St Teresa
in her works constantly refers to the Prayer of the Heart (Mental
Prayer), that is, to the time and space given each day to the Lord,
during which we are called to offer ourselves to Him. Preferably this
should be twice a day, the time spent on it increasing progressively.
Thus, it is advisable for the first three months two fifteen minute
sessions a day, increasing subsequently, if possible with the advice
of the Spiritual Director, to two thirty minute sessions a day, to be
then increased to two forty-five minute sessions, the final stage
being two sessions per day each lasting one hour. During this
precious time, the Lord prolongs his action in us and pours into the
deepest part of our being his Spirit of Love. Reading St Teresa
reveals this practice to be truly essential for her, and that it is a
mandatory condition
without which christian life is non-existent. It is the greatest
irony, meanwhile, that in the Church regular practice of the Prayer
of the Heart is rare, while in some cases it is completely unknown!
How can this contradiction be explained? Some argue as to the
necessity and the viability of the Prayer of the Heart, while some
even argue that there are many other forms of equally worthwhile
prayer. Indeed, today some even consider the Prayer of the Heart as
being a particular type of practice that belongs only to certain
schools of spirituality, and that it does not as yet have universal
status - even if it appears amongst the three main expressions of
prayer in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (see ccc n°
2700-2724).
In order
to obtain a clear answer to this vitally important question it is
essential, first, to address the very nature of the Prayer of the
Heart. It is only when a clear light is shed upon this that it
becomes possible to address the actual contradiction in question. If
the Prayer of the Heart is reduced to a simple pious exercise that
only few practise and if its content and what happens during it is
ignored, if it is imposed (i.e. observance of the form) certainly a
huge opposition to its practise might arise in many if it is said to
be universal, namely, open to everyone.
In
her book The Way
of Perfection,
in order to present the Prayer of the Heart, especially its
supernatural nature, St Teresa uses the 'Our Father' as the canvas
for her comments on it (see Chapter 27 onward). Significantly, when
she starts explaining the meaning of 'Thy Kingdom come', she alludes
to entry into the Supernatural state, namely, the beginning of the
Direct and Personal Action of the Holy Spirit in us. Entering into
the Kingdom, or receiving it, is described as being at the very heart
of God's action in the Prayer of the Heart. Can this be argued as an
option as some do? Is receiving the Grace of God something optional
in Christianity? Is it to be assumed that there other ways in order
to become Christian?
All
Christians pray. But the ways to do so are many and varied. The Mass
is the
prayer par excellence. Thus, during the Mass, by saying 'lift up
your hearts', the priest warns us and points out that there is more
than one way of participating in the Mass: by lifting or not lifting
up our hearts. This means that we can either participate in the
Divine Action of the Mass by entrusting our heart to Christ who is
'seated at the Right Hand of the Father', or attend Mass while
remaining immersed in earthly matters and concerns. In this latter
case, while our bodies are physically inside the church, while
attending Mass, our lips praying and singing, our minds and hearts
are really engaged with the outside world, with earthly concerns,
instead of being lifted up, of being engaged in Christ.
It must
be acknowledged, then, that real prayer occurs 'in Christ', 'before
the Father' and 'through the Holy Spirit'. The very movement of the
Prayer of the Heart invites us into the Trinity, through the Son, and
in doing so we find ourselves participating in the interchange of the
Love of the Trinity. It is for this reason that it can be said that
many 'practise the prayer of the heart' unknowingly. Many people,
while saying their prayers, place themselves into the hands of
Christ, and thereby they enter into a 'state' of prayer with their
heart. Any vocal prayer - any prayer said audibly as in, for example,
the Mass, Divine Office, Rosary - is not opposed to the Prayer of the
Heart. They are simply two halves of the same fruit. St Teresa
underlines this point with great clarity in her writings. She even
gives the example of an old nun who asked Teresa's advice concerning
the said nun's sadness at being unable to practise the Prayer of the
Heart, and of only being able to pray vocally because her mind would
ramble on in a restless way inhibiting her ability to focus. St
Teresa listened to her, questioning her about her method of prayer
and about her daily life, only to come to the clear realization that
not only was this nun unknowingly practising the Prayer of the Heart,
but that she was very advanced in it. The supernatural action of God
was well and truly present and active within her – an invaluable
and consoling piece of discernment given to us by St. Teresa through
this example!
With
these added nuances, the question needs to be asked: what is then St
Teresa's advice? Should the Prayer of the Heart be made widely known?
Or should we let the matter rest and rely on the fact that people
might be practising the Prayer of the Heart regardless, knowingly or
not?
These
questions raise an important issue in the life of the Church. St
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, says that belief will not follow
if, the message has not been first announced (see Romans 10:14). This
clearly stresses that it is a fundamental mission of the Church to
teach Spiritual Life and the Prayer of the Heart and to form the
faithful in them. The faithful cannot be abandoned to uncertainty,
praying in a random way that might or might not invite Christ into
their spiritual lives. In fact, The Lord announces most decisively
and very clearly in the Gospel of St John, that He wants to treat us
like friends and not like slaves (see John 15:15)! Not only this, but
He goes on to explain the factors that go to make up friendship. For
Jesus friendship is an intimate relationship where He confides
everything to his friend, explains it thoroughly, and unveils it,
clearly emphasized in Matthew 13:11, namely, He leads us from within
through the Holy Spirit, to the fullness of the Truth, which is
himself (John 16:13). This
underlines the contradiction that we cannot reach holiness using the
means that the Lord came to offer us if our practice of Spiritual
Life is unsure and random manner. This
would be tantamount to committing a grave sin, because it is
essentially to tempt God! To tempt
God
is to place ourselves in a dangerous and unsure position, not going
about it in the way God desires, yet expecting God to save us come
what may!
