Prayer Life
I think I mentioned in some earlier post that my prayer life is in serious decline. I've searched the net for info on prayer and I've found different kinds, but two dominate ... contemplative or centering prayer and imaginative prayer. Wikipedia says this of centering prayer ...
Centering prayer is a popular method of contemplative prayer, placing a strong emphasis on interior quiet and the experience of God's presence. Though most authors trace its roots to the contemplative prayer of the Desert Fathers of early Christian monasticism of the 300s, to the Lectio Divina tradition of Benedictine monasticism, and to works like The Cloud of Unknowing and the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, its origins as part of the "Centering Prayer" movement in modern Catholicism and Christianity can be traced to several books published by three Trappist monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in the 1970s: Fr. William Meninger, Fr. M. Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating.
I know it's the most well known and probably the most often practiced, but I don't like centering prayer much ... it seems to be about not being :-) ... and I prefer one of the styles of prayer used by the Jesuits, which, as William A. Barry SJ writes, advocates using all of our faculties, including sensation, imagination, mind and will. Not surprisingly, Wikipedia had no entry for Ignatian prayer, but one can experience it at the Sacred Space site.
Weird though it may seem, prayer is a popular subject. Books on prayer sell, and I came across one that did quite well when it was released - The Glenstal Book of Prayer: A Benedictine Prayer Book by Monks of Glenstal Abbey. The Glenstal Abby monks call prayer ... a duet of love between God and man. An article in Crisis Magazine had this to say about the book ...
Drawing on "the Bible, enshrined in Benedictine liturgy, on the experience of modern monks, and on the wisdom of the Christian Church throughout her long and varied history," the Glenstal Book is, as its introduction says, "a rich resource for the dark, mysterious, but exciting journey which is prayer."
The book has four sections ... the first has morning and evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours, the second part features familiar Catholic prayers like the Rosary (in English, Irish and Latin), the third sction has prayers for various occasions, the final section includes additional psalms, readings from the Rule of St. Benedict, and a Calendar of Saints ... the third section sounded the most interesting to me ...
The third section, "Prayers for Various Occasions," is enormously useful. It includes graces for before and after meals and prayers for peace, for guidance, and for safety when traveling. There are also blessings for a house, a family, a sick person, and those in need of inner healing. There are prayers for the elderly and the dying, as well as prayers for the dead. Derived from many different sources, centuries, and places, these prayers are all beautiful and thought-provoking, and some are so unexpectedly apt that they give the reader an intellectual and spiritual jolt. For example, who would expect to discover these whimsical words of the 19th-century American Protestant poet Emily Dickinson next to a prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola:
At least—to pray—is left—s left
Oh Jesus—in the Air—
I know not which thy chamber is—
I’m knocking—everywhere—
Now that I've read up on the subject, I know more about prayer, but I'm not sure how much that will help with the actual doing of it ... Fr. Barry sees prayer as a personal relationship with God, and since I learned how to pray from an Ignatian retreat, that's how I've seen it too ... have I mentioned I'm no good with relationships? I guess the good news is that if prayer is indeed a relationship, I'm not the only one in it who's trying.
Centering prayer is a popular method of contemplative prayer, placing a strong emphasis on interior quiet and the experience of God's presence. Though most authors trace its roots to the contemplative prayer of the Desert Fathers of early Christian monasticism of the 300s, to the Lectio Divina tradition of Benedictine monasticism, and to works like The Cloud of Unknowing and the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, its origins as part of the "Centering Prayer" movement in modern Catholicism and Christianity can be traced to several books published by three Trappist monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in the 1970s: Fr. William Meninger, Fr. M. Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating.
I know it's the most well known and probably the most often practiced, but I don't like centering prayer much ... it seems to be about not being :-) ... and I prefer one of the styles of prayer used by the Jesuits, which, as William A. Barry SJ writes, advocates using all of our faculties, including sensation, imagination, mind and will. Not surprisingly, Wikipedia had no entry for Ignatian prayer, but one can experience it at the Sacred Space site.
