changeable; that is to say, that it turneth away from the Perfect to “that which is in part” and imperfect, and most often to itself. Now mark: when the creature claimeth for its own anything good, such as Substance, Life, Knowledge, Power, and in short whatever we should call good, as if it were that, or possessed that, or that were itself, or that proceeded from it, — as often as this cometh to pass, the creature goeth astray. What did the devil do else, or what was his going astray and his fall else, but that he claimed for himself to be also somewhat, and would have it that somewhat was his, and somewhat was due to him? This setting up of a claim and his I and Me and Mine, these were his going astray, and his fall. And thus it is to this day.

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Of that which is perfect and that which is in part, and how that which is in part is done away, when that which is perfect is come.

ST. PAUL saith, “When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” Now mark what is “that which is perfect,” and “that which is in part.”

“That which is perfect” is a Being, who hath comprehended and included all things in Himself and His own Substance, and without whom, and beside whom, there is no true Substance, and in whom all things have their Substance. For He is the Substance of all things, and is in Himself unchangeable and immoveable, and changeth and moveth all things else. But “that which is in part,” or the Imperfect, is that which hath its source in, or springeth from the Perfect; just as a brightness or a visible appearance floweth out from the sun or a candle, and appeareth to be somewhat, this or that. And it is called a creature; and of all these “things which are in part,” none is the Perfect. So also the Perfect is none of the things which are in part. The things which are in part can be apprehended, known, and expressed; but the Perfect cannot be apprehended, known, or expressed by any creature as creature. Therefore we do not give a name to the Perfect, for it is none of these. The creature as creature cannot know nor apprehend it, name nor conceive it.

“Now when that which is Perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” But when doth it come? I say, when as much as may be, it is known, felt and tasted of the soul. [For the lack lieth altogether in us, and not in it. In like manner the sun lighteth the whole world, and is as near to one as another, yet a blind man seeth it not; but the fault thereof lieth in the blind man, not in the sun. And like as the sun may not hide its brightness, but must give light unto the earth (for heaven indeed draweth its light and heat from another fountain), so also God, who is the highest Good, willeth not to hide Himself from any, wheresoever He findeth a devout soul, that is thoroughly purified from all creatures. For in what measure we put off the creature, in the same measure are we able to put on the Creator; neither more nor less. For if mine eye is to see anything, it must be single, or else be purified from all other things; and where heat and light enter in, cold and darkness must needs depart; it cannot be otherwise.]

But one might say, “Now since the Perfect cannot be known nor apprehended of any creature, but the soul is a creature, how can it be known by the soul?” Answer: This is why we say, “by the soul as a creature.” We mean it is impossible to the creature in virtue of its creature-nature and qualities, that by which it saith “I” and “myself.” For in whatsoever creature the Perfect shall be known, therein creature-nature, qualities, the I, the Self and the like, must all be lost and done away. This is the meaning of that saying of St. Paul: “When that which is perfect is come” (that is, when it is known), “then that which is in part” (to wit, creature-nature, qualities, the I, the Self, the Mine) will be despised and counted for nought. So long as we think much of these things, cleave to them with love, joy, pleasure or desire, so long remaineth the Perfect unknown to us.

But it might further be said, “Thou sayest, beside the Perfect there is no Substance, yet sayest again that somewhat floweth out from it: now is not that which hath flowed out from it, something beside it?” Answer: This is why we say, beside it, or without it, there is no true Substance. That which hath flowed forth from it, is no true Substance, and hath no Substance except in the Perfect, but is an accident, or a brightness, or a visible appearance, which is no Substance, and hath no Substance except in the fire whence the brightness flowed forth, such as the sun or a candle.

Madame Guyon – (Part 24)

C H A P T E R XXIV.

ON THE PASSIVE WAY TO DIVINE UNION.

IT is impossible to attain Divine Union, solely by the way of meditation, or of the affections, or by any devotion, no matter how illuminated. There are many reasons for this, the chief of which are those which follow.

1. According to Scripture, “no man shall see God and live.” (Exod. xxxiii. 20.) Now all the exercises of discursive prayer, and even of active contemplation, regarded as an end, and not as a mere preparative to that which is passive, are still living exercises, by which we cannot see God; that is to say, be united with him. All that is of man and of his doing, be it never so noble, never so exalted, must first be destroyed.

St. John relates that there was silence in heaven. (Rev. viii. 1.) Now heaven represents the ground and centre of the soul, wherein all must be hushed to silence when the majesty of God appears. All the efforts, nay, the very existence, of self, must be destroyed; because nothing is opposite to God, but self, and all the malignity of man is in self-appropriation, as the source of its evil nature; insomuch that the purity of a soul increases in proportion as it loses this self-hood; and that which was a fault while the soul lived in self-appropriation, is no longer such, after it has acquired purity and innocence, by departing from that self-hood, which caused the dissimilitude between it and God.

2. To unite two things so opposite as the purity of God and the impurity of the creature, the simplicity of God and the multiplicity of man, much more is requisite than the efforts of the creature. Nothing less than an efficacious operation of the Almighty can ever accomplish this; for two things must have some relation or similarity before they can become one; as the impurity of dross cannot be united with the purity of gold.

3. What, then, does God do? He sends his own Wisdom before Him, as fire shall be sent upon the earth, to destroy by its activity all that is impure; and as nothing can resist the power of that fire, but it consumes everything, so this Wisdom destroys all the impurities of the creature, in order to dispose it for divine union.

The impurity which is so fatal to union consists in Self-appropriation and Activity.

Self-appropriation; because it is the source and fountain of all that defilement which can never be allied to essential purity; as the rays of the sun may shine, indeed, upon mire, but can never be united with it.
Activity; for God being in an infinite stillness, the soul, in order to be united to Him, must participate of his stillness, else the contrariety between stillness and activity would prevent assimilation.

Therefore, the soul can never arrive at divine union but in the rest of its will; nor can it ever become one with God, but by being re-established in central rest and in the purity of its first creation.

4. God purifies the soul by his Wisdom, as refiners do metals in the furnace. Gold cannot be purified but by fire, which gradually consumes all that is earthy and foreign, and separates it from the metal. It is not sufficient to fit it for use that the earthy part should be changed into gold; it must then be melted and dissolved by the force of fire, to separate from the mass every drossy or alien particle; and must be again and again cast into the furnace, until it has lost every trace of pollution, and every possibility of being farther purified.

The goldsmith cannot now discover any adulterate mixture, because of its perfect purity and simplicity. The fire no longer touches it; and were it to remain an age in the furnace, its spotlessness would not be increased, nor its substance diminished. It is then fit for the most exquisite workmanship, and if, thereafter, this gold seem obscured or defiled, it is nothing more than an accidental impurity occasioned by the contact of some foreign body, and is only superficial; it is no hinderance to its employment, and is widely different from its former debasement, which was hidden in the ground of its nature, and, as it were, identified with it. Those, however, who are uninstructed, beholding the pure gold sullied by some external pollution, would be disposed to prefer an impure and gross metal, that appeared superficially bright and polished.

5. Farther, the pure and the impure gold are not mingled; before they can be united, they must be equally refined; the goldsmith cannot mix dross and gold. What will he do, then? He will purge out the dross with fire, so that the inferior may become as pure as the other, and then they may be united. This is what St. Paul means, when he declares that “the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1Cor. iii 13); he adds, “If any man’s work be burnt, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.” He here intimates, that there are works so degraded by impure mixtures, that though the mercy of God accepts them, yet they must pass through the fire, to be purged from self; and it is in this sense that God is said to examine and judge our righteousness, because that by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified; but by the righteousness of God, which is by faith in Jesus Christ. (Rom. iii. 20, etc.)

6. Thus we may see that the divine justice and wisdom, like a pitiless and devouring fire, must destroy all that is earthly, sensual, and carnal, and all self-activity, before the soul can be united to its God. Now, this can never be accomplished by the industry of the creature; on the contrary, he always submits to it with reluctance; because, as I have said, he is so enamored of self, and so fearful of its destruction, that did not God act upon him powerfully and with authority, he would never consent.

7. It may, perhaps, be objected here, that as God never robs man of his free will, he can always resist the divine operations; and that I therefore err in saying God acts absolutely, and without the consent of man.

Let me, however, explain. By man’s giving a passive consent, God, without usurpation, may assume full power and an entire guidance; for having, in the beginning of his conversion, made an unreserved surrender of himself to all that God wills of him or by him, he thereby gave an active consent to whatever God might afterwards require. But when God begins to burn, destroy, and purify, the soul does not perceive that these operations are intended for its good, but rather supposes the contrary; and, as the gold at first seems rather to blacken than brighten in the fire, so it conceives that its purity is lost; insomuch, that if an active and explicit consent were then required, the soul could scarcely give it, nay would often withhold it. All it does is to remain firm in its passive consent, enduring as patiently as possible all these divine operations, which it is neither able nor desirous to obstruct.

8. In this manner, therefore, the soul is purified from all its self-originated, distinct, perceptible, and multiplied operations, which constitute a great dissimilitude between it and God; it is rendered by degrees conform, and then uniform; and the passive capacity of the creature is elevated, ennobled, and enlarged, though in a secret and hidden manner, hence called mystical; but in all these operations the soul must concur passively. It is true, indeed, that in the beginning its activity is requisite; from which, however, as the divine operations become stronger, it must gradually cease; yielding itself up to the impulses of the divine Spirit, till it is wholly absorbed in Him. But this is a process which lasts a long time.

9. We do not, then, say, as some have supposed, that there is no need of activity; since, on the contrary, it is the gate; at which, however, we should not always tarry, since we ought to tend towards ultimate perfection, which is impracticable except the first helps are laid aside; for however necessary they may have been at the entrance of the road, they afterwards become greatly detrimental to those who adhere to them obstinately, preventing them from ever attaining the end. This made St. Paul say, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. iii. 13.)

Would you not say that he had lost his senses, who, having undertaken a journey, should fix his abode at the first inn, because he had been told that many travellers had come that way, that some had lodged there, and that the masters of the house dwelt there? All that we wish, then, is, that souls would press toward the end, taking the shortest and easiest road, and not stopping at the first stage. Let them follow the counsel and example of St. Paul, and suffer themselves “to be led by the Spirit of God,” (Rom. viii. 14,) which will infallibly conduct them to the end of their creation, the enjoyment of God.

10. But while we confess that the enjoyment of God is the end for which alone we were created, and that every soul that does not attain divine union and the purity of its creation in this life, can only be saved as by fire, how strange it is, that we should dread and avoid the process; as if that could be the cause of evil and imperfection in the present life, which is to produce the perfection of glory in the life to come.

11. None can be ignorant that God is the Supreme Good; that essential blessedness consists in union with Him; that the saints differ in glory, according as the union is more or less perfect; and that the soul cannot attain this union by the mere activity of its own powers, since God communicates Himself to the soul, in proportion as its passive capacity is great, noble and extensive. We can only be united to God in simplicity and passivity, and as this union is beatitude itself, the way that leads us in this passivity cannot be evil, but must be the most free from danger, and the best.

12. This way is not dangerous. Would Jesus Christ have made this the most perfect and necessary of all ways, had it been so? No! all can travel it; and as all are called to happiness, all are likewise called to the enjoyment of God, both in this life and the next, for that alone is happiness. I say the enjoyment of God himself, and not of his gifts; these latter do not constitute essential beatitude, as they cannot fully content the soul; it is so noble and so great, that the most exalted gifts of God cannot make it happy, unless the Giver also bestows Himself. Now the whole desire of the Divine Being is to give Himself to every creature, according to the capacity with which it is endowed; and yet, alas! how reluctantly man suffers himself to be drawn to God! how fearful is he to prepare for divine union!

13. Some say, that we must not place ourselves in this state. I grant it; but I say also, that no creature could ever do it; since it would not be possible for any, by all their own efforts, to unite themselves to God; it is He alone must do it. It is altogether idle, then, to exclaim against those who are self-united, as such a thing cannot be.

They say again, that some may feign to have attained this state. None can any more feign this, than the wretch who is on the point of perishing with hunger can, for any length of time at least, feign to be full and satisfied. Some wish or word, some sigh or sign, will inevitably escape him, and betray that he is far from being satisfied.

Since then none can attain this end by their own labor, we do not pretend to introduce any into it, but only to point out the way that leads to it: beseeching all not to become attached to the accommodations on the road, external practices, which must all be left behind when the signal is given. The experienced instructor knows this, points to the water of life, and lends his aid to obtain it. Would it not be an unjustifiable cruelty to show a spring to a thirsty man, then bind him so that he could not reach it, and suffer him to die of thirst?

14. This is just what is done every day. Let us all agree in the WAY, as we all agree in the end, which is evident and incontrovertible. The WAY has its beginning, progress, and termination; and the nearer we approach the consummation, the farther is the beginning behind us; it is only by leaving the one, that we can arrive at the other. You cannot get from the entrance to a distant place, without passing over the intermediate space, and, if the end be good, holy, and necessary, and the entrance also good, why should the necessary passage, the direct road leading from the one to the other, be evil?

O the blindness of the greater part of mankind, who pride themselves on science and wisdom! How true is it, O my God, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes!

Madame Guyon – (Part 23)

 

C H A P T E R   XXIII.

AN  EXHORTATION  TO  MINISTERS.

IF all who labored for the conversion of others sought to reach them BY THE HEART, introducing them immediately into prayer and the interior life, numberless and permanent conversions would ensue.  On the contrary, few and transient fruits must attend that labor which is confined to outward matters, such as burdening the disciple with a thousand precepts for external exercises, instead of leading the soul to Christ by the occupation of the heart in Him.

If ministers were solicitous thus to instruct their parishioners, shepherds, while they watched their flocks, would have the spirit of the primitive Christians, and the husbandman at the plough would maintain a blessed intercourse with his God; the manufacturer, while he exhausted his outward man with labor, would be renewed with inward strength; every species of vice would shortly disappear, and every parishioner would become spiritually minded.

2. O when once the HEART is gained, how easily is all the rest corrected! this is why God, above all things, requires the HEART.  By this means alone, we may extirpate the dreadful vices which so prevail among the lower orders, such as drunkenness, blasphemy, lewdness, enmity and theft.  JESUS CHRIST would reign everywhere in peace, and the face of the church would be renewed throughout.

The decay of internal piety is unquestionably the source of the various errors that have appeared in the world; all would speedily be overthrown, were inward devotion re-established.  Errors take possession of no soul, except such as are deficient in faith and prayer; and if, instead of engaging our wandering brethren in constant disputations, we would but teach them simply to believe, and diligently to PRAY, we should lead them sweetly to God.

O how inexpressibly great is the loss sustained by mankind from the neglect of the interior life!  And what an account will those have to render who are entrusted with the care of souls, and have not discovered and communicated to their flock this hidden treasure!

3. Some excuse themselves by saying, that there is danger in this way, or that simple persons are incapable of comprehending the things of the Spirit.  But the oracles of truth affirm the contrary: “The Lord loveth those who walk simply.” (Prov. xii. 22, Vulg.) But what danger can there be in walking in the only true way, which is Jesus Christ, giving ourselves up to Him, fixing our eye continually on Him, placing all our confidence in his grace, and tending with all the strength of our soul to his purest love?

4. The simple ones, so far from being incapable of this perfection, are, by their docility, innocence, and humility, peculiarly qualified for its attainment; and, as they are not accustomed to reasoning, they are less tenacious of their own opinions.  Even from their want of learning, they submit more freely to the teachings of the divine Spirit; whereas others, who are cramped and blinded by self-sufficiency, offer much greater resistance to the operations of grace.

We are told in Scripture that “unto the simple, God giveth the understanding of his law” (Psalm cxix. 130, cxviii. 130, Vulg.): and we are also assured, that God loves to communicate with them: “The Lord careth for the simple; I was reduced to extremity and He saved me.” (Psalm cxiv. 6, cxv. 6, Vulg.)  Let spiritual fathers be careful how they prevent their little ones from coming to Christ; He himself said to his apostles, “Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. xix. 14.)  It was the endeavor of the apostles to prevent children from going to our Lord, which occasioned this command.

5. Man frequently applies a remedy to the outward body, whilst the disease lies at the heart.  The cause of our being so unsuccessful in reforming mankind, especially those of the lower classes, is our beginning with external matters; all our labors in this field, do but produce such fruit as endures not; but if the key of the interior be first given, the exterior would be naturally and easily reformed.

Now this is very easy. To teach man to seek God in his heart, to think of Him, to return to Him whenever he finds he has wandered from Him, and to do and suffer all things with a single eye to please Him, is leading the soul to the source of all grace, and causing it to find there everything necessary for sanctification.

6. I therefore beseech you all, O ye that have the care of souls, to put them at once into this way, which is Jesus Christ; nay, it is He himself that conjures you, by all the blood he has shed for those entrusted to you. “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem!” (Isa. xl. 2, Vulg.)  O ye dispensers of his grace!  preachers of his word!  ministers of his sacraments!  establish his kingdom! — and that it may indeed be established, make Him RULER OVER THE HEART!  For as it is the heart alone that can oppose his sovereignty, it is by the subjection of the heart that his sovereignty is most highly honored: “Give glory to the holiness of God, and he shall become your sanctification.” (Isa. viii. 13, Vulg.)    Compose catechisms expressly to teach prayer, not by reasoning nor by method, for the simple are incapable of that; but to teach the prayer of the heart, not of the understanding; the prayer of God’s Spirit, not of man’s invention.

7. Alas! by directing them to pray in elaborate forms, and to be curiously critical therein, you create their chief obstacles.  The children have been led astray from the best of fathers, by your endeavoring to teach them too refined a language.  Go, then, ye poor children, to your heavenly Father, speak to him in your natural language; rude and barbarous as it may be, it is not so to Him.   A father is better pleased with an address which love and respect have made confused, because he sees that it proceeds from the heart, than he is by a dry and barren harangue, though never so elaborate.  The simple and undisguised emotions of love are infinitely more expressive than all language, and all reasoning.

8. Men have desired to love LOVE by formal rules, and have thus lost much of that love.  O how unnecessary is it to teach an art of loving!  The language of love is barbarous to him that does not love, but perfectly natural to him that does; and there is no better way to learn how to love God, than to love him.  The most ignorant often become the most perfect, because they proceed with more cordiality and simplicity.  The Spirit of God needs none of our arrangements; when it pleases Him, He turns shepherds into Prophets, and, so far from excluding any from the temple of prayer, he throws wide the gates that all may enter; while wisdom is directed to cry aloud in the highways, “Whoso is simple let him turn in hither” (Prov. ix. 4); and to the fools she saith, “Come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.” (Prov. ix. 5.)  And doth not Jesus Christ himself thank his Father for having “hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes?” (Matt. xi. 25.)

Madame Guyon – (Part 22)

C H A P T E R   XXII.

ON  INWARD  AND  OUTWARD  ACTS.

ACTS are distinguished into external and internal. External acts are those which appear outwardly, and bear relation to some sensible object, and have no moral character, except such as they derive from the principle from which they proceed.  I intend here to speak only of internal acts, those energies of the soul, by which it turns internally towards some objects, and away from others.

2. If during my application to God, I should form a will to change the nature of my act, I should thereby withdraw myself from God and turn to created objects, and that in a greater or less degree according to the strength of the act: and if, when I am turned towards the creature, I would return to God, I must necessarily form an act for that purpose; and the more perfect this act is, the more complete is the conversion.

Till conversion is perfected, many reiterated acts are necessary; for it is with some progressive, though with others it is instantaneous.   My act, however, should consist in a continual turning to God, an exertion of every faculty and power of the soul purely for Him, agreeably to the instructions of the son of Sirach: “Re-unite all the motions of thy heart in the holiness of God” (Eccles. xxx. 24,); and to the example of David, “I will keep my whole strength for thee,” (Psalm lix. 9, Vulg.) which is done by earnestly re-entering into ourselves; as Isaiah saith, “Return to your heart” (Isa. xlvi. 8, Vulg.)  For we have strayed from our heart by sin, and it is our heart only that God requires: “My son give me thine heart, and let thine eye observe my ways.” (Prov. xxiii. 26.)  To give the heart to God, is to have the whole energy of the soul ever centering in Him, that we may be rendered conformable to his will.  We must, therefore, continue invariably turned to God, from our first application to Him.

But the spirit being unstable, and the soul accustomed to turn to external objects, it is easily distracted.  This evil, however, will be counteracted if, on perceiving the wandering, we, by a pure act of return to God, instantly replace ourselves in Him; and this act subsists as long as the conversion lasts, by the powerful influence of a simple and unfeigned return to God.

3. As many reiterated acts form a habit, the soul contracts the habit of conversion; and that act which was before interrupted and distinct becomes habitual.

The soul should not, then, be perplexed about forming an act which already subsists, and which, indeed, it cannot attempt to form without very great difficulty; it even finds that it is withdrawn from its proper state, under pretence of seeking that which is in reality acquired, seeing the habit is already formed, and it is confirmed in habitual conversion and habitual love.  It is seeking one act by the help of many, instead of continuing attached to God by one simple act alone.

We may remark, that at times we form with facility many distinct yet simple acts; which shows that we have wandered, and that we re-enter our heart after having strayed from it; yet when we have re-entered, we should remain there in peace.  We err, therefore, in supposing that we must not form acts; we form them continually: but let them be conformable to the degree of our spiritual advancement.

4. The great difficulty with most spiritual people arises from their not clearly comprehending this matter.  Now, some acts are transient and distinct, others are continued, and again, some are direct, and others reflective.  All cannot form the first, neither are all in a state suited to form the others.  The first are adapted to those who have strayed, and who require a distinct exertion, proportioned to the extent of their deviation; if the latter be inconsiderable, an act of the most simple kind is sufficient.

5. By the continued act, I mean that whereby the soul is altogether turned toward God by a direct act, always subsisting, and which it does not renew unless it has been interrupted.  The soul being thus turned, is in charity, and abides therein; “and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God.” (1John iv. 16.) The soul then, as it were, exists and rests in this habitual act.  It is, however, free from sloth; for there is still an uninterrupted act subsisting, which is a sweet sinking into the Deity, whose attraction becomes more and more powerful.  Following this potent attraction, and dwelling in love and charity, the soul sinks continually deeper into that Love, maintaining an activity infinitely more powerful, vigorous, and effectual than that which served to accomplish its first return.

6. Now the soul that is thus profoundly and vigorously active, being wholly given up to God, does not perceive this act, because it is direct and not reflective.  This is the reason why some, not expressing themselves properly, say, that they make no acts; but it is a mistake, for they were never more truly or nobly active; they should say, that they did not distinguish their acts, and not that they did not act.  I grant that they do not act of themselves; but they are drawn, and they follow the attraction.  Love is the weight which sinks them.  As one falling into the sea, would sink from one depth to another to all eternity, if the sea were infinite, so they, without perceiving their descent, drop with inconceivable swiftness into the lowest deeps.

It is, then, improper to say that we do not make acts; all form acts, but the manner of their formation is not alike in all.  The mistake arises from this, that all who know they should act, are desirous of acting distinguishably and perceptibly; but this cannot be: sensible acts are for beginners; there are others for those in a more advanced state.  To stop in the former, which are weak and of little profit, is to debar ourselves of the latter; as to attempt the latter without having passed through the former, is a no less considerable error.

7. “To everything there is a season” (Eccles. iii. 1): every state has its commencement, its progress, and its consummation, and it is an unhappy error to stop in the beginning.  There is no art but what has its progress; at first, we labor with toil, but at last we reap the fruit of our industry.

When the vessel is in port, the mariners are obliged to exert all their strength, that they may clear her thence, and put to sea; but they subsequently turn her with facility as they please.  In like manner, while the soul remains in sin and the creature, many endeavors are requisite to effect its freedom; the cables which hold it must be loosed, and then by strong and vigorous efforts it gathers itself inward, pushes off gradually from the old port of Self, and, leaving that behind, proceeds to the interior, the haven so much desired.

8. When the vessel is thus started, as she advances on the sea, she leaves the shore behind; and the farther she departs from the land, the less labor is requisite in moving her forward.  At length she begins to get gently under sail, and now proceeds so swiftly in her course, that the oars, which are become useless, are laid aside.  How is the pilot now employed? he is content with spreading the sails and holding the rudder.

To spread the sails, is to lay ourselves before God in the prayer of simple exposition, to be moved by his Spirit; to hold the rudder, is to restrain our heart from wandering from the true course, recalling it gently, and guiding it steadily by the dictates of the Spirit of God, which gradually gains possession of the heart, just as the breeze by degrees fills the sails and impels the vessel.   While the winds are fair, the pilot and the mariners rest from their labors.   What progress do they not now secure, without the least fatigue!  They make more way now in one hour, while they rest and leave the vessel to the wind, than they did in a length of time by all their former efforts; and even were they now to attempt using the oars, besides greatly fatiguing themselves, they would only retard the vessel by their useless exertions.

This is our proper course interiorly, and a short time will advance us by the divine impulsion farther than many reiterated acts of self-exertion.  Whoever will try this path, will find it the easiest in the world.

9. If the wind be contrary and blow a storm, we must cast anchor in the sea, to hold the vessel.  This anchor is simply trust in God and hope in his goodness, waiting patiently the calming of the tempest and the return of a favorable gale; thus did David: “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” (Ps. xl. 1.)  We must therefore be resigned to the Spirit of God, giving ourselves up wholly to his divine guidance.

Madame Guyon – (Part 21)

 

C H A P T E R   XXI.

THE  SOUL  ACTIVE  WHEN  SELF  IS  STILL.

SOME persons, when they hear of the prayer of silence, falsely imagine that the soul remains stupid, dead, and inactive; but it unquestionably acts more nobly and more extensively than it had ever done before; for God himself is its mover, and it now acts by the agency of his Spirit. St. Paul would have us led by the Spirit of God. (Rom. viii. 14.)

It is not meant that we should cease from action; but that we should act through the internal agency of his grace.  This is finely represented by the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the wheels, which had a living Spirit; and whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went; they ascended and descended as they were moved; for the Spirit of life was in them, and they returned not when they went.(Ezek. i. 18-21.) Thus the soul should be equally subservient to the will of that vivifying Spirit which is in it, and scrupulously faithful to follow only as that moves.   These motions never tend to return in reflections on the creatures or self; but go forward in an incessant approach toward the end.

2. This activity of the soul is attended with the utmost tranquility.  When it acts of itself, the act is forced and constrained, and, therefore, it is more easily distinguished; but when the action is under the influence of the Spirit of grace, it is so free, so easy, and so natural, that it almost seems as if we did not act at all. “He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me.” (Ps. xviii. 19.)

When the soul is in its central tendency, or in other words, is returned through recollection into itself, from that moment, the central attraction becomes a most potent activity, infinitely surpassing in energy every other species.  Nothing, indeed, can equal the swiftness of this tendency to the centre; and though an activity, yet it is so noble, so peaceful, so full of tranquility, so natural, and so spontaneous, that it appears to the soul as if it were none at all.

When a wheel rolls slowly we can easily perceive its parts; but when its motion is rapid, we can distinguish nothing.  So the soul which rests in God, has an activity exceedingly noble and elevated, yet altogether peaceful; and the more peaceful it is, the swifter is its course; because it is given up to that Spirit by whom it is moved and directed.

3. This attracting Spirit is no other than God himself, who, in drawing us, causes us to run to Him. How well did the spouse understand this, when she said, “Draw me, we will run after thee.” (Cant. i. 4.)  Draw me unto Thee, O my divine centre, by the secret springs of my existence, and all my powers and senses shall follow Thee!  This simple attraction is both an ointment to heal and a perfume to allure: we follow, saith she, the fragrance of thy perfumes; and though so powerful an attraction, it is followed by the soul freely, and without constraint; for it is equally delightful as forcible; and whilst it attracts by its power, it carries us away by its sweetness.  “Draw me,” says the spouse, “and we will run after thee.” She speaks of and to herself: “draw me,” — behold the unity of the centre which is drawn! “we will run,”— behold the correspondence and course of all the senses and powers in following the attraction of the centre!

4. Instead, then, of encouraging sloth, we promote the highest activity, by inculcating a total dependence on the Spirit of God, as our moving principle; for it is in Him, and by Him alone, that we live and move, and have our being. (Acts xvii. 28.)   This meek dependence on the Spirit of God is indispensably necessary, and causes the soul shortly to attain the unity and simplicity in which it was created.

We must, therefore, forsake our multifarious activity, to enter into the simplicity and unity of God, in whose image we were originally formed. (Gen. i. 27.) “The Spirit is one and manifold, (Wisdom vii. 22,) and his unity does not preclude his multiplicity.  We enter into his unity when we are united to his Spirit, and by that means have one and the same spirit with Him; and we are multiplied in respect to the outward execution of his will, without any departure from our state of union.

In this way, when we are wholly moved by the divine Spirit, which is infinitely active, our activity must, indeed, be more energetic than that which is merely our own.  We must yield ourselves to the guidance of “wisdom, which is more moving than any motion,” (Wisdom vii. 24,) and by abiding in dependence upon its action, our activity will be truly efficient.

5. “All things were made by the Word, and without Him was not anything made, that was made.” (John i. 3.)   God originally formed us in his own image and likeness; He breathed into us the Spirit of his Word, that breath of Life (Gen. ii. 7) which He gave us at our creation, in the participation whereof the image of God consisted.   Now, this LIFE is one, simple, pure, intimate, and always fruitful.