Christ's
mission of teaching spiritual life continues in and through the
Church. Throughout the centuries, God has deliberately provided us
with a vast amount of rich teachings on the Spiritual Life, to ensure
his Church makes wise use of them. A simple example will suffice to
illustrate this. The following dialogue from the Mass shows what
Christ desires :
- Lift
up your hearts
- We
lift them up to the Lord
- Let
us give thanks to the Lord
- It
right and just...
The
role of the Church, for instance, should consequently be to explain
to the faithful the clear and precise sense of the spiritual content
of the this dialogue. It is necessary for us to learn what is
required of us when the priest invites us to lift
up our hearts.
To begin with, we have to learn where the Lord is situated when we
are invited to lift up our hearts to Him. St
Paul explains it when he says: Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Col
3:1)
However, who is
Christ for us? He is our Dwelling Place our Temple, comes the answer
in St. John 2:21. Moreover He invites us to dwell in Him (John 15:4).
On a more personal level, then, what method can be used to lift up
our hearts? Through recollecting ourselves, as St Teresa explains in
the Prayer of Recollection (Way
of Perfection
chapters 28-29), or in addition if you prefer, by offering ourselves
to Him (See the Act of Oblation of St Therese of Lisieux).
Pauline
Levy Lazzarini, “Lift up your Heart”, 2008
|
If the
act of lifting up our heart does not occur, Christ will not be able
to come and take possession of it, in order to dwell within us and
pour His holy Spirit into us! One will continue attending the Mass
pro forma only being bodily present, but the Mass will not be lived
'at the level' of Christ. As can now be appreciated, 'participating
in the Eucharist' is a profoundly spiritual act based on the teaching
on the Prayer of the Heart.
The
above-mentioned teaching is very bold, to say the least, and
certainly not many it may be assumed will 'hear' it. But the Gospel
itself is extremely audacious and there is a tendency to dilute it.
The Lord himself said that God is Spirit, and whoever wants to
worship Him has to do it in Spirit and in Truth (see John
4:24). In order to worship God who is Spirit, then, one has to be in
Him! By the Incarnation and the Redemption the Triune God himself
opened his heart to us so we could dwell in Him.
Through
his Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension Christ, then, prepares
a Dwelling Place for us in himself, in his heart. By this He imparts
to us the knowledge that He does not remain in situ - that is, at the
right hand of the Father. On the contrary, He comes to us, in order
to embrace us, lift us, so that He might dwell in us. In this way He
allows us to access Him in his own domain. This eminently lays bare
what it means to be 'in the world' (John 17:14-18) and to live in
the Trinity, rooted in Christ, at one and the same time. This is what
it means to be Baptised, that is, to be immersed in Christ, to take
root in Him.
The
following verses aptly voice Jesus' answer when we lift up our heart
to Him, the culminating point of the Prayer of the Heart:
"In My Father's House are many dwelling places […]
If I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and will take you to Myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. » (John 14:2-3)
By
Baptism, Christ dwells within our heart. But this is not meant to
force us to remain continuously immersed in Him, begging the question
that we ask ourselves whether we are within his heart, or outside of
it. This is the very reason for his plea not to leave Him alone in
our heart, but to return to Him through renewed loving acts of our
free will and dwell with Him. To dwell in Christ is obviously not
something that comes automatically because of our Baptism. This
latter rather opens the way for us, but does not ensure we remain in
Christ ! It is up to us to express our free will in order to be
reintroduced into Him. This is why Christ keeps insisting with the
words: dwell in me as I dwell in you (John 15:4). It is
as if He is saying to each one of us: 'I dwell in you by the virtue
of your Baptism, but now, I invite you to use your free will, and I
myself opened this way for you to come and dwell in me' (Hebrews
10:19-20)!
Although
all that has been outlined is not optional, it is still difficult to
practise, or better said, it is challenging because we discover that
Christ will not force himself upon us, but that the ultimate
responsibility is ours, and that it is we ourselves who need to be
involved in the process. As St Augustine says, we are the co-authors
of our salvation. Expressed succinctly it declares that If God did
not ask our permission to create us, we will not be saved without our
taking part in it. The realization of the enormity of this
responsibility, may lead to the the impression that a deeply
spiritual life, or this aspect of the Gospel, is for some privileged
persons only.
St Teresa
like us as regards the aforesaid, is very well aware that all the
Baptised are called to holiness! But meeting with Christ, hearing his
Call and really listening to Him, she would agree, is quite another
challenge. Her agreement would be endorsed by Teresa herself having
gone through this selfsame process of discovery. Indeed, she is
particularly aware that discovering Christ in one's life is something
different, it is a special grace of which we are all unworthy.
In
this light, then, listening to St Teresa's teaching increases our
awareness of the enormous chasm between the general theory, that is
’all are called to be holy’, and the practice of it, namely how
this can become a reality for random persons, through a real meeting
with Christ.
For this specific person, it is important to offer the richness of
the teaching on how to pray the Prayer of the Heart, because without
it, the call to holiness remains totally inert.
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