Contemplative Prayer

[pax]

Hey everyone,

I have a question about contemplative prayer. I'm supposed to give a talk on Intimacy with Christ at a retreat for college students in a couple months and part of my presentation is going to be dedicated to prayer and different types of prayer. My problem is that I'm having a hard time talking about contemplative prayer and I want to be sure I'm getting it right. Feel free to tear it apart if I'm wrong .

Also, I realize my thoughts are a little scattered, this is just a first draft.

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Finally, we have contemplative prayer or “heart prayer.” This is the most difficult type of prayer to describe. Contemplation is a gift from God. The best way I can describe it is just being in the presence of God and loving Him for being God and knowing he loves you. It’s a very quiet type of prayer…few, if any words are exchanged. All prayer transforms us, but contemplative prayer does it in a very profound way. We become more like Christ, we learn to love Him more. We desire to suffer for love of Him. We understand His will better. Contemplation isn’t something we initiate, it is a total gift of God’s grace to us. Some saints and theologians have written about different stages of contemplation and there’s a lot that can be learned from that, but I don’t really know enough and there isn’t really enough time left to get into that. It can be useful though and if you are struggling with prayer it’s not a bad idea to talk about it with your confessor or spiritual director. God calls us all to a deep mystical union with Him. He wants us to reach the summit of prayer. Contemplation isn’t something reserved to cloistered nuns and hermits. We are all called to the transforming summit of mystical contemplation of Our Lord.

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[Buzzcut]

That's a difficult task you're setting yourself and I don't know if I can be of any help.

When you talk about "contemplative prayer" you seem to be talking specifically about contemplation, whereas "contemplative prayer" (confusingly) is also used to refer to the whole movement, not all of which would necessarily be contemplation itself.

Also I think some of your wording blurs the distinction between "acquired contemplation" and "infused contemplation." Sometimes you appear to be talking about one and sometimes the other.

"loving Him for being God and knowing he loves you . . . few, if any words are exchanged" -- this sounds like acquired contemplation.

"Contemplation isn’t something we initiate" -- refers specifically to infused contemplation.

But like I say it's difficult to describe this subject in a few hundred words when entire books have been written about it. The best one I know of is The Ways of Mental Prayer by Dom Vitalis Lehodey (1907) and reprinted recently by TAN.

 

[pax]

Thanks for the input...I'll work on trying to clear some of that up. I think I know what it is, I just can't put my finger on a good, concise, easily understandable definition. I hope to lengthen this part a little bit, but my speaking time is limited.

 

[pax]

...and I think I understand what you're saying with infused and acquired contemplation. I'll work on clearing that up.