The devil having broken and deformed the divine image in the soul by sin, the agency of the same Word whose Spirit was inbreathed at our creation, is absolutely necessary for its renovation.  It was necessary that it should be He, because He is the express image of his Father; and no image can be repaired by its own efforts, but must remain passive for that purpose under the hand of the workman.

Our activity should, therefore, consist in placing ourselves in a state of susceptibility to divine impressions, and pliability to all the operations of the Eternal Word.  Whilst a tablet is unsteady, the painter is unable to produce a correct picture upon it, and every movement of self is productive of erroneous lineaments; it interrupts the work and defeats the design of this adorable Painter.  We must then remain in peace, and move only when He moves us. Jesus Christ hath life in himself, (John v. 26,) and He must give life to every living thing.

The spirit of the Church of God is the spirit of the divine movement. Is she idle, barren, or unfruitful?  No; she acts, but her activity is in dependence upon the Spirit of God, who moves and governs her.  Just so should it be in her members; that they may be spiritual children of the Church, they must be moved by the Spirit.

6. As all action is estimable only in proportion to the grandeur and dignity of the efficient principle, this action is incontestably more NOBLE than any other.  Actions produced by a divine principle, are divine; but creaturely actions, however good they appear, are only human, or at least virtuous, even when accompanied by grace.

Jesus Christ says that He has life in Himself: all other beings have only a borrowed life; but the Word has life in Himself; and being communicative of his nature, He desires to bestow it upon man.  We should therefore make room for the influx of this life, which can only be done by the ejection and loss of the Adamical life, and the suppression of the activity of self. This is agreeable to the assertion of St. Paul, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” (2Cor. v. 17;) but this state can be accomplished only by dying to ourselves, and to all our own activity, that the activity of God may be substituted in its place.

Instead, therefore, of prohibiting activity, we enjoin it; but in absolute dependence on the Spirit of God, that his activity may take the place of our own. This can only be effected by the consent of the creature; and this concurrence can only be yielded by moderating our own action, that the activity of God may, little by little, be wholly substituted for it.

7. Jesus Christ has exemplified this in the Gospel.   Martha did what was right; but because she did it in her own spirit, Christ rebuked her.  The spirit of man is restless and turbulent; for which reason he does little, though he seems to do a great deal. “Martha,” says Christ, “thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke x. 41,42.) And what was it Mary had chosen? Repose, tranquility, and peace.  She had apparently ceased to act, that the Spirit of Christ might act in her; she had ceased to live, that Christ might be her life.

This shows how necessary it is to renounce ourselves, and all our activity, to follow Christ; for we cannot follow Him, if we are not animated by his Spirit.  Now that his Spirit may gain admittance, it is necessary that our own should be expelled: “He that is joined unto the Lord,” says St. Paul, “is one spirit.” (1Cor. vi. 17.)   And David said it was good for him to draw near unto the Lord, and to put his trust in him. (Psalm lxxiii. 28.)  What is this drawing near?  It is the beginning of union.

8. Divine union has its commencement, its progress, its achievement, and its consummation.  It is at first an inclination towards God.   When the soul is introverted in the manner before described, it gets within the influence of the central attraction, and acquires an eager desire after union;  this is the beginning.  It then adheres to Him when it has got nearer and nearer, and finally becomes one, that is, one spirit with Him; and then it is that the spirit which had wandered from God, returns again to its end.

9. Into this way, then, which is the divine motion, and the spirit of Jesus Christ, we must necessarily enter.  St. Paul says, “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. viii. 9): therefore, to be Christ’s, we must be filled with his Spirit, and emptied of our own.  The Apostle, in the same passage, proves the necessity of this divine influence. “As many,” says he, “as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Rom. viii. 14.)

The spirit of divine filiation is, then, the spirit of divine motion: he therefore adds, “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby ye cry Abba, Father.” This spirit is no other than the spirit of Christ, through which we participate in his filiation; “The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”

When the soul yields itself to the influence of this blessed Spirit, it perceives the testimony of its divine filiation; and it feels also, with superadded joy, that it has received, not the spirit of bondage, but of liberty, even the liberty of the children of God; it then finds that it acts freely and sweetly, though with vigor and infallibility.

10. The spirit of divine action is so necessary in all things, that St. Paul, in the same passage, founds that necessity on our ignorance with respect to what we pray for: “The Spirit,” says he, “also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  This is plain enough; if we know not what we stand in need of, nor how to pray as we ought for those things which are necessary, and if the Spirit which is in us, and to which we resign ourselves, must ask for us, should we not permit Him to give vent to his unutterable groanings in our behalf?

This Spirit is the Spirit of the Word, which is always heard, as He says himself: “I knew that thou hearest me always;” (John xi. 42;) and if we freely admit this Spirit to pray and intercede for us, we also shall be always heard.  And why?  Let us learn from the same great Apostle, that skillful Mystic, and Master of the interior life, where he adds, “He that searcheth the heart, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit; because he maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God” (Rom. viii. 27): that is to say, the Spirit demands only what is conformable to the will of God.  The will of God is that we should be saved, and that we should become perfect:  He, therefore, intercedes for all that is necessary for our perfection.

11. Why, then, should we be burthened with superfluous cares, and weary ourselves in the multiplicity of our ways, without ever saying, let us rest in peace.  God himself invites us to cast all our care upon Him; and He complains in Isaiah, with ineffable goodness, that the soul had expended its powers and its treasures on a thousand external objects, when there was so little to do to attain all it need desire. “Wherefore,” saith God, “do you spend money for that which is not bread; and your labor for that which satisfieth not?  Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” (Isa. lv. 2.)

Oh! did we but know the blessedness of thus hearkening to God, and how greatly the soul is strengthened by such a course!  “Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord” (Zech. ii. 13); all must cease as soon as He appears.  But to engage us still farther to an abandonment without reservation, God assures us, by the same Prophet, that we need fear nothing, because he takes a very special care of us; “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Yea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee.” (Isa. xlix. 15.)  O words full of consolation!  Who after that will fear to abandon himself wholly to the guidance of God?

Madame Guyon – (Part 20)

 

C H A P T E R   XX.

PRAYER  DIVINELY  EXPLAINED.

BOTH devotion and sacrifice are comprehended in prayer, which, according to St. John is an incense, the smoke whereof ascendeth unto God; therefore it is said in the Apocalypse, that “unto the angel was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints.” (Rev. viii. 3.)

Prayer is the effusion of the heart in the presence of God: “I have poured out my soul before the Lord,” said the mother of Samuel. (1 Sam. i. 15.)  The prayer of the wise men at the feet of Christ in the stable of Bethlehem, was signified by the incense they offered.

2. Prayer is a certain warmth of love, melting, dissolving, and sublimating the soul, and causing it to ascend unto God, and, as the soul is melted, odors rise from it; and these sweet exhalations proceed from the consuming fire of love within.

This is illustrated in the Canticles, (i. 12,) where the spouse says, “While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” The table is the centre of the soul; and when God is there, and we know how to dwell near, and abide with Him, the sacred presence gradually dissolves the hardness of the soul, and, as it melts, fragrance issues forth; hence it is, that the Beloved says of his spouse, in seeing her soul melt when he spoke, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, like pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh and frankincense?” (Cant. v. 6; iii. 6.)

3. Thus does the soul ascend to God, by giving up self to the destroying and annihilating power of divine love.  This is a state of sacrifice essential to the Christian religion, in which the soul suffers itself to be destroyed and annihilated, that it may pay homage to the sovereignty of God; as it is written, “The power of the Lord is great, and he is honored only by the humble.” (Eccles. iii. 21.)  By the destruction of self, we acknowledge the supreme existence of God.  We must cease to exist in self, in order that the Spirit of the Eternal Word may exist in us: it is by the giving up of our own life, that we give place to his coming; and in dying to ourselves, He himself lives in us.

We must surrender our whole being to Christ Jesus, and cease to live any longer in ourselves, that He may become our life; “that being dead, our life may be hid with Christ in God.” (Col. iii. 3.) “Pass ye into me,” sayeth God, “all ye who earnestly seek after me.” (Eccles. xxiv. 16.)  But how is it we pass into God?  In no way but by leaving and forsaking ourselves, that we may be lost in Him; and this can be effected only by annihilation, which, being the true prayer of adoration, renders unto God alone, all “blessing, honor, glory, and power, forever and ever.” (Rev. v. 13.)

4. This prayer of truth; it is “worshipping God in spirit and in truth:” (John iv. 23.) “In spirit,” because we enter into the purity of that Spirit which prayeth within us, and are drawn forth from our own carnal and human method; “in truth,” because we are thereby placed in the truth of the all of God, and the nothing of the creature.

There are but these two truths, the ALL and the NOTHING; everything else is falsehood.  We can pay due honor to the ALL of God, only in our own ANNIHILATION; which is no sooner accomplished, than He, who never suffers a void in nature, instantly fills us with Himself.

Ah! did we but know the virtues and the blessings which the soul derives from this prayer, we should not be willing to do anything else;  It is the pearl of great price; the hidden treasure, (Matt. xiii. 44,45,) which, whoever findeth, selleth freely all that he hath to purchase it;   It is the well of living water, which springeth up unto everlasting life. It is the adoration of God “in spirit and in truth:” (John iv. 14-23:) and It is the full performance of the purest evangelical precepts.

5. Jesus Christ assures us, that the “kingdom of God is within us:” (Luke xvii. 21:) and this is true in two senses: first, when God becomes so fully Master and Lord in us, that nothing resists his dominion, then our interior is his kingdom; and again, when we possess God, who is the Supreme Good, we possess his kingdom also, wherein there is fulness of joy, and where we attain the end of our creation.  Thus it is said, “to serve God is to reign.” The end of our creation, indeed, is to enjoy God, even in this life; but, alas! who thinks of it?

Madame Guyon – (Part 19)

 

CH A P T E R   XIX.

ON  DISTRACTIONS  AND  TEMPTATIONS.

A DIRECT struggle with distractions and temptations rather serves to augment them, and withdraws the soul from that adherence to God, which should ever be its sole occupation.  We should simply turn away from the evil, and draw yet nearer to God.  A little child, on perceiving a monster, does not wait to fight with it, and will scarcely turn its eyes toward it, but quickly shrinks into the bosom of its mother, in assurance of its safety. “God is in the midst of her,” says the Psalmist, “she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early.” (Psalm xlvi. 5.)

2. If we do otherwise, and in our weakness attempt to attack our enemies, we shall frequently find ourselves wounded, if not totally defeated: but, by remaining in the simple presence of God, we shall find instant supplies of strength for our support.  This was the resource of David: “I have set,” says he, “the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope.” (Psalm xvi. 8,9.)  And it is said in Exodus, “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” (Exod. xiv.

Madame Guyon – (Part 18)

 

C H A P T E R   XVIII.

ON  FAULTS  COMMITTED.

     SHOULD we either wander among externals, or commit a fault, we must instantly turn inwards; for having departed thereby from God, we should as soon as possible turn toward Him, and suffer the penalty which He inflicts.

It is of great importance to guard against vexation on account of our faults; it springs from a secret root of pride, and a love of our own excellence; we are hurt at feeling what we are.

2. If we become discouraged, we are the more enfeebled; and from our reflections on our imperfections, a chagrin arises, which is often worse than the imperfections themselves.

The truly humble soul is not surprised at its defects or failings; and the more miserable it beholds itself, the more it abandons itself to God, and presses for a more intimate alliance with Him, seeing the need it has of his aid.   We should the rather be induced to act thus, as God himself has said, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye.” (Psalm xxxii. 8.)

Madame Guyon – (Part 17)

C H A P T E R   XVII.

THE  SPIRIT  INDITES  OUR  PETITIONS.

THE soul should not be surprised at feeling itself unable to offer up to God such petitions as had formerly been made with facility; for now the Spirit maketh intercession for it according to the will of God; that Spirit which helpeth our infirmities; “for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Rom. viii. 26.)  We must second the designs of God, which tend to divest us of all our own operations, that his may be substituted in their place.

2. Let this, then, be done in you; and suffer not yourself to be attached to anything, however good it may appear; it is no longer such to you, if it in any measure turns you aside from what God desires of you.  For the divine will is preferable to every other good.  Shake off, then, all self-interest, and live by faith and abandonment; here it is that genuine faith begins truly to operate.

Madame Guyon – (Part 16)

 

C H A P T E R   XVI.

ON  READING  AND  VOCAL  PRAYERS.

     THE method of reading in this state, is to cease when you feel yourself recollected, and remain in stillness, reading but little, and always desisting when thus internally attracted.
2. The soul that is called to a state of inward silence, should not encumber itself with vocal prayers; whenever it makes use of them, and finds a difficulty therein, and an attraction to silence, let it not use constraint by persevering, but yield to the internal drawings, unless the repeating such prayers be a matter of obligation.  In any other case, it is much better not to be burdened with and tied down to the repetition of set forms, but wholly given up to the leadings of the Holy Spirit; and in this way every species of devotion is fulfilled in a most eminent degree.

Madame Guyon – (Part 15)

 

C H A P T E R   XV.

GOD  HIMSELF  EXAMINES  US.

SELF-EXAMINATION should always precede confession, but the manner of it should be conformable to the state of the soul.  The business of those that are advanced to the degree of which we now treat, is to lay their whole souls open before God, who will not fail to enlighten them, and enable them to see the peculiar nature of their faults.  This examination, however, should be peaceful and tranquil; and we should depend on God for the discovery and knowledge of our sins, rather than on the diligence of our own scrutiny.

When we examine with effort, we are easily deceived, and betrayed by self-love into error: “We call the evil good, and the good evil,” (Isa. v. 20); but when we lie in full exposure before the Sun of Righteousness, his divine beams render the smallest atoms visible.  We must, then, forsake self, and abandon our souls to God, as well in examination as confession.

2. When souls have attained to this species of prayer, no fault escapes the reprehension of God; no sooner are they committed than they are rebuked by an inward burning and tender confusion.  Such is the scrutiny of Him who suffers no evil to be concealed; and the only way is to turn simply to God, and bear the pain and correction He inflicts.

As He becomes the incessant examiner of the soul, it can now no longer examine itself; and if it be faithful in its abandonment, experience will prove that it is much more effectually explored by his divine light, than by all its own carefulness.

3. Those who tread these paths should be informed of a matter respecting their confession, in which they are apt to err.  When they begin to give an account of their sins, instead of the regret and contrition they had been accustomed to feel, they find that love and tranquility sweetly pervade and take possession of their souls: now those who are not properly instructed are desirous of resisting this sensation, and forming an act of contrition, because they have heard, and with truth, that this is requisite.  But they are not aware that they thereby lose the genuine contrition, which is this infused love, and which infinitely surpasses any effect produced by self-exertion, comprehending the other acts in itself as in one principal act, in much higher perfection than if they were distinctly perceived.

Let them not be troubled to do otherwise, when God acts so excellently in and for them.  To hate sin in this manner, is to hate it as God does.   The purest love is that which is of his immediate operation in the soul; why should we then be so eager for action?  Let us remain in the state He assigns us, agreeably to the instructions of the wise man: “Put your confidence in God; remain in quiet where he hath placed you.” (Eccles. xi. 22.)

4. The soul will also be amazed at finding a difficulty in calling its faults to remembrance.  This, however, should cause no uneasiness, first, because this forgetfulness of our faults is some proof of our purification from them, and, in this degree of advancement, it is best to forget whatever concerns ourselves that we may remember only God.  Secondly, because, when confession is our duty, God will not fail to make known to us our greatest faults; for then He himself examines; and the soul will feel the end of examination more perfectly accomplished, than it could possibly have been by all our own endeavors.

5. These instructions, however, would be altogether unsuitable to the preceding degrees, while the soul continues in its active state, wherein it is right and necessary that it should in all things exert itself, in proportion to its advancement.  As to those who have arrived at this more advanced state, I exhort them to follow these instructions, and not to vary their simple occupations even on approaching the communion; let them remain in silence, and suffer God to act freely.  He cannot be better received than by Himself.

Madame Guyon – (Part 14)

 

C H A P T E R   XIV.

ON  INTERIOUR  SILENCE.

“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Hab. ii. 20.)  The reason why inward silence is so indispensable, is, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself.  Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear for that purpose.  Christ, the eternal Word, who must be communicated to the soul to give it new life, requires the most intense attention to his voice, when He would speak within us.

2. Hence it is so frequently enjoined upon us in sacred writ, to listen and be attentive to the voice of God; I quote a few of the numerous exhortations to this effect: “Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my nation!” (Isa. li. 4,) and again “Hear me, all ye whom I carry in my bosom, and bear within my bowels:” (Isa. xlvi. 3,) and further by the Psalmist, “Hearken, O daughter! and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty.” (Ps. xlv. 10,11.)

We must forget ourselves, and all self-interest, and listen and be attentive to God; these two simple actions, or rather passive dispositions, produce the love of that beauty, which He himself communicates.

3. Outward silence is very requisite for the cultivation and improvement of inward; and, indeed, it is impossible we should become truly interior, without loving silence and retirement. God saith by the mouth of his prophet, “I will lead her into solitude, and there will I speak to her heart (Hos. ii. 14, Vulg.); and unquestionably the being internally engaged with God is wholly incompatible with being externally busied about a thousand trifles.

When, through weakness, we become as it were uncentered, we must immediately turn again inward; and this process we must repeat as often as our distractions recur.  It is a small matter to be devout and recollected for an hour or half hour, if the unction and spirit of prayer do not continue with us during the whole day.

Madame Guyon – (Part 13)

 

C H A P T E R   XIII.

   ON  REST  BEFORE  GOD.

THE SOUL advanced thus far, has no need of any other preparation than its quietude: for now the presence of God, during the day, which is the great effect, or rather continuation of prayer, begins to be infused, and almost without intermission. The soul certainly enjoys transcendent blessedness, and finds that God is more intimately present to it than it is to itself.

The only way to find him is by introversion.  No sooner do the bodily eyes close, than the soul is wrapt in prayer: it is amazed at so great a blessing, and enjoys an internal converse, which external matters cannot interrupt.

2. The same may be said of this species of prayer, that is said of wisdom: “all good things come together with her.” (Wisdom vii. 11.)  For virtues flow from this soul into exercise with so much sweetness and facility, that they appear natural to it, and the living spring within breaks forth abundantly into a facility for all goodness, and an insensibility to all evil.

3. Let it then remain faithful in this state; and beware of choosing or seeking any other disposition whatever than this simple rest, as a preparative either to confession or communion, to action or prayer; for its sole business is to suffer itself to be filled with this divine effusion.  I would not be understood to speak of the preparations necessary for ordinances, but of the most perfect interior disposition in which they can be received.

Madame Guyon – (Part 12)

 

C H A P T E R   XII.

   PRAYER  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF   GOD.

THE soul that is faithful in the exercise of love and adherence to God, as above described, is astonished to feel Him gradually taking possession of its whole being; it now enjoys a continual sense of that presence which is become as it were natural to it; and this, as well as prayer, becomes a matter of habit. It feels an unusual serenity gradually diffusing itself over all its faculties.  Silence now constitutes its whole prayer; whilst God communicates an infused love, which is the beginning of ineffable blessedness.

O that I were permitted to pursue this subject, and describe some degrees of the endless progression of subsequent states?  But I now write only for beginners; and shall therefore proceed no farther, but wait our Lord’s time for developing what may be applicable to every state.

2. We must, however, urge it as a matter of the highest import, to cease from self-action and self-exertion, that God himself may act alone: He says by the mouth of his prophet David, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm xlvi. 10.)  But the creature is so infatuated with love and attachment to its own working, that it does not believe that it works at all unless it can feel, know, and distinguish all its operations.  It is ignorant that its inability minutely to observe the manner of its motion, is occasioned by the swiftness of its progress; and that the operations of God, abounding more and more, absorb those of the creature; just as we see that the stars shine brightly before the sun rises, but gradually vanish as his light advances, and become invisible, not from want of light in themselves, but from the excess of it in him.

The case is similar here; for there is a strong and universal light which absorbs all the little distinct lights of the soul; they grow faint and disappear under its powerful influence, and self-activity is now no longer distinguishable.

3. Those greatly err, who accuse this prayer of inactivity, a charge that can only arise from inexperience.  O! if they would but make some efforts towards the attainment of it, they would soon become full of light and knowledge in relation to it.

This appearance of inaction is, indeed, not the consequence of sterility, but of abundance, as will be clearly perceived by the experienced soul, who will recognize that the silence is full and unctuous by reason of plenty.

4. There are two kinds of people that keep silence; the one because they have nothing to say, the other because they have too much: the latter is the case in this state; silence is occasioned by excess and not by defect.

To be drowned, and to die of thirst, are deaths widely different; yet water may be said to be the cause of both; abundance destroys in one case, and want in the other.  So here the fullness of grace stills the activity of self; and therefore it is of the utmost importance to remain as silent as possible.

The infant hanging at its mother’s breast, is a lively illustration of our subject; it begins to draw the milk, by moving its little lips; but when its nourishment flows abundantly, it is content to swallow without effort; by any other course it would only hurt itself, spill the milk, and be obliged to quit the breast.

We must act in like manner in the beginning of prayer, by moving the lips of the affections; but as soon as the milk of divine grace flows freely, we have nothing to do, but, in stillness, sweetly to imbibe it, and when it ceases to flow, again stir up the affections as the infant moves its lips.  Whoever acts otherwise, cannot make the best use of this grace, which is bestowed to allure the soul into the repose of Love, and not to force it into the multiplicity of self.

5. But what becomes of the babe that thus gently and without exertion, drinks in the milk?  Who would believe that it could thus receive nourishment? Y et the more peacefully it feeds, the better it thrives.  What, I say, becomes of this infant?  It drops asleep on its mother’s bosom.  So the soul that is tranquil and peaceful in prayer, sinks frequently into a mystic slumber, wherein all its powers are at rest, till it is wholly fitted for that state, of which it enjoys these transient anticipations.  You see that in this process the soul is led naturally, without trouble, effort, art or study.

The interior is not a strong hold, to be taken by storm and violence; but a kingdom of peace, which is to be gained only by love.  If any will thus pursue the little path I have pointed out, it will lead them to infused prayer.  God demands nothing extraordinary nor too difficult; on the contrary, He is greatly pleased by a simple and child-like conduct.

6. The most sublime attainments in religion, are those which are easiest reached; the most necessary ordinances are the least difficult.  It is thus also in natural things; if you would reach the sea, embark on a river, and you will be conveyed to it insensibly and without exertion.  Would you go to God, follow this sweet and simple path, and you will arrive at the desired object, with an ease and expedition that will amaze you.

O that you would but once make the trial! how soon would you find that all I have said is too little, and that your own experience will carry you infinitely beyond it!  What is it you fear?  Why do you not instantly cast yourself into the arms of LOVE, who only extended them on the cross that He might embrace you?  What risk do you run in depending solely on God, and abandoning yourself wholly to Him?  Ah! he will not deceive you, unless by bestowing an abundance beyond your highest hopes; but those who expect all from themselves, may hear this rebuke of God by his prophet Isaiah, “Ye have wearied yourselves in the multiplicity of your ways, and have not said, let us rest in peace.” (Isa. lvii. 10, Vulgate.)

Madame Guyon – (Part 11)

 

C H A P T E R   XI.

   ON  PERFECT  CONVERSION.

“Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel have so deeply revolted.” (Isa. xxxi. 6.) Conversion is nothing more than turning from the creature in order to return to God.

It is not perfect (however good and essential to salvation) when it consists simply in turning from sin to grace.  To be complete, it should take place from without inwardly.

When the soul is once turned toward God, it finds a wonderful facility in continuing steadfast in conversion; and the longer it remains thus converted, the nearer it approaches and the more firmly it adheres to God; and the nearer it draws to Him, it is of necessity the farther removed from the creature, which is so contrary to Him; so that it is so effectually established in conversion, that the state becomes habitual, and as it were natural.

Now, we must not suppose that this is effected by a violent exertion of its own powers; for it is not capable of, nor should it attempt any other co-operation with divine grace, than that of endeavoring to withdraw itself from external objects, and to turn inwards; after which it has nothing farther to do, than to continue firm in its adherence to God.

2. GOD has an attractive virtue which draws the soul more and more powerfully to Himself, and in attracting, He purifies; just as it is with a gross vapor exhaled by the sun, which, as it gradually ascends, is rarified and rendered pure; the vapor, indeed, contributes to its ascent only by its passivity; but the soul co-operates freely and voluntarily.

This kind of introversion is very easy and advances the soul naturally, and without effort, because God is our centre.  The centre always exerts a very powerful attractive virtue; and the more spiritual and exalted it is, the more violent and irresistible are its attractions.

3. But besides the attracting virtue of the centre, there is, in every creature, a strong tendency to reunion with its centre, which is vigorous and active in proportion to the spirituality and perfection of the subject.

As soon as anything is turned towards its centre, it is precipitated towards it with extreme rapidity, unless it be withheld by some invincible obstacle.  A stone held in the hand is no sooner disengaged than by its own weight it falls to the earth as to its centre; so also water and fire, when unobstructed, flow incessantly towards their centre.  Now, when the soul by its efforts to recollect itself, is brought into the influence of the central tendency, it falls gradually, without any other force than the weight of love, into its proper centre; and the more passive and tranquil it remains, and the freer from self-motion, the more rapidly it advances, because the energy of the central attractive virtue is unobstructed, and has full liberty for action.

4. All our care should therefore be directed towards acquiring the greatest degree of inward recollection; nor should we be discouraged by the difficulties we encounter in this exercise, which will soon be recompensed on the part of God, by such abundant supplies of grace, as will render it perfectly easy, provided we are faithful in meekly withdrawing our hearts from outward distractions and occupations, and returning to our centre, with affections full of tenderness and serenity.  When at any time the passions are turbulent, a gentle retreat inwards to a present God, easily deadens them; any other way of opposing rather irritates than appeases them.

Madame Guyon – (Part 10)

 

C H A P T E R   X.

   MORTIFICATION  MUST  BE  INTERIOUR.

I SAY further, that, in any other way, it is next to impossible to acquire a perfect mortification of the senses and passions.

The reason is obvious: the soul gives vigor and energy to the senses, and the senses raise and stimulate the passions; a dead body has neither sensations nor passions, because its connection with the soul is dissolved.  All endeavors merely to rectify the exterior impel the soul yet farther outward into that about which it is so warmly and zealously engaged.  Its powers are diffused and scattered abroad; for, its whole attention being immediately directed to austerities and other externals, it thus invigorates those very senses it is aiming to subdue.  For the senses have no other spring whence to derive their vigor than the application of the soul to themselves, the degree of their life and activity being proportioned to the degree of attention which the soul bestows upon them.  This life of the senses stirs up and provokes the passions, instead of suppressing or subduing them; austerities may indeed enfeeble the body, but for the reasons just mentioned, can never take off the keenness of the senses, nor lessen their activity.

2. The only method of effecting this, is inward recollection, by which the soul is turned wholly and altogether inward, to possess a present God.  If it direct all its vigor and energy within, this simple act separates it from the senses, and, employing all its powers internally, it renders them faint; and the nearer it draws to God, the farther is it separated from self.  Hence it is, that those in whom the attractions of grace are very powerful, find the outward man altogether weak and feeble, and even liable to faintings.

3. I do not mean by this, to discourage mortification; for it should ever accompany prayer, according to the strength and state of the person, or as obedience demands.  But I say, that mortification should not be our principal exercise; nor should we prescribe to ourselves such and such austerities, but simply following the internal attractions of grace, and being occupied with the divine presence, without thinking particularly on mortification, God will enable us to perform every species of it.  He gives those who abide faithful to their abandonment to Him, no relaxation until He has subdued everything in them that remains to be mortified.

We have only, then, to continue steadfast in the utmost attention to God, and all things will be perfectly done.  All are not capable of outward austerities, but all are capable of this. In the mortification of the eye and ear, which continually supply the busy imagination with new subjects, there is little danger of falling into excess; but God will teach us this also, and we have only to follow his Spirit.

4. The soul has a double advantage by proceeding thus; for, in withdrawing from outward objects, it constantly draws nearer to God; and besides the secret sustaining and preserving power and virtue which it receives, it is farther removed from sin the nearer it comes to Him; so that its conversion becomes firmly established as a matter of habit.

Madame Guyon – (Part 9)

C H A P T E R   IX.

ON   VIRTUE.

IT is thus that we acquire virtue with facility and certainty; for as God is the principle of all virtue, we inherit all in the possession of Himself; and in proportion as we approach toward his possession, in like proportion do we receive the most eminent virtues.  For all virtue is but as a mask, an outside appearance mutable as our garments, if it be not bestowed from within; then, indeed, it is genuine, essential, and permanent: “The King’s daughter is all glorious within,” says David. (Psalm xlv. 13.)   These souls, above all others, practice virtue in the most eminent degree, though they advert not to any particular virtue.  God, to whom they are united, leads them to the most extensive practice of it; He is exceedingly jealous over them, and permits them not the least pleasure.

2. What a hungering for sufferings have those souls, who thus glow with divine love!  How would they precipitate themselves into excessive austerities, were they permitted to pursue their own inclinations!  They think of nought save how they may please their Beloved; and they begin to neglect and forget themselves; and as their love to God increases, so do self-detestation and disregard of the creature.

