Tips on Prayer from a Monk

When praying it would be a mistake to try to induce intensity and emotion, to raise our voice inwardly. When God manifested himself to the prophet Elijah, it was not in a strong wind, nor in an earthquake, nor in a afire, but in a gentle, whispering breeze that followed them. Little by little we are to concentrate our whole being around the name of Jesus, allowing it like a drop of oil silently to penetrate and impregnate our soul.

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Let us not think that an hour during which we have invoked the name of Jesus, without "feeling" anything, remaining apparently cold and arid, has been wasted and unfruitful.

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The name of Jesus gives peace tho those who are tempted: instead of arguing with the temptation, instead of thinking about the raging storm -that was Peter's mistake on the lake after his good beginning- why not go to Jesus alone and go to him walking on the waves, taking refuge in his name? Let the person tempted gather him [her]self together gently, and pronounce the name without anxiety, without feverishness; then his heart will be filled by the wind of the name and protected against violent winds.

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When we pray the name of Jesus, we enthrone him in our hearts, we put on Christ; we offer our flesh to the Word, so that he may assume it into his mystical body.

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Jesus, who after his resurrection chose several times to appear to his disciples "in another form" (Mk 16, 12)- the unknown traveler on the road to Emmaus, the gardener near the tomb, the stranger standing at the shore of the lake- continues to meet us in our daily life in a veiled way and continues to confront us with this all-important aspect of his presence: his presence in man. What we do to the least of our brethren, we do to him. Under the faces of men and women, we are able with the eyes of faith, to see the face of the Lord; by attending to the distress of the poor, of the sick, of sinners, of all men, we put our finger on the place of the nails, thrust our hands into his pierced side, and experience personally the resurrection and presence of Jesus Christ in his mystical body; and so we can say with St. Thomas "My Lord, and my God." (Jn 20, 28).

From a Monk of the eastern Church (Author of The Jesus Prayer)

Posted by Carlos J. Medina

Enkindling our Desire for God

In the letter to Proba St Augustine gives us several guidelines in regards to prayer. He writes that our desire for God is important for the life of our prayer, and he believes that our desire must be insistent:

"Therefore we pray always with insistent desire, in that same faith and hope and charity."

And yet, he warns that our prayer must not come solely when we desire, but rather we must have a fixed schedule:

"But, we also pray to God in words at certain fixed hours and times"

The reason he gives us is, "so that we may urge ourselves on and take note with ourselves how much progress we have made in this desire, and may rouse ourselves more earnestly to increase it."

He adds to the explanation: "because that desire [for union with God] grows somewhat lukewarm by reason of our cares and preoccupation with other things, we call our mind back to the duty of praying at fixed hours. In this way, we urge ourselves in the words of our prayer to press forward to what we desire; otherwise, after our desire has begun to grow lukewarm, it then becomes entirely cold, and is completely extinguished, unless it is frequently rekindled."

And as our desire is enkindled by our fixed prayer we come to pray

"even in the necessary works and obligations."

Posted by Carlos J. Medina

Brief directives for prayer of the heart

1. Sit or stand in a dimly lit place.
2. Recollect yourself.
3. With the help of your imagination find the place of your heart.
4. Leave your mind from the head and into the heart -your breathing can help you
descend to your heart.
4. Stay there with attention, and slowly repeat in your mind or softly with your lips, "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me."

From the writings of the Eastern Fathers in the Philokalia

Posted by Carlos J. Medina

Spiritual Travel

In the spiritual life, by the very fact of not going forward, we slide backwards. "We don't go back so far as we make efforts to go forward," writes St. Augustine, "once we begin to stop, back we roll." Yet, Augustine warns us that as we make efforts to go forward, "forget entirely everything that you have done up to this point, and make account that everyday you are starting anew."

St. Jerome agrees: "Whoever wishes to be a saint, let him forget all the past good that he has done, and rouse him(her)self to secure what is still undone."

Jesus speaks of someone who kept account of the good did:

"The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'

I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." (Lk 18, 11-14)

We can learn from this parable to be careful about the good we have done. We can very easily become proud and self-righteous, and despise others. Another danger of keeping track of the good we have done is becoming lukewarm, which leads us to thinking that we have done enough.

As travelers to the heavenly country, we should not set our eyes on how far we have gone, but rather on how far we need to go.

Taken from Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues, Ch. 1 by Alphonsus Rodriguez, SJ

Posted by Carlos J. Medina

Prayer of Christ

When the Word, proceeding from the Father as the splendor of his glory, came to give us all a share in God's life, "Christ Jesus, High Priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile the hymn of praise that is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven." (SC art. 83.) From then on in Christ's heart the praise of God assumes a human sound in words of adoration, expiation, and intercession, presented to the Father by the Head of the new humanity, the Mediator between God and his people, in the name of all and for the good of all.

In his goodness the Son of God, who is one with his Father (see Jn 10:30) and who on entering the world said: "Here I am! I come, God, to do your will" (Heb 10:9; see Jn 6:38), has left us the lesson of his own prayer. The Gospels many times show us Christ at prayer: when his mission is revealed by the Father (See Lk 3:21-22 ); before he calls the apostles (See Lk 6:12); when he blesses God at the multiplication of the loaves (See Mt 14:19, 15:36; Mk 6:41, 8:7; Lk 9:16; Jn 6:11); when he is transfigured on the mountain (See Lk 9:28-29); when he heals the deaf-mute (See Mk 7:34); when he raises Lazarus (See Jn 11:41ff); before he asks for Peter's confession of faith (See Lk 9:18); when he teaches the disciples how to pray (Lk 11:2); when the disciples return from their mission (See Mt 11:25.ff; Lk 10:21ff); when he blesses the little children See (Mt 19:13); when he prays for Peter (See Lk 22:32).

The work of each day was closely bound up with his prayer, indeed flowed out from it: he would retire into the desert or into the hills to pray (See Mk 1:35, 6:46; Lk 5:16), rise very early (See Mk 1:35) or spend the night up to the fourth watch (See Mt 14:23 and 25; Lk 6:12) in prayer to God.

We are right in thinking that he took part both in public prayers: in the synagogues, which he entered on the Sabbath "as his custom was" (See Lk 4:16) in the temple, which he called a house of prayer (See Mt 21:13), and in the private prayers that for devout Israelites were a daily practice. He used the traditional blessings of God at meals, as is expressly mentioned in connection with the multiplication of the loaves, (See Mt 14:19 and par.; Mt 15:36 and par) the last supper (See Mt 26:26 and par.) and the meal at Emmaus (See Lk 24:30). He also joined with the disciples in a hymn of praise (See Mt 26:30 and par.)

To the very end of his life, as his passion was approaching (See Jn 12:27ff.), at the last supper (See Jn 17:1-26), in the agony in the garden (See Mt 26:36-44 and par. ), and on the cross (See Lk 23:34 and 46; Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34), the divine teacher showed that prayer was the soul of his Messianic ministry and paschal death. "In the days of his life on earth he offered up prayers and entreaties with loud cries and tears to the one who could deliver him from death and because of his reverence his prayer was heard" (Heb 5:7). By a single offering on the altar of the cross "he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified" (Heb 10-14). Raised from the dead, he lives for ever, making intercession for us (See Heb 7:25).

Taken from The general Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours

Posted by Carlos J. Medina, Novice

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