Holy Silence: Melody, Vision, Prayer, and Love

The greatness of holy silence is, as it were, lost upon quiet folk, because they do not know the loudness of a loud culture where noise is neigh constant and peaceful silence is hard to find. So in this sense, those who are constantly bombarded by noise can appreciate holy silence more. Yet, the quiet folk, in another sense, can teach holy silence more. So both groups benefit from one another.

Holy silence is a melody for the deaf and for the hearing. Those who are attacked on all sides by noise, when they finally find silence, find that it is "loud" and makes them restless: restless because they are not used to it at first, but, over time, by God's grace, will grow to enjoy, crave, and love it. The ill do not enjoy pills at first, but over they learn to bear with it, and it is similar with holy silence, except, far more being medicine, it is as a song. Far more than curing attachment to sound, it is a melody who's tune can only be understand as love's language and, by way of it, can form wonderful hymns and prayers within the soul. Who, at bed, though not asleep, cannot, when with one's thoughts, turn to God in song or prayer? Thus is the beauty of holy silence: It is a melody which gives way to hymns and prayers, rousing up in the soul a desire to love God and to know God. The deaf especially can enter into holy silence by making of their deafness both a patient offering to God and an opportunity to speak with the Lord. They are used to silence, yet, perhaps not holy silence, which is not simply silence but a silence set aside for God, a silence wherein God is known and loved: For the deaf can either talk to themselves, which is secular silence yet not evil by nature, or they can talk to God, which is holy silence. The deaf can teach us how to preserve in holy silence even when we are sick of it: After all, they must bear the cross of deafness all their lives, while we, on the other hand, do not, and many of us must bear the cross of constant sound. So we both share our own crosses and can learn from one another.

It is also a vision for the blind and for the seeing. Silence is typically thought of as simply an absence of noise or a fullness of quietness, just as peace is simply thought of as a mere absence of war or a fullness of justice, yet, just as peace is that as well as the gift of reconciliation with God from God, so too silence is that as well as darkness, the "silence" of light. Within this dark silence one can meditate upon God, which is why holy silence is as a vision. It permits one to imagine seeing God, one's imagination employed to meditate upon that which one cannot see. This is true even for the secular sense: One can imagine past events, for example. In addition to meditation, there is also another way in which holy silence is a vision: Within the quietness one can "see" - or rather, understand - God better. Noise can be a distraction just as light can be, yet, in dark silence, one can better collect one's thoughts, concentrate, meditate, and think of God. Thus one can better see one's faults, see God's Mercy, see the path of forgiveness, etc.

Also, it is a prayer for the noisy and for the quiet. Holy silence can become a prayer if one is silent as a sacrifice, whether it's a sacrifice of obedience, a sacrifice of humility, or a sacrifice of necessity. Sacrifice of obedience is when one obeys their superior even if one dose not wish to do the good commanded of them. Sacrifice of humility is when one keeps quiet in a humble spirit, which is not the same as being always humble - which is a virtue of Christian life - but is when you recognize the importance of silence and so become silent right away (such as when falsely accused, or when speaking too much, or when one feels ill from too much noise, or one is inspired by God to turn off the computer, etc.). Sacrifice of necessity is when one is silent out of reverence for faith, for purity, or for life - as, for example, during the Consecration of the Holy Mass. You might think that your silence is a waste of good time to pray, yet, by this very silence, you offer a prayer to God, for the holy silence itself becomes prayer. However, one must not confuse holy silence for idleness, boredom, or (as the Buddhists do) going inward to reach nothingness. Holy silence is active and clings to God. It both knows He is Omnipresent and knows He is against pride, and so keeps docile to Him by heeding the Church's teaching. The deaf can make an unique form of silence - which dose not replace the ordinary form of silence but adds to it, in a sense - by not making sign language or other means of communication (such as writing or facial expressions), when they find themselves in those same situations which everyone who hear do: false accusations, the Presence of the Lord, etc.

And it is an act of love for the loveless and for the loving. Holy silence can be an act of love via contemplation of God. Now, contemplation dose not require words or images - such as the words of the Our Father or imagining seeing the Passion of Christ - but only requires concentration upon God. This exercise is both familiar and strange: Familiar in that we know how to concentrate, even if some might have to try harder to concentrate given their disabilities, and strange in that we do not know exactly how to concentrate on God. Dose it require thinking of a particular attribute of His? Dose it require meditating upon His words? Neither! It only requires what can be best described as a loving gaze: As a wife looks into her husband's eyes and as he looks back into hers, so, we look at God and He looks back at us. It is an intense exchange of love, yet might seem stupid at first: This is why reflection upon matrimony is a good way to prepare oneself for contemplation. So holy silence can be an act of love by simply gazing at God and He back at the soul. One needn't fear He won't return the loving gaze: For He has already been gazing at us since our conceptions, He has already been loving since our lives began, and it is we who are late to love Him, yet He dose not mind: He is infinitely patient with us and infinitely understanding of us. The darkness and the silence might, at least in the beginning, make contemplation hard, as the souls still feel attached to images and noise, and so they find it hard to concentrate or they try to conjure up images of God to contemplate upon, yet, perfection is not instantieous but is a gradual progress, so we mustn't rush it but trust in He who perfects us, and, what is more, the way to detach ourselves from the world's images and noise is by prayer, since prayer is communion with Him who perfects us.