"Prayer
is lifting the mind and heart to God." This ancient
definition
(generally attributed to
St. Augustine) allows for a wide range of prayer
forms. Any time one
consciously turns the mind and heart to God, there is
prayer. But prayer is also
happening in those whose minds and hearts are
habitually--even
unconsciously--directed toward God. In other words,
one
need not be "saying
prayers" to be praying. Prayer can be a way of life,
but this seems to be the
case only for those who have some type of formal,
conscious prayer in their
lives. Life can indeed be a prayer, but only for
those who
pray.
Christian prayer is
relational. This in itself sets it apart from
meditation practices where
the object seems to be the attainment of higher
states of consciousness.
We address ourselves to God as creatures who are
not-God. No need to bemoan
this "dualism," however, for it is the
condition which makes
relationship and, hence: love, possible.
Furthermore, this dualism
is never really lost. As the mystic Teilhard de
Chardin put it, "unity
differentiates." The closer one draws to God, the
more fully one becomes the
unique and beautiful God-imager that each of us
was created to be. That's
what life is supposed to be about!
To whom does the Christian
pray? To God, of course, who is Trinity. And it
doesn't really matter if
one prefers praying to the Father/Creator, the
Son, or the Holy Spirit.
There seems to be no jealousy among Them for our
prayers. Traditionally,
the person of Christ figures most significantly in
Christian prayer, however.
As an ancient formula puts it, we pray "through
him, and with him, and in
him." In other words, the Christ who shares our
humanity prays with us,
moving our prayer through him and in him. The
Christ who shares in
divinity enables us to also experience the blessing of
divine life which flows
through him and in him. He is the vine of divine
life, and we branches are
privileged to receive and communicate the sap of
the Holy Spirit which
flows ever fully through him.
A
wide variety of prayer forms can be found in the Christian
tradition.
Two very broad and general
categories are frequently recognized to
distinguish between all
these forms, as described below:
A. Active Prayer.
Sometimes called discursive prayer, this refers to
prayer which we initiate
through the use of our mental and volitional
faculties (thinking,
reasoning, imaging, acts of will, visualization,
remembering, etc.). We DO
something to address ourselves to God. Examples
are sacred reading,
reflection, petitions, intercessory prayer, liturgical
prayer, the rosary,
praise, adoration, repeating a mantra or sacred word.
B. Passive Prayer.
This is often called infused contemplation. Here the
soul is embraced by God
without it exercising the faculties. God
communicates "Spirit to
spirit," as it were, through the unconscious
dimension of the soul.
Generally, contemplative
prayer begins as a natural development from the
life of active prayer,
which helps to prepare the faculties of the soul to
receive the gift of
contemplation.
Contemplation
is a grace that God can give to any one at any time.
Common
opinion once held that it
was reserved to only a few very saintly souls who
had spent decades in a
religious cloister of some kind. Happily, that
stereotype has come to
pass (for the most part). It seems that
contemplation is a grace
that God WANTS to give to all, and that it is a
"natural" development in
the deepening of faith.
Because contemplation is a
grace, there is nothing we can do to "obtain
it." We can, however,
prepare the soils of the heart to receive it by
living a life of moral
virtue and especially by striving to be charitable
in our relationships with
others. Cultivating silence by removing
unnecessary disturbances
from the mind is also helpful. Finally, there are
"contemplative practices"
(centering prayer, Hesychast prayer, Christian
meditation, praying with
Scripture) which explicitly invite the grace of
contemplative prayer.
These practices have been described in previous
newsletters, but will be
presented again in the next four as parts of this
series.
Praying
with Scripture has been the most traditional springboard to
contemplative prayer. Sometimes called Lectio Divina (Sacred
Reading), a variety of methods are used, one of which
follows:
1. Relax. Settle in. Be
aware that God is here, now, loving you.
2. Read a short passage of
Scripture as though God were speaking directly
to you in it.
3. Choose a phrase from
the passage that strikes you and repeat it
slowly, prayerfully,
non-analytically.
4. When your heart is
full, express to God the needs and sentiments
awakened by your
meditation. When you're done, read another passage and
repeat steps 3 and
4.
5. If, at any time, you
feel moved to simply be present to God in loving
silence, put the Scripture
aside and rest in God.
Christian
Meditation (John Main Tradition)
This contemplative
discipline is of fairly recent origin, although
mantra-like
prayer forms such as the
Jesus Prayer are not unknown to Christianity.
1. Seek out a quiet place.
Find a comfortable, upright position in which
you are relaxed but alert,
with your eyes lightly closed. Remain as still
as possible.
2. Silently, begin to say
interiorly a single word or phrase selected from
the context of Christian
faith ("maranatha" is frequently recommended).
Listen to it as you say it
gently but continuously with faith and love. Do
not think or imagine
anything, spiritual or otherwise. If thoughts and
images come and your
attention strays, as soon as you become aware of this, return to
saying your word.
3. Meditate each morning
and evening for between 20 and 30 minutes.
(From "Prayer of Heart and
Body," by Thomas Ryan, CSP)
Centering
Prayer
This term, centering
prayer, is of recent origin, but the method is described in many
places, most notably "The Cloud of Unknowing."
(Works best after taking
time to read and reflect on Scripture; two 20 minute periods a day
are recommended.)
1. Choose a sacred word as
the symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and
action within. (This can be any word.)
2. Sitting comfortably and
with eyes closed, settle briefly, and silently introduce the
sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and
action within.
3. When you become aware
of thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the
prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of
minutes.
(From "Open Mind, Open
Heart" by Thomas Keating: available through
http://www.feist.com/~philisa/books/keating.html)
Hesychast
Prayer ("quiet" prayer)
(This form of
contemplative practice was widely used by the fathers and mothers
of the desert in the early days of Christianity. At least two 20
minute prayer periods are recommended.)
1. Sit quietly, with back
straight and hands resting in the lap, palms up.
2. Lovingly introduce into
your mind the prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy
on me." (Note: this may be shortened as the prayer proceeds).
3. Let this prayer move in
synchrony with your breath, praying the first part with your
inhalation, the second with exhalation.
4. When distracting
thoughts attempt to break in, persist with the Jesus Prayer. Allow
yourself to feel your emotions, however.
Practice of this prayer
may lead to feelings of warmth in the heart and perception of
inner light. Enjoy. . .