3. O were this simple method once acquired, a way so suited to all, to the dull and ignorant as well as to the most learned, how easily would the whole church of God be reformed! LOVE only is required: “Love,” says St. Augustine, “and then do what you please.” For when we truly love, we cannot have so much as a will to do anything that might offend the object of our affections.

Madame Guyon – (Part 8)

 

C H A P T E R   VIII.

ON   MYSTERIES.

IT will be objected, that, by this method, we shall have no mysteries imprinted on our minds; but so far is this from being the case, that it is the peculiar means of imparting them to the soul. Jesus Christ, to whom we are abandoned, and whom we follow as the way, whom we hear as the truth, and who animates us as the life (John xiv. 6,) in imprinting himself on the soul, impresses there the characters of his different states.  To bear all the states of Jesus Christ, is a much greater thing, than merely to meditate about them. St. Paul bore in his body the states of Jesus Christ; “I bear in my body,” says he, “the marks of the Lord Jesus;” (Gal. vi. 17;) but he does not say that he reasoned thereon.

2. In this state of abandonment Jesus Christ frequently communicates some peculiar views, or revelations of his states: these we should thankfully accept, and dispose ourselves for what appears to be his will; receiving equally whatever frame He may bestow, and having no other choice, but that of ardently reaching after Him, of dwelling ever with Him, and of sinking into nothingness before Him, and accepting indiscriminately all his gifts, whether darkness or illumination, fecundity or barrenness, weakness or strength, sweetness or bitterness, temptations, distractions, pain, weariness, or uncertainty; and none of all these should, for one moment, retard our course.

3. God engages some, for whole years, in the contemplation and enjoyment of a single mystery, the simple view or contemplation of which recollects the soul; let them be faithful to it; but as soon as God is pleased to withdraw this view from the soul, let it freely yield to the deprivation.  Some are very uneasy at their inability to meditate on certain mysteries; but without reason, since an affectionate attachment to God includes in itself every species of devotion, and whoever is calmly united to God alone, is, indeed, most excellently and effectually applied to every divine mystery.  Whoever loves God loves all that appertains to him.

Madame Guyon – (Part 7)

C H A P T E R   VII.

SUFFERING  –  A  SOURCE  OF  CONSOLATION.

BE patient under all the sufferings God sends; if your love to Him be pure, you will not seek Him less on Calvary, than on Tabor; and surely, He should be as much loved on that as on this, since it was on Calvary that he made the greatest display of love.

Be not like those who give themselves to Him at one season, only to withdraw from Him at another.  They give themselves only to be caressed, and wrest themselves back again, when they are crucified; or at least turn for consolation to the creature.

2. No, beloved souls, you will not find consolation in aught but in the love of the cross, and in total abandonment; who savoreth not the cross, savoreth not the things that be of God. (See Matt. xvi. 23.)   It is impossible to love God without loving the cross; and a heart that savors the cross, finds the bitterest things to be sweet; “To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet;” (Prov. xxvii. 7) because it finds itself hungering for God, in proportion as it is hungering for the cross.  God gives us the cross, and the cross gives us God.

We may be assured that there is an internal advancement, when there is progress in the way of the cross; abandonment and the cross go hand in hand together.

3. As soon as anything is presented in the form of suffering, and you feel a repugnance, resign yourself immediately to God with respect to it, and give yourself up to Him in sacrifice: you will then find, that when the cross arrives, it will not be so very burthensome, because you have yourself desired it.   This, however does not prevent you from feeling its weight, as some have imagined; for when we do not feel the cross, we do not suffer.  A sensibility to suffering is one of the principal parts of suffering itself. Jesus Christ himself chose to endure its utmost rigors.  We often bear the cross in weakness, at other times in strength; all should be alike to us in the will of God.

Madame Guyon – (Part 7)

C H A P T E R VI.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-ABANDONMENT.

HERE we must begin to abandon and give up our whole existence to God, from the strong and positive conviction, that the occurrences of every moment result from his immediate will and permission, and are just such as our state requires. This conviction will make us content with everything; and cause us to regard all that happens, not from the side of the creature, but from that of God.

But, dearly beloved, whoever you are who sincerely wish to give yourselves up to God, I conjure you, that after having once made the donation, you take not yourselves back again; remember, a gift once presented, is no longer at the disposal of the giver.

2. Abandonment is a matter of the greatest importance in our progress; it is the key to the inner court; so that he who knows truly how to abandon himself, will soon become perfect. We must therefore continue steadfast and immovable therein, without listening to the voice of natural reason. Great faith produces great abandonment; we must confide in God, “hoping against hope.” (Rom. iv. 18.)

3. Abandonment is the casting off all selfish care, that we may be altogether at the divine disposal. All Christians are exhorted to abandonment; for it is said to all; “Take no thought for the morrow; for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” (Matt. vi. 32-34.) “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. iii. 6.) “Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established.” (Prov. xvi. 3.) “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and He will bring it to pass.” (Psalm xxxvii. 5.)

Our abandonment, then, should be, both in respect to external and internal things, an absolute giving up of all our concerns into the hands of God, forgetting ourselves and thinking only of Him; by which the heart will remain always disengaged, free, and at peace.

4. It is practised by continually losing our own will in the will of God; renouncing every private inclination as soon as it arises, however good it may appear, that we may stand in indifference with respect to ourselves, and only will what God has willed from all eternity; resigning ourselves in all things, whether for soul or body, for time or eternity; forgetting the past, leaving the future to Providence, and devoting the present to God; satisfied with the present moment, which brings with it God’s eternal order in reference to us, and is as infallible a declaration of his will, as it is inevitable and common to all; attributing nothing that befalls us to the creature, but regarding all things in God, and looking upon all, excepting only our sins, as infallibly proceeding from Him.

Surrender yourselves then to be led and disposed of just as God pleases, with respect both to your outward and inward state.

Madame Guyon – (Part 6)

C H A P T E R V.

ARIDITIES TO BE BORNE IN LOVE.

THOUGH God has no other desire than to impart Himself to the loving soul that seeks Him, yet He frequently conceals Himself from it, that it may be roused from sloth, and impelled to seek Him with fidelity and love. But with what abundant goodness does He recompense the faithfulness of his beloved! And how often are these apparent withdrawings of Himself succeeded by the caresses of love!

At these seasons we are apt to believe that it proves our fidelity, and evinces a greater ardor of affection to seek Him by an exertion of our own strength and activity; or that such a course will induce Him the more speedily to revisit us. No, dear souls, believe me, this is not the best way in this degree of prayer; with patient love, with self-abasement and humiliation, with the reiterated breathings of an ardent but peaceful affection, and with silence full of veneration, you must await the return of the Beloved.

2. Thus only can you demonstrate that it is HIMSELF alone, and his good pleasure, that you seek; and not the selfish delights of your own sensations in loving Him. Hence it is said (Eccles. ii. 2,3): “Be not impatient in the time of dryness and obscurity; suffer the suspensions and delays of the consolations of God; cleave unto him, and wait upon him patiently, that thy life may increase and be renewed.”

Be patient in prayer, though during your whole lifetime you should do nothing else than wait the return of the Beloved in a spirit of humiliation, abandonment, contentment, and resignation. Most excellent prayer! and it may be intermingled with the sighings of plaintive love! This conduct indeed is most pleasing to the heart of God, and will, above all others, compel his return.

Madame Guyon – (Part 5)

C H A P T E R IV.

THE PRAYER OF SIMPLICITY.

SOME call the second degree of prayer Contemplation, The prayer of Faith and Stillness, and others call it The prayer of Simplicity. I shall here use this latter appellation, as being more just than that of contemplation, which implies a more advanced state than that I am now treating of.

When the soul has been for some time exercised in the way I have mentioned, it gradually finds that it is enabled to approach God with facility; that recollection is attended with much less difficulty, and that prayer becomes easy, sweet, and delightful: it recognizes that this is the true way of finding God, and feels that “his name is as ointment poured forth.” (Cant. i. 3.) The method must now be altered, and that which I describe must be pursued with courage and fidelity, without being disturbed at the difficulties we may encounter in the way.

2. First, as soon as the soul by faith places itself in the presence of God, and becomes recollected before Him, let it remain thus for a little time in respectful silence.

But if, at the beginning, in forming the act of faith, it feels some little pleasing sense of the Divine presence, let it remain there without being troubled for a subject, and proceed no farther, but carefully cherish this sensation while it continues. When it abates, it may excite the will by some tender affection; and if, by the first moving thereof, it finds itself reinstated in sweet peace, let it there remain; the fire must be gently fanned, but as soon as it is kindled, we must cease our efforts, lest we extinguish it by our activity.

3. I would warmly recommend to all, never to finish prayer without remaining some little time afterward in a respectful silence. It is also of the greatest importance for the soul to go to prayer with courage, and to bring with it such a pure and disinterested love, as seeks nothing from God, but to please Him, and to do his will; for a servant who only proportions his diligence to his hope of reward, is unworthy of any recompense. Go then to prayer, not desiring to enjoy spiritual delights, but to be just as it pleases God; this will preserve your spirit tranquil in aridities as well as in consolation, and prevent your being surprised at the apparent repulses or absence of God.

Madame Guyon – (Part 4)

C H A P T E R III.

THE METHOD OF PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT READ.

THOSE who cannot read books, are not, on that account, excluded from prayer. The great book which teaches all things, and which is written all over, within and without, is Jesus Christ himself.

The method they should practice is this: they should first learn this fundamental truth, that “the kingdom of God is within them,” (Luke xvii. 21,) and that it must be sought there only.

It is as incumbent on the clergy to instruct their parishioners in prayer, as in their catechism. It is true they tell them the end of their creation; but they do not give them sufficient instructions how they may attain it.

They should be taught to begin by an act of profound adoration and annihilation before God, and closing the corporeal eyes, endeavor to open those of the soul; they should then collect themselves inwardly, and by a lively faith in God, as dwelling within them, pierce into the divine presence; not suffering the senses to wander abroad, but holding them as much as may be in subjection.

2. They should then repeat the Lord’s prayer in their native tongue; pondering a little upon the meaning of the words, and the infinite willingness of that God who dwells within them to become, indeed, “their father.” In this state let them pour out their wants before him; and when they have pronounced the word, “father,” remain a few moments in a reverential silence, waiting to have the will of this their heavenly Father made manifest to them.

Again, the Christian, beholding himself in the state of a feeble child, soiled and sorely bruised by repeated falls, destitute of strength to stand, or of power to cleanse himself, should lay his deplorable situation open to his Father’s view in humble confusion; occasionally intermingling a word or two of love and grief, and then again sinking into silence before Him. Then, continuing the Lord’s prayer, let him beseech this King of Glory to reign in him, abandoning himself to God, that He may do it, and acknowledging his right to rule over him.

If they feel an inclination to peace and silence, let them not continue the words of the prayer so long as this sensation holds; and when it subsides, let them go on with the second petition, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” upon which let these humble supplicants beseech God to accomplish in them, and by them, all his will, and let them surrender their hearts and freedom into his hands, to be disposed of as He pleases. When they find that the will should be employed in loving, they will desire to love, and will implore Him for his LOVE; but all this will take place sweetly and peacefully: and so of the rest of the prayer, in which the clergy may instruct them.

But they should not burthen themselves with frequent repetitions of set forms, or studied prayers; for the Lord’s prayer once repeated as I have just described, will produce abundant fruit.

3. At other times, they may place themselves as sheep before their Shepherd, looking up to Him for their true food: O divine Shepherd, Thou feedest thy flock with Thyself, and art indeed their daily bread. They may also represent to him the necessities of their families: but let all be done from this principal and one great view of faith, that God is within them.

All our imaginations of God amount to nothing; a lively faith in his presence is sufficient. For we must not form any image of the Deity, though we may of Jesus Christ, beholding him in his birth, or his crucifixion, or in some other state or mystery, provided the soul always seeks Him in its own centre.

On other occasions, we may look to him as a physician, and present for his healing virtue all our maladies; but always without perturbation, and with pauses from time to time, that the silence, being mingled with action, may be gradually extended, and our own exertion lessened; till at length, by continually yielding to God’s operations, He gains the complete ascendancy, as shall be hereafter explained.

4. When the divine presence is granted us, and we gradually begin to relish silence and repose, this experimental enjoyment of the presence of God introduces the soul into the second degree of prayer, which, by proceeding in the manner I have described, is attainable as well by the illiterate as by the learned; some privileged souls, indeed, are favored with it even from the beginning.

Madame Guyon – (Part 3)

C H A P T E R II.

THE FIRST DEGREE OF PRAYER: MEDITATION.

THERE are two ways of introducing a soul into prayer, which should be pursued for some time; the one is meditation, the other is reading accompanied by meditation.

Meditative reading is the choosing some important practical or speculative truth, always preferring the practical, and proceeding thus: whatever truth you have chosen, read only a small portion of it, endeavoring to taste and digest it, to extract the essence and substance of it, and proceed no farther while any savor or relish remains in the passage: then take up your book again, and proceed as before, seldom reading more than half a page at a time.

It is not the quantity that is read, but the manner of reading, that yields us profit. Those who read fast, reap no more advantage, than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets. Much reading is rather for scholastic subjects, than divine truths; to receive profit from spiritual books, we must read as I have described; and I am certain that if that method were pursued, we should become gradually habituated to prayer by our reading, and more fully disposed for its exercise.

2. Meditation, which is the other method, is to be practised at an appropriated season, and not in the time of reading. I believe that the best manner of meditating is as follows:

When by an act of lively faith, you are placed in the presence of God, read some truth wherein there is substance; pause gently thereon, not to employ the reason, but merely to fix the mind; observing that the principal exercise should ever be the presence of God, and that the subject, therefore, should rather serve to stay the mind, than exercise it in reasoning.

Then let a lively faith in God immediately present in our inmost souls, produce an eager sinking into ourselves, restraining all our senses from wandering abroad: this serves to extricate us, in the first instance, from numerous distractions, to remove us far from external objects, and to bring us nigh to God, who is only to be found in our inmost centre, which is the Holy of Holies wherein he dwells. He has even promised to come and make his abode with him that doeth his will. (John xiv. 23.) St. Augustine blames himself for the time he had lost in not having sought God, from the first, in this manner of prayer.

3. When we are thus fully entered into ourselves, and warmly penetrated throughout with a lively sense of the Divine presence; when the senses are all recollected, and withdrawn from the circumference to the centre, and the soul is sweetly and silently employed on the truths we have read, not in reasoning, but in feeding thereon, and animating the will by affection, rather than fatiguing the understanding by study; when, I say, the affections are in this state, (which, however difficult it may appear at first, is, as I shall hereafter show, easily attainable,) we must allow them sweetly to repose, and, as it were, swallow what they have tasted.

For as a person may enjoy the flavor of the finest viands in mastication, yet receive no nourishment from them, if he does not cease the action and swallow the food; so when our affections are enkindled, if we endeavor to stir them up yet more, we extinguish the flame, and the soul is deprived of its nourishment. We should, therefore, in a repose of love, full of respect and confidence, swallow the blessed food we have received. This method is highly necessary, and will advance the soul more in a short time, than any other in years.

4. But as I have said that our direct and principal exercise should consist in the contemplation of the Divine presence, we should be exceedingly diligent in recalling our dissipated senses, as the most easy method of overcoming distractions; for a direct contest only serves to irritate and augment them; whereas, by sinking within, under a view by faith, of a present God, and simply recollecting ourselves, we wage insensibly a very successful, though indirect war with them.

It is proper here to caution beginners against wandering from truth to truth, and from subject to subject; the right way to penetrate every divine truth, to enjoy its full relish, and to imprint it on the heart, is to dwell upon it whilst its savor continues.

Though recollection is difficult in the beginning, from the habit the soul has acquired of being always abroad, yet, when by the violence it has done itself, it becomes a little accustomed to it, the process is soon rendered perfectly easy; and this partly from the force of habit, and partly because God, whose one will towards his creatures is to communicate himself to them, imparts abundant grace, and an experimental enjoyment of his presence, which very much facilitate it.

Madame Guyon – (Part 2)

C H A P T E R I.

THE PRAYER OF THE HEART.

ALL are capable of prayer, and it is a dreadful misfortune that almost all the world have conceived the idea that they are not called to prayer. We are all called to prayer, as we are all called to salvation.

PRAYER is nothing but the application of the heart to God, and the internal exercise of love. St. Paul has enjoined us to “pray without ceasing;” (1 Thess. v.17) and our Lord bids us watch and pray, (Mark xiii. 33,37): all therefore may, and all ought to practise prayer. I grant that meditation is attainable but by few, for few are capable of it; and therefore, my beloved brethren who are athirst for salvation, meditative prayer is not the prayer which God requires of you, nor which we would recommend.

2. Let all pray: you should live by prayer, as you should live by love. “I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that ye may be rich.” (Rev. iii. 18.) This is very easily obtained, much more easily than you can conceive.

Come all ye that are athirst to the living waters, nor lose your precious moments in hewing out cisterns that will hold no water. (John vii. 37; Jer. ii. 13.) Come ye famishing souls, who find nought to satisfy you; come, and ye shall be filled! Come, ye poor afflicted ones, bending beneath your load of wretchedness and pain, and ye shall be consoled! Come, ye sick, to your physician, and be not fearful of approaching him because ye are filled with diseases; show them, and they shall be healed!

Children, draw near to your Father, and he will embrace you in the arms of love! Come ye poor, stray, wandering sheep, return to your Shepherd! Come, sinners, to your Saviour! Come ye dull, ignorant, and illiterate, ye who think yourselves the most incapable of prayer! ye are more peculiarly called and adapted thereto. Let all without exception come, for Jesus Christ hath called ALL.

Yet let not those come who are without a heart; they are excused; for there must be a heart before there can be love. But who is without a heart? O come, then, give this heart to God; and here learn how to make the donation.

3. All who are desirous of prayer, may easily pray, enabled by those ordinary graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which are common to all men.

PRAYER is the key to perfection, and the sovereign good; it is the means of delivering us from every vice, and obtaining us every virtue; for the one great means of becoming perfect, is to walk in the presence of God. He himself hath said, “Walk before me, and be thou perfect.” (Gen. xvii. 1.) It is by prayer alone that we are brought into his presence, and maintained in it without interruption.

4. You must, then, learn a species of prayer which may be exercised at all times; which does not obstruct outward employments; which may be equally practised by princes, kings, prelates, priests and magistrates, soldiers and children, tradesmen, laborers, women, and sick persons; it is not the prayer of the head, but OF THE HEART.

It is not a prayer of the understanding alone, for the mind of man is so limited in its operations that it can have but one object at a time; but it is the PRAYER OF THE HEART which is not interrupted by the exercises of reason. Nothing can interrupt this prayer but disordered affections; and when once we have enjoyed God, and the sweetness of his love, we shall find it impossible to relish aught but himself.

5. Nothing is so easily obtained as the possession and enjoyment of God. He is more present to us than we are to ourselves. He is more desirous of giving Himself to us than we are to possess Him; we only need to know how to seek Him, and the way is easier and more natural to us than breathing.

Ah! ye who think yourselves so dull and fit for nothing, by prayer you may live on God himself with less difficulty or interruption than you live on the vital air. Will it not then be highly sinful to neglect prayer? But doubtless you will not, when you have learnt the method, which is the easiest in the world.

 

Madame Guyon – (Part 1)

A short & very easy method of prayer

The Author’s Preface.

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THIS little treatise, conceived in great simplicity, was not originally intended for publication. It was written for a few individuals, who were desirous of loving God with all their heart. Many, however, because of the profit they received in reading the manuscript, wished to obtain copies, and, on this account alone, it was committed to the press.

It still remains in its original simplicity. It contains no censure on the various divine leadings of others; on the contrary, it enforces the received teachings. The whole is submitted to the judgment of the learned and experienced; requesting them, however, not to stop at the surface, but to enter into the main design of the author, which is to induce the whole world to love God, and to serve Him with comfort and success, in a simple and easy manner, adapted to those little ones who are unqualified for learned and deep researches, but who earnestly desire to be truly devoted to God.

An unprejudiced reader will find, hidden under the most common expressions, a secret unction, which will excite him to seek after that happiness which all should wish to enjoy.

In asserting that perfection is easily attained, the word facility, is used; because God is, indeed found with facility, when we seek Him within ourselves. But some, perhaps, may urge that passage in St. John “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me,” (vii. 34); this apparent difficulty, however, is removed by another passage, where He, who cannot contradict himself, has said to all, “Seek and ye shall find,” (Matt. vii. 7). It is true, indeed, that he who would seek God, and is yet unwilling to forsake his sins, shall not find him, because he seeks Him where He is not; and, therefore, it is added, “Ye shall die in your sins.” But he, who will take some trouble to seek God in his own heart, and sincerely forsake his sin, that he may draw near unto Him, shall infallibly find Him.

A life of piety appears so frightful to many, and prayer of such difficult attainment, that they are discouraged from taking a single step towards it. But as the apprehended difficulty of an undertaking often causes despair of succeeding and reluctance in commencing, so its desirableness, and the idea that it is easy to accomplish, induce us to enter upon its pursuit with pleasure, and to pursue it with vigor. The advantages and facility of this way are therefore set forth in the following treatise.

O were we once persuaded of the goodness of God toward his poor creatures, and of his desire to communicate Himself to them, we should not create ideal monsters, nor so easily despair of obtaining that good which He is so earnest to bestow: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall He not, with him, also freely give us all things?” (Rom. viii. 32). It needs only a little courage and perseverance; we have enough of both in our temporal concerns, but none at all in the one thing needful, (Luke x. 42).

If any think that God is not easily to be found in this way, let them not on my testimony alter their minds, but let them try it, and their own experience will convince them, that the reality far exceeds all my representations of it.

Beloved reader, puruse this little tract with a sincere and candid spirit, in lowliness of mind, and not with an inclination to criticize, and you will not fail to reap profit from it. It was written with a desire that you might wholly devote yourself to God; receive it then with a like desire: for it has no other design than to invite the simple and the child-like to approach their father, who delights in the humble confidence of his children, and is greatly grieved at their distrust. With a sincere desire, therefore, for your salvation, seek nothing from the unpretending method here proposed, but the love of God, and you shall assuredly obtain it.

Without setting up our opinions above those of others, we mean only with sincerity to declare, from our own experience and the experience of others, the happy effects produced by thus simply following after the Lord.

As this treatise was intended only to instruct in prayer, nothing is said of many things which we esteem, because they do not immediately relate to our main subject. It is, however, beyond a doubt, that nothing will be found herein to offend, provided it be read in the spirit with which it was written. And it is still more certain, that those who in right earnest make trial of the way, will find we have written the truth.

It is Thou alone, O holy Jesus, who lovest simplicity and innocence, “and whose delight is to dwell with the children of men,” (Prov. viii. 31), with those who are, indeed, willing to become “little children,” (Matt. xviii. 3); it is Thou alone, who canst render this little work of any value, by imprinting it on the heart, and leading those who read it to seek Thee within themselves, where Thou reposest as in the manger, waiting to receive proofs of their love, and to give them testimony of thine. They lose these advantages by their own fault. But it belongeth unto thee, O child Almighty! uncreated Love! silent and all-containing Word! to make thyself loved, enjoyed and understood. Thou canst do it; and I know Thou wilt do it by this little work, which belongeth entirely to Thee, proceedeth wholly from Thee, and tendeth only to Thee!

Some Spiritual Classics

Below you will find lists of some spiritual classics that would work for discussion/project groups, along with full-text versions of the books online and a suggested published version for a group. I’ve included a couple of informational web sites for each, though there are plenty more out there (use google.com).

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The Desert Fathers: Translations from the Latin (Vintage Spiritual Classics)
by Helen Waddell (Translator), John F. Thornton (Editor), M. Basil Pennington (Introduction)

This is a collection of short stories of very early Christian mystics, individuals who fled the decay of the Roman cities to seek God in the desert. Their self-denial and living conditions were harsh to modern sensibilities, but they provided the model for Christian monasticism that developed later in charity and self-less seeking of the Divine. Here’s a taste of this material and some background: http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexdesert.htm

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Revelations of Divine Love (Penguin Classics)
by Julian, Elizabeth Spearing (Translator), Julian of Norwich, A. C. Spearing, Julian Norwich

Julian was a 14th century anchoress living in England. An anchorite or anchoress was a person who lived in a little room attached to the church and spent the rest of life in meditation and prayer (along with doing some spiritual guidance for people in the surrounding area). Julian’s book was written in the vernacular (that is, English) rather than in Latin, so she describes herself as “unlettered”. She actually has two books in one: a short book telling a series of visions she had while very sick; the second book is a more elaborated and interpreted version of the visions, including the insights she had received through prayer and reflection on the meaning of her visions. Julian was in truth a creative theologian, but as a woman, had to communicate her insights in a very deft way. Her understanding of God was that God was very tender, forgiving, and loving; her big intellectual crisis was how to square that sort of God with the Church’s teachings about hellfire and damnation. She came away with a reassurance that, though humans can’t figure it out and make it right, God can. She also experienced Christ as a mother – pretty radical for us, but something that other mystics of her day had done as well. This web site includes lots of information, including full-text versions of her book (but in very archaic language – much better to buy the version above). http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/julian.htm — but watch out for the music, which can be a little hard to turn off!

Here’s another web site with information on Julian and also some internet-available booklets on Julian and on other mystics before her and after her – some really good stuff: http://www.umilta.net/julian.html

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The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi (Vintage Spiritual Classics)
by Ugolino (Editor), W. Heywood (Editor), Ugolino Di Monte Santa Maria, Carol Zaleski (Preface)

St. Francis is a well-known and beloved Italian saint, who founded an order of poor friars in the early 13th century. The book was written in the middle of the century by Brother Ugolino, one of the early Franciscan friars (presenting an idealized picture of Francis and the early movement). Here’s a rather extensive Catholic Encyclopedia article on St. Francis: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm

Here’s a reading guide for the book put out by the publisher (Vintage): http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides/little_flowers_of_st_francis_of_assisi.asp

Here are some electronic versions of the book (though the Vintage version is a better choice for a reading group):

http://www.ccel.org/u/ugolino/flowers/

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Interior Castle
by St. Teresa of Avila, E. Allison Peers (Translator)

Teresa of Avila, of 16th century Spain, is one of the most brilliant and insightful of mystics in the canon of spiritual classics. She wrote (or perhaps dictated) in Spanish and has been described as an important formative literary influence in Spanish literature. She writes plainly, citing her own experience and using Biblical references, but portrays some very sophisticated psychological issues facing people doing serious prayer and meditation (such as, “how do you know whether you are really in contact with the Divine or experiencing an illusion?”).

Here’s another link with a brief bio and additional links for more information:

http://www.ccel.org/t/teresa/teresa.html

Here’s a web site that has some information about Teresa and also the full text of the book (but for the group project MUCH better to get the book in print):

http://www.catholicfirst.com/thefaith/catholicclassics/stteresa/castle/interiorcastle.cfm

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The Journal of John Woolman and a Plea for the Poor
by John Woolman, Frederick B. Tolles (Introduction) (Paperback – October 1972)

John Woolman was an American Quaker working and writing in the early second half of the 1700s. He came to have a deep and profound leading (as Quakers call it) to work within the Society of Friends to guide Quakers away from owning slaves. In doing so, he seeded a strong abolitionist movement among Quakers that was very influential. The Journal traces his own spiritual development on this issue, and on other related issues, such as the moral responsibility of consumers to know something about the conditions under which our consumer goods are created – still VERY timely. The published book has more of his work that goes in this direction.

Here’s a link to a full-text version of the Journal:
http://www.strecorsoc.org/jwoolman/title.html

Here’s another full-text version, with an introductory note:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1772woolman.html

Here’s another introductory note:

http://www.bartleby.com/1/2/1002.html

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Dark Night of the Soul : A Masterpiece in the Literature of Mysticism by St. John of the Cross
by E. Allison Peers (Translator), St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross was a 16th century mystic and reformer, like St. Teresa from Spain (and influenced by her), who wrote spiritual poetry.

Here’s an introductory note about this book and about St. John of the Cross:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/dark_night.html

Here’s the full text of the book:

http://www.catholicfirst.com/thefaith/catholicclassics/johnofthecross/dark_night/darknight1.cfm
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Imitation of Christ
Thomas a Kempis – There’s a published version by Vintage.

Born in the 14th century and lived in Holland. This book has been one of the most influential of spiritual classics in the world. First published anonymously in 1418, it has more recently been firmly attributed to Thomas a Kempis. See this site for a long biographical article from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14661a.htm

Electronic version: http://www.ccel.org/k/kempis/imitation/imitation.html

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The Practice of the Presence of God
Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence
I’d suggest this edition for a group:
Revell; Reprint edition (January 1, 1999)

Here’s a piece about Brother Lawrence, born in France in the early 1600s. He was a soldier, then worked in the kitchen in a monastery, practicing a simple devotion that is reflected in the book (recorded by others and edited from his letters).

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice.html

Electronic version of the book full text: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice.html

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Wild Ivy The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin, Translated by Norman Waddell – from the publisher (Shambala Press). Please note: this is a book reflecting a complex culture and historical time, much like the Christian texts that are set in an earlier time, but including references to Japanese culture and history that will take some thought (and time!) I’ve read part but not all of the book. Master Hakuin seems to be quite a character, fond of having a good time.

