166: Why and how Mary in the Prayer of the Heart

Question: Mary is one of the requirements for a successful PH. In St. Teresa's writings Mary is not mentioned. I am not sure how to approach this. I know the qualities of Mary's humility, receptivity etc. is what we need to practise the PH. Can you please clarify this for me?

Answer: According to the analysis given in the Course, Mary is not only "one of the requirements" of a successful PH, She is the one that encapsulates all the requirements/conditions. She is The Real Facilitator, The Catalyst of the PH. Let us see how this factor can be addressed.

1- A Christian Truth

Mary summarises and embodies all the elements of our "yes" to God, of our gift of ourselves to God, She is its "frame" and “ship” (vehicle). The Virgin Mary "cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation" (LG 56). She uttered her “yes” "in the name of all human nature" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 30, 1). By her obedience She became the new Eve, mother of the living." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 511)
It is very important to understand that the basis of this "affirmation" that Mary is the vehicle of the gift of ourselves to God is part of the Revelation itself. We find it in various parts of the Bible:

1- The parable of the Sower, "fundamental/royal parable" and the parable of the New Skin and the New wine.
2- The parallelism that Saint Luke makes in the beginning of his Gospel between Zachariah and Mary.
3- The choice made by Saint John in his Gospel to place Mary at the source/root of the faith of the Apostles (John 2,11) "Mary's faith, according to the Church's apostolic witness, in some way continues to become the faith of the pilgrim People of God" (John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater 28)e

a) the movement should be done freely. “Lord I give you my heart in total freedom”
b) we should make ourselves like little children
c) we should put all our worries and concerns into the Hands of God
d) we should give ourselves totally (and not in part) - “Here Lord is my heart, entirely” -, and by doing that, we are, interiorly "moving", coming out of ourselves, as if we are dispossessing ourselves, giving God total access to our heart.
e) we shouldn't put any restrictions or conditions on this offering.
f) we should be doing it with real humility. “Lord, I await in humility”
g) we should have total trust in God. “I have complete confidence in your action and I leave myself in your hands”
h) we should abandon ourselves totally into His hands, to let Him act and work in us.
i) we should cast all thoughts from our mind.
j) we should wait humbly, even years if needed ,until God decides to give us his infused Grace.
k) we should work on the different virtues and grow in them.

There is a difference between the implicit contents of our faith and the explicit, expressed and conscious parts of Revelation. It is true that very few saints clearly expressed that Mary is essential, but some did. Saint Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, for example, does it (see "True devotion"), and Saint Therese of the Child Jesus (in her Act of Oblation), and as well Saint Theresa of Avila (even though it requires a deep knowledge of her writings to "see" it).
It is very important to understand, penetrate and live on this contemplative Truth: Mary said "Yes" for me! Therefore in order to be able to say "yes" to Jesus (to live the Ephphatha (Mark 7:34), in order to give myself (which is the deepest aspect of the "yes") I need to see my "yes" in her "Yes", and to receive it from her, I need to be rooted in her!

God says in Ezekiel: “I will take the heart of stone and put a heart of flesh, the heart of Mary. Then, you will be filled by my Holy Spirit “(see Ezekiel 36). Mary is part of Jesus, She is flesh of his flesh (Genesis 2), She issues from his heart on the Cross: She is perfect disciple, and image of the perfect disciple for us, mother of the perfect disciple, the perfect model for us to imitate.. Therefore, all Christians are invited to ask God to transform their hearts in the image of the Heart of Mary: docile, capable of listening, capable of corresponding to the Grace of the Holy Spirit. One of the Main Gifts of Jesus on the Cross – the gift of Salvation - is to give us the "Mother" of our "Yes", the Mould of our "yes": Mary (John 19). He did indeed give Her to us on the Cross as the mother of our capacity to give ourselves to Him. Therefore "all generations" will have to consider Her "blessed" (Luke 2) because we owe Her this. She is the personal mother of my "Yes", of "my capacity to access Jesus", "to enter in Jesus" and "Dwell in Him".

This contemplative Truth is transparently clear as is stated in the Gospel, in Revelation. I do agree, we can easily notice that sadly it is not always seen, understood and practised amongst Christians! And we lose a lot by not following the Logic of God. If He adopted this way/means to reach us, why are we trying to go the moon on a bicycle? A human being cannot fly, cannot reach God by his own volition! And wanting to deal directly with Jesus simply doesn't fit in with the Gospel. Let me give you one final example: when Peter said to Jesus, on the very eve of His Passion: “I will follow you wherever you go”, Jesus replied clearly: no Peter you can't! Jesus didn't give an explanation, but still we can find it if we seek the inner meaning of Jesus' words. Jesus was adamant, He said: "no" to Peter, “you can't follow me now, you will follow me later!” Why? If we read the Gospel carefully, we will notice that nobody – except Mary – believed in the Resurrection! In fact nobody can cross the abyss that separates us from God! Jesus did it as the achiever of our Salvation, and since He gave first birth to Mary on the Cross, She was able to believe in Him, and be present to receive Him, Risen. I would even say: She certainly played an important role in "attracting" Him, bringing/enticing Him out of the Earth.

She is the one who kept the promise of the Resurrection alive, the Flame of that Promise alive. So it is through her flame that we light our Pascal Candle! We need to have enough humility to see that. This is what Saint John in his gospel tried to convey with the First Sign of Jesus: the intervention of Mary in Cana. The apostle lit their candle (their faith) from her Fire, from her lamp! What a mystery, a small candle can enflame the whole world. All generations, truly call you: Blessed, because you believe before Peter, before everybody, in the Resurrection, because you shared with us the Living Flame that you kept alive for three days, while Jesus was buried in the Earth.
The liturgy in many different Rites expresses very well the place and Role of Mary in our faith, whereas the Icons of Mary express these contemplative Truths. Pope John Paul II expressed it in many Documents, especially his Encyclical letter, and he certainly was extremely influential in putting gems about Mary into the Catechism.

2- In Saint Theresa of Avila

Now, if we want to see how Saint Theresa of Avila expressed truths about Mary, let us first examine this beautiful and deep text in the first draft she made of her book "The Way of Perfection" (Escorial Manuscript):

"I hope you do not think I have written too much about this already; for I have only been placing the board [like for playing chess], as they say. You have asked me to tell you about the first steps in prayer; although God did not lead me by them, my daughters I know no others, and even now I can hardly have acquired these elementary virtues. But you may be sure that anyone who cannot set out the pieces in a game of chess will never be able to play well, and, if he does not know how to give check, he will not be able to bring about a checkmate. […] How legitimate it will be for us to play it in this way, and, if we play it frequently, how quickly we shall give checkmate to this Divine King! He will not be able to move out of our check nor will He desire to do so."

