Prayer of the heart

The spiritual journey of Saint Bruno is characterized by the search for God in solitude, this God he knows to be intimately present in his heart. It would be desirable that the members of the CLC consecrate every day, according to their possibilities, a few moments to silence for: prayer of the heart, meditation or reading. (Gd1)

CLC officials will provide, at the disposal of their members, a few essential elements to help in the development of this prayer (texts, life of St. Bruno, order history, excerpts of the Statutes of the Order). (Gd 2)
    • The battle of prayer is inseparable from progress in the spiritual life. The Life of Prayer  external link Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic church
    • "When we contemplate the mysteries of Divine Providence and Love, let our gaze be simple. The simpler our concepts the deeper and truer they will be. For it is in the measure of their simplicity that they will approach the concepts in the Mind of God. Whether he is creating the world or resting on the seventh day; whether he is redeeming fallen man or permitting him to share in his glory, there is no change in God. He does one thing only - He is who is". (The Prayer of Love and Silence by A Carthusian pg.117-118)
    • To pray, essentially is to: Love God as the revealed Holy Trinity, "Father, Son, Holy Spirit". - Quies, or contemplation, is infused through diverse and personal, often silent and crucifying, manners, in a humble soul, as a benevolent manifestation from The Holy Spirit; following a selfless praxis from the heart, an essential aspiring continuous loving union of Will with God, grafted into the authentic spiritual vine, that is Jesus-Christ himself; after having been "purified by patience, fed and strengthened by studied meditation of Scripture, introduced by the grace of the Holy Spirit in the recesses of his heart" Carthusian Statutes 3.2 external link. It is not a theoretical abstract knowledge, or a technical feat happening in the mind or the body. Rather it is simply unitive Love from a quiet meditation on the humanity, teachings and real redemptive, actual, continuous, loving, graceful  helping presence of Christ, with us personally, in our present moment; to eventually a contemplative unknowing external link in the mystery of God Trinity, through a progressively liberating, graceful, unitive and scouring interior solitude5. Just sit (or "flee distraction"), and Love God, in His sometimes crucifying (even more then), redemptive Will, at the present moment, within our duty of state, be it in a monastery, hermitage or out in the open world as a SBPCLC. It is a life's activity, it can and must happen anywhere and everywhere: walking, talking, and mostly in undistracted silence and solitude; it should be prayed for as a grace, in short peaceful prayers every moment if it were possible, so that Love of God and our heartbeats, actions, be always One, in conformity with God's plan, anticipating, honoring, preparing in some way, living the reality of eternal life. Flee distraction; search only God pdf | Ascetic Christianity YouTube External link
    • php6ahEn1.png"A certain brother went to Abba Moses in Scete, and asked him for a good word. And the elder said to him: Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything."
    • The fruits of prayer described by Paul the Apostle are: love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and purity. (Galatians 5:22-23).
    • "9. And since following in the steps of our founders is the safest way to God, let the brothers keep before them the example of the first converse brothers of the Grande Chartreuse, who, before any written rule existed, gave to their life its structure and spirit. With them in mind and with joyful heart, St. Bruno wrote as follows: "Of you, dearest lay brothers, I say: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,’ because I see the richness of his mercy towards you. For we rejoice that the mighty God himself — since you are ignorant of letters — is writing directly on your hearts, not only love but also knowledge of his holy law. Indeed, what you love, what you know, is shown by what you do. It is clear that you are wisely harvesting Sacred Scripture’s sweetest and most life-giving fruit, since you observe with great care and zeal true obedience. For true obedience, which is the carrying out of God’s commands, the key to the whole spiritual life, and the guarantee of its authenticity, is never found without deep humility and outstanding patience, and is always accompanied by pure love for God and true charity. Continue, therefore, my brothers, in the state that you have attained.""  Source external link
    • Prepare your heart to pray Dom Augustin Guillerand External link
    • Interior prayer is not a technique, but an attitude of love that makes our sacramental life more fruitful, says author Father Jacques Philippe pdf
    • Prayer of the Heart  pdf(Contributed by a friend of the Quies project who looks to St. Bruno and the Carthusians)
    • Christian meditation pdf
    • Saint Padre Pio's 5 point Rule of Life external link
    • Elizabeth of the Trinity, The Charism of her Prayer, Jean Lafrancepdf
    • Philokalia external link
    • The Cloud of Unknowing external_link | The Cloud of Unknowingpdfexternal_link |  Belongs to the ancient tradition of contemplative prayer. Independent of words, and so defying definition, such prayer may be compared to the shared, silent gaze of loving, trustful people. Such prayer, beyond words or concepts, is founded on bedrock Christian beliefs: the indwelling of the Trinity, and the union of souls with and in Christ.
