- The battle of prayer is inseparable from progress in the
spiritual life. The
Life
of Prayer
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 . 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
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
| Ascetic
Christianity 
"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
- Prepare
your heart to pray Dom Augustin Guillerand
- Interior
prayer
is not a technique, but an attitude of love that makes our
sacramental life more fruitful, says author Father Jacques
Philippe
- Prayer
of
the Heart (Contributed by a friend of the Quies
project who looks to St. Bruno and the Carthusians)
- Christian
meditation
- Saint
Padre Pio's 5 point Rule of Life
- Elizabeth
of
the Trinity, The Charism of her Prayer, Jean Lafrance
- Philokalia
- The Cloud of
Unknowing | The
Cloud
of Unknowing
| 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
- « 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
- « 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
- « …the habit of the tranquil listening of the heart which
allows God to enter by all path and access. » Carthusian
Statutes
4.2
- « 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
- « 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
- 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
- The Saints Understand One Another - Father
Willie Doyle and Mother
Mectilde
de
Bar 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.
Not 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.
Remain 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
- Christian
meditation (wikipedia)
- 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
- Adrienne
Von Speyr Confession
(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