It is of utmost importance to read this key-text closely. She mentions the game of Chess, and uses it in order to illustrate a very important issue in mental prayer: the relationship between what we have to do (what depends on us, the "general help of the grace of God"), and God's answer. To use her language, it is in fact the relationship between the "prayer of recollection" and the supernatural action of God, the "prayer of quiet". In other words, she is in a way trying to give us a "secret", how to "trigger" the supernatural action of God, the Grace of God! Per se, it is impossible, because it a "grace", a free gift from God, that depends on His freedom! But still, she will reveal a secret.

First and foremost let us understand how the game of Chess works, since some might not know it. There are two players, and each of them has a set of sixteen pieces, amongst them two important ones: the King and the Queen! Each piece has the capacity to move in certain directions only, and through these moves to "take" pieces of the opponent, in order to get closer to his kind and "kill" him. This is the very goal of the game is to "kill" the King of the opponent: it is called "to give checkmate". The Queen is the most powerful piece in the game, this is why one doesn't want to loose it. Theresa who played chess before entering in the monastery, does use the main idea of the game to illustrate the delicate issue of the relationship between us and obtaining infused contemplation, the supernatural one, or the Prayer of Quiet. She usually says that one needs to wait humbly for the time and the way in which God will give His Grace (see her Autobiography which is further endorsed by the general opinion of the majority of authors). But here, she is not saying the same thing, but is revealing the Secret by focusing her attention on the Queen. In the Chess game, as we have said, the Queen is the most powerful piece because she is capable of making all types of moves. Therefore she is the most suitable piece to "kill" the king, to "get him". Saint Theresa will mention the Queen, and in her example she applies it to two things:

1- humility (which was her usual option as we said, as she wrote it in her "Autobiography", written before the "Way of Perfection")
2- Our Lady, or, to be more precise: the humility of Our Lady. "he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden" (Luke 1,48 )

The key here is to notice and make an important mental note about the power over God of the "humility of Our Lady"! In fact, her humility attracted God to dwell within Her! This is fundamental! Saint Bernard points out that nobody in human history was capable of attracting, seducing, alluring God and bringing Him into the human realm! Only Mary was able to do it. The Angel confirms Mary's capacity to attract God saying: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God." (Luke 1,30). And Mary confirms this "power" she has by saying: "For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1,48 ) Let us read Saint Theresa again:

"It is the Queen which gives the king most trouble in this game and all the other pieces support her. There is no Queen who can beat this King as well as humility can; for humility brought Him down from Heaven into the Virgin's womb and with humility we can draw Him into our souls by a single hair [quoting Canticle of Canticles]. Be sure that He will give most humility to him who has most already and least to him who has least. I cannot understand how humility exists, or can exist, without love, or love without humility, and it is impossible for these two virtues to exist save where there is great detachment from all created things."

Note that she is already coupling love (charity) with humility. Let us remember that humility and love and detachment are the three virtues that for her summarise the whole Gospel.

As we said in the Course, we cannot separate mental prayer from the work of the virtues. This is why we laid stress on the fact that Lectio and the Prayer of the Heart go together, for Lectio helps us, through a daily listening to Jesus, to work on the virtues and allow them to grow, under the direct Guidance of Jesus. Furthermore, we cannot separate all the virtues from humility. This is why, Saint Theresa brings to the fore here, as a general condition to bring about a checkmate, the work on the virtues! But let us be more precise: working on the virtues in a total, pure and heroic way as she describes it in the first part of the Way of Perfection, is one of the greatest catalysts of a true and pure gift of ourselves to God. Therefore, when we give ourselves totally to God, during the day, through listening to Him and putting Him in first place in our daily acts, we bring about a checkmate as well. Let us examine this:

"You will ask, my daughters, why I am talking to you about virtues when you have more than enough books to teach you about them and when you want me to tell you only about contemplation. My reply is that, if you had asked me about mental prayer, I could have talked to you about it, and advised you all to practise it, even if you do not possess the virtues. For this is the first step to be taken towards the acquisition of the virtues and the very life of all Christians depends upon their beginning it. No one, however lost a soul he may be, should neglect so great a blessing if God inspires him to make use of it. All this I have already written elsewhere, and so have many others who know what they are writing about, which I certainly do not: God knows that. 

But contemplation, daughters, is another matter. This is an error which we all make: if a person gets so far as to spend a short time each day in thinking about his sins, as he is bound to do if he is a Christian in anything more than name, people at once call him a great contemplative; and then they expect him to have the rare virtues which a great contemplative is bound to possess; he may even think he has them himself, but he will be quite wrong. In his early stages he did not even know how to set out the chess-board [working on the virtues], and thought that, in order to give checkmate, it would be enough to be able to recognize the pieces. But that is impossible, for this King does not allow Himself to be taken except by one who surrenders wholly to Him." (Way of Perfection ch.16 (in fact it is a copy from Chapter 25 of the Manuscript of Escorial)

So, summing it up, we can say that Saint Theresa, in this text is not saying it with absolute clarity, but still, she does mention humility, and the humility of Mary. Of course we would like her to say it clearly, but it is there, the allusion to Mary is there. Nonetheless isn't it enough that she said that it is Mary's humility that brought God down from heaven? 

Another aspect of the gift of ourselves is that it is deposited in the hands of Mary and that she presents it to God. This is expressed in Saint Theresa at least twice. At 1572, while Saint Theresa was at her original Monastery, the Incarnation, she received on 19th of January this grace: 

"On the eve of Saint Sebastian, during the first year in which I was Prioress at the Incarnation/ at the beginning of the Salve, I saw the Mother of God, with a great multitude of angels, descend to the Prioress's stall, where Our Lady is enthroned, and seat herself there. I do not believe I saw the image then but only this Lady. She looked to me rather like the picture which the Countess gave me, though the vision passed too quickly for me to decide this because immediately my faculties became completely suspended. There seemed to be angels above the misericords and on the kneeling rests of the stalls, though I did not see them in bodily form, because this was an intellectual vision. Our Lady remained there during the whole of the Salve and said to me: "Thou hast done well to place me here; I will be here when praises are offered to my Son and will present them to Him." After that I remained in the state of prayer which I experience when my soul is in the company of the Most Holy Trinity; and I thought that the Person of the Father drew me to Himself and spoke words that were most comfortable. Among them were these, which showed me the love He had for me: "I gave thee My Son and the Holy Spirit and this Virgin. What canst thou give Me?" (Spiritual Relations, XXV, Incarnation, 19 January 1572) 