    • Entering silent prayer - Jean Vanier YouTube External link
    • « Whoever perseveres without defiance in the cell and lets himself be taught by it tends to make his entire existence a single and continual prayer. But he may not enter into this rest without going through the test of a difficult battle. It is the austerities to which he applies himself as someone close to the Cross, or the visits of God, coming to test him like gold in the fire. Thus purified by patience, fed and strengthened by studied meditation of Scripture, introduced by the grace of the Holy Spirit in the recesses of his heart, he will thus be able to, not only serve God, but adhere to him. » Carthusian Statutes 3.2 external link
    • « The primary application of our vocation is to give ourselves to the silence and solitude of the cell. It is holy ground, the area where God and his servant hold frequent conversations, as between friends. There, the soul often unites itself to the Word of God, bride to the groom, the earth to the sky, man to the divine. » Carthusian Statutes 4.1 external link
    • « …the habit of the tranquil listening of the heart which allows God to enter by all path and access. »  Carthusian Statutes 4.2 external link
    • « Separated from all, we are united to all for it is in the name of all that we present ourselves to the living God. »  Carthusian Statutes 34.2 external link
    • « Turned, by our profession, solely toward Him who is, we are witness in face of a world engrossed in the earthly realities that outside of Him there is no God. Our life shows that the good from heaven is already to be found on earth; it is a precursor of the resurrection and like an anticipation of a renewed world. » Carthusian Statutes 34.3 external link
    • Continual union of the heart with God: "The soul who constantly unites her life with Mine glorifies Me and does a great work for souls. Thus, if engaged in work of no value in itself . . . if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I Myself did during My mortal life, it will greatly profit souls . . . more perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world . . . and that, whether she studies, speaks or writes . . . whether she sews, sweeps or rests . . . provided first that the act is sanctioned by obedience or duty and not done from mere caprice; secondly: that it is done in intimate union with Me, with great purity of intention and covered with My Blood." A Call to Souls, Words of Our Lord from The Way of Divine Love of Sister Josefa Menéndez  external link
    • The Saints Understand One Another - Father Willie Doyle external linkand Mother Mectilde de Bar external link belonged to different religious Orders, different cultures, and different moments in history. Their experience of prayer, nonetheless, engages them in a conversation that transcends all else. 
      • willie_doyle_sj-21-thumb-300x465-2771.jpgNot Trying to Do Anything, Except Love Him: As regards prayer, you should try to follow the attraction of the Holy Spirit, for all souls are not led by the same path. It would not be well to spend all the time in vocal prayer, there should be some meditation, thought or contemplation. Try "basking in the sun of God's love," that is, quietly kneeling before the Tabernacle, as you would sit enjoying the warm sunshine, not trying to do anything, except love Him; but realizing that, during all the time you are at His feet, more especially when dry and cold, grace is dropping down upon your soul and you are growing fast in holiness.  Father Willie Doyle, S.J.
      • Madre_Mectilde_5072-1.jpgRemain Humbly at Jesus' Feet: Remain faithfully in the presence of God and do not regret that you cannot do anything. It is Jesus Christ who lives in us; we must only cling to Him with humility and simplicity of heart and spirit ( . . .) Do not resist being in the presence of God without doing anything. He wants you silent and humble. You do so much already if you leave and surrender yourself to His might. Just be faithful! Do not be concerned too much about your distractions; let them pass by, and remain humbly at Jesus' feet, and count yourself unworthy to receive His graces. Mother Mectilde de Bar, O.S.B. of Perpetual Adoration
    •  I have the everlasting conviction that any human being, however devoid of natural gifts, can penetrate to the kingdom of truth reserved for genius, if only he or she longs for truth and is willing to concentrate all attention. Attention consists of suspending our thought, leaving it detached, empty, ready to be penetrated by the thing or person we face. It means holding in our minds, within reach of this thought but on a lower level and not in contact with it, the knowledge we have acquired about that thing or person. Our way of thinking is like a woman on a mountain who, as she looks forward, sees also below her, without actually looking at them, a great many forests and plains. In this way our thought should be silent, empty, waiting, not seeking anything, but ready to receive in its naked truth the thing or the person we face. Simone Weil (1909 - 1943)
    • Surrendering to Mercy external link
    • Christian meditation  (wikipedia) external link
    • Before the beautiful - no, not really before but within the beautiful - the whole person quivers. He not only 'finds' the beautiful moving; rather, he experiences himself as being moved and possessed by it. The more complete this experience is, the less does a person seek and enjoy only the delight that comes through the senses or even through any act of his own; the less also does he reflect on his own acts and states. Such a person has been taken up wholesale into the reality of the beautiful and is now fully subordinate to it, determined by it, animated by it. Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Glory of the Lord 240
    • Faith in the full Christian sense can be nothing other than this: to make the whole man a space that responds to the divine content. Faith attunes man to this sound; it confers on man the ability to react precisely to this divine experiment, preparing him to be a violin that receives just this touch of the bow, to serve as material for just this house to be built, to provide the rhyme for just this verse being composed. This was the reaction already envisaged when the Covenant was made on Sinai: "Be holy, because I am holy." Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Glory of the Lord: Seeing the Form, I:220
    • When the Lord tells us to “pray constantly”, he is obviously not asking us to recite endless prayers, but urging us never to lose our inner closeness to God. Praying means growing in this intimacy.”  Pope Benedict XVI, 18 October 2010
    • Casting prayer is essential at all times but becomes critical eventually in the further steps of the path to Quies.