Weird though it may seem, prayer is a popular subject. Books on prayer sell, and I came across one that did quite well when it was released - The Glenstal Book of Prayer: A Benedictine Prayer Book by Monks of Glenstal Abbey. The Glenstal Abby monks call prayer ... a duet of love between God and man. An article in Crisis Magazine had this to say about the book ...
Drawing on "the Bible, enshrined in Benedictine liturgy, on the experience of modern monks, and on the wisdom of the Christian Church throughout her long and varied history," the Glenstal Book is, as its introduction says, "a rich resource for the dark, mysterious, but exciting journey which is prayer."
The book has four sections ... the first has morning and evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours, the second part features familiar Catholic prayers like the Rosary (in English, Irish and Latin), the third sction has prayers for various occasions, the final section includes additional psalms, readings from the Rule of St. Benedict, and a Calendar of Saints ... the third section sounded the most interesting to me ...
The third section, "Prayers for Various Occasions," is enormously useful. It includes graces for before and after meals and prayers for peace, for guidance, and for safety when traveling. There are also blessings for a house, a family, a sick person, and those in need of inner healing. There are prayers for the elderly and the dying, as well as prayers for the dead. Derived from many different sources, centuries, and places, these prayers are all beautiful and thought-provoking, and some are so unexpectedly apt that they give the reader an intellectual and spiritual jolt. For example, who would expect to discover these whimsical words of the 19th-century American Protestant poet Emily Dickinson next to a prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola:
At least—to pray—is left—s left
Oh Jesus—in the Air—
I know not which thy chamber is—
I’m knocking—everywhere—
Now that I've read up on the subject, I know more about prayer, but I'm not sure how much that will help with the actual doing of it ... Fr. Barry sees prayer as a personal relationship with God, and since I learned how to pray from an Ignatian retreat, that's how I've seen it too ... have I mentioned I'm no good with relationships? I guess the good news is that if prayer is indeed a relationship, I'm not the only one in it who's trying.
posted by crystal | 10:03 PM
16 Comments:
I think the Glenstal book is just a version of the old Benedictine liturgy of the hours. The office manager at my parish has the liturgy of the hours on his palm pilot and he prays it as he comes down from the Bronx every day on the subway!
I know you prefer Jesuit-style prayer to centering prayer, but are they mutually exclusive? Could not they both be appropriate for different moments or times of day.
I wish you the best with your prayer life, Crystal. My only advice is to keep trying even when it doesn't seem to help -- with patience. Good luck.
Hi Liam. Thanks for the advice. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of prayer do you use?
Back when I had a spiritual director, I was reading Teresa of Avila. She believed that centering prayer was the best kind. I asked the director what he thought about it, and he said that centering prayer usually left a person with nothing to "discern".
Jesuit style prayer usually results in feelings/emotional movements, sometimes conflicting, and one can use the discrnment of spirits to help figure out how things are going, if that makes any sense.
Also, I guess, my personality demands more feedback than I get from centering prayer.
Crystal,
I read currently the book "Prayer School" by Anthony of Surouzh (an Eastern-Orthodox).For you it may sound like centering prayer, but he gives also good advices. Here is a link
containg also his articles on prayer.
http://www.metropolit-anthony.orc.ru/
eng/index.htm
You may found useful things.
There is also a book "Franciscan prayer" by Iilia Delio...it has some good advices for all, not just Franciscans...:-).
I wish I had a prayer life. The closest is saying, "Oh God, please help me get through these charters." The truth is, I have read a bit on centering prayer and I think I would like to do some more when I have time. I like the kind of prayer that involves the effort to empty oneself out. I even think the Rosary works that way, with the repetition of prayers pulling you into a new space where you forget yourself.
I have done the multimedia Jesuit things that are on the internet -- pray as you go and Sacred Space -- and I like them very much. I never seem to have time to do it as much as I like. I would really like to do the Spiritual Exercises some time, but only when I have the time and calm to do it right.
I think that for me my biggest moment of prayer is the Mass on Sunday. I would like to do more than that, but my schedule is insane.
Paula, thanks for the link and book recommendation. I'd like to learn more about Franciscan prayer.