What we see here is a first understanding of a very important Catholic Truth: Mary presents our prayers and petitions to Jesus-God. At first we might think that this Truth is simply and only a devotion (and therefore not a theological truth), and/or that it is specific to the Carmelites (and therefore not a universal truth). In fact, Theresa is praying in the choir and Mary descends and stands in the Prioress' stall during the last prayer, the Salve Regina Hymn/Antiphon to Mary! To take this place shows that Mary explains that she is leading the prayer of the nuns. But, on top of just leading, we can say that God, through this vision, is renewing in Saint Theresa a common Carmelite belief that the Order is Mary's Order, and that Mary is presenting all the prayers that are made in any Carmelite monastery, to God. Before seeing the catholic/universal dimension of this truth let us see another grace Saint Theresa received three and a half years later:

"I am specially happy on the day of the Nativity of Our Lady. I have thought it well, whenever this day comes round, to renew my vows; and once, when. I was about to do this, the Virgin Our Lady was represented to me in an illuminative vision. I seemed to be renewing my vows to her and she was pleased at this. This vision remained with me for some days, and Our Lady stayed near me, on my left hand." (Spiritual Relations, XLVIII, Seville 8 sept 1575) 

The vows are the gift of oneself to God. It is not, per se, unusual for her as a Carmelite to make/place her vows in the hands of Mary. Before Council Vatican II the text of the Profession of a Carmelite did state that the vows were made to Mary (and "to God" of course). Although it should be "common" as a concept in the Carmelite Order in the time of Saint Theresa – the Order "of Our Lady" as it was known – it is important to acknowledge the real dimension and value of this grace: a Marian grace given to her, and as well as a common element of the revealed datum to all Christians. Both De Monfort mentions it, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well.

In fact the Catechism says:

- "Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to Her, we are adhering with Her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus' Mother into our homes, (Jn 19:27) for she has become the Mother of all the living. We can pray with and to Her. The prayer of the Church is sustained (carried) by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.(LG 68-69)" (CCC 2679)
and furthermore:
- "The Virgin Mary "cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation" (LG 56). She uttered her yes "in the name of all human nature" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 30, 1). By her obedience She became the new Eve, mother of the living." (CCC 511)
See as well: 148, 149, 273, (967: she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.). Therefore it is not a personal grace given to Saint Theresa only, it is a Catholic Truth that Mary conveys all our prayers and petitions and presents them to Jesus! Her intercession is much more powerful than the intercession of the entire faithful. She is the Mother of the Church.
To continue to confirm that it is a universal theological truth, let us see what De Monfort says in the "True Devotion to Mary":
"Since by this devotion we give to our Lord, through the hands of his holy Mother, all our good works, she purifies them, making them beautiful and acceptable to her Son.

(1) She purifies them of every taint of self-love and of that unconscious attachment to creatures which slips unnoticed into our best actions. Her hands have never been known to be idle or uncreative. They purify everything they touch. As soon as the Blessed Virgin receives our good works, she removes any blemish or imperfection she may find in them.
(2) She enriches our good works by adorning them with her own merits and virtues. It is as if a poor peasant, wishing to win the friendship and favour of the king, were to go to the queen and give her an apple - his only possession - for her to offer it to the king. The queen, accepting the peasant’s humble gift, puts it on a beautiful golden dish and presents it to the king on behalf of the peasant. The apple in itself would not be a gift worthy of a king, but presented by the queen in person on a dish of gold, it becomes fit for any king.
(3) Mary presents our good works to Jesus. She does not keep anything we offer for herself, as if she were our last end, but unfailingly gives everything to Jesus. So by the very fact we give anything to her, we are giving it to Jesus. Whenever we praise and glorify her, she sings today as she did on the day Elizabeth praised her; “My soul glorifies the Lord.”

At Mary’s request, Jesus accepts the gift of our good works, no matter how poor and insignificant they may be for one who is the King of Kings, the Holiest of the Holy. When we present anything to Jesus by ourselves, relying on our own dispositions and efforts, He examines our gift and often rejects it because it is stained with self-love, just as He once rejected the sacrifices of the Jews because they were imbued with selfish motives.

But when we present something to Him by the pure, virginal hands of his beloved Mother, we take/capture/challenge Him on his weak side, in a manner of speaking. He does not consider so much the present itself as the person who offers it. Thus Mary, who is never slighted by her Son but is always well received, prevails upon Him to accept with pleasure everything She offers him, regardless of its value. Mary has only to present the gift for Jesus graciously to accept it. This is what St. Bernard strongly recommended to all those he was guiding along the pathway to perfection. “When you want to offer something to God, to be welcomed by him, be sure to offer it through the worthy Mother of God, if you do not wish to see it rejected.”" (True Devotion 146-149)

Let us just remember that Montfort calls these truths about Our Lady and her role in our spiritual life: Secret! A Secret that God revealed to him! It is not a "new revelation", or a "private revelation", but it is a secret within the wide concept of Revelation, like the Bible says: "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." (Pr 25,2)

3- Mary sums up (embodies) the conditions

According to many masters of spiritual life, the requirements for a successful movement of the Prayer of the Heart (i.e. offering of oneself to God) as we have presented them are the following:
etc…

If one of these conditions is lacking, the movement cannot normally occur because God never allows Himself to act in us, until we give Him, clearly, freely and truly access to us. Our heart (that we give Him) is the deepest and dearest part of ourselves, the most intimate part of our being. God has the utmost respect for it, therefore, He doesn't touch it.

In this light, then, how on earth, is it possible for a human being to put together all these difficult conditions? It looks very difficult, if not impossible to attain any supernatural mental prayer.

But thank God, having received the Secret from God, we know now how to do it. To sum up all these conditions neatly we can say:

Being in the presence of Mary, and counting on her action, we offer ourselves (like little children) in her hands, abandoning ourselves to her action, with total trust, throwing ourselves into her arms, putting our head on her chest and closing our eyes, repeating gently: "pray for us sinners". The result is immediate: She introduces us into Jesus forthwith.

In Mary we have a spacious vessel ready to come and take our heart and put it into the heart of the Lord. An enormous distance which only the Virgin can cross.