“Hakuin Zenji, also known as Hakuin Ekaku (1689�1769), is often referred to as the “father” of the Japanese Zen Rinzai school. His reforms revitalized the school, ensuring its endurance even to our own day. A fiery and dynamic teacher and renowned artist, Hakuin reemphasized the importance of zazen, or sitting meditation, in his teaching.

This intimate self-portrait of the Zen master includes reminiscences from his childhood, an account of how he came to practice Zen, and a description of his enlightenment experiences.”

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Possibility for anyone interested in being more daring and stretching a bit: choose one of these Sufi classics – find descriptions on this web site of Paulist Press under Classics of Western Spirituality: http://www.paulistpress.com/ClassicsWesternSearch.html?id=AVq4aN5i

Ibn Al’ Arabi: The Bezels of Wisdom
edited and introduced by R.W.J. Austin; preface by Titus Burckhardt

Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes
translated with an introduction by William Chittick and Peter Wilson; preface by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Ibn ‘Ata ‘Illah/Kwaja Abdullah Ansari: The Book of Wisdom and Kwaja Abdullah Ansari, Intimate Conversations
translated, introduced, and notes by Victor Danner and Wheeler M. Thackston; preface by Annemarie Schimmel

Ibn ‘Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path (Classics of Western Spirituality)
by John Renard (Translator), Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn ‘Abbad, Annemarie Schimmel (Translator)

Thomas Merton on Solitude

The American Trappist monk Thomas Merton (1915-68) was a prolific writer on a variety of subjects but known especially for his popularization of the monastic life and for his advocacy — unique among American writers and religious — of eremiticism. In the twenty short years of his life as a writer, beginning with his autobiographical Seven Storey Mountain in 1948, Merton published over sixty books and pamphlets, over five hundred articles and contributions to books, plus translation and poetry. He composed private journals and maintained a voluminous personal correspondence, and also recorded his classroom lectures. The public writings are consistent and constructive, with a definable trajectory that established his well-read and reflective mind. After his death, with publication of private journals and correspondence, a more controversial and iconoclastic figure emerged, one dubbed contradictory by both fellow monks and outside observers.

The private Merton does not impinge upon the integrity of Merton’s writings on monasticism, eremiticism, and solitude. Because the published works so clearly represent his intended reflections, and because the same themes underlie his work even through the evolution of his ideas, what follows draws entirely on the public Merton.

We can identify several phases of thought in Merton, with the transitions and overlap that occurred between them. They are cumulative phases, spirals absorbing the best of the previous period, sometimes anticipating the next period. They are not strictly linear. Roughly put, these are as follows, with representative book titles and their year of publication, considering that the time from manuscript to to printing date could vary months or even years.

 

1. 1948-51.
Traditional defense of monasticism in the modern world. Seven Storey Mountain (1948), Seeds of Contemplation (1949), The Waters of Siloe (1949), Ascent to Truth (1951), The Sign of Jonas (1953), No Man is an Island (1955).

2. 1951-1959.
From tradition defense to using the vocabulary and concepts of existentialism and personalism; strong advocacy of eremiticism. The Silent Life (1956); Basic Principles of Monastic Spirituality (1957); Thoughts in Solitude (1958); Disputed Questions (1960).

3. 1960-1965.
Social and political concerns; confidence in philosophical defense of solitude.
Wisdom of the Desert (1960); The New Man (1962); New Seeds of Contemplation (1962); Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1965); Contemplation in a World of Action (1965); Raids on the Unspeakable (1965).

4. 1965-68.
Emphasis on essays versus books; wide variety of subjects, especially mysticism, transcendence, and Eastern thought. The Way of Chuang-Tzu (1965); Mystics and Zen Masters (1967); Zen and the Birds of Appetite (1968).

PHASE ONE (1948-51)

During what we have called his first phase (1948-51), Merton was strongly influenced by Thomist scholasticism, and defended the Catholic Church’s historical context for monasticism. Merton presented monasticism in an original and contemporary lights, as an alternative to the modern materialistic cultures of post-World War II: capitalism and communism. Here he followed figures such as Etienne Gilson and Jacques Maritain in maintaining a benign optimism.

Even in his early years of conversion and the decision to enter monastic life, Merton expressed an interest in the Carthusian order, which has an official status for hermits. Because he became a monk in 1941, access to the Carthusian order headquartered in France, was impossible, though in 1953, Merton was to float the suggestion of transfer to his abbot but was to be politely turned back. Hence even in these earliest years, Merton was strongly attracted to eremiticism and solitude. In part his was a reaction of disappointment. Merton had found monastery at Gethsemani overcrowded, busy, highly ritualized, and noisy — the opposite of an atmosphere conducive to contemplation.

With publication of Seven Storey Mountain and ordination to priesthood, Merton was afforded a reclusive corner of the monastery library for writing. But despite the popularity of his first books, some critics viewed them as a romanticized portrait of monastic life. By 1951, when he became Master of Scholastics at Gethsemani, and the criticism of his Ascent to Truth, Merton realized that his scholastic definitions of contemplation and spirituality were abstract and even cold, not serving to resolve his new sensibilities nor effectively communication to his popular audience. This set the stage for the second phase.

PHASE TWO (1951-59)

Merton was strongly impressed by an issue of the French journal La vie spirituelle (October 1952) dedicated to “Blessed Solitude” and by Max Picard’s The World of Silence, Merton’s introduction to Christian existentialism and a resource for the rest of his life. In 1953-54, Merton composed Thoughts in Solitude (not published until 1958), and a preface to Jean Leclerq’s book on the Renaissance hermit Paul Giustiniani. This preface signaled Merton’s definitive defense of hermits in the monastic tradition.

The true reason for the persistence of hermits even in ages which are most hostile to the solitary ideal is that the exigencies of Christian life demand that there be hermits. The kingdom of God would be incomplete without them,. for they are men who seek God alone with the most absolute and underrated and uncompromising singleness of heart.

In 1955, Merton wrote Dans la desert de Dieu, a work on solitude privately printed only in French and Italian. About this time, several religious authorities supported Merton’s position on solitude and his newest petition to transfer to the Camaldolese — Jean Leclerq being the most prominent — but the Abbot Visitor of the Order cracked down on what he considered an eremitic mentality at Gethsemani. The abbot James Fox gave Merton the alternative (to his petition) of manning the nearby State Forestry Department watchtower. But Merton, like the biblical Jonas, wavered, and when the Master of Novices post opened, he accepted it quietly. A few days later, a letter from the Sacred Congregation for Religious (in the Vatican) arrived with denial for his request to transfer to the Camaldolese.

In his second period, Merton’s experience in contemporary monasticism had revealed the weakness of its modern-day spirituality, and he begins developing the theme of solitude not only as a basis for monks to separate from society (as in phase one) but for the spiritual development of individual monks for whom eremiticism can be an option.

As long as the solitary life is systematically played down, discouraged, and even forbidden, I do not think that even the cenobitic [sic] life will bear its proper fruit.

Towards the end of this period, Merton makes the shift from solitude for monks to solitude for laity.

Not all men are called to be hermits, but all men need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally. … For he cannot go on happily for long, unless he is in contact with the springs of spiritual ilife which are hidden in the depths of this own true soul.

It was in the middle of this period that Merton made his request to transfer to the Camaldolese, but also the period during which he evolved a precise defense of eremiticism and solitude.

Where the writings of the first phase were a traditional defense of monasticism against the world, the writings of this second phase incorporate a greater compassion for “the world” and the plight of people. Merton is clearly familiar with a range of writings echoed in his new vocabulary: alienation, the absurd, the “stranger,” mass man, and the need for psychological integration.

Note that the word ‘alienation’ is used by non-existentialists to support the fictions of collective life. For them the ‘alienated’ man is the one who is not at peace in the general myth. He is the non-conformist; the oddball who does not agree with everybody else and who disturbs the pleasant sense of collective rightness. For the existentialist, the alienated man is the one who, though ‘adjusted’ to society, is alienated from himself. The inner life of the mass man, alienated and leveled in the existential sense, is a dull collective routine of popular fantasies maintained in existence by the collective dreams that goes on , without interruption, in the mass media.

Merton distinguishes the individual from the person, and criticizes socialization into materialism and hostility towards solitude. The compassion for suffering humanity is joined by the prescription of solitude, unmasking of the false self built up by the contrivances of society against the true self. The true self is discovered only in the solitude of self and the solitude of God.

The real wilderness of the hermit is the wilderness of the human spirit which is at once his and everyone else’s. What he seeks in that wilderness is not himself, not human company, and consolation, but God.

Man’s loneliness is, in fact, the loneliness of God. This is why it is such a great thing for a man to discover his solitude and learn to live in it. For there he finds that he and God are one: that God is aloneness as he himself is alone. That God wills to be alone in man.

Though he was afforded intervals of solitude on the quarters of the monastery, Merton petitioned the Congregation for Religious for exclaustration in 1959, hoping to go to Mexico as a hermit near a Benedictine monastery. When this plan failed, Merton cast his eye on a free-standing block building planned for conference guests. This he dubbed “St. Anne’s Hermitage.” Here he was destined to enjoy his dwelling, first for hours at a time, then days, then, in 1965, indefinitely.

Merton’s Notes for a Philosophy of Solitude published in the book Disputed Questions, is undoubtedly his best essay on solitude. The core of the work was written as Dans le desert de Dieu referred to earlier (and never published in English), such an explicit praise of eremiticism that Merton had anticipated the reaction of the censors by not even trying to present it for publication. This essay, with the contents of The Solitary Life, was expanded into Notes, initially refused by the censors who forced Merton through three revisions before permitting its inclusion in Disputed Questions.

In fact, the revisions of Notes broadened the theme for readers of every station in life, eliminating the words “monk” and “hermit” for “solitary,” and calling upon readers to recognize their unique personhood outside of any institutional framework. In solitude the person discovers the commonality of all people and the solitude of God. This was the new focus for the next phase.

Ours is certainly a time for solitaries and hermits. But merely to reproduce the simplicity, austerity, and prayer of these primitive souls is not a complete or satisfactory answer. We must transcend them …

PHASE THREE (1960-65)

Merton’s productivity accelerated. He took the trajectory of his second phase to new treatments of spiritual life, applying contemplation as a tool to be combined with practical life. This everyday life meant experiencing the reality of people in society, hence Merton’s addressing social and political issues such as war, racism, poverty, and violence. Part of this new phase was an increase in articles and essays versus books, more timely and critical in perspective than a leisurely and reflective monograph. His increasing respites of solitude helped.

In a 1964 meeting of North and South American Cistercian abbots at Gethsemani, Merton circulated an essay urging consideration of greater provision for solitude in monasteries, even as hermitages of lauras attached to monasteries. The essay was not just self-serving, though born of practical experience. Merton followed up with detailed mechanics of how such lauras would function.

Shortly afterwards, Merton received permission to stay at St. Anne’s as its herm

PHASE FOUR (1965-68)

In a letter to Dorothy Day in 1965, Merton wrote that he could not be both an activist for social and political issues and a hermit. He preferred the latter, and the fourth phase shows this direction definitively.

You will never find interior solitude unless you make some conscious effort to deliver yourself from the desires and the cares and the attachments of an existence in time and in the world.

In the solitude of his new hermitage, Merton continued the pace of writing, but with a new emphasis on the historical Christian mystics and on Taoist and Buddhist thought, seeing solitude in the context of enlightenment. The correspondence with a variety of spiritual figures and scholars from Sufism to Zen was invaluable.

As an example referring to Christian mysticism but reflecting his use of Eastern thought,

Merton writes:

This dynamic of emptying and of transcendence accurately defines the transformation of the Christian consciousness in Christ. It is a kenotic transformation, an emptying of all the contents of the ego-consciousness in order to become a void in which the light of God or the glory of God, the full radiation of the infinite reality of His Being and Love are manifested.

Two issues not directly related to publishing had an impact on his life: the apparent indifference and occasional hostility of the Gethesemani monks towards eremiticism, and the growing lack of privacy surrounding Merton’s daily life. Merton was sensitive to and hurt by the former, but ambivalent about the latter, thriving on personal contacts but regretting the disruptions to his solitude. In 1968, he considered relocating to a Trappist monastery in California, or even, Alaska, being given permission for the first time to travel.

That spring, Merton gave lectures at the Our Lady of the Redwoods in California, finding the experience invigorating. That fall, he pursued the invitation to speak at a conference of Asian monastic leaders in Bangkok, Thailand. He considered this an opportunity to explore other venues for solitude as much as a chance to deepen his concept of the monastic life. We know from his posthumous journals, for example, that he was enthusiastic about the Dalai Lama’s advice to read the metaphysics of the Vajrayana school. Merton died in Bangkok, accidentally electrocuted by a faulty fan in his room.

SUMMARY

The trajectory of Merton’s thoughts on solitude may be summarized thusly: It begins in a withdrawal from the world (as a religious) in order to witness against the corruption and materialism the world embodies. It is first a physical solitude. The trajectory then returns to the world with compassion for those who suffer society’s oppression and alienation, and constructs a defense of the person who is unable to withdraw from the world, an assertion of personhood and the true self. This phase culminates in a radical critique of the society that has perpetrated its oppressive values on the person. But in order to safeguard solitude, the trajectory rediscovers its spiritual fruits, and transcends the world in order to pursue for wisdom and enlightenment. In a frontispiece poem to The Solitary Life, Merton wrote:

Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers.
For I, Solitude, am thine own Self:
I, Nothingness, am thy All.
I, Silence, am thy Amen.

¶

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

This essay is indebted to Richard Anthony Cashen’s Solitude in the Thought of Thomas Merton. Kalamazoo: Mich., Cistercian Publications, 1981.

Contemplative Community

Contemplative community is solitude-community
which provides leisure to celebrate life.

Community is always poised between two poles: solitude and togetherness. Without togetherness community disperses; without solitude community collapses into a mass, a crowd. But solitude and togetherness are not mutually antagonistic; on the contrary, they make each other possible.

Solitude without togetherness deteriorates into loneliness. One needs strong roots in togetherness to be solitary rather than lonely when one is alone. Aloneness is neutral; loneliness is aloneness which is cut off from togetherness; solitude is aloneness supported by togetherness, blessed solitude.

Togetherness without solitude is not truly togetherness, but rather side-by-sideness. To live merely side by side is alienation. We need time and space to be alone, to find ourselves in solitude, before we can give ourselves to one another in true togetherness.

A particular balance between solitude and togetherness will characterize a particular community. But by “balance” we mean more than the ratio between time spent alone and time spent with one another; we mean an inner relatedness of solitude and togetherness which makes each of them what it is in a given case.

On one end of the spectrum lies a type of community in which togetherness is the goal that is sought above all: a particularly close-knit family, for example. We may call this type togetherness-community. On the other end of the spectrum lies a community totally oriented towards solitude, for instance, a community of hermits. Let us call this type solitude-community. Since in either case both solitude and togetherness are essential for true community, the difference is one of emphasis.

The spectrum is continuous, but the distinction is clear; in
togetherness-community, togetherness is the measure of solitude; the members have a right and a duty to get as much solitude as they need for deep and strong togetherness. In solitude-community, solitude is the measure of togetherness; here the members have a right and a duty to get as much
togetherness as each one needs to support and enrich solitude.

A human being cannot survive without community. Nor can one be truly happy unless one finds the particular type of community that will fulfill one’s needs for solitude and togetherness. The process of matching one¹s personal needs with a particular type of community within the wide spectrum of
possibilities is an essential part of finding one’s vocation, what one feels called to choose at a given time.

What do we mean by “contemplative life?”

By contemplative life we do not mean life in a cloister. Contemplative life as a vocation means a particular form of life in which, ideally at least, every detail of daily living is oriented towards recollection. By recollection we mean mindfulness, ultimately unlimited mindfulness, the inner attitude by which we find meaning. Contemplative life in this sense is a form of life designed to provide an optimum environment for radical
search for meaning.

Meaning and purpose are not identical. It is possible, for instance, to accomplish a purpose that has no meaning. Two different inner gestures correspond to purpose and meaning. When we comprehend the purpose of a given thing or action we grasp it, we are in control. When we want to understand the meaning of a given thing or situation, it must touch us (“How does this grab you?”, as the young people say); we are responsive, but no longer in control.

By grasping purpose we gain knowledge; by allowing meaning to take hold of us we gain that wisdom which is the ultimate goal of contemplative life. The two are mutually complementary; we must distinguish without separating them. The openness for meaning is joined to the pursuit of purpose through leisure.

Leisure is not the opposite of work; we should be able to work in leisure. The opposite of work is play. Work is something we do to accomplish a purpose which lies outside the activity itself; once the purpose is accomplished, the activity ceases. (We polish shoes in order to have them polished, not in order to polish them; once they are polished, we stop.) Play is something we do because we find meaning in it, an activity
which has all its purpose within itself. (We sing in order to sing, for its own sake, not in order to have sung.)

Leisure introduces into every activity an element of play, an element of doing whatever it be also for its own sake, not only to get it done. Thus leisure provides the climate in which we can be open for meaning. Contemplative life as a form of life molded by a radical search for meaning will necessarily be a life of leisure, ascetical leisure.

It seems possible to gain some insights into the ascetic elements of contemplative life by an analysis of the so-called peak experience. This term denotes a deeply personal experience of meaningful insight, often in a flash, always in a moment of leisure. The experience itself is totally
unreflective, but later reflection finds in it a series of paradoxes.

What takes place in the peak experience is paradoxically that I both lose myself, and yet I am in this experience more truly myself than at any other time. Expressions one uses afterwards to describe what happened may include: ”I was out of myself”; “I was simply carried away”; “I completely lost myself”; and yet “I was more fully alive, more truly myself than ever.”

Another paradox of which one becomes aware in the peak experience is the fact that one is at the same time alone (not lonely) in a profound sense, and yet deeply one with all others present or even absent. Often a peak experience occurs during a moment of solitude, out in nature for instance, but even when I am in the midst of a large crowd, say, in a concert hall, this one passage of music which touches me deeply seems to single me out, as if it had been written and performed especially for me. On the other hand, even on the mountain top or on a lonely shore my heart expands in the peak experience to embrace earth and sky and all living creatures. The paradox is simply that I am most intimately one with all when I am most intimately alone.

There is a third paradox implicit in the peak experience: In a sudden flash of insight everything makes sense; everything, life and death and the whole universe; but not as if someone had given us the solution to a complicated problem: it is rather that we are reconciled with the problem. For one moment we stop questioning and a universal answer emerges; or rather, we glimpse the fact that the answer was always quietly there, only our questions drowned it out. When I stop asking, the answer is there.

The three paradoxes with which we are confronted in the peak experience provide a key for the understanding of contemplative life: they are like seeds out of which the most universal ascetical practices of contemplative tradition grow. Out of the paradoxical insight that I am most truly myself
when I lose myself grows the ascetical practice of detachment. Poverty or detachment aims at more than giving away what I have; I must ultimately give away what I am, so as to truly be.

The experience of being alone when one is one with all provides a key for the understanding of celibacy. A celibate person sustains the paradox which others experience only in a brief moment. She or he is alone so as to be truly one with all. One could also say: s/he is so deeply united with all that solitude
is paradoxically the only adequate expression for this unity.

Ascetical obedience is also rooted in the peak experience, in the insight, namely, that everything makes sense the moment I stop questioning, the moment I listen. Learning to listen is the heart of obedience; following someone else¹s commands is merely a means to this end. In the last analysis, we have only the choice between absurdity and obedience. “Ab-surdus” means ”absolutely deaf”; “ob-audiens” denotes the attitude of one who has learned to listen thoroughly, to listen with a heart attuned to the deepest meaning.

The peak experience is a moment in which meaning strikes us, takes hold of us. Contemplative asceticism serves to support our wholehearted search for meaning. It makes sense, then, that the structural paradox of the peak experience should provide a clue for understanding the paradoxical structure of ascetical practice. Contemplative life is basically the attempt to expose oneself to the meaning of any given moment (through detachment, celibacy, obedience) in unlimited mindfulness.

Solitude community

Contemplative community in the strict sense will be a community of people who support one another in that radical search for meaning which finds expression in ascetical tradition. However, solitude is an integral part of this tradition in all its forms. In contemplative community the members live in community so as to protect one another’s solitude both from deteriorating into loneliness and from being infringed upon by misguided togetherness. If there is one lonely person in the community, the others must ask themselves: “Have we supported her aloneness by the togetherness she needed?” Yet, each one must also ask herself again and again: “Have I respected the other’s solitude? Have I protected it against my own whims of togetherness?” We are the guardians of one another’s solitude, to the left as well as to the right.

Solitude, however, is not an end in itself. The end is a community supportive of the quest for meaning; and this is to say that the end is a community of leisure for only through leisurely living can we find meaning. The very reason why people join to form community of this kind is the mutual help they can give to one another in creating an environment in
which leisure is possible. The leisure of which we are speaking is not the privilege of those who have time, but the virtue of those who take time. Contemplative community is solitude-community for the sake of leisure. To live leisurely means to take things one by one, to single them out for grateful consideration. And this is the essence of celebration. All other
aspects of celebration are optional, but when everything is stripped away that can be stripped away, these two elements remain. Wherever someone singles out something (or someone) for grateful consideration, we have a little celebration. Celebration cannot and need not be justified by any purpose; it is ultimately meaningful. To live leisurely means to celebrate every moment of life. Contemplative community is solitude-community which provides leisure to celebrate life.

Is community as you experience it today this kind of community? If not, why not? And if we think it should be, how can we make it so?

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Reprinted from Benedictines; Summer 1971; vol. xxvi, #2.

Rule of Benedict Verses 1 – 13

Prologue Section 1 Verses 1 – 13 Listen & Arise!

L I S T E N carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20). Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father’s advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.

To you, therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever you may be, who are renouncing your own will to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King, and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience

And first of all, whatever good work you begin to do, beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it, that He who has now deigned to count us among His children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve Him with the good things He has given us, that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children, nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions, deliver us to everlasting punishment as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.

Let us arise, then, at last, for the Scripture stirs us up, saying, “Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep” (Rom. 18:11). Let us open our eyes to the deifying light, let us hear with attentive ears the warning which the divine voice cries daily to us, “Today if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps. 94:8). And again, “Whoever has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Matt. 11-15; Apoc. 2:7). And what does He say? “Come, My children, listen to Me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). “Run while you have the light of life, lest the darkness of death overtake you” (John 12:35).

 

Related Scripture

John 12: 35- 36 Run while you have the light

Ps 94 (95) Listen to his voice (Invitatory)

Ps 33 (34) I will teach you the fear of the Lord

Rom 13:11-14 Arise from sleep

Rev 2 & 3 What the spirit says to the churches

 

References to other resources

Norvene Vest – Preferring Christ pages 5 – 7

Esther de Vaal – Seeking God Chapter 2

Eric Dean Saint – Benedict for the Laity pages 13 & 14

Will Derske – The Rule of Benedict for Beginners pages 15 & 16

 

Initial thoughts of person/group

The first section of the prologue demand action – to listen, to pray, to obey & to act. All of the commentaries explain that in the original Latin the first word denotes a particular kind of listening, listening attentively. Benedict goes on to explain why we should listen (out of love for God) and that this itself should stir us to respond. An appropriate call for us as we look at renewing our community!

What you might do to consider this part of the Rule

Who do we listen to, why, and what response is expected from us? How does this compare to the call at the start of the prologue?

Look at ‘what the Spirit says to the churches’ – which of these are issues for us?

Every day – how do we listen to God? How do we ask Him to bring our work to perfection?

The last section, as much of the Rule, is a string of Biblical quotes strung together by a person who knew the Bible intimately. In ‘The Street bible’ Rob Lacey translates some of these as: ‘Wake up … it’s almost sunrise on the New day: the dew is settling nicely & I am your alarm clock. … If you’ve got a brain & a heart, work it out! What’s the Spirit saying to the JLM’s (churches)?’ How would you update this section of the prologue?

A “monks day” at the Abbey of Gethsemani

Liturgy of the Hours
Vigils, lauds, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline are the seven “hours” of the liturgy of the hours or opus Dei (work of God) as St. Benedict called it in his Rule. They are common prayer services, the prayer of the Church as well as the prayer of our community. None of these “hours” actually lasts an hour. All seven add up to two and a half or two and three-quarters hours. The backbone of these services is the 150 psalms, sung or recited according to a two-week cycle. At each hour there is also a hymn, reading from Scripture, prayer of the day and commemoration of Our Lady. Some of the brothers recite a simple office of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be to the Fathers in another part of the monastery. The monks and others who pray the liturgy of the hours do so on behalf of the Church, and of all humankind, to praise, thank and petition God throughout the day. Guests are welcome to join us for any of these services as well as for the community Mass.

Reading and Individual Prayer
Besides the liturgy of the hours, the typical prayer of the monk or nun is lectio divina (divine or holy reading). It consists of a reading ordered to prayer. Material will be selected on the basis of whether it is conducive to prayer. A bit of the text is read, then reflected on in order to grasp its meaning in itself and its meaning for us. This leads naturally to prayer: praise, adoration, thanksgiving, petition, repentance, resolve. At times, the monk is led to rest in God’s loving presence with few or no words. Such reading allows the brother or sister to spend time with God and builds up the habit of doing so. It nourishes faith in such a way that they come to see and value things as God does and to live from this vision.

Work and Service
We earn our living by making cheese, fruitcake, and bourbon fudge. The community has to be fed, clothed, housed. The needs of the guests are cared for. Newcomers to the community must be initiated into monastic living. Those with particular talents will probably have a chance to use them. Thus we have musicians, artists, gardeners, craftsmen. According to the needs of the community and the gifts of each monk, the abbot assigns work. Work is seen as service and preference is given work favourable to prayer.

Self-Surrender
The fundamental discipline is surrendering our will to God and submitting ourselves to the guidance of another. This does not at all exclude a personal search for the will of God but it does mean we bring more important decisions to the superior for discernment.

The pattern and regularity of the daily schedule can be a searching discipline.

When it is time for the office or other community exercise, the monk goes.

Living a community of love with 65 other persons, year in, year out, implies a willingness to sacrifice oneself.

Bringing our best effort to prayer, whether we feel like it or not, can be costly. The relative lack of recognition for achievements that comes from being hidden in a community goes far to tone down excessive self-concern.

Friendship is encouraged. Community amounts to a network of friendships. Yet these must be balanced with the need for solitude and with our radical commitment to Christ. These are real penances in Trappist life, more so than fasting, abstinence from meat (actually, the meals are well-balanced and well-prepared), silence, vigils.

Coptic monastery of St Anthony

 

The fortress-like Coptic monastery of St Anthony the Great stands at an oasis spring in the Red Sea Mountains, 155 km (100 miles) south east of Cairo. It was founded in the mid-4th century, on Saint Anthony’s burial site. He, along with St Pachomius (the first monk to organise hermits into groups) were two of the first exponents of Christian monasticism, which originated in the Egyptian desert. The Coptic orthodox monastery, presided over by an abbot, is the oldest Christian monastery in the world.

The church is one of Egypt’s great treasures – some of the wall paintings here date from the 6th and the 9th centuries, and among them is a picture of the founder, St Anthony himself. He lived in a tiny cave, high above the desert, for 40 years soon after AD 300, and the monastery – really a city in the desert – was built in the 360s. Amazingly, the monks who live here still speak Coptic, a language directly descended from the language of the ancient Egyptians.

St Anthony the person

Anthony was born near Heraclea in Upper Egypt in the year 251 AD to wealthy parents. When he was twenty years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister. In 285, he decided to follow the path of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus, and so gave his wealth to the poor and needy, and placed his sister in the care of a group of Christian virgins, a sort of proto-nunnery at the time.

Anthony then headed out into the rugged desert terrain of Wadi el-Natrun to live as a hermit. His isolated lifestyle was remarkably harsher than his predecessors, and it is said that he was tormented throughout his life by the flatteries and temptations of the devil. These he initially overcame by the power of prayer, but not without consequence, and when locals from a nearby village discovered him unconscious, they took his body back to the church to recover. After a brief respite, Anthony felt compelled to return to his anchoritic lifestyle, and this time he settled in an abandoned Roman fort in the Fayyum. Still suffering from the torments of the devil, Anthony remained there for twenty years, only communicating with the outside world through a crevice by means of which he would say a few words and sometimes give advice, and from where food could be passed through to him.

Then one day he emerged from the fort. With the help of the villagers, they had broken down the door, expecting him to have wasted away, or perhaps gone insane in his solitary confinement. To their amazement, he emerged healthy, serene, and enlightened. He had experienced great personal ordeals, yet had emerged from his internment spiritually rejuvenated. He was hailed as a hero and from this time forth the legend of Anthony began to spread and grow.

Anthony visited Alexandria, offering comfort to the Christians imprisoned there for their beliefs. Openly confessing his faith, he was ordered to leave the city by the Governor of Alexandria. Anthony refused, publicly arguing with him in the distracted hope that he himself would be imprisoned and subsequently martyred. This did not happen, so Anthony returned to the abandoned fort in the desert that had been his home for so long. His reputation growing, many people came to visit him at the fort. Ultimately realising that the increasing visits were keeping him from his worship, Anthony decided to move deeper into the desert, roaming the wilderness for three days before finally settling by a spring of water and some palm trees. It is at this very spot that the monastery of St Anthony’s now stands.