      • “Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7;  is when we go before the Lord and literally surrender, cast, completely the present moment most troubling nagging “issue” or "thought" whatever it is, which robs our present consciousness, our peace, at this present moment, from our presence and love to God Only. A prayer fight ensues on this particular issue that can last a while but we must persevere to the end with the help of God's grace, and then that thought will be pacified by God, and replaced in our consciousness or soul, with another different nagging “issue” or "thought" which was hidden by the first conquered thought; which robs at another deeper level our present full consciousness, our peace, at this present moment, from our presence to God Only; holding its ground against our perfect repose in abandonment and Quies, it was hidden behind the previous thought we had victoriously cast, with the help of God, completely into the care of God; like an army that wants to prevent us from being with our God only, we must concentrate in casting irreducibly the present moment most troubling nagging “issue” or "thought" whatever it is, which robs our present consciousness, our peace, at this present moment, from our presence to eventually God Only, until after fighting innumerable castings combats, there are no more troubling nagging “issue” or "thought" whatever it is, which robs our present consciousness, our peace, at this present moment, from our presence to God Only. All this combat is done in Christ who fights and conquers for us, with us, to make us live in His peace that the world knows not. Whether it is for example a financial hardship, a broken relationship, a workplace crisis or any spiritual stronghold, lets make a point to systematically intentionally irreducibly cast it over into God. Casting our cares incessantly and systematically we could call this: casting (worries/thoughts) prayer.
      • Casting prayer clears the path to our continual full presence to God Only, and thus to constant contemplative prayer; unhindered defended supremacy of God's Will and Life in our soul, whereby through a "serene gaze the Spouse is wounded with love; that eye, pure and clean, by which God is seen" (Carthusian Statutes Chapter 6), and truly followed.
      • Of course, one will experience that the Quies SBPCLC 5 steps commitment to the 11 guidelines : step 1 Sacramental confession, and then step 2 The Eucharist and communion, offer us the extraordinary essential support to progress in this spiritual work of conversion of casting all our cares, worries, and anxieties on God because he cares for us.
      • Metanoia for a disciple of Saint Bruno, is wholly Christocentric and Ecclesial.
      • Adrienne Von Speyr et le Sacrement de Pénitence pdf
      • Adrienne Von Speyr Confession external_link (google Books) - Hans Urs von Balthasar calls this "one of her most central works". She discusses the moral and practical aspects of the sacrament in great depth. Some of the many areas covered include conversion, scruples, contrition, spiritual direction, laxity, frequency of confession, the confessions of religious and lay people, even the confessions of saints. One of the most complete spiritual treatises ever written on confession.
        • I cast all my cares, worries, and anxieties on God because he cares for me (1 Peter 5:7)
        • When I am afraid, I trust in God (Psalm 56:3)
        • I am strong and courageous, and I am not discouraged because the Lord is with me wherever I go (Joshua 1:9)
        • I am not anxious for anything but In every situation I will present my request to God with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6)
        • My heart is not be troubled, instead I will trust in God (John 14:1)
        • The Lord himself goes before me and is with me, he will never leave me, so I'm not afraid or discouraged (Deuteronomy 31:8)
        • I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
        • The Lord is the strength of my life and so I am not afraid (Psalm 27:1)
        • I will not throw away my confidence, and I will be richly rewarded (Hebrews 10:35)
        • My God's grace is sufficient for me, and his power is made perfect in my weakness (Corinthians 12:9)
    • Saint Bruno and little children
In progressionem

5. Interior solitude (Quies): "It is a spiritual process through which memory, intellect and will progressively die to every interest and complacence for things. God begins, instead, to be felt as the only one who can satisfy the deep realms of the spirit. It is only when the Carthusian discovers, bathed in admiration, that only God satisfies him that he begins to really be a true contemplative. Feeling that only God can satisfy him produces such a feeling of interior freedom and joy that it is difficult to express it in words."