But, first of all, we ask: why the Virgin Mary? Because this is the Logic of God, can be the only answer. When He wanted to give Himself to us humans He took the road of the Virgin Mary. The Father entrusted his Son to Mary. In Her, God met human nature. She is the holy place were God and human nature meet, each one of us meets, and where He unites Himself to us. "For, by his Incarnation, He, the son of God, in a certain way united Himself with each man." (John Paul II Redemptor hominis, 8)

Therefore when any human being would like to meet God and give himself to Him, it is logical to take the same road as the logic of God himself took: Mary. "A servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him" (John 13,16). Why would we then dare take another route than His? If the Lord established that in order to come to us he needed Mary's "Yes", why would He change this logic for us to come to Him? We still need Mary's "Yes" to go to Him. Her "YES" and her action are necessary; it is the logic of the Incarnation.

If this movement of offering is, in fact ,to throw ourselves into the arms of Mary, trusting that She will take our heart and put it into the heart of the Lord, it is done, all the necessary ingredients for a successful immersion in God being present. Why? Because to give oneself to the Virgin Mary is easy and simple. When one gives oneself to the Virgin Mary this implies some degree of humility, because we put ourselves like a little child into her arms. We cannot deal frequently with the Virgin Mary and remain proud. She said: "he has regarded the humility of His servant" (Luke 1,48) – "humility" not "beauty" nor "virtue". When we give ourselves to the Virgin Mary, we give ourselves in the same way that a little child gives himself to his mother, and the Lord has said: "unless you become like little children you cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven". Unless I trust in Her action, the spacious vessel will not be able to be effective.

Recourse to the Virgin Mary is fundamental and, more than this, "SHE ALWAYS COMES". She never says “no” to us, and God never says “no” to her. Her action (intercession), capacity to elevate/introduce us into God is all-powerful, because all her being is burning with the Fire of the Holy Spirit and all her acts are moved by the Holy Spirit (Saint John of the Cross)

"[…] as I have said, God alone moves the faculties of these souls to do those works which are meet, according to the will and ordinance of God, and they cannot be moved to do others; and thus the works and prayers of these souls are always effectual. Such were those of the most glorious Virgin Our Lady, who, being raised to this high estate from the beginning, had never the form of any creature imprinted in her soul, neither was moved by such, but was invariably guided by the Holy Spirit." (Ascent of Mount Carmel, III,2,10)

The Virgin Mary is present, She acts, She wants to act but it is necessary to have recourse to Her. If we do so, She comes and acts every time. Her presence acts as a catalyst to ensure that all the right conditions are there. And so when we practice the prayer of the heart this way, we are putting together all the ingredients without fulfilling them separately one after the other: She brings them all together. Only from time to time, if we feel that something is not working, we may check that all the ingredients are present: if the gift of ourselves to the Virgin Mary is truly total, if we have total trust in her action and abandon ourselves into her hands like a little child. The presence of the Virgin Mary is of the utmost importance.

The Virgin Mary always comes. This is a certainty with which we must live. She is the key to the world of grace; it is She who lifted the embargo to gain access to the Tree of Life (Jesus), imposed after the fall. She it is who said “yes” to God and who repeated it for us, on condition that we have recourse to her, that we recognise that God has given Her to us, like a door, or a key, as a way of gaining access, as a loving and effective presence, one which acts in a maternal way. She always comes.

A Day with St Elisabeth of the Trinity on the occasion of her Canonisation

On Saturday 15th October, we are happy to present a one day course on Elisabeth of the Trinity. She was a French Carmelite nun whose messages on the Interior Life would be of great value to us all. She will be canonised on Sunday 16th October and we invite you to attend the course to learn about the life and message of this courageous nun.

A day with Elisabeth of the Trinity

Saturday 15th October 2016

What content is covered?

The lectures during this day with her will focus on four key areas:

1. Knowing her life

2. An introduction to her writings

3. An introduction to her doctrine

4. Discovering and praying her "Prayer to the Trinity"

Dates and times of the Course are:

15th October 2016, from 10 am to 4:30 pm.

Refreshments are provided. Please bring a packed lunch.

Where does the course take place?

The course will take place at St Mary of the Angels, Moorhouse Road, Bayswater, London, W2 5DJ. ('Notting Hill Gate' or 'Bayswater' Tube Stations and Buses 7, 23, 27, 28, 31, 70, 328)

Who will teach the course? 

The course will be taught by Jean Khoury, a full-time theologian who has studied and taught Spiritual Life in the Church for over twenty years. As well as lecturing world-wide on spiritual life and meditation, Jean is the author of several books, articles and studies on spiritual life and the founder of the School of Mary, a three-level formation in spiritual life (www.amorvincit.com).

Jean obtained a degree in Philosophy from the Institut Catholique de Toulouse (France), a Licence in Theology from the Teresianum (Rome) and a Masters in Spiritual Theology from the Institute Catholique de Toulouse (France). He is currently completing his PhD in Spiritual Theology at the Angelicum (Rome) with Monsignor François-Marie Léthel. Courses at the School of Mary constitute his sole source of income.

How much will the course cost?

The cost for the course is £25 for the day.

* Email schoolofmarylondon@gmail.com with your name and contact details and we will be in touch with details of how to pay the fee by bank transfer.

* If you have any questions, please do phone Rufaro at: 07940904834

Who is Elisabeth of the Trinity? 

Elisabeth of the Trinity is a French Carmelite nun. She was born is 1880 at Bourges, France, entered at the age of 21 at the Carmelite Monastery of Dijon, and lived only 5 years and died at the age of 26 on the 9th of November 1906. 

She is much less known than her other French sister, St Therese of the Child Jesus, but deserves to be known as well for her life and message to the world. She is more discreet and her message is mainly on interiority. Her doctrine is so rich and deserves to be discovered. 

She said: "I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himself".

158: Holding your Rosary during the Prayer of the Heart 1/2

We have two ways of praying the Rosary:

    1. As in Lectio Divina: contemplating the different Mysteries of Jesus' life, with Mary's eyes. This is the classical usual way of meditating on the mysteries of the Lord’s life.

     2. As in the Prayer of the Heart: immersed by Mary in Jesus’ Being. This method, can be used during the Prayer of the Heart, and is a more simple, deeply contemplative way of praying the Rosary. Even if it is less known, it is not of lesser importance.

Just as the Mass has two parts and neither excludes the other with both of equal importance, so also it is with the Rosary and both these methods should be used.