Deir Mar Antonios, Christianity’s oldest monastery

St Anthony’s monastery lies at the foot of the el-Qalzam mountain near el-Zafarana, and was founded in 356 AD just after Anthony’s death. It is the oldest active monastery in the world. Hidden deep in the Red Sea mountains and relying on springs for their water supply, the Coptic monks at the monastery today still observe rituals that are little changed in 16 centuries.

Although knowledge of its early history is scant, we know that during the 6th and 7th centuries many monks from the Wadi Natrun area who suffered frequent attacks by nomadic Bedouin tribes sought sanctuary at St Anthony’s. But St Anthony’s itself was also subject to raids and attacks on many occasions, and during the 11th century was partly destroyed. These attacks prompted strong defences and fortifications, and between the 12th and 15th centuries the monastery flourished. In 1454 however, Bedouin servants plundered St Anthony’s, and used many of the monastery’s ancient handwritten manuscripts as cooking fuel. Today, around 1700 manuscripts survive in the monastery’s library.

Today, Deir Mar Antonios is a fortified self-contained village with gardens, a mill, a bakery, a library and five churches.

St Anthony’s has exceptional wall paintings of holy knights in bright colours and the hermit founders of the monastery in subdued colours and icons. These wall paintings, widely known to monks and art historians, were originally obscured by layers of soot, candle grease, oil and dust. Recently, in a collaborated effort between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the American Research Centre in Egypt, these unique and beautiful paintings were restored.

One set of the paintings is attributed to a team lead by a Coptic master named Theodore, whilst the other set appears to have been executed by team with a Byzantine influence. The oldest paintings date back to the 7th and 8th century, whilst the more recent examples are from the 13th century. In addition to the restoration work undertaken on the wall paintings, the woodwork inside St Anthony’s Church was also restored.

Saint Anthony, together with Saint Paul the Hermit are seen as the founders of Christian monasticism. Although Anthony himself did not organise or create a monastery as such, a community did grow up around him based upon his example of living an ascetic and isolated life. Those who wished to follow him needed the company of others in order to survive the harsh desert conditions. The nearby monastery of Saint Paul the Hermit exists to this day, and both monasteries are accessible by special tours from Cairo, Suez or Hurghada. A stay in either monastery can also be arranged in advance.

St. Charles of Sezze

  

January 18, 2008

St. Charles of Sezze

(1613-1670)

Charles thought that God was calling him to be a missionary in India, but he never got there. God had something better for this 17th-century successor to Brother Juniper.

Born in Sezze, southeast of Rome, Charles was inspired by the lives of Salvator Horta and Paschal Baylon to become a Franciscan; he did that in 1635. Charles tells us in his autobiography, “Our Lord put in my heart a determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor and to beg alms for his love.”

Charles served as cook, porter, sacristan, gardener and beggar at various friaries in Italy. In some ways, he was “an accident waiting to happen.” He once started a huge fire in the kitchen when the oil in which he was frying onions burst into flames.

One story shows how thoroughly Charles adopted the spirit of St. Francis. The superior ordered Charles — then porter — to give food only to traveling friars who came to the door. Charles obeyed this direction; simultaneously the alms to the friars decreased. Charles convinced the superior the two facts were related. When the friars resumed giving goods to all who asked at the door, alms to the friars increased also.

At the direction of his confessor Charles wrote his autobiography, The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God. He also wrote several other spiritual books. He made good use of his various spiritual directors throughout the years; they helped him discern which of Charles’ ideas or ambitions were from God. Charles himself was sought out for spiritual advice. The dying Pope Clement IX called Charles to his bedside for a blessing.

 Charles had a firm sense of God’s providence. Father Severino Gori has said, “By word and example he recalled in all the need of pursuing only that which is eternal” (Leonard Perotti, St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page 215).

He died at San Francesco a Ripa in Rome and was buried there. Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1959.

Comment:

The drama in the lives of the saints is mostly interior. Charles’ life was spectacular only in his cooperation with God’s grace. He was captivated by God’s majesty and great mercy to all of us.

Quote:

Father Gori says that the autobiography of Charles “stands as a very strong refutation of the opinion, quite common among religious people, that saints are born saints, that they are privileged right from their first appearance on this earth. This is not so. Saints become saints in the usual way, due to the generous fidelity of their correspondence to divine grace. They had to fight just as we do, and more so, against their passions, the world and the devil” (St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page viii).

(This entry is taken from American catholic.org)

Saint Anthony the Great

Commemorated on January 17

Saint Anthony the Great is known as the Father of monasticism, and the long ascetical sermon in The Life of St Anthony by St Athanasius (Sections 16-34), could be called the first monastic Rule.

He was born in Egypt in the village of Coma, near the desert of the Thebaid, in the year 251. His parents were pious Christians of illustrious lineage. Anthony was a serious child and was respectful and obedient to his parents. He loved to attend church services, and he listened to the Holy Scripture so attentively, that he remembered what he heard all his life.

When St Anthony was about twenty years old, he lost his parents, but he was responsible for the care of his younger sister. Going to church about six months later, the youth reflected on how the faithful,in the Acts of the Apostles (4:35), sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the Apostles for the needy.

Then he entered the church and heard the Gospel passage where Christ speaks to the rich young man: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me” (Mt.19:21). Anthony felt that these words applied to him. Therefore, he sold the property that he received after the death of his parents, then distributed the money to the poor, and left his sister in the care of pious virgins in a convent.

Leaving his parental home, St Anthony began his ascetical life in a hut not far from his village. By working with his hands, he was able to earn his livelihood and also alms for the poor. Sometimes, the holy youth also visited other ascetics living in the area, and from each he sought direction and benefit. He turned to one particular ascetic for guidance in the spiritual life.

In this period of his life St Anthony endured terrible temptations from the devil. The Enemy of the race of man troubled the young ascetic with thoughts of his former life, doubts about his chosen path, concern for his sister, and he tempted Anthony with lewd thoughts and carnal feelings. But the saint extinguished that fire by meditating on Christ and by thinking of eternal punishment, thereby overcoming the devil.

Realizing that the devil would undoubtedly attack him in another manner, St Anthony prayed and intensified his efforts. Anthony prayed that the Lord would show him the path of salvation. And he was granted a vision. The ascetic beheld a man, who by turns alternately finished a prayer, and then began to work. This was an angel, which the Lord had sent to instruct His chosen one.

St Anthony tried to accustom himself to a stricter way of life. He partook of food only after sunset, he spent all night praying until dawn. Soon he slept only every third day. But the devil would not cease his tricks, and trying to scare the monk, he appeared under the guise of monstrous phantoms. The saint however protected himself with the Life-Creating Cross. Finally the Enemy appeared to him in the guise of a frightful looking black child, and hypocritically declaring himself beaten, he thought he could tempt the saint into vanity and pride. The saint, however, vanquished the Enemy with prayer.

For even greater solitude, St Anthony moved farther away from the village, into a graveyard. He asked a friend to bring him a little bread on designated days, then shut himself in a tomb. Then the devils pounced upon the saint intending to kill him, and inflicted terrible wounds upon him. By the providence of the Lord, Anthony’s friend arrived the next day to bring him his food. Seeing him lying on the ground as if dead, he took him back to the village. They thought the saint was dead and prepared for his burial. At midnight, St Anthony regained consciousness and told his friend to carry him back to the tombs.

St Anthony’s staunchness was greater than the wiles of the Enemy. Taking the form of ferocious beasts, the devils tried to force the saint to leave that place, but he defeated them by trusting in the Lord. Looking up, the saint saw the roof opening, as it were, and a ray of light coming down toward him. The demons disappeared and he cried out, “Where have You been, O Merciful Jesus? Why didn’t You appear from the very beginning to end my pain?”

The Lord replied, “I was here, Anthony, but wanted to see your struggle. Now, since you have not yielded, I shall always help you and make your name known throughout all the world.” After this vision St Anthony was healed of his wounds and felt stronger than before. He was then thirty-five years of age.

Having gained spiritual experience in his struggle with the devil, St Anthony considered going into the Thebaid desert to serve the Lord. He asked the Elder (to whom he had turned for guidance at the beginning of his monastic journey) to go into the desert with him. The Elder, while blessing him in the then as yet unheard of exploit of being a hermit, decided not to accompany him because of his age.

St Anthony went into the desert alone. The devil tried to hinder him, by placing a large silver disc in his path, then gold, but the saint ignored it and passed by. He found an abandoned fort on the other side of the river and settled there, barricading the entrance with stones. His faithful friend brought him bread twice a year, and there was water inside the fort.

St Anthony spent twenty years in complete isolation and constant struggle with the demons, and he finally achieved perfect calm. The saint’s friends removed the stones from the entrance , and they went to St Anthony and besought him to take them under his guidance. Soon St Anthony’s cell was surrounded by several monasteries, and the saint acted as a father and guide to their inhabitants, giving spiritual instruction to all who came into the desert seeking salvation. He increased the zeal of those who were already monks, and inspired others with a love for the ascetical life. He told them to strive to please the Lord, and not to become faint-hearted in their labors. He also urged them not to fear demonic assaults, but to repel the Enemy by the power of the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord.

In the year 311 there was a fierce persecution against Christians, in the reign of the emperor Maximian. Wishing to suffer with the holy martyrs, St Anthony left the desert and went to Alexandria. He openly ministered to those in prison, he was present at the trial and interrogations of the confessors, and accompanying the martyrs to the place of execution. It pleased the Lord to preserve him, however, for the benefit of Christians.

At the close of the persecution, the saint returned to the desert and continued his exploits. The Lord granted the saint the gift of wonderworking, casting out demons and healing the sick by the power of his prayer. The great crowds of people coming to him disrupted his solitude, and he went off still farther, into the inner desert where he settled atop a high elevation. But the brethren of the monasteries sought him out and asked him to visit their communities.

Another time St Anthony left the desert and arrived in Alexandria to defend the Orthodox Faith against the Manichaean and Arian heresies. Knowing that the name of St Anthony was venerated by all the Church, the Arians said that he adhered to their heretical teaching. But St Anthony publicly denounced Arianism in front of everyone and in the presence of the bishop. During his brief stay at Alexandria, he converted a great multitude of pagans to Christ.

People from all walks of life loved the saint and sought his advice. Pagan philosophers once came to Abba Anthony intending to mock him for his lack of education, but by his words he reduced them to silence. Emperor Constantine the Great (May 21) and his sons wrote to St Anthony and asked him for a reply. He praised the emperor for his belief in Christ, and advised him to remember the future judgment, and to know that Christ is the true King.

St Anthony spent eighty-five years in the solitary desert. Shortly before his death, he told the brethren that soon he would be taken from them. He instructed them to preserve the Orthodox Faith in its purity, to avoid any association with heretics, and not to be negligent in their monastic struggles. “Strive to be united first with the Lord, and then with the saints, so that after death they may receive you as familiar friends into the everlasting dwellings.”

The saint instructed two of his disciples, who had attended him in the final fifteen years of his life, to bury him in the desert and not in Alexandria. He left one of his monastic mantles to St Athanasius of Alexandria (January 18), and the other to St Serapion of Thmuis (March 21). St Anthony died peacefully in the year 356, at age 105, and he was buried in the desert by his disciples.

The Life of the famed ascetic St Anthony the Great was written by St Athanasius of Alexandria. This is the first biography of a saint who was not a martyr, and is considered to be one of the finest of St Athanasius’ writings. St John Chrysostom recommends that this Life be read by every Christian.

“These things are insignificant compared with Anthony’s virtues,” writes St Athanasius, “but judge from them what the man of God Anthony was like. From his youth until his old age, he kept his zeal for asceticism, he did not give in to the desire for costly foods because of his age, nor did he alter his clothing because of the infirmity of his body. He did not even wash his feet with water. He remained very healthy, and he could see well because his eyes were sound and undimmed. Not one of his teeth fell out, but near the gums they had become worn due to his advanced age. He remained strong in his hands and feet…. He was spoken of everywhere, and was admired by everyone, and was sought even by those who had not seen him, which is evidence of his virtue and of a soul dear to God.”

The following works of St Anthony have come down to us:

Twenty Sermons on the virtues, primarily monastic (probably spurious).

Seven Letters to various Egyptian monasteries concerning moral perfection, and the monastic life as a spiritual struggle.

A Rule for monastics (not regarded as an authentic work of St Anthony).

In the year 544 the relics of St Anthony the Great were transferred to Alexandria, and after the conquest of Egypt by the Saracens in the seventh century, they were transferred to Constantinople. The holy relics were transferred from Constantinople in the tenth-eleventh centuries to a diocese outside Vienna. In the fifteenth century they were brought to Arles (in France), to the church of St Julian.

Ephraim the Lesser

Commemorated on January 18

Today little is known about the life of venerable Ephraim the Lesser, the great 11th-century writer, translator, philosopher, and defender of the Georgian Church. His work Reminiscences and other sources, however, provide us with the means to speculate about the major periods of his life and labors.

In 1027, when King Bagrat IV (1027–1072) ascended the Georgian throne, many noblemen of the Tao region in southern Georgia relocated to Greece. Among them was the honorable Vache, son of Karichi, whom scholars believe was Ephraim’s father.

After receiving a Greek education in Constantinople, Ephraim settled in the Black Mountains near Antioch and began his labors there. His achievements in Georgian theological and philosophical writing are immeasurable. The number of his works is almost one hundred, and the subjects cover nearly every branch of theological inquiry. Ephraim even developed his own theory of translation, which later formed the foundation for written composition in the Georgian language. His theory consists of three essential points:

1. A composition must be translated from the original, that is, from the language in which it was first written. 2. The translation must carry the same literal meaning as the original, but accuracy in this regard must not violate the nature of the language into which the text is being translated. 3. A section of commentary that examines all relevant historical, grammatical, and literary issues should be included with the translated text.

Ephraim translated five of the works of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, The Ascetic Rules of St. Basil the Great, the writings of St. Ephraim the Syrian, commentaries on the Epistles and Psalms, and many other important patristic writings.

Among Ephraim the Lesser’s original works, his most significant is An Explanation of the Reasons for the Conversion of Georgia, a compilation of existing essays and his own commentaries on the nation’s conversion.

In the second half of the 11th century, the monks of Antioch and the Black Mountains began to deny the independence of the Georgian Church. Among other claims, they argued that none of the Apostles had preached the Christian Faith in Georgia. It became necessary to prove that the Georgian Church was indeed autocephalous, and members of the nation’s elite accordingly called upon Ephraim to settle this issue. Ephraim studied many patristic writings in the original Greek, gathered the ancient sources, and succeeded in fully securing the independent existence of the Georgian Church.

St. Ephraim wrote the following about the Apostles’ preaching: “Know that from the time the Apostles were preaching, according to the Prophet David: Their voice was heard through all the earth, and their words resounded in every village (c.f. Ps. 18:4). In Georgia, Andrew the First-called preached the Gospel in Avazgia (now Abkhazeti), and from there he journeyed to Ossetia (now Shida Kartli). Bartholomew also preached in Georgia, in the Kartli region.”

St. Ephraim never left the Black Mountains. In 1091 he was enthroned as the abbot of Kastana Monastery (The precise location of Kastana is unknown, but according to modern archaeologists, it was probably in the Black Mountains. For a full discussion of the subject see: Wachtang Z. Djobadze, Materials for the study of Georgian monasteries in the Western environs of Antioch on the Orontes (Louvain: Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 1976), pp. 101–3)

Our holy father Ephraim reposed in the Lord around the year 1101. He is included in a list of the departed compiled by the Council of Ruisi-Urbnisi in 1103, and the year of his death has been approximated from the information given in this source.

Ephraim was canonized by the Orthodox Church of Georgia because of his God-pleasing life and the many commendable works he performed on behalf of the Church and his nation.

(From the Orthodox Church in America Website)

Anthony the Great

Description of Anthony the Great

Saint Anthony, the Father of monks, was born in Egypt in 251 of pious parents who departed this life while he was yet young. On hearing the words of the Gospel: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21), he immediately put it into action. Distributing to the poor all he had, and fleeing from all the turmoil of the world, he departed to the desert. The manifold temptations he endured continually for the span of twenty years are incredible. His ascetic struggles by day and by night, whereby he mortified the uprisings of the passions and attained to the height of dispassion, surpass the bounds of nature; and the report of his deeds of virtue drew such a multitude to follow him that the desert was transformed into a city, while he became, so to speak, the governor, lawgiver, and master-trainer of all the citizens of this newly-formed city.

The cities of the world also enjoyed the fruit of his virtue. When the Christians were being persecuted and put to death under Maximinus in 312, he hastened to their aid and consolation. When the Church was troubled by the Arians, he went with zeal to Alexandria in 335 and struggled against them in behalf of Orthodoxy. During this time, by the grace of his words, he also turned many unbelievers to Christ.

Saint Anthony began his ascetic life outside his village of Coma in Upper Egypt, studying the ways of the ascetics and holy men there, and perfecting himself in the virtues of each until he surpassed them all. Desiring to increase his labors, he departed into the desert, and finding an abandoned fortress in the mountain, he made his dwelling in it, training himself in extreme fasting, unceasing prayer, and fierce conflicts with the demons. Here he remained, as mentioned above, about twenty years. Saint Athanasius the Great, who knew him personally and wrote his life, says that he came forth from that fortress “initiated in the mysteries and filled with the Spirit of God.” Afterwards, because of the press of the faithful, who deprived him of his solitude, he was enlightened by God to journey with certain Bedouins, until he came to a mountain in the desert near the Red Sea, where he passed the remaining part of his life.

Saint Athanasius says of him that “his countenance had a great and wonderful grace. This gift also he had from the Saviour. For if he were present in a great company of monks, and any one who did not know him previously wished to see him, immediately coming forward he passed by the rest, and hurried to Anthony, as though attracted by his appearance. Yet neither in height nor breadth was he conspicuous above others, but in the serenity of his manner and the purity of his soul.” So Passing his life, and becoming an example of virtue and a rule for monastics, he reposed on January 17 in the year 356, having lived altogether some 105 years.

SAINT ANTHONY of the DESERT

Patriarch of Monastic Life
(251-356)

Feast Day: 17^th January

Saint Anthony was born in the year 251, in Upper Egypt. Hearing at Mass the words, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor,” he gave away all his vast possessions — staying only to see that his sister’s education was completed — and retired into the desert. He then begged an aged hermit to teach him the spiritual life, and he also visited various solitaries, undertaking to copy the principal virtue of each.

To serve God more perfectly, Anthony immured himself in a ruin, building up the door so that none could enter. Here the devils assaulted him furiously, appearing as various monsters, and even wounding him severely; but his courage never failed, and he overcame them all by confidence in God and by the sign of the cross. One night, while Anthony was in his solitude, many devils scourged him so terribly that he lay as if dead. A friend found him in this condition, and believing him dead carried him home. But when Anthony came to himself he persuaded his friend to take him back, in spite of his wounds, to his solitude. Here, prostrate from weakness, he defied the devils, saying, “I fear you not; you cannot separate me from the love of Christ.” After more vain assaults the devils fled, and Christ appeared to Anthony in His glory.

Saint Anthony’s only food was bread and water, which he never tasted before sunset, and sometimes only once in two, three, or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin, and he often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise.

His admirers became so many and so insistent that he was eventually persuaded to found two monasteries for them and to give them a rule of life. These were the first monasteries ever to be founded, and Saint Anthony is, therefore, the father of cenobites of monks. In 311 he went to Alexandria to take part in the Arian controversy and to comfort those who were being persecuted by Maximinus.

This visit lasted for a few days only, after which he retired into a solitude even more remote so that he might cut himself off completely from his admirers. When he was over ninety, he was commanded by God in a vision to search the desert for Saint Paul the Hermit. He is said to have survived until the age of a hundred and five, when he died peacefully in a cave on Mount Kolzim near the Red Sea. Saint Athanasius, his biographer, says that the mere knowledge of how Saint Anthony lived is a good guide to virtue.

Reflection. The more violent the assaults of temptation suffered by Saint Anthony, the more firmly did he grasp his weapons, namely, mortification and prayer. Let us imitate him in this, if we wish to obtain victories like his.

New monasticism

Taking the idea of monasticism off the shelf of Christian history, dusting it off, and redefining it for life and ministry in the postmodern world are the “new monastics.”

New monasticism (or neo-monasticism) is a trend of reawakened interest in how Christians in antiquity developed communities centered around a Rule of Life and/or vows, and a daily rhythm of prayer. Christians from a wide variety of backgrounds are discovering value in the example set by the ancient monastics, and are looking for how the principles behind these communities may be relevant to the 21st century Church: principles of spiritual discipline, simplicity, and radical obedience to Christ.

The term “new monasticism” has its root in a letter the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to his brother in 1935: “…the restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism which has nothing in common with the old but a complete lack of compromise in a life lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount in the discipleship of Christ. I think it is time to gather people together to do this…” [italics added] Another often-referenced source for the term is Jonathan R. Wilson’s book Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World [Morehouse].

Exploring new monasticism can mean different things, ranging from simply adopting a community’s Rule of Life — a basic guideline for the kind of life the members of the community are expected to live — and seeking to adhere to it in one’s current situation, to moving into an intentional community that works to bring new life to a forgotten region.

For some, new monasticism may mean becoming a member of a third order, for example, the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis (www.tssf.org). Third orders, or tertiaries, allow lay people to join monastic societies by agreeing to live according to the society’s rule and going through a trial period as a novitiate. The rule of the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis is composed of the Holy Eucharist, penitence, personal prayer, self-denial, retreat, study, simplicity of living, work, and obedience.

Others may feel inspired by communities with Celtic roots, such as the Northumbria Community (www.northumbriacommunity.org), the Lindisfarne Community (www.icmi.org), the Iona community (www.iona.org.uk), or the Community of Aidan and Hilda (www.aidan.org.uk). Similar to Third Orders, membership in these communities involves agreeing to remain in contact with the community and living according to its rule.

Still other dispersed communities connected by a commitment to a Rule of Life include The Order of the Mustard Seed (www.mustardseedorder.com), which has “rediscovered” roots stretching back to the 18th century, the newer and smaller Order of Mission (www.missionorder.org), and the Emergent Order (www.emergentvillage.com).

New monasticism is also manifested in small, intentional communities that have been sprouting up across the United States. One of the most visible of these is Rutba House in Durham, North Carolina (www.newmonastiscism.org). Founded by Jonathan and Leah Wilson-Hartgrove after a trip with a Christian Peacemaker Team to Iraq, members of Rutba House share meals and pray from the Book of Common Prayer, and seek to bring new life to the neglected section of the city they live in. In 2004, Rutba House hosted a conference on the new monasticism that resulted in the publication of a book: School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism [Cascade].

The Simple Way (www.thesimpleway.org), a community living with and serving the poor and homeless in Philadelphia, is another example. The Simple Way was founded by Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, and five others. An annual family reunion at The Simple Way’s community has become a gathering place for members of several similar intentional communities.

The new monastic movement is not unified or homogenous, but there are several important commonalities in its different streams: a desire to set some sort of Rule of Life that will allow members to structure their lives around radical commitment to Christ, and, in contrast to the “old” monastics’ withdrawal into cloistered communities, a passionate involvement in the world. Bonhoeffer’s vision of a new type of monasticism is being realized. Let’s hope this current is indeed strong enough to bring restoration to today’s church and healing to the world.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt11)

 

To be celibate is to remain unmarried and without any focus on sexual desire.

Notes:

1. “Alone in God my soul waits, silent. My help is from Him. Alone in God rest, my soul, in silence. My hope is from Him. He alone is my rock, my safety; I shall not be shaken.” (Psalm 62, V2)

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt10)

When a monk chooses to enter a monastery, it is a commitment to solitude and a letting go of society. However, a monk also agrees to become part of a community, living together and sharing all the tasks and responsibilities of daily life. Hospitality is equally a strong component of the monastic life. Providing a retreat atmosphere for individuals and groups is an important gift to the world outside the cloister walls.

Notes:

1. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” –Psalm 133

2. “The monk is one who is separated from all and united to all.” –Evagrius, 4th Century

3. “Let all guests be received as Christ” Rule of St. Benedict.

4.
“House full of delight,
built upon rock
And indeed the true vine
Transplanted from Egypt.”
– Antiphoner of Bangor

 

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt9)

Contemplation is the long and attentive consideration or observation of something. To concentrate the mind on spiritual matters such as achieving closer union with God is the daily task of a Trappist Monk.

Notes

1. “Anything that can be loved can be contemplated.” –A Trappist monk.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt8)

Like a seed in the spring, we awakening from a dormant winter to the warming earth. Our spiritual awakening can occur as a sudden recognition or realization of something. Our journey is (an) interior but it begins as a spark. To hear the calling to become a Monk is a special bell of awakening.

Notes:

1. “The labour of obedience will bring you back to Him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience. This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord.” –Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt7)

The Trappist obligation to live simply and sustainably within their natural setting produced excellent examples of small-scale community food production. The excess from their dairy production of cheese and butter were sold at market to provide income for the few things that the monks couldn’t make. Over the years, Trappist cheese became famous for its distinct flavour. Brother Albéric still makes cheese at the Trappist Monastery now in Holland Manitoba. Brother Albéric, came from the Trappist monastery in Oka, Quebec in 1967. In 1972, he won the Holstein Frisian Trophy for producing over 19,000 pounds of milk per cow for a year.

Notes:

1. Although most Trappist Monasteries upheld strict vegetarian diets, the monks at St. Norbert had an official “Dispensation” (an exemption from a church law, a vow, or another similar obligation granted in a particular case by an ecclesiastical authority) to eat fish. They caught fish in nets in the LaSalle River.

2. In its largest configuration, the monastery housed 50 monks, 300 dairy cattle producing 36,000 lbs of milk/month, 50 beef cattle, 130 pigs,1600 chickens and 80 bee hives with an average annual 15 tons yield of honey.

3. “Idleness is the enemy of the soul. The brethren, therefore, must be occupied at stated hours in manual labour and again at other hours in sacred reading.” –Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 48

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt6)

When we live in poverty by choice we act in a humble way towards the earth’s finite resources, we proclaim our solidarity with all the peoples of the world who live poverty not by choice but by oppression or difficulties. We gain a deeper appreciation for every gift with which we are blessed.

Notes:

1. “Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.” –Prov.20

2. “The monks’ life is one of poverty; his death is in poverty; the outcome is spiritual wealth.” Abbaye N.D. des Prairies

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt5)

Imposing physical hardship and strict self-denial help achieve a simple life, without luxury or self-indulgence. The word austere brings to mind the image of something highly decorated being stripped clean of its ornamentation. This peeling back the layers of society, releases our spirit from the bondage of materialism. This is the process that a Monk undertakes in his formative years. Monasticism speaks of sacrifice and discipline, to live more radically the gospel teachings.

Notes:

1. “Make all things bitter to me, that so thou alone may appear sweet to my soul.” -St. Augustine.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt4)

There is such joy in the commitments, hard work, accomplishment in labours of love. Dreams and visions are brought to life when we believe in something with such commitment that nothing will sway us from focus. This approach to being expands when we bring it into our whole life. We seek the strength and understanding in each our own way. The Trappist Monk lives the devotion of his life of prayer and service to God, each and everyday and throughout the whole of his life in the Monastery. It is in preferring nothing whatever to Christ that the monk finds happiness and makes him persevere in a life that is ordinary, obscure and laborious.

Notes:

1. “Let nothing be put before the work of God.” Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 43

2. “Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that He who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally.” –St. Francis of Assissi.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt3)

 

The monastery is a school of charity – love – where Christ is formed in the hearts of the brothers through the liturgy, the abbot’s teaching and the fraternal way of life. Through God’s Word the monks are trained in a discipline of heart and action to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and so attain purity of heart and a continual mindfulness of God’s presence.

Notes:

1.“The only true joy on earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by love into union with the Life Who dwells and sings within the essence of every creature and in the core of our own souls.” –Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

2. “Love seeks no justification outside itself. Love is sufficient to itself, is pleasing in itself and for its own sake. Love is its own merit and its own reward. Love seeks no cause outside itself and no results other than itself. The fruit of love is love.” St. Bernard

3. ” Love is the consummation of the law.” –Romans 13,10.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt2)

A Trappist’s commitment to silence is a monastic value which assures solitude in community. It fosters mindfulness of God and fraternal communion. It opens the mind to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and favours attentiveness of heart and solitary prayer to God. Early monastic communities evolved simple hand signing for essential communications . Today spoken conversations between monks are permitted but limited according to the norms established by the community, and approved by the Order.

Notes:

1. “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” –Psalm 62

2. Silence is the mystery of the world to come. Speech is the organ of this present world… More than all things love silence: it brings you a fruit that the tongue cannot describe. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then from our very silence is born something that draws us into deeper silence. May God give you an experience of this ‘something’ that is born of silence. If you practice this, inexpressible light will dawn upon you.” –Issac of Ninive.

3. “The chief function of monastic silence is then to preserve that memoria Dei which is much more than just “memory.” It is a total consciousness and awareness of God which is impossible without silence, recollection, solitude and a certain withdrawal.” –Thomas Merton, Monastic Life.