Liam, I think the Spiritual Exercises are a life-changing experience ... I've only done the online retreat-in-every-day version but doing it was what made me a believer. Thanks for the insight into another's prayer life :-)
Crystal, I listen also pray-as-you-go. I can pray easy sometimes when I am outdoors or at Church. I think that listening at our inner voice is a form of talking with God. Sometimes He speaks to us thru that inner voice.
When I feel anxious I simply practice Jesus Prayer, saying Lord Jesus (breath-in), have mercy on me (breath-out).It calms me down.:-). The Pelerin way is a small book on this prayer. At the beginning one should simply repeat it. Nothing else is needed. In time the results appear.:-). I should post also on prayer at some point.
Thanks, Paula. I like the Jesus prayer - it's almost like a mantra.
http://landru.i-link-2.net/
shnyves/Prayer_without_Ceasing.html
Link to Jesus Prayer and the Pelerin Way.:-).
The late Rev John J, Philbin was the long-time pastor of my parish. He was the finest priest I ever knew.
Here is what the deacon said about Fr. Philbin's experience in putting together a training video for seminarians:
Tom Smith, a deacon at St. John's, recalled that when Father Philbin was filmed about 15 years ago for a training video for seminarians, "The interviewer asked him how he prayed. 'I don't go much for rote prayer,' said Father John. 'It's more like I just have a conversation with God . . . and I'm usually speechless.' "
Simple, and maybe lazy, but a profound truth (at least I find it to be so).
By the way, a Minor Friar had an interesting post on personality types (Myers-Briggs) and prayer here
My I suggest Msgr. Chester Michael's Prayer and Temperament. He starts with the idea that prayer is a matter of communication. Our communication styles are indicated by our Myers-Briggs Personality Type. He suggests four types of prayer, Ignatian, Thomistic, Augustinian, and Franciscan. We can start with the type that is closest to our own personality and then occasionally use the others. You can order the book from Amazon or - shameless plug - from my website.
Ilike Fr. Philbin's comments about prayer, I think it is very realistic.
I would suspect that books about prayer are very popular because many people think that they are "failing" at prayer. Maybe they don't get what they ask for? Or maybe they don't feel satisfied?
I have had a couple of intese experiences of God's presence in my life, some revolving around prayer. My own opinion is that if such experiences were continuous, I would quickly break down, it is just too intense. So I remember those experiences inbetween times and they sustain me, at least most of the time :).
I find that the Liturgy of the Hours, particular the morning prayer does "center" me, at least in the sense that when I am feeling flustered it seems to calm me down and clears my head just a bit. Then comes coffee.
Perhaps prayer is the way we lead our lives and how aware we are of doing it for God. As such, then everyone has their own particular type of prayer: There is Crystal's form, which includes loving cats; there is Liam's, and Paula's, and Jeff's and even Michaels.
Huggs,
Mike L
Jeff and Herb - thanks for the helpful advice :-). I'll have to check out the Myers-Briggs Personality test ... I think I took it in college, but I don't remember what type I am. So far, I like best the idea of prayer as a conversation.
Hi Mike. You said ...
if such experiences were continuous, I would quickly break down,
I think that's true for me too. The times I've had a real connection, it seemed almost tiring, something hard to sustain for very long.
Thanks for the good advice :-)
Herb,
That's great book. I'm an INFP. According to the book, these are the best types of prayer and spirituality based on temperamnet:
SJ Temperament - Ignatian
NF Temperament - Augustinian
SP Temperament - Franciscan
NT Temperament - Thomistic
I practiced centering prayer for a while, but find Ignatian prayer more to my liking (even though I'm INTJ).
Remember what Ignatius said about consolation vs. desolation in prayer? In desolation, just keep on going, and remember the good times, and it wille ventually pass (my paraphrase, of course!)
Herb - thanks for the book recommendation, Prayer and Temperment, it sounds good :-)
Steve - that's good advice ... it seems like I make a lot of decisions from desolation, which I know is a bad idea. But I sometimes write down the good prayer stuff that occurs, so I can look back and remind myself that it hasn't always been dry ... thanks.
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