In previous posts (82 and 83) I explained the existence of these two ways of praying the Rosary. In this post I would like to speak more about some aspects of saying the Rosary during Prayer of the Heart. If you want to know more about the two methods, please read posts: "Two ways to say the Rosary" I in Post 82 (please click here) and II in Post 83 (please click here). When in this post I will mention the word “rosary” it will allude to the physical rosary and not to the classical prayer we know with the 4 sets of mysteries.

Distractions

In a previous post, Distractions during “Prayer of the Heart”, we mentioned that during the Prayer of the Heart, in order to reduce the influence of the distractions, it is advisable to pray the decades of the rosary after having made the offering of oneself to Jesus, and placing oneself in the hands of Mary. Here the "hands" are very literal; while your heart is raised in prayer, we are holding the rosary which Mary herself has given to us.

Why and how do we do this? First, we will look at the physical rosary itself and how we should view it and use it.

Holding your own rosary

It is advisable during Prayer of the Heart to hold our very own personal rosary, not one belonging to someone else. A rosary is a personal religious item. In one of her apparitions to St Bernadette, Our Lady noticed that Bernadette wasn’t holding her own rosary - in fact someone else had lent her one. Our Lady noticed this and asked her: “where is your rosary?”

Some people have a fanciful collection of rosaries: one for this, one for that, etc. It is better to unify our habits in our prayer life adopting the simplicity of having only one and just keeping and using the same rosary.

Characteristics of Choosing a Rosary

A good choice would be if our rosary had the following characteristics:

Simple: no excess of size, ornamentation or medals attached to it. It is not its price or its beauty that matters, but the real use we make of it. It is usually blessed by a Priest, and as well blessed and made ours by all the prayers said using it.

Discreet: it is between you and God. No noise (as some are quite noisy), not flashy. One with wooden beads and solid string is quite discreet. Some can have very small beads making it more convenient to carry in a pocket.

Solid: many do break, especially during the night, so it is better to choose one with nylon (or similar) strings and strong beads.

The Meaning of Holding a Rosary in your Hands

What does it mean to hold our rosary physically in our hands? It expresses:

1- A sincere outright dependence on Mary, knowing that we have recourse to her prayers, her fire, and her intimate knowledge of the wisdom and discernment of Jesus.

2- It is our personal Rosary and not that belonging to anyone else. Our body prays. It grounds us.

3- It is comparable to physically holding Mary's hands. The Rosary is Mary’s prayer given to us. It is Her way of praying with the quality of the fire of her love.

4- It is like receiving the "Good Soil", the "New Wineskin", the "New Heart of Flesh" and deciding to use it in order to love God. As long as we are here on earth, with our human condition, our body participates in our prayer and we pray as a unit: body, soul and spirit. We are not three persons, or three beings, we are one being, one person, and our body is part of our prayer. Even at the highest point of our prayer - i.e. the point that is touched by God, our spirit - we are one unit. Therefore, we cannot totally neglect the presence of our body. So holding physically our own rosary is a humble but important part of our prayer. It acknowledges that God's action and intervention in the world reaches the most humble part of His creation; the Lord has affirmed that even a hair from our head doesn't fall without God knowing and seeing it (see Gospel Mt 9:30). Therefore by physically holding the rosary, our body confesses that God embraces all that He has created through His Incarnation. All the created world belongs to God. Although we are not angels - heavenly beings - but humans, we are the earthly "mediators" of the work of sanctification, acting for and with Jesus, our real true Mediator.

What is the Meaning of the Beads?

Using the rosary during the Prayer of the Heart, the beads can be seen as:

- Roses sent to God, by the hands of Mary.

- Impulses of Divine Pure Love (by the hands of Mary),

- A more modern comparison we can say that the beads (saying one "Hail Mary") embody our acts of love for God and that they are like: "sparks” of divine energy" sent to God. Remember the ineffable groans of the Holy Spirit praying in us (Romans 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.").

For instance, every time we say one "Hail Mary", in fact we send an impulse of love, we make an act of Love, we send an arrow of Love to God. When we say to the Mother of God: "Pray for us sinners" in fact we are asking her to lift us up to God, so our prayers which come from God, through Mary return to God. Lifts us up Mary, so we can love God with your own capacity of Love, with your own Fire of Love.

Pitfalls

There is a danger of transforming the physical holding of the rosary or the rosary itself into idolatry by unconsciously falling into mechanical repetition and not internalising our relationship with Jesus, generating true prayer. The rosary is not an idol or a talisman. Mary’s hand is not an idol. Even Jesus’ body is not an idol. We aim for the entire Jesus, who is God. Only He is God. Holding the Rosary is like holding Mary’s Hand. It doesn’t generate prayer. What establishes the contact with God is the fact that we offer ourselves to Jesus in the Hands of Mary.

Holding the rosary in our hands essentially facilitates the silent quiet repetition of the Hail Marys.

Holding it tighter will not increase the intensity of our prayer.

It should not become too tense or stressful for the hand. We relax and rest in God during the Prayer of the Heart. We abandon ourselves (letting go) to God and in God.

Whilst our body participates in our prayer, it is the heart that prays. God is Spirit. It is in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit that we pray truthfully.

Conclusion

While praying in the company with others, when sincerely they pray to Our Lady, when they hold their Rosary in their hand, when they ask her to "pray for them" (“Pray for us sinners”), I always notice a powerful boost in the connection with the Lord: immersion in Him and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

(See the continuation 2/2 next post)

Note: The Eastern Churches' Rosary (Called чётки - chotki) is used essentially for the Prayer of the Heart - also known as the Jesus Prayer.  It is composed of 33 knots (the years of Jesus' life on earth) or 11 (1/3 x 33) or 99 (3 x 33) knots. In fact the above-mentioned method uses of the the Western Rosary in the same way the Eastern Churches do with theirs.

The repetition of the the Hail Mary goes with the natural rhythm of our breathing. Not faster, not slower.

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150: A Keynote on Lectio Divina

1- What does 'LD” mean?
'Lectio' in Latin means: 'Reading'.
'Divina': means 'spiritual' or 'divine'.
Note 1: LD (Lectio Divina) is traditionally applied exclusively to the spiritual reading of the Scriptures.
Note 2: It is called 'divina' because without the direct, 'divine', intervention of the Holy Spirit, this cannot come about.

2- What is LD?

It is the time we dedicate to sitting down, listening to what Jesus wants to say to us, and putting it into practice.

Practising LD is meeting the Risen Lord who comes everyday to my room to speak to me personally and change me.

3- What is the basis of LD?:

LD is based on the “daily Bread” that the Lord gives us essentially during the first part of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word of God.