What is Trappist Monasticism? (Pt1)

Since ancient times, people who seek to fulfill their spiritual calling have been inclined to leave all worldy beliefs and possessions behind, finding in their solitude a practice of simple life and peaceful devotion. The desert or the wilderness – uninhabited places of the unknown – are often used as metaphors in the life of the monastic.

Trappist monasticism is a way of life for men and women who practice this way devoted to seeking God and following Christ under a rule and an abbot in a stable community that is a school of brotherly love.

Monastic communities, both of men and women, offer the opportunity of freedom, refuge, education and stability. Opus Dei means the work of God. Manual labour and prayer are important elements of a monk’s life. A substantial spiritual heritage has been created through the lives and labours of monks and nuns over centuries. They have found expression in writing, chant, architecture, crafts and in the skilful management of their lands.

Notes:

1. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” –Galatians 2: 20

2. “As we progress in our monastic life and in faith, our hearts shall be enlarged, and we shall run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God’s commandments, so that, never abandoning his rule but persevering in his teaching in the monastery until death, we shall share by patience in the sufferings of Christ, that we may deserve to be partakers also of his kingdom.”– Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue

3. “It is true that explanations are owed, and therefore must be given. The monastery is so radically different from the “world!” Yet it is natural to argue that the monk is not so different after all, and to assert that he has a very definite role to play in the modern world, that he is part of the world, and that he is not useless at all.” – Thomas Merton

 

 

Love of Solitude

The Imitation of Christ – Thomas a Kempis

CHAPTER XX

Of the love of solitude and silence

1. Seek a suitable time for thy meditation, and think frequently of the mercies of God to thee. Leave curious questions. Study such matters as bring thee sorrow for sin rather than amusement. If thou withdraw thyself from trifling conversation and idle goings about, as well as from novelties and gossip, thou shalt find thy time sufficient and apt for good meditation. The greatest saints used to avoid as far as they could the company of men, and chose to live in secret with God.

2. One hath said, “As oft as I have gone among men, so oft have I returned less a man.” This is what we often experience when we have been long time in conversation. For it is easier to be altogether silent than it is not to exceed in word. It is easier to remain hidden at home than to keep sufficient guard upon thyself out of doors. He, therefore, that seeketh to reach that which is hidden and spiritual, must go with Jesus “apart from the multitude.” No man safely goeth abroad who loveth not to rest at home. No man safely talketh but he who loveth to hold his peace. No man safely ruleth but he who loveth to be subject. No man safely commandeth but he who loveth to obey.

3. No man safely rejoiceth but he who hath the testimony of a good conscience within himself. The boldness of the Saints was always full of the fear of God. Nor were they the less earnest and humble in themselves, because they shone forth with great virtues and grace. But the boldness of wicked men springeth from pride and presumption, and at the last turneth to their own confusion. Never promise thyself security in this life, howsoever good a monk or devout a solitary thou seemest.

4. Often those who stand highest in the esteem of men, fall the more grievously because of their over great confidence. Wherefore it is very profitable unto many that they should not be without inward temptation, but should be frequently assaulted, lest they be over confident, lest they be indeed lifted up into pride, or else lean too freely upon the consolations of the world. O how good a conscience should that man keep, who never sought a joy that passeth away, who never became entangled with the world! O how great peace and quiet should he possess, who would cast off all vain care, and think only of healthful and divine things, and build his whole hope upon God!

5. No man is worthy of heavenly consolation but he who hath diligently exercised himself in holy compunction. If thou wilt feel compunction within thy heart, enter into thy chamber and shut out the tumults of the world, as it is written, Commune with your own heart in your own chamber and be still.(1) In retirement thou shalt find what often thou wilt lose abroad. Retirement, if thou continue therein, groweth sweet, but if thou keep not in it, begetteth weariness. If in the beginning of thy conversion thou dwell in it and keep it well, it shall afterwards be to thee a dear friend, and a most pleasant solace.

6. In silence and quiet the devout soul goeth forward and learneth the hidden things of the Scriptures. Therein findeth she a fountain of tears, wherein to wash and cleanse herself each night, that she may grow the more dear to her Maker as she dwelleth the further from all worldly distraction. To him who withdraweth himself from his acquaintance and friends God with his holy angels will draw nigh. It is better to be unknown and take heed to oneself than to neglect oneself and work wonders. It is praiseworthy for a religious man to go seldom abroad, to fly from being seen, to have no desire to see men.

7. Why wouldest thou see what thou mayest not have? The world passeth away and the lust thereof. The desires of sensuality draw thee abroad, but when an hour is past, what does thou bring home, but a weight upon thy conscience and distraction of heart? A merry going forth bringeth often a sorrowful return, and a merry evening maketh a sad morning? So doth all carnal joy begin pleasantly, but in the end it gnaweth away and destroyeth. What canst thou see abroad which thou seest not at home? Behold the heaven and the earth and the elements, for out of these are all things made.

8. What canst thou ee anywhere which can continue long under the sun? Thou believest perchance thou shalt be satisfied, but thou wilt never be able to attain unto this. If thou shouldest see all things before thee at once, what would it be but a vain vision? Lift up thine eyes to God on high, and pray that thy sins and negligences may be forgiven. Leave vain things to vain men, and mind thou the things which God hath commanded thee. Shut thy door upon thee, and call unto thyself Jesus thy beloved. Remain with Him in thy chamber, for thou shalt not elsewhere find so great peace. If thou hadst not gone forth nor listened to vain talk, thou hadst better kept thyself in good peace. But because it sometimes delighteth thee to hear new things, thou must therefore suffer trouble of heart.

(1) Psalm iv. 4.

Elements of a Benedictine Life:

Elements of a Benedictine Life:
A Way of Spiritual Development

The Ideal. Above all, Benedictine life is aimed at seeking God. Everything in the Rule of St. Benedict is intended to facilitate this holy purpose, to which lesser ends are invariably subordinated.

Prayer. Prayer for the monk is less an activity than a whole approach to reality and to God. Awareness of God’s presence in time and in place; openness to the wondrous mystery of God’s will; readiness to conform his life in accordance with that will — all these are part of the monk’s prayer. Gathered with his brethren throughout the day in the Opus Dei, the Work of God, the monk journeys spiritually from sorrow for his own sins and failings to joy at God’s goodness. Both the sorrow and joy of life are given voice in the monk’s prayer and praise. In a special way, these themes of compunction, joy, and praise come together in the Eucharist, the sacrificial celebration of God’s saving plan.

Lectio Divina. The monk’s day contains time for meditative holy reading, lectio divina. Through this means, the message of God as conveyed in Scripture and interpreted by the Church Fathers and saints of every era is heard and appropriated by the monk for his own spiritual growth. Thus he obeys the command of St. Benedict at the very beginning of the Rule: “Listen.”

Silence. Before we can listen, before we can truly hear the Word of God addressed to our hearts, the spirit and practice of silence is essential. Silence for the monk is not a rejection of the neighbor but rather a recollected attentiveness to what lies at the heart of reality once all the ephemeral clutter of daily life is cleared away. Only one who has learned how to be silent, who has learned how to go beyond the noise from inside and outside himself, will be able to hear the cry of others, as well as the call of God.

Community Life. Benedictines pursue personal holiness as members of a community committed to the monastic life The support of a group of like-minded individuals assists the monk as he makes his way to God. Within the community he finds guidance, advice, correction, fraternal love, and frequent opportunities for the exercise of charity. “May we learn to prefer nothing to the love of Christ,” exhorts St. Benedict , “and may he bring us all together to everlasting life!” In the midst of his brethren, the monk seeks to make the Kingdom of God a reality already now, in a community where nothing is preferred to the love of God.

Poverty. The monk receives all that is necessary for material and spiritual sustenance from God through the community. He can therefore avoid the temptation of making the accumulation of possessions the centre of existence. He seeks to own nothing — and to let nothing own him. Trusting that what he needs will be provided, he is free to focus his attention on that which truly matters.

Conversion. Aware that internal weakness and external temptation pose constant challenges to spiritual growth, the monk dedicates himself to what St. Benedict calls “conversatio morum.” This is the monk’s commitment to reject complacency and ever to be open to the voice of God, so that the crust of self might be shattered and the kingdom of God might be established within him.

Stability. A Benedictine monk vows to spend the remainder of his life in the community of his profession. This distinctively monastic vow forces a person to confront his problems where he is, without the possibilities of escape and evasion which a transfer might offer. Stability is, however, for the monk more than merely self-discipline, for it permits a monastery to take on many of the characteristics of a family, where individuals over a span of decades journey together to God, benefiting along the way by the diverse gifts each one has to offer.

Prophetic Witness. The early Church appropriately saw monks as the successors to the Old Testament prophets. Every genuine prophet is a witness for God, and a monk’s life should be a silent but eloquent witness to the primacy of God which is possible when the ephemeral and transitory aspects of existence are set aside. The “flight from the world” characteristic of monasticism is in essence a public statement that God’s kingdom is to be valued above all else.

Celibacy. As a sign of the monk’s total dedication to God and His Kingdom, the monk forgoes the good of marriage. Instead, he promises celibacy, a visible sign of the spiritual pilgrimage he has chosen. Like all Christians, monks are obliged to the virtue of chastity, best defined as honesty in relationships with others, never permitting the impulses of the moment to take the place of permanent commitment. The monk’s permanent commitment is to a religious fellowship with God which frees him for service to those around him.

Obedience. The essence of St. Benedict’s teaching is that a monk must, like Christ, lay aside his own will in order to be free to do that of the Father. It is in this context that the monastic vow of obedience must be seen: as freedom, not enslavement. More precisely, obedience means freedom from the enslavement of sin and self-will in order to allow growth in spiritual maturity as sons of God.

The Abbot. In St. Benedict’s thinking, the will of God, revealed first by Scripture and then applied in general terms by the Holy Rule, is given concrete expression by the Abbot’s direction and commands. Far more than an administrator or even a teacher, the Abbot for his monks is a spiritual father charged and empowered by God to bring the monk safely home.

Sacrifice. With morality as with diet, bad habits lead to obesity, to a weighing down of the person that hampers the full and proper enjoyment of life. The monk seeks to prepare himself for his spiritual quest by giving up all that is bad — and even what is good, if that good is an obstacle to the attainment of God which for a monk stands above all other goods.

Work. Every sort of work compatible with the structure of life laid down by St. Benedict is suitable for the monk, and so he can with joy and a clear conscience undertake whatever activity is assigned by his Abbot. In a community which maintains the Rule’s balanced approach to work, each monk will have opportunity to use his talents within the larger framework of a life of prayer, and no monk will have excuse for either laziness or workaholism.

Lectio Divina – How to Listen for God

God Speaks To Us First
This fundamental truth makes it possible for us to pray. God has been concerned for each of us long before we became concerned for ourselves.

God desires communication with us and does so in many different ways:

• through God’s own word made flesh in Jesus;
• because we are joined together in Christ Jesus, God speaks to us through others (the church, wisdom of the ages, etc.);
• creation took place in the Word (Jn 1:1) and is another form of God’s self-revelation;
• through the events and experiences of our lives;
• through the scriptures, a real form of God’s presence

The use of scripture in prayer is the mode of communication that we are concerned with here. Since God invites us to listen. Our response to God’s initial move is to listen to what is said. This is the basic attitude of prayer.

How To Go About Listening
What you do immediately before prayer is very important. Normally, it is something you do not rush right into. Spend a few moments quieting yourself and relaxing, settling yourself into a prayerful and comfortable position. In listening to anyone, you try to tune out everything except what the person is saying to you.

In prayer this can be done best in silence and solitude. Select a short passage from scripture. Read it through a few times to familiarize yourself with it. Put a marker in the page. Try to find a quiet place where you can be alone and uninhibited in your response to God’s presence. Try to quiet yourself interiorly. Jesus would often go up to a mountain alone to pray with his Abba. In an age of noise, activity, and tensions like our own, it is not always easy or necessary to forget our cares and commitments, the noise and excitement of our environment. Never feel constrained to blot out all distractions. Anxiety in this regard could get between ourselves and God. Rather, realize that the word did become flesh — that God speaks to us in the noise and confusion of our day.

Sometimes in preparing for prayer, relax and listen to the sounds around you. God’s presence is as real as they are. Be conscious of your sensations and living experiences of feeling, thinking, hoping, loving, wondering, desiring, etc. Then, conscious of God’s unselfish, loving presence in you, address God simply and admit: “Yes, you do love life and feeling into me. You do love a share of your personal life into me. You are present to me. You live in me. Yes, you do.”

God is present in you through the Spirit, who speaks to you now in scripture, and who prays in you and for you. Ask for the grace to listen to what God says. Begin reading Scripture slowly and attentively. Do not hurry to cover much material.

If it recounts an event of Jesus’ life, be there in the mystery of it. Share with the persons involved, e.g., a blind man being cured. Share their attitude. Respond to what Jesus is saying. Some words or phrases carry special meaning for you. Savour those words, turning them over in your heart.

When something strikes you, e.g.,

• you feel a new way of being with Jesus or he comes to you in a new way ( e.g., as healing or accepting you in a way different than other times);
• you are happy and content just to be in God’s presence;
• you are struggling with or disturbed by what the words are saying;
• you experience new meaning;
• you are moved to do something loving.

This is the time to … p a u s e.

This is God speaking directly to you in the words of Scripture.

• Do not hurry to move on.
• Wait until you are no longer moved by the experience. Don’t get discouraged if nothing seems to be happening. Sometimes God lets us feel dry and empty in order to let us realize it is not in our own power to communicate or to experience consolation. God is sometimes very close to us in seeming absence (Ps 139:7-8). God is for us entirely, in a selfless way, accepting us as we are, with all our limitations — even with our seeming inability to pray. A humble attitude of listening is a sign of love for God, and a real prayer from the heart. At these times remember the words of Paul, “The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness, for when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, it is the Spirit who expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words” (Rom 8:26-27).

Relax in prayer. Remember, God will speak to you in God’s own way. “Yes, as the rain and snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do” (Is 55:10-11).

Spend time in your prayer just being conscious of God’s presence in and around you. If you want to, speak about the things you are interested in or wish to thank God for, your joys, sorrows, aspirations, and so forth.

 

Summary — 5 `P’s’. 1 `R’.

Passage of Scripture
— Pick one and have it marked and ready.

Place
— Where you are alone and uninhibited in your response to God’s presence.

Posture
— Relaxed and peaceful. A harmony of body with spirit.

Presence of God
— Be aware of it and acknowledge and respond to it. When you are ready turn to the …

Passage
— Read it very slowly aloud and listen carefully and peacefully to it … pause
Listen with your heart as you would a love-letter. Read aloud or whisper with pauses and repetitions when and where you are drawn. Don’t be anxious, don’t try to look for implications or lessons or profound thoughts or conclusions. Be content to be like a child who climbs into a caring person’s lap and listens to a story. During the prayer exercise and, certainly just before closing, it is helpful to carry on a conversation with God or with Jesus or some safe wisdom figure concerning what you hear.

Review — After the period of prayer is over reflect upon the experience of prayer just finished. This review will help you notice what God is doing in your experience.

Daily Lectio Saturday Jan 12 08

WHAT DOES IT MEAN to be a friend of God? … The mystics joyfully remind us that we are born from God; we live in God; and we return to God. Certainly we know this is true as we watch an orange-red sun drop beneath the edge of the ocean or witness a newborn kicking his tiny feet in the air. But so often these miracles of life are dimmed by distraction and busyness. We find ourselves stuck in the rut of the familiar. Our first Friend, God, may even seem far away.

Stephanie Ford Hungering for God From p. 88 of Hungering for God: Selected Writings of Augustine by Stephanie Ford. Copyright © 2006 by the author.

Today’s Scripture Reading

I, the Lord, have called you and given you power to see that justice is done on earth.

– Isaiah 42:6, GNT

This Week …

Special Need:

This Week: Pray for spiritual seekers. Visit the Prayer Wall.

Tips for Your Spirit:

Starting new spiritual practices? Read How to Have a Daily Devotional Time.

Saints, Inc.:

This week we remember Brother Lawrence (January 11).

Lectionary Readings:

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

BBC2- Extreme Pilgrim P2

Pete Owen-Jones excelled himself last night. The second part of “Extreme Pilgrim” was aired on BBC 2 at 9.00 pm. He was exploring Hinduism by looking at the spiritual life and path of a sadhu.

sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (enjoyment), artha (practical objectives) and even dharma (duty). The sadhu is solely dedicated to achieving moksha (liberation) through meditation and contemplation of God. Sadhus often wear ochre-colored clothing, symbolizing renunciation. Pete Lataer in the programme becomes a sadhu.

Pete attended the Kumbh Mela, a mass gathering of sadhus from all parts of India, takes place every six years at one of four points along sacred rivers in India, including the holy River Ganges. Sadhus of all sects join in this reunion. 7 Million of non-sadhu pilgrims also attend the festival, and the Kumbh Mela is said to be the largest gathering of human beings for a single purpose on the planet.

Sadhus occupy a unique and important place in Hindu society, particularly in villages and small towns more closely tied to tradition. (We see this when Pete spends sometime in one such village as the new holy man.) In addition to bestowing religious instruction and blessings to lay people, sadhus are often called upon to adjudicate disputes between individuals or to intervene in conflicts within families. Sadhus are also living embodiments of the divine, images of what human life, in the Hindu view, is truly about – religious illumination and liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

The greatest point in the programme last night for me personally was when Pete has time on his hands and for three days he meditates outside the Sadhu’s cave which is just out side the village. He makes a series of profound statements one of which struck me powerfully – “In the last twenty years I have had no time to sit back”

It seems to me that it’s exactly this “sitting back” which is almost absent from the idea of spirituality in the west. Waiting, meditating, reflecting, absorbing, listening, seem to be foreign terms in a driven society and in a driven church where both are seeking some form of success.

I took my hat off to Pete last night, I enjoyed the programme, I’m not saying that we should all go out and become Sadhu’s but at the very least we too can learn to become an extreme pilgrim.

Daily Lectio – Friday 11 Jan 08

“Great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities”

Scripture: Luke 5:12-16

12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” 15 But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.

Meditation:

Jesus did the unthinkable. He touched the untouchable. Leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases because it caused not only physical affliction and isolation, but psychological and mental affliction and isolation as well. Lepers in Jesus’ time where both shamed and despised and treated as the untouchable. Their physical condition was terrible as they slowly lost their limbs and withered away. They were not only shunned but regarded as “already dead” even by their relatives. The Jewish law forbade anyone from touching or approaching a leper, lest ritual defilement occur.

The leper who met Jesus did something quite remarkable. He approached Jesus confidently and humbly, expecting that Jesus could and would heal him. Normally a leper would be stoned or at least warded off if he tried to come near a rabbi. Jesus not only grants the man his request, but he demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and tenderness of God in his physical touch. The medical knowledge of his day would have regarded such contact as grave risk for incurring infection. Jesus met the man’s misery with compassion and tender kindness. He communicated the love and mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words. He touched the man and made him clean – not only physically but spiritually as well.

Some eleven centuries later, another man, named Francis, met a leper on the road as he journeyed towards Assisi. “Though the leper caused him no small disgust and horror, he nonetheless, got off the horse and prepared to kiss the leper. But when the leper put out his hand as though to receive something, he received money along with a kiss” (from the Life of St. Francis by Thomas of Celano). Francis did what seemed humanly impossible because he was filled with the love and compassion of Christ. The Holy Spirit inflames our hearts with the love of Christ that we may reach out to others with compassionate care, especially to those who have been rejected and mistreated.

The love of God impels us to do as Jesus did – to love the unlovable, to touch the untouchable, and to forgive the unforgiveable. Do you allow the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with the love and compassion of Christ for others?

“May the power of your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of our love.” (Prayer of Francis of Assisi, 13th century)

Psalm 147:12-20

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
17 He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends forth his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!

BBC2- Extreme Pilgrim P1

 

Extreme Pilgrim is a compelling new series for BBC Two exploring the physical elements of three of the world’s great religions. (Click Here for some previews from the BBC2 website) (Click Here for an Episode guide on BBC Religion & Ethics) (Click Here for another preview of “Extreme Pilgrim”)

Pete Owen-Jones, a vicar in a Sussex parish, is dissatisfied with some aspects of his faith and sets off on three extreme pilgrimages to China, India and Egypt to explore Zen Buddhism, Hinduism and ascetic Christianity.

Pete started as a copy-writer in advertising. After a crisis of meaning, he found God and gave it all up to be ordained into the Anglican Church.

But now, 15 years later, he feels that the Church of England is too much a faith of the head, and not enough a faith of the soul, the heart or even the body. He now sets off on a quest in search of a more physical and mystical path to enlightment.

Pete says: “What I’m looking for is a spirituality that is absent from western Christianity. A spirituality I know exists in the extremes of world religions.

“I hope to enter worlds where rule book and doctrine are replaced by an individual relationship with God and where the attainment of enlightenment is won by hardship, privation and pain. I have to become an extreme pilgrim.”

In a bid to get to the heart of each faith Pete pushes himself to the limit of physical, mental and spiritual endurance: he undergoes hardship and exhaustion, bewilderment and anxiety, and yet throughout he undertakes his journeys with determination, courage and wit.

For his first journey, Pete travels to the famous Shaolin Temple in the Henan Province, a seven-hour train journey from Beijing. The Shaolin Monastery occupies a central place in Chinese cultural history, as it is the ancestral home of all martial arts.

Talking about the Shaolin Monastery, Pete says: “I’m told it’s the place where one can attain spiritual enlightenment in the practice of extreme martial arts which is about as physical as you can get. All I know about the fighting monks is you don’t mess with the fighting monks.

“And secondly, it is the expression of the divine within the physical. The Church of England in particular is incredibly intellectual. You know, huge libraries full of books and theological bookshops It’s all incredibly intellectual. But we don’t do anything physical. It’s going to be very challenging I think indeed.”

Pete is thrown straight into a gruelling routine of Kung Fu – the central technique in Chan Buddhism (also known as Zen Buddhism in Japan) – an experience that left the unfit vicar both physically and mentally exhausted.

“The trouble is it just uses every single muscle that I haven’t used for the last I don’t know how many years and so my whole body is complaining and so I know I’ve got two to three hours of absolute agony in front of me. It’s just so many different instructions, so many different moves at the same time, trying to keep them in your head, my body won’t do them.”

However half way through his pilgrimage and despairing over the commercialisation of Shaolin, Pete leaves the Temple to seek true Zen enlightment in a remote monastery in the mountains, near the San Yang stronghold and it is here in the much calmer but still physically strenuous environment that Pete finally begins to understand the art of Zen Buddhism.

“Inexplicably, I’m there. I’m not even thinking about it, just doing it. Doing Zen and martial arts … with a group of people who look out for each other. It is love, unselfish, non-possessive.”

For his second journey Pete travels to India and joins the Mela, the huge Hindu pilgrimage that draws to the Ganges.

In the bewildering world of Mela, Pete meets a Guru who agrees to take him under his wing and teach him how to become a Sadhu – an Indian Holy Man. He then sets off on a journey across northern India to the mountains in search of the Hindu road to spiritual bliss.

And in the final episode Pete travels to the Egyptian desert to follow in the footsteps of the Christian hermit and founder of monasticism St Anthony. His trek to the desert culminates in a long spell alone in a cave in the wilderness.

At the end of his journeys will Pete have discovered spiritual enlightment? And will he resume his place in his Sussex parish?

Byzantine Prayer Rope

Byzantine Prayer Rope

The Byzantine prayer rope, also known as the chotki in Russian and komboskini in Greek, is a very ancient aid in meditative Christian prayer, which, unfortunately, is virtually unknown in West. It dates back to at least to the seventh century, and possible as far back as the fourth century as St. Basil the Great is said to have used one very similar to the one describe in this article.

There are many different variations of the prayer rope. Traditionally, they are made out of wool with a set number of special knots marking the recitation of the Jesus Prayer; although, it is quite common for beads to be used instead of knots (the English word bead comes from the Old Saxon word for prayer, bede). These knots may be divided by beads, on which other prayers may be recited. The two ends of the rope are joined together to make a loop. After the joint, follows a cross, which may be preceded by a knot and a bead. The Cross is also traditionally made out of knots.

The most common number of knots in a prayer rope is 100. A 100 knot rope may simply consist of 100 knots and a cross. Typically, however, the knots are divided into three groups of 33, representing the Trinity and the 33 years of Our Lord’s life on earth. To complete the number 100, between the joint and the cross is a bead and a knot. A smaller version that can be worn on the wrist can be made with only 33 knots. When a 33 knot rope is used, one goes around the loop three times, and then to the bead and the knot after the joint.

A 100 knot rope can also be divided into two groups of 50 or four groups of 25. Like wise, 50 and 25 knot ropes can be made, of which the 50 knot version can be divided into two groups of 25. If an additional knot comes after the joint, the number of knots becomes 101.

The 33 knot version can be divided into three groups of 11. As well, there is a 300 knot version, and even 600 and 1000 knot versions.

How to Pray With a Prayer Rope

The central prayer prayed with a prayer rope is the Jesus Prayer, also called the Prayer of the Heart, which is based on the words of the tax collector Luke 18:13, and the words of the blind beggar Bartimaeus in Mark 10:47. This prayer is repeated as one moves from one knot to the next, totalling 100 or 101 repetitions. No other prayer is necessary; just the Jesus Prayer (if you are only praying the Jesus Prayer, you can ignore the dividing beads).

This repetition should not be a monotonous attempt to gain God’s attention (cf. Matthew 6:7), but an attempt to change oneself by clearing one’s mind of everything except God. Each repetition should be slow and deliberate: praying, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,” as you inhale; and, “have mercy on me a sinner,” as you exhale. The goal is to make this prayer so connected with one’s breathing that one can truly pray without ceasing (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

This style of prayer is very personal, being physically connected to one’s breathing; therefore, this prayer must be done individually, not in a group.

In addition to the Jesus Prayer, other prayers may be prayed at the beginning, at the end, and on the beads dividing the knots. A suggested formula is given below; however, this is only a suggestion.

A common alternative is Psalm 50 (Miserere) instead of Psalm 129 (De Profundis). There are also alternate variations on the Jesus Prayer

Psalm 50 (Miserere)

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offense. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleans me from my sin. My offenses truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, I have sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. That you may be justified when you give sentence and be without reproach when you judge. O see, in guilt I was born, a sinner was I conceived. Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom. O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sin turn away your face and blot out all my guilt. A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away form your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit. Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you. O rescue me, God, my helper, and my tongue shall ring out your goodness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse, my sacrifice, a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn. In your goodness, show favor to Zion: rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice, holocausts offered on your altar.

Jesus Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on name of person.

As one makes a prayer rope, he prays the Jesus Prayer, particularly for the intentions of the one that will use it. In return, on the last knot before the cross, one prays for the intentions of the person that made it.

The tassel at the end is to dry one’s tears.

Suggested Formula

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

O God, cleanse me, a sinner. (three times)

O heavenly King, Paraclete, Spirit of Truth, who art present everywhere and dost permeate all things, Treasury of blessings and giver of life, come and take up thy dwelling within us. Purify us from every stain and save our souls, O gracious Lord.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us. (three times)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

O Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, forgive us our sins.

Most Holy God, pardon our transgressions. Do Thou Who are holy visit us and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy on us. (three times)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Come let us bow down to Our Lord God. Come let us bow down and adore Our Lord God. Come let us bow down and adore Christ Himself, Our Lord and God.

Psalm 129 (De Profundis)

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice! O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading. If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive? But with you is found forgiveness: for this we revere you. My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word. My soul is longing for the Lord more than watchmen for daybreak. Let the watchman count on daybreak and Israel on the Lord. Because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption, Israel indeed He will redeem from all its iniquity.

Profession of Faith

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. (33 times)
Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. (33 times)
Remember me, O Master, when You come into Your Kingdom!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. (33 times)
Remember me, O Holy One, when You come into Your Kingdom!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Lord, have mercy (three times)

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

Where to Find Prayer Ropes

If you do a Google search on “chotki”, you will find a number of sites from which you can order a prayer rope; however, these are mostly ropes of beads and not knots. I’ve not seen a knotted prayer rope for sale, but then again, I’m from the Roman Rite, and I haven’t spent much time in Byzantine churches and stores. I would suggest that you ask around and find someone that makes them, or better yet, make one yourself.

How to Make a Prayer Rope

The process of making a prayer rope is itself a form of meditative prayer. Each knot takes at least three and a half minutes to tie once you know what you’re doing, making the total time spent on a 100 knot rope over six hours. As I stated above, while one makes a prayer rope, he prays the Jesus Prayer, particularly for the intentions of the one that will use it.

The hardest part in making a prayer rope is learning to make the special knot. There is a 120 minute video that teaches how to tie the knot, and everything else you need know about making a prayer rope, available from FIREBIRD Videos, Audios & Books and Light and Life Publishing. Martin D. Watt also has a really good webpage describing how to tie the prayer rope knot titled How to tie an Orthodox Prayer Rope knot. It’s from this webpage that I learned how to tie the knot.

Traditionally, prayer ropes are made out of wool. Mr. Watt likes to use rattail because it is easier to work with, but I like to use wool yarn. I used acrylic yarn for the first prayer rope I made because it was available around the house. My second prayer rope was made out of wool yarn, and was much easier to work with than acrylic.

I don’t really know much about yarn, but the yarn that I’m using is labelled as “4.5 MM – 18 STS / 24 ROWS To 10 CM.” I find that yarn this size is best tripled instead of doubled; although it depends on the size of the beads as to whether you should double or triple the yarn. If you double the yarn, the knot made from four strands must not slip through the hole in the beads. If you triple the yarn, you must be able to thread twelve strands through the hole in the bead after the joint.

I find that it is very easy to thread the yarn through a bead with the aid of a small crochet needle. A crochet needle is also useful when “pulling through the loops.”

When the yarn is tripled, I find that each strand needs to be seven yards long for a 100 knot rope, and three and a half yards for a 33 knot rope. I’m six feet tall, so my yard may be bigger than most.

To the right is an innovation of mine; although I’m sure I’m not the only one to have thought of it. Half of the strands between the horizontal knots of the cross are looped so that they can double the strands that make up the tassel without having to sewing on other strands. If you’re tripling the yarn, you’re left with 24 strands for the tassel. If you double the yarn, you’re left with 16 strands. The bottom knot of the cross has the looped strands of the horizontal knots passing through it. Don’t cut the loop until the bottom knot has been tied so that you can distinguish between the strands of the knot and the strands that are passing through the knot.

I like to use all of the strands (12 or 8) for the cross, and only half of the strands (6 or 4) for the knot between the cross and the bead after the joint. The knot between the cross and the bead after the joint has half of the strands passing through it. So as to distinguish between the strands of this knot and the strands that are passing through it, tie the strands that are passing through into a slip knot.

I don’t make a joining knot. I thread all of the strands (12 or 8) through a bead, and then tie the knot before the cross. When tying this knot, I use half of the strands from one side of the circle, and half from the other side. This makes the knot a little more stable.

I like the symbolism of tripling the yarn. The three strands symbolise the Trinity, the twelve strands after the joint symbolise the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and the twelve strands that join the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the cross symbolise the Twelve Apostles.

 

Byzantine Rosary, “Chotki” Prayer

Byzantine Rosary, “Chotki” Prayer

Eastern Orthodox Rosary. This Oriental form of rosary is known in the Hellenic Greek Church as Chaplet or String of Knots of Beads, in the Russian Church as Vervitza (string), chotki (chaplet), or liestovka (ladder), and the Rumanian Church as matanie (reverence). Our everyday name of “beads” for it is simply the Old Saxon word “bede” (a prayer) which has been transferred to the instrument used in reciting the prayer, while the word rosary is an equally modern term.

 

The Rosary prayed by the Eastern Orthodox is a string of 33, 100, or 300 beads on a string or knots made of wool; they are not divided into decades. On each bead or knot is prayed the following mantra:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

 

The modern Chotki, as it is known, calls for a slightly different mantra
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

 

Both this mantra and the Glorious mantra above are derived from the Gospel story of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

 

The following information is taken from

“My Treasury of Chaplets” by Patricia S. Quintiliani

The Russian Rosary
(A slightly different version of the Byzantine Rosary)

 

The Eastern rite rosary dates back to the 7th century, when according to tradition, a saint had an apparition recommending this form of prayer. In Russia, the rosary is called “Chotki.” It is usually made of wool in which there are 100 knots with an extra know between each ten. At the end is a cross also make of knots. St. Basil the Great used a rosary very similar to the type now used.

 

The customary prayer used is the ejaculation of the publican, who stood at the back of the Temple and said: “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.” Our Lord says he went out justified, thus indirectly recommending this prayer. The Russians call this prayer the prayer of Jesus and have several variations of it:

 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, by the prayers of Our Lady, have mercy on me.

 

Sometimes they also use:
Most holy Lady, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners.

 

The Russian Rosary Begins:
O God, cleanse me, a sinner (3 X).
O heavenly King, Paraclete, Spirit of Truth, who art present everywhere and dost permeate all things, Treasury of blessings and Giver of life, come and take up Thy dwelling within us. Purify us from every stain and save our souls, O gracious Lord. Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Deathless One, have mercy on us. (3 X )
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be forever. Amen. O holy Trinity, have mercy on us.
Lord forgive us our sins.
Most Holy God, pardon our transgressions.
Do Thou Who art holy visit us and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy on us (3X).
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Our Father, etc.v Come let us bow down to Our Lord God.
Come let us bow down and adore Our Lord God.
Come let us bow down and adore Christ Himself, Our Lord and God.

 

50th Psalm, Miserere, or 129th, De Profundis.

 

Credo. I believe in God, etc.
Prayer of Jesus (100 times)

It is indeed proper to bless thee, Mother of God, the eternal blessed and completely sinless one and the Mother of Our God. Higher in honor than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, who without harm to thy virginity didst give birth to the Word of God. Thee we extol, true Mother of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the son and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
By the prayer of Our Holy Fathers, Lord, have mercy on us.

 

The Byzantine
The Jesus Prayer

 

This dates back to the 7th century, when according to tradition, a saint had an apparition recommending this form of prayer. In Russia the Rosary is called “Chotki.” It is usually made of wool in which there are 100 knots with a large knot at each decade. St. Basil the Great used a rosary of this.

 

The customary prayer is the “Chotki” is an adaptation of the humble prayer of the publican, who cried out: “O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”(Luke 18;9-4) The Lord Jesus said that he went out from his prayer “justified.”

Early Christians adopted this prayer for their own use, and added to it the Prayer of Jesus or The Jesus Prayer and have several variations of it:

 

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me.
or
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.
or
Lord Jesus Christ, by the prayers of Our Lady, have mercy on me.

 

The Byzantine Rosary Begins:
O God, cleanse me, a sinner (3 X).
O heavenly King, Paraclete, Spirit of Truth, Who is present everywhere and permeate all things, Treasury of blessings and Giver of life, come and dwelling within us. Purify us from every fault and save our souls, O gracious Lord.
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Imortal One, have mercy on us. (3 X )
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever. Amen.
O holy Trinity, have mercy on us.
Lord forgive us our sins.
Most Holy God, pardon our transgressions.
Do You who are holy visit us and heal our infirmities for Your name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy on us (3X).
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Our Father, etc.
Come let us bow down to Our Lord God.
Come let us bow down and adore Our Lord God.
Come let us bow down and adore Christ Himself, Our King and God.

Recite the 50th Psalm and Creed.
Recite the Jesus Prayer (100 times)

 

Conclusion

It is indeed proper to bless you, Mother of God, the eternal blessed and completely spotless one and the Mother of God. Higher in honor than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, who without harm to thy virginity give birth to the Word of God.

You do we extol, true Mother of God.

Glory be to the Father, and to the son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. Amen. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

By the prayer of our holy fathers, O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us.

Morning Prayer – 6 (Celtic Prayer)

Introduction

Lord, hear my voice when I call to you. My heart has prompted me to

seek your face; I seek it Lord; do not hide from me, alleluia

adapted from Psalm 25

The maker of all things,

The Lord God worship we;

Heaven white with angels’ wings,

Earth and the white-waved sea.

May the Trinity protect me wherever I stay, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

May Jesus and the Father,

may the Holy Spirit sanctify us!

May the mysterious God not hidden in darkness,

may the bright King save us!

The praise of Christ is illustrious speech,

The worship of God’s Son is an art full of virtue.

May everyone who has sung it or heard it

Belong to God’s kingdom without rejection.

Christ, Christ, hear me!

Christ, Christ of your meekness!

Christ, Christ love me!

Sever me not from your sweetness!

Litany

Have mercy on us O God, Father almighty.

immeasurable God.

patient God.

incorruptible God.

immortal God.

eternal God.

perfect God.

merciful God.

wonderful God.

heavenly Father, who abides in heaven,

Have mercy on us.

Have mercy on us O God, Father almighty,

God of earth.

God of fire,

God of the waters of wonder.

God of the gusting and blustering air.

God of the many languages found

throughout the world,

heavenly Father, you who abide in heaven,

Have mercy on us.

Have mercy on us, O God the Almighty,

Jesus Christ Son of the living God,

O true Knowledge.

O true Light of love, who enlightens all darkness,

O guiding Light.

O Sun of truth.

O Morning Star.

O Brightness of the divinity.

O Radiance of eternal brightness.

O Christ crucified.

O eternal judge, have mercy on us.

Have mercy on us, O God the Almighty,

Jesus Christ Son of the living God.

O Angel of great counsel.

O true Prophet.

O true Apostle.

O true Teacher.

O High Priest

O Nazarene.

O Christ crucified.

O eternal judge, have mercy on us.

Have mercy on us Almighty God,

O Holy Spirit.

O Teacher of true wisdom,

O Spirit of understanding.

O Spirit of Counsel.

O Spirit of strength.

O Spirit of knowledge.

O Spirit of tenderness

– O Holy Spirit, who rules all creation, visible and invisible,

Have mercy on me.

Have mercy on us Almighty God,

O Holy Spirit.

O Spirit of love.

O Spirit of grace.

O Spirit, from whom all good comes.

O Spirit, who annuls all guilt.

O Spirit, who wipes out sin.

– O Spirit, who rules all creation, visible and invisible, Have mercy on me.

Invocation

Lord, be with us this day,

Within us to purify us;

Above us to draw us up;

Beneath us to sustain us;

Before us to lead us;

Behind us to restrain us;

Around us to protect us.

St Patrick

We must get up before the sun to bless you, O God,

And adore you at the break of day.

Wisdom 16.28

Antiphon and Psalmody

O God, you are my God;

Eagerly I seek you, my soul is athirst for you.

Psalm 95.1–8

Come, let us sing to the Lord;*

let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving*

and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God,*

and a great king above all gods.

In his hands are the depths of the earth,*

and the heights of the hills are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it,*

and his hands moulded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down and bend the knee,*

and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture

and the sheep of his hand.*

O that today you would hearken to his voice!

‘Harden not your hearts,

as your forebears did in the wilderness,*

at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.’

Glory to the Father and to the Son:*

And to the Holy Spirit;

As it was in the beginning, is now:

And shall be for ever.

Amen.

O God, you are my God; Eagerly I seek you, my soul is athirst for you.

Reading

Intercessions and Thanksgivings

Lord’s Prayer

Almighty God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

to me the least of saints,

to me allow that I may keep even the smallest door,

the farthest, darkest, coldest door,

the door that is least used, the stiffest door.

If only it be in Your house, O God,

that I can see Your glory even afar,

and hear Your voice,

and know that I am with You, O God.

St Columba

Christ the lowly and meek,

Christ the all powerful,

Be in the heart of each to whom I speak,

In the mouth of each who speaks to me,

In all who draw near me,

Or see me, or hear me!

St Patrick

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rain fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

AMEN

Morning Prayer 5

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips
All: and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

You laid the foundation of the earth
All: and the heavens are the work of your hands.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, sovereign God,
creator of heaven and earth,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your living Word, eternal in heaven,
assumed the frailty of our mortal flesh,
may the light of your love be born in us
to fill our hearts with joy as we sing:
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All: Blessed be God for ever.

A Song of the Bride

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, •
my soul shall exult in my God;

Who has clothed me with the garments of salvation, •
and has covered me with the cloak of integrity,

As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, •
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth puts forth her blossom, •
and as seeds in the garden spring up,

So shall God make righteousness and praise •
blossom before all the nations.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, •
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest

Until her deliverance shines out like the dawn, •
and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your deliverance, •
and all rulers shall see your glory;

Then you shall be called by a new name •
which the mouth of God will give.

You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, •
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Isaiah 61.10,11; 62.1-3

All: Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

This opening prayer may be said

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
All: Amen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 8

O Lord our governor, •
how glorious is your name in all the world!

Your majesty above the heavens is praised •
out of the mouths of babes at the breast.

You have founded a stronghold against your foes, •
that you might still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, •
the moon and the stars that you have ordained,

What is man, that you should be mindful of him; •
the son of man, that you should seek him out? R

You have made him little lower than the angels •
and crown him with glory and honour.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands •
and put all things under his feet,

All sheep and oxen, •
even the wild beasts of the field,

The birds of the air, the fish of the sea •
and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.

O Lord our governor, •
how glorious is your name in all the world!

We bless you, master of the heavens,
for the wonderful order which enfolds this world;
grant that your whole creation
may find fulfilment in the Son of Man,
Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Psalm 48

Refrain: We have waited on your loving-kindness, O God.

Great is the Lord and highly to be praised, •
in the city of our God.

His holy mountain is fair and lifted high, •
the joy of all the earth.

On Mount Zion, the divine dwelling place, •
stands the city of the great king.

In her palaces God has shown himself •
to be a sure refuge. R

For behold, the kings of the earth assembled •
and swept forward together.

They saw, and were dumbfounded; •
dismayed, they fled in terror.

Trembling seized them there;
they writhed like a woman in labour, •
as when the east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish.

As we had heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts, the city of our God: •
God has established her for ever.

We have waited on your loving-kindness, O God, •
in the midst of your temple.

As with your name, O God,

so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; •
your right hand is full of justice.

Let Mount Zion rejoice and the daughters of Judah be glad, •
because of your judgements, O Lord.

Walk about Zion and go round about her;
count all her towers; •
consider well her bulwarks; pass through her citadels,

That you may tell those who come after
that such is our God for ever and ever. •
It is he that shall be our guide for evermore. R

Refrain: We have waited on your loving-kindness, O God.

Father of lights,
raise us with Christ to your eternal city,
that, with kings and nations,
we may wait in the midst of your temple
and see your glory for ever and ever.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

All: Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

Canticle

A Song of the Messiah, or another suitable canticle,

Refrain:

All: To us a child is born, to us a son is given.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; •
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
upon them the light has dawned.

You have increased their joy and given them great gladness; •
they rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest.

For you have shattered the yoke that burdened them; •
the collar that lay heavy on their shoulders.

For to us a child is born and to us a son is given, •
and the government will be upon his shoulder.

And his name will be called: Wonderful Counsellor;
the Mighty God; •
the Everlasting Father; the Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace •
there will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, •
to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness.

From this time forth and for evermore; •
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9.2, 3b, 4a, 6, 7

All: Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

All: To us a child is born,
to us a son is given.

 

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Ruth 4.1-17

No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, ‘Come over, friend; sit down here.’ And he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, ‘Sit down here’; so they sat down. He then said to the next-of-kin, ‘Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you.’ So he said, ‘I will redeem it.’ Then Boaz said, ‘The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance.’ At this, the next-of-kin said, ‘I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.’ Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, one party took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, ‘Acquire it for yourself’, he took off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.’ Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Colossians 4.2-end

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Tychicus will tell you all the news about me; he is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow-servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts; he is coming with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here. Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner greets you, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus who is called Justus greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always wrestling in his prayers on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in everything that God wills. For I testify for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, ‘See that you complete the task that you have received in the Lord.’

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

 

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

The Word of life which was from the beginning

All: we proclaim to you.
The darkness is passing away
and the true light is already shining;

All: the Word of life which was from the beginning.
That which we heard, which we saw with our eyes,
and touched with our hands,

All: we proclaim to you.
For our fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: The Word of life which was from the beginning
we proclaim to you.

 

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said,

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, •
who has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, •
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets God promised of old •
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,

To show mercy to our ancestors, •
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: •
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

Free to worship him without fear, •
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, •
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

To give his people knowledge of salvation •
by the forgiveness of all their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God •
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, •
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1.68-79

All: Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Prayers

Intercessions are offered
¶ for the day and its tasks
¶ for the world and its needs
¶ for the Church and her life

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

All: Amen.

 

The Lord’s Prayer is said

Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

All: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

All: Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion

May God, who has called us out of darkness
into his marvellous light,
bless us and fill us with peace.

All : Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

 

Morning Prayer 4

Morning Prayer

Said or sung all together except for the sentences marked ‘Call’ which are for the Leader only.

+ indicates that you may make the sign of the cross.

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

Opening sentences

One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.

Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Declaration of faith

To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory.

Scripture readings

Psalm 16:7

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

2 Samuel 22:7–16

In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. 8 “The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. 9 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 11 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness his canopy around him– the dark rain clouds of the sky. 13 Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. 14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 15 He shot arrows and scattered the enemies, bolts of lightning and routed them. 16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

Galatians 6:17

Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

Meditation for the day of the month

THE METHODIST COVENANT PRAYER
I am no longer my own, but Thine.
Put me to what Thou wilt,
rank me with whom Thou wilt;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for Thee
or laid aside for Thee;
let me be exalted for Thee,
or brought low for Thee;
let me be full, let me be empty;
let me have all things,
let me have nothing;
I freely and heartily yield all things
to Thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am Thine.
So be it.
And the covenant
which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Prayers for others

Canticle

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

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

Morning Prayer – 3

St Augustine’s Prayer

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless
till they find their rest in you;
so lead us by your Spirit
that in this life we may live to your glory
and in the life to come enjoy you for ever;

through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.

St Augustine said it well at the start of his Confessions, “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” We constantly desire more, and better, and different. Cars, gadgets, toys. It is not just that we have a God-shaped hole alongside other differently-shaped holes, as if our television fills and satisfies our television-shaped hole. It appears to me that people try and put their television (replace with your own recent want-it) into their God-shaped hole. But our God-shaped hole, our yearning is infinite. No amount of televisions, no television of whatever quality or value, will ever fill it. Only God.

Some would say that our desire for a god, our desire for transcendence, our inability to satisfy our yearning, this is the source of the human creation of the concept of God. Yeah Right! In a comprehensible reality, which I believe I am part of, thirst points to the existence of water (somewhere – I might not be in the right place to satisfy that thirst). Hunger points to the existence of food somewhere. Sexual desire points to the existence of the possibility of its satisfaction. And so on. Might not our very yearning for transcendence, for a god – rather than argue for atheism argue more strongly for the One in whom my restless, yearning heart will find its rest?

Too quickly some spiritualities denigrate our desires. As if we should ignore them. Flee from them. I suggest that our Creator gave us our desires for a reason. I am not surprised that the subtitle of the monastic book Trappist is “living in the land of desire”. I am not suggesting that all our desires, our yearning is satisfied in this limited world of space and time. The very opposite. We are creatures who do not find our ultimate fulfilment in this creation.

We might often during the day in our minds repeat Augustine’s phrase “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” Augustine’s prayer might become our own.

Morning Prayer – 2

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis was born at Assisi in 1182. After a care free youth, he turned his back on inherited wealth and committed himself to God. Like many early saints, he lived a very simple life of poverty, and in so doing, gained a reputation of being the friend of animals. He established the rule of St Francis, which exists today as the Order of St. Francis, or the Franciscans. He died in 1226, aged 44.

The prayer has many of the biblical truths of what it means to be a Christian – to seek to give, and in so doing, receive blessings; that the Lord’s Prayer asks God to forgive us as we forgive, and that the goal of eternal life can only result from us putting to death our old sinful lives.

Pointers for Prayer : Sometimes Christians are called to turn the world upside down. To bring the exact opposite of what we find in our world. St. Francis’ prayer is a bold one, asking for strength to give of ourselves to meet the needs of others. He recognises that it “is in giving that we receive”, that as we give of ourselves, we receive the peace and blessing of our risen Lord Jesus. We cannot earn eternal life, but that we are pardoned from the sins that block our claim on it.

Reflection: Think about the situations that you are involved in that require peace, consolation, hope, light and joy. Then, if you’re bold enough, pray the prayer!

Further thoughts on Lectio Divina

LECTIO DIVINA is an ancient spiritual art that is being rediscovered in our day. It is a way of allowing the Scriptures to become again what God intended that they should be – a means of uniting us to God. In lectio divina we discover our own underlying spiritual rhythm. We experience God in a gentle oscillation back and forth between spiritual activity and receptivity, in the movement from practice into contemplation and back again into spiritual practice.

LECTIO DIVINA teaches us about the God who truly loves us. In lectio divina we dare to believe that our loving God continues to embrace us today. In the word we experience ourselves as personally loved by God; as the recipients of a Word which God gives uniquely to each of us whenever we turn to the Scriptures.

FINALLY, lectio divina teaches us about ourselves. In lectio divina we discover that there is no place in our hearts, no interior corner or closet that cannot be opened and offered to God. God teaches us in lectio divina what it means to be a royal priesthood – a people called to consecrate all of our memories, our hopes and our dreams to Christ.

Lectio Divina on Life

IN THE ancient tradition lectio divina was understood as being one of the most important ways in which Christians experience God in creation. After all, the Scriptures are part of creation! If one is daily growing in the art of finding Christ in the pages of the Bible, one naturally begins to discover God more clearly in aspects of all things made. This includes, of course, our own personal history.

OUR OWN lives are fit matter for lectio divina. Very often our concerns, our relationships, our hopes and aspirations naturally intertwine with our pondering on the Scriptures, as has been described above. But sometimes it is fitting to simply sit down and “read’ the experiences of the last few days or weeks in our hearts, much as we might slowly read and savor the words of Scripture in lectio divina. We can attend “with the ear of our hearts” to our own memories, listening for God’s gentle presence in the events of our lives. We thus allow ourselves the joy of experiencing Christ reaching out to us through our own memories. Our own personal story becomes “salvation history”.

Private Lectio Divina

Private Lectio Divina

CHOOSE a text of the Scriptures that you wish to pray. Many Christians use in their daily lectio divina one of the readings from the Eucharistic liturgy for the day; others prefer to slowly work through a particular book of the Bible. It makes no difference which text is chosen, as long as one has no set goal of “covering” a certain amount of text: the amount of text “covered” is in God’s hands, not yours.

PLACE YOURSELF in a comfortable position and allow yourself to become silent. Some Christians focus for a few moments on their breathing; others have a beloved “prayer word” or “prayer phrase” they gently recite in order to become interiorly silent. For some the practice known as “centering prayer” makes a good, brief introduction to lectio divina. Use whatever method is best for you and allow yourself to enjoy silence for a few moments.

THEN TURN to the text and read it slowly, gently. Savour each portion of the reading, constantly listening for the “still, small voice” of a word or phrase that somehow says, “I am for you today”. Do not expect lightening or ecstasies. In lectio divina God is teaching us to listen, to seek in silence. God does not reach out and grab us; rather it is a soft, gentle invitation inviting us ever more deeply into Divine presence.

NEXT, TAKE the word or phrase into yourself. Memorize it and slowly repeat it to yourself, allowing it to interact with your inner world of concerns, memories and ideas. Do not be afraid of “distractions”. Memories or thoughts are simply parts of yourself which, when they rise up during lectio divina, are asking to be given to God along with the rest of your inner self. Allow this inner pondering, this rumination, to invite you into dialogue with God.

THEN, SPEAK to God. Whether you use words or ideas or images or all three is not important. Interact with God as you would with one who you know loves and accepts you. And give to God what you have discovered in yourself during your experience of meditation. Experience yourself as the priest that you are. Experience God using the word or phrase that God has given you as a means of blessing, of transforming the ideas and memories, which your pondering on the Word has awakened. Give to God what you have found within your heart.

FINALLY, SIMPLY rest in God’s embrace. And when God invites you to return to your pondering of the Word or to your inner dialogue with God, do so. Learn to use words when words are helpful, and to let go of words when they no longer are necessary. Rejoice in the knowledge that God is with you in both words and silence, in spiritual activity and inner receptivity.

SOMETIMES IN LECTIO DIVINA one will return several times to the printed text, either to savor the literary context of the word or phrase that God has given, or to seek a new word or phrase to ponder. At other times only a single word or phrase will fill the whole time set aside for lectio divina. It is not necessary to anxiously assess the quality of one’s lectio divina as if one were “performing’ or seeking some goal: lectio divina has no goal other than that of being in the presence of God by praying the Scriptures.

The Underlying Rhythm of Lectio Divina

IF WE are to practice lectio divina effectively, we must travel back in time to an understanding that today is in danger of being almost completely lost. In the Christian past the words action and contemplation did not describe different kinds of Christians engaging (or not engaging) in different forms of prayer and apostolates. Practice and contemplation were understood as the two poles of our underlying, ongoing spiritual rhythm: a gentle oscillation back and forth between spiritual “activity” with regard to God and “receptivity”.

PRACTICE – spiritual “activity” – referred in ancient times to our active cooperation with God’s grace in rooting out vices and allowing the virtues to flourish. The direction of spiritual activity was not outward in the sense of an apostolate, but inward – down into the depths of the soul where the Spirit of God is constantly transforming us, refashioning us in God’s image. The active life is thus coming to see who we truly are and allowing ourselves to be remade into what God intends us to become.

IN THE early monastic tradition contemplation was understood in two ways. First was the contemplation of God in creation – God in “the many”. Second was the contemplation of God without images or words – God as The One”. From this perspective lectio divina serves as a training-ground for the contemplation of God in creation.

IN CONTEMPLATION we cease from interior spiritual doing and learn simply to be, that is, to rest in the presence of our loving God. Just as we constantly move back and forth in our exterior lives between speaking and listening, between questioning and reflecting, so in our spiritual lives we must learn to enjoy the refreshment of simply being in God’s presence, an experience that naturally alternates (if we let it!) with our spiritual practice.

IN ANCIENT times contemplation was not regarded as a goal to be achieved through some method of prayer, but was simply accepted with gratitude as God’s recurring gift. At intervals the Lord invites us to cease from speaking so that we can simply rest in God’s embrace. This is the pole of our inner spiritual rhythm called contemplation.

HOW DIFFERENT this ancient understanding is from our modern approach! Instead of recognizing that we all gently oscillate back and forth between spiritual activity and receptivity, between practice and contemplation, we today tend to set contemplation before ourselves as a goal – something we imagine we can achieve through some spiritual technique. We must be willing to sacrifice our “goal-oriented” approach if we are to practice lectio divina, because lectio divina has no other goal than spending time with God through the medium of the Word. The amount of time we spend in any aspect of lectio divina, whether it be rumination, consecration or contemplation depends on God’s Spirit, not on us. Lectio divina teaches us to savor and delight in all the different flavors of God’s presence, whether they be active or receptive modes of experiencing the Word.

IN LECTIO DIVINA we offer ourselves to God; and we are people in motion. In ancient times this inner spiritual motion was described as a helix – an ascending spiral. Viewed in only two dimensions it appears as a circular motion back and forth; seen with the added dimension of time it becomes a helix, an ascending spiral by means of which we are drawn ever closer to God. The whole of our spiritual lives were viewed in this way, as a gentle oscillation between spiritual activity and receptivity by means of which God unites us ever closer to Godself. In just the same way the steps or stages of lectio divina represent an oscillation back and forth between these spiritual poles. In lectio divina we recognize our underlying spiritual rhythm and discover many different ways of experiencing God’s presence – many different ways of praying.

The Process of Lectio Divina

Introduction

A VERY ANCIENT art, practiced at one time by all Christians, is the technique known as lectio divina – a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God. This ancient practice has been kept alive in the Christian monastic tradition. Together with the Liturgy and daily manual labour, time set aside in a special way for lectio divina enables us to discover in our daily life an underlying spiritual rhythm. Within this rhythm we discover an increasing ability to offer more of ourselves and our relationships to God, and to accept the embrace that God is continuously extending to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lectio – reading/listening

THE ART of lectio divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply. When we read the Scriptures we should try to imitate the prophet Elijah. We should allow ourselves to become women and men who are able to listen for the still, small voice of God (I Kings 19:12); the “faint murmuring sound” which is God’s word for us, God’s voice touching our hearts. This gentle listening is an “attunement” to the presence of God in that special part of God’s creation which is the Scriptures.

THE CRY of the prophets to ancient Israel was the joy-filled command to “Listen!” “Sh’ma Israel: Hear, O Israel!” In lectio divina we, too, heed that command and turn to the Scriptures, knowing that we must “hear” – listen- to the voice of God, which often speaks very softly. In order to hear someone speaking softly we must learn to be silent. We must learn to love silence. If we are constantly speaking or if we are surrounded with noise, we cannot hear gentle sounds. The practice of lectio divina, therefore, requires that we first quiet down in order to hear God’s word to us. This is the first step of lectio divina, appropriately called lectio – reading.

THE READING or listening which is the first step in lectio divina is very different from the speed reading which modern Christians apply to newspapers, books and even to the Bible. Lectio is reverential listening; listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe. We are listening for the still, small voice of God that will speak to us personally – not loudly, but intimately. In lectio we read slowly, attentively, gently listening to hear a word or phrase that is God’s word for us this day.

Meditation

ONCE WE have found a word or a passage in the Scriptures which speaks to us in a personal way, we must take it in and “ruminate” on it. The image of the ruminant animal quietly chewing its cud was used in antiquity as a symbol of the Christian pondering the Word of God. Christians have always seen a scriptural invitation to lectio divina in the example of the Virgin Mary “pondering in her heart” what she saw and heard of Christ (Luke 2:19). For us today these images are a reminder that we must take in the word – that is, memorize it – and while gently repeating it to ourselves, allow it to interact with our thoughts, our hopes, our memories, our desires. This is the second step or stage in lectio divina – meditation. Through meditation we allow God’s word to become His word for us, a word that touches us and affects us at our deepest levels.