Note: We have either two readings (week days), i.e. First Reading and Gospel, or three readings (Sunday, Solemnities) i.e. + one extra reading.

4- What is LD's place in our Spiritual Life?

LD is the most powerful boost to our Spiritual Life.

Well practised it ensures a steady growth.

Without it, our Spiritual Life is greatly undermined.

5- What is the goal of LD?

Its daily goal is to generate a real transformation in us.

It helps Jesus' words to become incarnate in us, so that Jesus grows in us.

We start to act with Him and through Him in new and previously unexperienced ways.

6- Is Jesus calling everybody to practise LD?

Yes. He emphasised, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ (Matthew 4:4).

Note 1: He said: "man", not, "some men".

Note 2: It is equally true that there is a moment in our lives where, by the grace of God, we become more aware of the vital importance of listening to Jesus' Word and putting it into practice.

7- When do we practice LD?

The best way is to do it is on a daily basis, preferably in the Morning. Jesus advises us to petition God to "Give us this day our Daily Bread".

Usually we start with as little as 10 minutes a day, and the practice grows to reach about an hour.

8- What are the stages of LD?

There are two stages in LD:

1- To listen to Jesus' Personal Word for us .

2- To put it into practice.

9- Which texts do we use?

The best method is to use the readings of the Mass of the day. They can be found online and in the following: a liturgical calendar, the Bible, the Missal, or a monthly magazine dedicated to the Mass eg Magnificat...

For a person who is not acquainted with the Scriptures, it is better to start by reading the main books of the New Testament, and some important texts from the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah,...), and do the lectio on those texts, a paragraph or section per day.

10- What is the best way to start it?

1- to sit in a quiet place
2- to place myself in the presence of Christ and enter into my conscience so I can hear the voice of God
3- to consider Jesus' desire to speak to me
4- to repeat my choice of Him today as my First priority
5- to give myself to Him, unconditionally.
This stage should only take a few minutes.

11- What conditions does LD lay down?

The true desire to respond to Jesus' Call for me, and the willingness to change, to convert.

Jesus explained: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."" (Luke 5:31-32)

12- Is it enough to read the texts once to allow Jesus to talk to us?

The first reading is necessary in order to understand the passage in general, or we could risk applying our own analysis of the text, which, in turn, will colour prayer itself. The text merely has to have a minimum of clarity for you, as with stained-glass, to allow Jesus' Light to come through.

13- How can we really listen to Jesus?

It is important while reading to ask for the Holy Spirit. Before this, we need to fully accept that on our part we need to do our utmost to listen to Jesus, as if it all depended on us through our reading, focusing, rereading, understanding the text, digging deep. Then immediately after, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to help us listen to Jesus with his unique direct intervention, as if all depended on Him.

14- How does the process of Listening unfolds?

When the supernatural Action of the Holy Spirit is initiated, we notice that it is as if Jesus is highlighting a part of each text, making it more alive, more meaningful to us that day, using these words to talk to us.

15- How can we be sure that it is Jesus who is talking to us, not ourselves?

When the highlighted parts of the two (or three) texts we are reading start to say one thing to us. This gives us 95% certainty that He is speaking not us. Jesus, using the two texts to talk us, invites us to change and do something we were not doing before.

16- What characterizes the supernatural Intervention of the Holy Spirit?

There is a difference between understanding the text with our mind and having a new understanding, alive, because of the intervention of the Holy Spirit who sheds a new light through what we are reading. Now the same word of the text starts to give out a divine sap, an inner light, a meaning that we were not seeing before, and this meaning touches our heart, our will, our life, some area of our being, asking it to change, offering its healing.

17- What are the criteria of discernment?

The main criterion to discern that it is the Holy Spirit who is acting is when we notice that miraculously the two texts are saying the same thing (often using different words).

This action of the Holy Spirit tastes new, coming from Above; it is practical, i.e. it touches some area in us; it is little, just that day's step to be done, just the change the Lord wants to make in us today; and which still often sounds impossible to implement without His help.

18- What can He ask us to do?

There is an infinity of things He can ask us to do. In fact He is our Healer. It is the Holy Spirit who builds us anew. He can ask us to forgive a specific person; He can ask us to entrust a burden to Him; He can show us his mercy...

19- Can the outcome be a general indication or does it have to be clear?

The initial meeting of the two texts in one meaning is but a general light: mercy, forgiveness, love, patience, attention,... But this general indication leaves us with no practical act to perform, and may lead to our thinking process taking over and dominating LD.

The fruit of LD is a specific daily act inspired by the Holy Spirit, an incarnation of a clear word in us. Jesus does not remain in the vague and the uncertain. He came to guide us, He is our true Shepherd. (for a more developed explanation see here)

20- How does the general indication become a clear one?

Jesus' Word can be compared to a ball of light and love, about to become incarnate in us. When we perceive the general light of the Holy Spirit, we must allow it to go, first, through the mind in different stages as we start to understand God’s will, (say ‘mercy’), then, through insistent begging, we see very clearly where it touches us in the will (‘forgive this particular person’), until finally we understand which act He wants us to perform. (for a more developed explanation see here)

21- How do we implement what He asks us?

Yet again the direct help of the Holy Spirit is vital in order to put into practice the Word received by Jesus on the specific day. When Our Lady asked the Angel how the Incarnation would come about, he replied: "the Holy Spirit will come upon you" (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit is the Master of the Incarnation of the Word in us. The case for LD, in a nutshell, is that it is a Word, a Light, an Indication, a Message, that we receive on a daily basis, so that Jesus the Word of God will grow in us.

22- What change occurs in us on a daily basis?

The Word of God feeds and transforms our Mind and our Will. Our Mind is enlightened by the Word of God, our Will is healed in one specific area.

23- What is the relationship between the Word of God and the Holy Spirit?

'The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God' (see Ephesians 6:17) How does this 'sword' work?

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

24- How does the Word of God allow the Holy Spirit to fertilise our mind?

It is in the Word of God passing through us that the Holy Spirit offers crucial attributes to the mind: "wisdom" to see things as God sees them; "understanding" of the Word of God, and its connection with previously received words; "knowledge" of what it means in my world on a practical level; "counsel" on how exactly to apply it that day.

25- How does the Word of God allow the Holy Spirit to fertilise our will?

The Holy Spirit also offers to the will: "piety", showing how today's act will be led most fervently by that new received word; "fortitude", drive and power to put it into practice; "delicate attention to God's will" ("filial fear of God") to be grounded in his Word and not to disregard it.

26- How does LD influence our day?

LD unifies our day under its supernatural light. We often notice that the whole day is like varying illustrations of the same light we had received in the morning. The Lords teaches us throughout the day how that same light fecundates different aspects of our daily life, reflections of it echoing throughout the day.

27- What are the steps of the first part of LD?

The listening process in LD can be summarised in the following 5 steps:

Active phase: seeking understanding

1- Read (1) in order to understand the text

Listening phase: asking for the help of the Holy Spirit

2- Read (2) in order to discover Christ’s will
3- Read (3) until I see only one light
4- Read (4) until the light becomes clear
5- Write down the words or sentences from the readings that touched me

28- What are the steps of the second part of LD?

The implementation process (putting into practice the word received) can be summarised in the following 5 steps:
1- Asking the Holy Spirit’s help in order to put into practice the Word
2- Giving thanks, being immersed in Him
3- Putting into practice the Word received
4- Echoes during the day
5- At the end of the day: giving thanks.

29- How can we summarise LD?

It is literally a real act of love and a way of discerning if we really love Jesus or not: "whoever loves me will keep my words" (John 14:23)

30- Read about LD: CTS book on LD, Jean Khoury (click here):

     Or in eBook form, please click here.

130: St Teresa of A 9/16: The Movement of Contemplative Prayer

It is an essential part of the Mission given by God to St Teresa to teach us how to practise the Prayer of the Heart. In truth she can be considered to be a major Prophet. Admittedly she is not the first one in history to do this, but, by an exceptional grace, God wanted her to leave a legacy greater in breadth and depth that would impact on the Church at a very critical moment in its history. In fact, when the Protestant Reformation claimed that each person needs to have a direct personal relationship with God, the Lord sent this great Prophet to the Church to show us the orthodox and therefore fuller way to have it. In every sense she embodies the perfect way to have a personal relationship with Jesus. She takes her time in her books (Autobiography, Way of Perfection, Interior Castle) to explain to us in a very practical, flexible and accessible way how to practise the Prayer of the Heart, indicating what happens, how we feel it, and how we can discern it. It will be of great benefit, now, to explore her precious teaching and learn from her how to practise the Prayer of the Heart.

St Teresa learned how to practise the Prayer of the Heart by reading some well-known authors of her time especially Francisco de Osuna (1497 – c. 1540), on his Third Spiritual Alphabet. In particular his explanation of the word 'recollection' was of great help. It might be useful, here, to recall what we emphasized in earlier chapters, that she had to be determined to give everything to Christ, to become totally his, in order to give a solid foundation to her prayer life so that the Prayer of the Heart would commence bearing fruit. It is worth remembering that before her conversion, she practised only intermittently what Francisco de Osuna described on how to recollect oneself. It is also helpful to reiterate here that the foundations of the Prayer of the Heart are laid, first, when there is a call from Christ to follow Him from close proximity, followed by an inflow of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, the total and determined gift of oneself, and lastly especially by the determination to follow Him, unconditionally and selflessly. The Prayer of the Heart is not a relaxation technique, a form of entertainment, or a quest of any kind! It does not occur just out of our pure initiative, it happens in a very precise context, the context of a relationship that starts with Christ, where we put our hand into His Hands, in order to walk with Him and follow Him. St Teresa teaches us that the Prayer of the Heart is a love encounter with Christ where we are immersed in Him, where He pours into us his Love, the very essence of the Holy Spirit. We can add without fear of betraying her teaching (see end of Way of Perfection) that the Prayer of the Heart is the extension of our most recent Communion, the 'digestive' process that comes with it! It is a substantial meal where the human being is fed, mostly in the very depths of his heart! What is more to the point, however, is that the effects of this food appear quite rapidly!

What now has to be considered is when to practise contemplative prayer. This covers the material aspect of the practice in space and time. According to St Teresa, we can practise the Prayer of the Heart in two forms: first, by dedicating to it short moments during the day, as if to nourish and sustain ourselves during the journey, and secondly, by choosing to dedicate one or two specific moments during the day for longer practice. As we know, St Teresa established the rule that her reformed nuns would practise one entire hour of Prayer of the Heart in the morning and another hour in the late afternoon.

The next consideration encompasses the method to be used. In her book, the Way of Perfection, in chapters 26, 28 through to 31, St Teresa offers her best description of 'how to practise the Prayer of the Heart'. But an important point must first be clarified. As we underlined in the previous chapters, the grace of God is offered to us in two different ways: first, through general ordinary help, and secondly, through personal and direct Grace. The journey of our heart (our very being) until it is immersed in the furnace of Christ's Love is then divided into two parts: the first part depends on us, when St Teresa invites us to activate and use the general help of the grace of God, but then she tells us that the second part is simply the free response from God.

God, it is to be remembered, is at the door of our being, He never violates our freedom and never forces us to enter into HIm. On the contrary, Almighty God waits for us to give ourselves to Him. If we offer ourselves to Him, if we entrust ourselves into his hands, if we throw ourselves into his very arms, his response will be immediate and He will possess us and we will be immersed in Him while his Holy Spirit is poured into us. As we have seen, according to St Teresa the process entails two 'steps' which she calls 'Prayer of Recollection' and 'Prayer of Quiet'. The first one is realised when we give ourselves to Him, thereby expressing our choice to Him, and the second one, in response to the gift of ourselves to Him, occurs when He gives himself to us, namely, when we are immersed in Him. In the Prayer of the Heart both of them are inseparable.

As will be noted, consequently, when reading St Teresa's writings two expressions stand out sharply when delineating these parts of the journey: 'Prayer of Recollection' and 'Prayer of Quiet'. One could be tempted to think that these are two consecutive stages and ways of practising the Prayer of the Heart. A beginner for instance, would be forgiven for thinking one would start with the practice of the 'Prayer of Recollection' and subsequently after a few months or even one or two years, according to God's will, he or she would then be moved on by God toward a more supernatural prayer, that is, 'Supernatural Recollection' or in fact right into the 'Prayer of Quiet'. This vision entailing successive sections is erroneous. The 'Prayer of Recollection' and the 'Prayer of Quiet' are two halves of one and only one fruit: the complete act of the Prayer of the Heart.