Prayer

THE THIRD step in lectio divina is prayer: prayer understood both as dialogue with God, that is, as loving conversation with the One who has invited us into an embrace; and as consecration, prayer as the priestly offering to God of those parts of ourselves that we have not previously believed God wants. In this consecration-prayer we allow the word that we have taken in and on which we are pondering to touch and change our deepest selves. Just as a priest consecrates the elements of bread and wine at the Eucharist, God invites us in lectio divina to hold up our most difficult and pain-filled experiences, and to gently recite over them the healing word or phrase God has given us in our lectio and meditation. In this prayer, this consecration-prayer, we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the Word of God.

Contemplation

FINALLY, WE simply rest in the presence of the One who has used the Scripture word as a means of inviting us to accept a transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded that there are moments in loving relationships when words are unnecessary. It is the same in our relationship with God. Wordless, quiet rest in the presence of the One who loves us has a name in the Christian tradition – contemplation. Once again we practice silence, letting go of our own words; this time simply enjoying the experience of being in the presence of God.

Morning Prayer -1

This prayer is attributed to Saint Patrick and often referred to as the “breastplate” of St. Patrick–words that shield.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;

Light of the sun,
Splendour of fire,
Swiftness of wind,

Depth of the sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s hand to guard me.

Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding:

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,

Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,

Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in me.

I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of Creation.

Life’s Journey

I came across this the other day on a travel blog. It’s good to remember these thoughts when we lack direction, or feel vulnerable, or when we are overwhelmed by others expectations upon us., or when we are too busy, or even still when the whole of life crowds in upon us.

Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Do not set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you and God know what is best for you.

Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life; for without them, life is meaningless.

Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all of the days of your life.

Do not give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Do not be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love. The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly.

Do not dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope. To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you are going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way.

~anonymous~

Contemporary Monasticism

The Margins of a Spiritual Wilderness

We stand at the dawn of a dysfunctional transitional time in which Westerners seem able to express their doubts but not yet their sustaining beliefs; their lack of belief in the way things are but not yet their commitment to change.Along the margins of the mountain ranges of North America, where unmanageable fortifications and regal satellites of rock surrender to low plains, lies a series of lesser ridges. They are known as the ‘outer range’, and winding through these barren lowlands is what the Native Indians call ‘The Trail’ – the pilgrimage to go beyond the here and now, and on toward the colonies of heaven. To many indigenous cultures ‘the trail’ is widely regarded as the most precious gift we have, and during the autumn of 1994 I remember sitting in the bar of a small town due south of the Adirondack Mountains with an old Indian. That night he told me the story of the ‘coal holders’.

As the seasons changed, when winter would eventually arrive, the tribe would have to move camp. Each tribe would designate coal carriers, and as the fire burned low, when the time came to move on, someone would have to carry the last hot coal to start the next fire at the new campsite. The old man explained that the community needed this fire to cook with, to sleep near, but most importantly this fire was the place of communication. It was the sacred place of storytelling, of dance and song. In short it was the heart of community. For many a weary pilgrim today it may feel like the fire has gone out completely. For those spiritual refugees who have connected to something they know to be true but no longer know where to go to explore and develop that connection our current spiritual climate may seem very cold.

We stand at the dawn of a dysfunctional transitional time in which Westerners seem able to express their doubts but not yet their sustaining beliefs; their lack of belief in the way things are but not yet their commitment to change. Our world is beginning to groan and toil for something beyond the inadequate patterns it has experienced and knows. Humanity is tired and longing for a life liberated by a spirituality that offers hope and gives rise to a world of justice and peace. Our common task, it seems, is to discover a new way of being human. It is this new way of being which intrigues me. I find it unfortunate that ‘church’ has become a by-word for the hypocritical and the insipid. Is it possible that a place can be found where spiritual refugees are able to be heard, can believe and belong without conforming in some way to an institution which makes us feel fraudulent, masking who we really are?

Bonhoeffer’s Monastery Without Walls
More than fifty years ago Dietrich Bonhoeffer predicted that the renewal of the Western church would come from a new monasticism whose only connection to traditional monasticism would be Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). New conceptions of church have been a central component of contemporary Protestant mission in the West. This plurality of ideas has led to many different types of church communities. These changes appear to have risen from the conviction that traditional churches are themselves a problem. Many have come to believe that, if the Christian faith is to become a viable alternative within a post-modern culture, then the form of the community of faith must journey towards the blurred edges of the post-evangelical mood and be re-evaluated and reformed. It is a genuine practical concern about the possible manifestations of Bonhoeffer’s new monasticism that has led me to ask: can, in this macro-cultural context, a contemporary monastic movement bring about the kind of reformation of our incarnational religion that will enable Christian people of the West both to relate their faith to the world, and also form, in a micro-cultural context, the kind of community which allows them to explore that faith fully and so bring rest for their souls?

Ronald Roheiser prudently observes that, ‘we, the children of Western culture, post-modern, adult children of the enlightenment, struggle with practical atheism. Our churches are emptying and, more and more, the sense of God is slipping from our ordinary lives.’ An observation I concur with and one that saddens me, as I always get the idea that Jesus is more interested in the ordinariness of our at times mundane difficult existence than anything else. Bonhoeffer seems to be suggesting a return to ‘camp side community’ where the coal carriers of today become the embodiment of the Sermon on the Mount. To push the analogy a little further it may be that in the imperishability of salt we have a guarantee of the permanence of the divine community – that community being a new monastic order. Historical and sociological insights urge theologians to look hard at situations where church praxis is worked out. Ideas in isolation are not enough. Theology needs to be seen in relation to the events which will eventually shape it. Bonhoeffer’s theology is best understood as an account of the continuity of God’s identity interpreted through the identity of Christ – which would then inform the Christian identity through the Sermon on the Mount. Christ then lives in and works through the new monastic community, so demonstrating a Christological pattern of human relationship that affirms the intrinsic value of integrity and faithfulness.

Some scholars say that Life Together and The Cost of Discipleship can be read as theological manuals on Christian community. There are complimentary themes of meditation and immediacy that originate in Bonhoeffer’s work. He suggests that the ‘disciple community does not shake off sorrow as though it were no concern of its own, but willingly bears it.’ The elucidation of such propositions occurs in the way Bonhoeffer develops his doctrine of community. He suggests that when salt loses its flavour it in fact ceases to be salt, suggesting that judgement hangs over the Christian community depending upon whether or not it seasons the world. It would seem that at this moment in history we need the coal carriers more than ever – illusions don’t keep us warm at night.

The new monastic life must embrace both the need for community as the essence of an authentic spiritual journey and the importance and freedom of individual interpretations of that journey. Those wishing to communicate and build relationship with a post-Christian culture need to implement this with some urgency. Only a dying minority have an interest in mediocre uniformity. Many are tired of those who would espouse theoretical knowledge, what is longed for is a sharing of a practical knowledge of how to live as an individual who is part of and co-responsible for a community. Bonhoeffer states that, ‘the community which is the subject of the Beatitudes is the community of the crucified.’ Contemporary missiology is concerned with amalgamating strands – restoring those broken and embracing those which survive. Scholars such as Lesslie Newbigin and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were some of the last voices of modernity who believed community was key to living fully. Mike Riddell and Dave Andrews are two of the first voices giving perceptive insights of how we embrace and build community from within the complexities of post-modernity. At some point we must ask the question; does anything connect across this paradigm shift? I suspect authentic and lasting renewal comes not from a Pentecost experience, but from moments immersed with the fragrance of Gethsemane and Calvary.

In other words the Enlightenment (modernity) was the old paradigm; just maybe the new monasticism (post-modernity) could be the new. A principle central to the ideas of post-modern monasteries without walls was an equally essential aspect of any historical monastic order, namely solitude. Solitude is something post-modern people crave but struggle to find. Jesus often retreated to be alone, to find privacy and nourish his soul – to that place where God mystically and tenderly exposes our weakness and nourishes and sustains us. Thomas Merton describes this mystical solitude as contemplation and I believe that this contemplation (solitude) is a helpful eschatological vision to manifest a simplicity that will assist in building an authentic community of faith.

Vows of the Contemporary
Matt Rees believes that this simplicity will come from three ‘essentials’ of the contemporary monastic – community, rule and vows. These ‘essentials’ require the development of shared rhythms, resources and hospitality. Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience have long been a part of the monastic life. A new monasticism needs to re-establish the meaning of the vows through contemporary expression, e.g. vows of generous justice, reckless love and unconditional listening. One should not abandon traditional vows but reinterpret them in ways which will make sense in the post-Christian world.

The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ commits us to live simply, to be committed to ecological stewardship, and to have a deep concern for the poor and marginalised. Bonhoeffer believed that vows give a framework to counter the excessive individualism that permeates our culture, so enabling something Tom Sine calls, ‘the future of God through creative community,’ where our lives, energy and resources are poured outwardly to re-establish a new age of economic justice, a life source for the broken, and rest for the weary. Realisation and experience are vital for the bare bones of this idea to find some flesh, for there too many weary pilgrims asking the question, ‘where can I go?’ For what it’s worth, I would call for the re-shaping of local churches and for small groups to grow around contemporary hermits. I was talking with Ray Simpson of Lindisfarne recently and he told me of a young pastor who admitted to the feeling that somewhere deep inside himself he was called to be a monk, but that he did not know what that meant. When I asked Ray how he answered the man he said that it could mean adopting a new rule or rhythm of life. It might also lead to the church as a whole adopting a set of values and practices which include daily prayer and regular meals together.

These comments are important. This position of not quite being sure where we are travelling, not fully understanding the realisation of a mystery once more I think is a healthy one. We are inundated with varying analysis of the slow haemorrhage of the contemporary church, but to the thinking Christian this is not news. What most disillusioned pew leavers need is practical assistance on what physically is possible as an alternative. Mike Yaconelli, in pastoring a church for people who don’t like church, pioneered a new ecclesiological paradigm. It is something Moltmann calls the ‘Open Church’, and what Bonhoeffer called ‘the Church for others.’ So many have lost faith whilst living in the shadow of the Enlightenment, and so what has developed is a pseudo-spirituality of the individual, where the West, it seems, is seeking to transcend itself. This becomes problematic because it creates isolation and fragments any kind of hope for a communal pattern of living. Yet to embrace the fragmented, marginalized, and flawed people of our communities, who are suspicious of Institutions, might just be part of the mystery which helps reconnect them. Most of my own friends, particularly those who don’t profess any kind of faith seem to want to explore uncharted territory, not to escape, but to find some way back home. The new monastics will be spiritual guides who will listen to stories, and having listened will offer some helpful clues for the general direction to be travelled, maybe offering some hospitality, a meal or a warm bed for the night, before allowing the pilgrim to journey on. Bonhoeffer alluded to this when he said that ‘prayer and action on behalf of others were two essentials that the new monastics would be limited to.’ This new monasticism is not trying to convince the community of faith to return to the historical manifestation and understanding of monasticism, but rather the opposite, that the new order would radically become fully engaged with the world.

Hospitality – Church around the meal table
Jesus did not have a home, he relied on the kindness of strangers for the niceties of life that you and I probably take for granted – a cooked meal, a bath, and a place to rest ones head for the night. In both Jewish and Celtic traditions the household becomes the main expression of ‘church’. Contemporary expressions of monasticism would perhaps encourage household development of prayers and rituals for significant daily happenings, primarily because they are more natural and organic than the evangelical model of cells. With a covenanted, organic, relational, small community in mind, my wife Claire and I decided that our home would become exactly that: a safe haven for a few vulnerable pilgrims to join us in the sharing of our journeys. One of our group describes it so:
Church is about relationship: Church around the meal table allows intimacy, confidentiality and security. Ideas can be voiced, ignorance’s confessed, mistakes allowed for and blessings shared. Time can be given to explore the nature of spirituality, the impact of the previous week’s experiences and points raised by that Sunday’s sermon. Because there is no particular agenda there is flexibility for change and sensitivity to what needs to be spoken about.

Criticising what exists is too easy, and unless we are ready to go beyond theory no reformation will be possible. Communities need to function and be energised. Bonhoeffer suggests that this is part of the completion with the working of atonement, particularly where the family is able to gather together, embracing the invitation to ‘come and eat’. The rhetoric of family values has become hurtful. There is a need for the rebuilding of family systems for it is abundantly clear that our polarities have weakened the community of family. Monastic communities though have always provided space and time for relating. Accountability and liability have always expressed the essence of the Monastic church for our brothers and sisters. As Tom Sine suggests, ‘over the centuries, much of the renewal of the church has come through small communities in which people are organically linked to one another in common purpose.’

The ability to relate to one another with out being inhibited is overwhelmingly difficult in large groups. Certain dynamics, where human emotion is embraced and intimacy nurtured, where we share one another’s joys and sorrows, becomes limited when numbers grow. Small groups also enable counter-dependency, and those who have been part of table church have expressed their gratitude for a place where one can question the taken-for-granted nature of the faith community’s beliefs, values and expected behaviours. It seems to provide a helpful sanctuary and refuge for those Alan Jamieson calls the reflective exiles, so helping the process of deconstructing the faith before re-building it. In other words table church and other forms of a new monastic order recognise that some traditional patterns are not helpful and appropriate for journeying into territory. As another of our group shared:
I guess I’m not in a place where I can speak passionately about the physical church. New concepts, new ideas, new pathways always require a period of hibernation. I am there at present.

Embracing the Organic Rhythm of Spirituality
It is essential that pious demands are not placed on people who are not ready to meet them. One must nurture carefully an earthed spirituality to allow a change of course and provide an open door into a new world. Throughout history story telling has been the primary means of communicating matters of significance. I think it was Walter Brueggemann who said that a metastory, if replaced by a personal story, only makes the Biblical story more poignant in connection to our journeying. Storytelling, eating and drinking around a fire – these are all participatory activities where one can learn, be vulnerable, and begin a healing at grass-roots level in the form of community.

For the coal carriers of today walking into the unknown is a risk. We have to live with contradictions, we have to help one another through the wasteland, but more than that we must continue to nurture what it means to follow Christ, and reform who we have become. The new monasticism will, as does table church, personify desire. There will be tempers and frustrations, but they are saturated in passion. As I look around the majority of churches I visit I see mostly the church is trying to create nice people, and the consequence of this is that most are bored. Was there not a promise of not thirsting any more and life in all its fullness? Too many pilgrims still leave church spiritually thirsty and malnourished. Contemporary monasticism is not about efficiency but inclusion. Douglas Coupland advocates this in his work, suggesting that they key happiness is the importance of a safe, open place to discuss and find the meaning of life, where friends and strangers can begin once more the difficult task of finding community in a fragmented world.

As I listened all those years ago to the intoxicating wisdom of my Indian friend, I realised the need to widen my boundaries, to sift my soul of the muck and mire of my religious ego. We are by nature ritual makers, and there is something profound in that rite of passage that allows us to let go of the past. I am not talking here about some emotionally charged resolution that will be disregarded once normality (whatever that is) reigns. Rather I am speaking of our duty to the soul. It is not just culture that is trying to balance religious obligation with secular freedom: there is a paradigm shift of the soul occurring where we wrestle with principles of inner reform. As we talked about ‘the trail’ the old man explained to me that rather than attending church he went to a sweat lodge; rather than accepting bread and wine from a priest, he smoked a ceremonial pipe to come into communion with the Great Spirit; and rather than kneeling with his hands placed together in prayer he allowed the tenderness and beauty of creation to wash over him for cleansing – the smoke carrying his prayers to the heavens.

My old friend did not regard his spiritual beliefs as a religion in the way many Christians do. His practices form an integral and seamless part of his very being. We need the coal-carriers of Christianity to keep the God-man Jesus alive and well – to keep the voice of the soul breathing – to go clear the land for a new culture. As Douglas Coupland suggests, ‘if you are not spending every waking moment of your life radically rethinking the nature of the world – if you’re not plotting every moment boiling the carcass of the old order – then you’re wasting your day.’ There is no blue print for the new monasticism, just many differing expressions of community stumbling together towards God. Initially, I suspect it will only attract those who have lost faith with institutionalised church – those spiritual refugees – searching to find a non-threatening home where their spirituality and search for God can be explored. In time I expect the balance to change. Bonhoeffer’s prediction, prophecy, vision, dream – however we package it – may just be the sign-post which will lead us in the right direction to restore and renew the community of God in the West…I hope so.

The Jesus Prayer – Web Resources

The Jesus Prayer
Fr. Steven Peter Tsichlis

THE JESUS PRAYER

In order to enter more deeply into the life of prayer and to come to grips with St. Paul’s challenge to pray unceasingly, the Orthodox Tradition offers the Jesus Prayer, which is sometimes called the prayer of the heart. The Jesus Prayer is offered as a means of concentration, as a focal point for our inner life. Though there are both longer and shorter versions, the most frequently used form of the Jesus Prayer is: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer, in its simplicity and clarity, is rooted in the Scriptures and the new life granted by the Holy Spirit. It is first and foremost a prayer of the Spirit because of the fact that the prayer addresses Jesus as Lord, Christ and Son of God; and as St. Paul tells us, “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3) …MORE…

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On Practicing the Jesus Prayer
by St. Ignaty Brianchaninov

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

THE CORRECT PRACTICE of the Jesus Prayer proceeds naturally from correct notions about God, about the most holy name of the Lord Jesus, and about man’s relationship to God.

The name of our Lord Jesus Christ is a divine name. The power and effect of that name are divine, omnipotent and salvific, and transcend our ability to comprehend it. With faith therefore, with confidence and sincerity, and with great piety and fear ought we to proceed to the doing of the great work which God has entrusted to us: to train ourselves in prayer by using the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “The incessant invocation of God’s name,” says Barsanuphius the Great, “is a medicine which mortifies not just the passions, but even their influence. Just as the physician puts medications or dressings on a wound that it might be healed, without the patient even knowing the manner of their operation, so also the name of God, when we invoke it, mortifies all passions, though we do not know how that happens” (421st Answer). …MORE…

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Concerning the Jesus Prayer
From the Jordanville Prayer Book (1996 ed.)

Saint John Chrysostom says: “It is necessary for everyone, whether eating, drinking, sitting, serving, traveling, or doing anything, to unceasingly cry: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,’ that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, descending into the depths of the heart, may subdue the pernicious serpent, and save and quicken the soul.

Saint Seraphim of Sarov: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”: let all thine attention and training be in this. Walking, sitting, doing, and standing in church before the divine service, coming in and going out, keep this unceasingly on thy lips and in thy heart. In calling in this manner on the name of God thou wilt find peace, thou wilt attain to purity of spirit and body, and the Holy Spirit, the Origin of all good things, will dwell in thee, and He will guide thee unto holiness, unto all piety and purity.”

Bishop Theophanes the Recluse: “In order to more conveniently become accustomed to the remembrance of God, for this the fervent Christian has a special means, namely, to repeat unceasingly a brief prayer of two or three words. Most often this is: ‘Lord, have mercy!’ or ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.’ If you have not yet heard of this, then hear it now, and if you have not done it, then begin to do it from this time.

“Those who have truly decided to serve the Lord God must train themselves in the remembrance of God and in unceasing prayer to Jesus Christ, saying mentally: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.’

“Through such practice, by guarding oneself from distraction and by the preservation of the peace of one’s conscience, it is possible to draw near to God and to be united with Him. For, according to the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian, ‘Without unceasing prayer we cannot draw near to God’ (St. Seraphim of Sarov).”

Site to see

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The Orthodox Faith
The Jesus Prayer

The most normal form of unceasing prayer in the Orthodox tradition is the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer is the form of invocation used by those practicing mental prayer, also called the “prayer of the heart.” The words of the prayer most usually said are “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The choice of this particular verse has a theological and spiritual meaning.

First of all, it is centered on the name of Jesus because this is the name of Him whom “God has highly exalted,” the name given to the Lord by God Himself (Luke 1:31), the “name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9-10, cf Ephesians 1:21)

…for there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

All prayer for Christians must be performed in the name of Jesus: “if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)

The fact that the prayer is addressed to Jesus as Lord and Christ and Son of God is because this is the center of the entire faith revealed by God in the Spirit. …MORE…

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Discussion with the Gerondas on the Jesus Prayer
Having clarified this point, he went on, I must also show you some methods or rather a very simple method. Do not expect me to burden you with very heavy things. The prayer of Jesus, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” the unceasing cry to God, our Saviour purifies our soul. All our salvation rests upon the invocation of Jesus and union with him. Let us cry to him to come and He will cure us by his coming. Let us moan like a sick man and He like a doctor will come lovingly to our aid . Let us cry like the one who fell among thieves, and the good Samaritan will come to clean our wounds and guide us to the Inn, that is to the theoria (vision) of the Light which consumes all our being. When God comes into our heart, He gains victory over the devil and cleanses the impurities which the evil one has created. The victory, therefore, over the devil is the victory of Christ in us. Let us do the human part, that is to invite Christ, and He will do the divine part, He will gain victory over the devil and cut him off. So we should not want to do the divine part ourselves and expect God to do the human one. We should understand this well, we do the human part, the prayer of Jesus, and God the divine part, our salvation. The entire work of the Church is the collaboration of divine and human. …MORE…

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The significance of the Jesus Prayer
The “prayer” is called the “Jesus prayer” but is founded on a Trinitarian basis. Moreover, Christ, “being one of the Holy Trinity” , never exists without the Father and the Holy Spirit and constitute, together with the other Persons, “a Trinity of one substance and undivided”. Christology is tightly connected with Triadology. Let me come back to the matter of the “Jesus prayer”. The heavenly Father ordered Joseph through the angel to call Christ, Jesus: “. . .and you shall call his name Jesus…” (Matt. 1. 21) Joseph obeying the Father, called the Son of the Virgin, Jesus. Evenmore so according to the Holy Spirit which illumined the Apostle Paul, “no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12. 3). By saying, therefore, the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”, we acknowledge the Father and are obedient to Him. Moreover we feel the energy of and the communion with the Holy Spirit. The Fathers illumined by the Holy Spirit, told us that the “Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, makes everything”. The complete Holy Trinity created the world and made man; and again the entire Holy Trinity recreated man and the world. “The Father was well pleased, the Word became flesh”. And He “became flesh” by the Holy Spirit. That is to say, the incarnation of Christ was made “by the good will of the Father and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit”. For this reason we say that the salvation of man and the acquisition of divine gifts are common acts of the Holy Trinity. I will mention two characteristic teachings of the Holy Fathers.

Saint Symeon the New Theologian writes that the Son and Word of God is the door of salvation according to His declaration: “I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture”. (John 10. 9). If Christ is the door, the Father is the house”.In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14. 2). So we enter into the Father through Christ. And in order to open the door (Christ) we need the key, which is the Holy Spirit. For we know the truth, which is Christ, through the energy of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent His Son to the world, the Son and Word of God reveals the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the Father and is sent through the Son, forms Christ in our hearts! We know, therefore, the Father “through the Son in the Holy Spirit”.

St. Maximos speaks often in his works about the mystical incarnations of the Word. He writes that, just as the words of the law and of the Prophets were the forerunners of the presence of the Word in the flesh, in the same way the Son and Word of God, being incarnate, became the forerunner of “his spiritual presence”, “by instructing the souls through his own words so that they will be able to accept His divine presence”. In other words Christ must be incarnate within us, because we shall not be able to see His glory in Heaven otherwise. The incarnation of Christ within us, however, is done by the good will of the Father and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Can you see how the common action of the Holy Trinity is expressed, how we acknowledge and confess the great Mystery that the Lord revealed through His incarnation? He who then denies and does not acknowledge the Jesus prayer makes a big mistake. He denies the Holy Trinity. He does not obey the Father and does not accept the illumination of the Holy Spirit, therefore, he does not have real communion with Christ. So, he must be in doubt as to whether he is a Christian or not. …[More]…

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On Unceasing Prayer
From the Life of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica
by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, editor of The Philokalia

Do you see, my brethren, how all Christians, small and great, should always pray, using the noetic prayer, “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”; and how their mind and heart should become accustomed to saying it always? Just think how pleasing this is to God, and how much good comes from it, that out of His extreme love for mankind He even sent a heavenly angel to reveal it to us, so that we should no longer have any doubt about it.

But what do lay people say? “We are involved in so many matters and cares of the world. How can we possibly pray without ceasing?”

My answer to them is that God has not commanded us to do anything impossible; but He has commanded us to do all those things that we are able to do. Therefore this too can be accomplished by anyone who diligently seeks the salvation of his soul. For if it were impossible, it would be so for all lay people, and there would never have been so many in the world who did accomplish it. …[MORE]…

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The Jesus Prayer
Fr. Lev Gillet

Online book of “The Jesus Prayer”. A classic treatise on the Jesus Prayer written by Fr. Lev.Gillet,also known through many of his writings as “A Monk of the Eastern Church”.

1. THE SHAPE OF THE INVOCATION OF THE NAME

… And Jacob asked him and said: Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said: Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Genesis 32:29

The invocation of the Name of Jesus can be put into many frames. It is for each person to find the form which is the most appropriate to his or her own prayer. But, whatever formula maybe used, the heart and centre of the invocation must be the Holy Name itself, the word Jesus. There resides the whole strength of the invocation.

The Name of Jesus may either be used alone or be inserted in a more or less developed phrase. In the East the commonest form is: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” One might simply say: “Jesus Christ”, or “Lord Jesus”. The invocation may even be reduced to one single word “Jesus”. …[MORE]…

Benedict’s Rule and Commentary 1

“LI S T E N carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart (Prov. 4:20). Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father’s advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience. To you, therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever you may be, who are renouncing your own will to do battle under the Lord Christ, the true King, and are taking up the strong, bright weapons of obedience.

And first of all, whatever good work you begin to do, beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect it, that He who has now deigned to count us among His children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve Him with the good things He has given us, that He will never as an angry Father disinherit His children, nor ever as a dread Lord, provoked by our evil actions, deliver us to everlasting punishment as wicked servants who would not follow Him to glory.”

A FEW THOUGHTS…..

“LISTEN…”, for those who didn’t catch that let me repeat that very first word, that very significant, very Benedictine beginning of the Holy Rule given to us by our holy father St. Benedict.

“LISTEN…”. Have you ever listened to a conversation where two souls talked around each other, both discussing their own topic and neither giving a thought to what the other was actually saying? Not what St. Benedict means by “Listen…”! As we begin studying and praying over the Holy Rule once more let’s understand that “Listen” was not arbitrarily chosen by St. Benedict as the first word of the Rule.

A good listener was as rare a commodity in St. Benedict’s time as it is in today’s world. If we empty ourselves of our self importance and really work to climb the Ladder of Humility we will be able to listen to Almighty God in Himself and in His creation. Do not expect Him to shout at you. Do not expect to hear Him if your mind is filled with other things. Do not expect Him to give you signs that He is desperately trying to attract your attention. Oh yes, He is able to do any and all of these things but He usually doesn’t. No, for most of us He eagerly awaits us to deliberately place ourselves in His Presence and LISTEN to Him.

Benedictines are noted for their Hospitality and Gentleness but please note that being hospitable and gentle isn’t limited to our homes or businesses. Not finger bowls, string quartets and the best place at the table for guests.

Hospitality in the true Benedictine tradition also involves those souls with whom we come into contact with 24/7. The soul in front of us who doesn’t notice the red traffic light turn green; the soul standing next to us in line at the store, and most definitely those souls we engage in conversation. I find, in the vast majority of conversations that what I have to say isn’t really the most important, hilarious or informative pearl that the world has been waiting for after all! Listen to other souls as if some one’s life depended on it. That might actually be the case some day!

One of the Monks I admire most in this world has helped me to improve my listening by his example of how to really listen. If I make a comment, he will pause if he hasn’t understand exactly what I mean. Either he will ask for clarification or I will explain because that pause of his is very forceful and explicit yet gentle at the same time.

The world is full of very outstanding speakers. Excellent listeners are much more rare. Also, I’d like to stress something that today is not talked about in P.C. circles or Kumbaya groups but is found in the Holy Rule in many phrases. We *are* in combat with the Enemy! Please, don’t every forget that! We come into contact with real, concrete evil every day, every moment. So does every soul we meet. Many souls are in desperate need of our help or encouragement. Make an actual effort to leave a dab of Good Spiritual DNA on every soul you are blessed to meet each day.

I never use the phrase, “In the next life”, because I feel that eternity is not next but simply a continuation of our souls existence outside of the invention of time. God is in eternity and when we join Him after our death we will be where God is. The same Enemy and his minions that will be torturing poor souls in eternity are present right here and now! They try to make us less than God wants us to be every moment of our lives in this body.

Immersion in the Holy Rule can not only arm a soul to resist but, with Almighty God’s Mercy and Grace, enable and inspire us to combat evil around us in the gentle, hospitable, yet extremely effective Benedictine way! But we must be **FIRM** when dealing with evil. We must also be sure to separate the evil from the sinner (that is the category we must all claim as our own!) for we are instructed by the Holy Rule to treat *ALL* as Christ!

Also, please note the use of “weapons” of obedience, plural not singular. Obedience or Abandonment of Self Love and total commitment to the Divine Will/Design will provide many powerful weapons (Virtues) in the service of Almighty God and our brothers and sisters. Indeed, from Obedience to the Divine Will comes our Stability, Conversatio, Stability, and Humility. A strong arsenal indeed!

“To love is to labor, to detach and strip oneself for God’s sake, of all that is not God”. SJC

Love and Prayers…..michael…oblate

(Another Benedictine in the US that I’m in long distance conversation with – G)