God's Desire to Give of Himself

It is a fact, however, that commentators are often misled and are even induced into thinking that these are successive stages. The reason is based on a partial understanding of the Supernatural, that is, the Theology of Grace. Theology is extremely firm that God gives himself to whom He wants, when He wants and in the way chosen by Him. However, the freedom of God the Giver of the Grace of God is but part of the Theology of Grace. The other more significant part that is not always taken into consideration, is the desire in God himself and his thirst to give himself to us. Indeed, God has an overwhelming thirst to give himself to us! The saints tell us, indeed, and from experience, about this all-consuming desire. Therefore it is imperative that the two aspects of the unequivocal truth on the Theology of Grace be joined to understand that if we offer ourselves to God, He will never delay in coming to possess us and pour his grace into us. When using the general help of His Grace we clarify our availability to God, and in turn He does not coldly stand back watching and waiting, detached and inactive. According to the knowledge of the saints - St.John of the Cross, St.Therese of Lisieux to name but a few - this is definitely not the real God. He is thirsty, He IS Thirst itself, and we are the water that can quench this great thirst. Therefore if we practise the Prayer of Recollection (Way of Perfection chapters 26, 28-29), his reply is immediately offering us the first stages of his supernatural action, mostly the Prayer of Quiet, where the in-dwelling of God commences. (Way of perfection, Chapters 30-31).

Theology of Grace

The following explanation deals with a delicate matter concerning the Theology of Grace and its interpretation, but it should be understood by everyone in order to understand what God really desires of us and how we are to implement this desire in order to grow steadily in the Spiritual Life.

When we say that 'God gives himself 'the way He wants, when He wants to whom He wants', this sounds very incomplete because it gives the impression that God, for some unfathomable and mysterious reason, or simply for the sake of safeguarding his total freedom, acts strangely, and and has no real desire to communicate with on a regular basis. It also gives the impression that the Grace of God is like a delicacy which He is in two minds about imparting to us. This is definitively not the case. Herein, lies the crux of the matter from which huge confusion results.

In order to clarify the matter, let us first of all state that no-one challenges the freedom of God, no-one interferes in his decisions. But it must not be forgotten that He died for us and this in itself reveals the insatiable thirst He has to give himself to us, all of us, all the time and abundantly. It is impossible to endure what He did for each one of us, as evinced by his sufferings, Passion, Death, without his being totally committed to love of us and without being consumed by his Thirst for us. Otherwise this would seem to contradict the received belief. Given this, then, wherein lies the difficulty? Two incorrect assumptions cause this difficulty to arise. First, the thirst of God is not clearly perceived, nor is his constancy in wanting to give himself to all of us, all the time and abundantly. Secondly, there is confusion between the perception of the Grace of God (which falls into the soul and or the body, being an extra and optional 'crumb' from the divine table), and the Grace itself (that is uncreated and communicated to our supra-conscious spirit, but imperceptible to the conscious soul and body).

A significant question now presents itself: why does God not give the 'perception of the Grace' with the Grace itself? The answer is important for it illustrates that the beginner tends to confuse the perception of it with the uncreated Grace itself and, as a consequence, will easily idolise the 'perception', and deviate from Faith, going astray from the True God. It is only faith that leads to the real Uncreated God.

As a conclusion, we can say that the truth that 'God gives himself the way He wants, when He wants to whom He wants' would generally apply not to the core of the grace – the condition, as we have seen, being the gift of oneself – but to the perception of the grace of God. Thus a fairer evaluation would be to say: 'God gives the perception of his grace in the soul/body the way He wants, when He wants to whom He wants'.

Theology of Grace and St Teresa

A brief aside is indicated here to clarify some points St. Teresa makes on the Theology of Grace. When St Teresa of Avila reminds us what theology says concerning the freedom of God to give of himself 'when He wants, to whom He wants, and in the way He wants', we must be aware that she is at an early stage of her spiritual life (Autobiography). At this early stage she cannot distinguish between first, the core of the grace poured into the spirit, secondly, the perception of the grace in the soul and/or the body and lastly a possible particular effect on the body – tears. When explaining this supernatural action of God in prayer, Teresa uses the allegory of watering the garden, where water is the Grace of God, with the human being himself as the garden. However, here, 'water' comprises these three realities and they have become fused together, without Teresa consciously realising it in her mind, namely, receiving the grace in the spirit, second, feeling the grace (soul/body), third, having tears as a more common effect in the body. This may be misleading, hence the explanation given above which comes from St John of the Cross' teaching. This is a further reason that seems to reinforce the aforementioned partial understanding of how the Grace of God works. In addition to what has just been outlined, therefore, we have to bear in mind the difference between the General help of the Grace of God and the Particular help of the Grace of God, as seen in previous chapters.

In conclusion, it must be realised that it is necessary to remember the crucial fact that the foundation of the Theology of Prayer should be based on a complete and clear understanding of its vital component – the Theology of Grace.

The Nature of Contemplation

Added to this is the fact that having a correct understanding of all the above-mentioned concepts would immeasurably aid the proper understanding of the nature of contemplation. As a previous chapter illustrates, during the first part of last century, theologians discussed and argued interminably about the nature of contemplation. One group stressed the importance of the human element in it, which makes it something that is acquired by human effort, and the other group laid great stress on the importance of the supernatural (infused) aspect of it. As it happens, both are right: both stress the decisive aspects of contemplation, the human part and the divine part. Both are vital for its success. It is the story of the meeting of two beings: God and the human being... The Prayer of the Heart, it is important to realise, is essentially the story of an expressed love between them (and to love means to give oneself), and that it is impossible to take into consideration only one of them and ignore the other. Both beings have free will, both can give themselves. The Prayer of the Heart is the mutual gift of each of them to the other. A similar mutual gifting occurs during Communion: God gives himself to us, and we give ourselves to Him. Communion should remain a very important point of reference for us in our practice of the Prayer of the Heart – we cannot afford to neglect it.

God, being in his very nature love, comes out of himself, and stands at the door of our being and, incredibly, He waits. He does not enter. He never forces the door. With divine respect and love, Almighty God knocks and waits. If we are really willing to love Him, if we really want to give ourselves to Him, then a 'union', a 'meeting', an 'embrace' will result. The meeting of two free beings, in an élan of mutual love, presupposes the use of two mutual freedoms! Christian contemplation is this meeting, this sacred kiss, the supernatural embrace! In no way can it exclude the personal initiative of both beings! The solution to having a correct orthodox understanding of the nature of contemplation, consequently, comes through recognising the two modalities of the action of the Grace of God: the grace that prepares us to receive God and the Grace itself of receiving Him within us. Christian contemplation, it must be emphasized enough, cannot be either acquired or infused, it is both: it consists of two parts of one unique journey that goes from where our heart initially beats to the Furnace of Love in Christ.