Our Lady was at me and at me to write a little on the end stage of prayer, commonly called Spiritual Marriage or Transforming Union. I was reluctant to do so and have had to be dragged here by the scruff of my neck, so to speck begging and screaming , so to speak in horror that in writing about my own experiences people would have any kind of high opinion of me whatsoever .. My own personal opinion of myself spirituallly could not be lower, I promise you Lower than a snakes belly in fact. Anything to do with this prayer was pure, pure gift. Pure, pure pure gift. The older I get the more I realise this and the more I realsie what a sinner a am. But this is no bad thing. For it makes me throw myself even more fully unto God mercy. I notice the devil is not happy either. At the start of sitting down for the first time in a long time I had a full hour to write but when I went to clean three dirty pups bedding in the washing machine , my brand new washing machine it suddenly stopped working and it took me half an hour of frantic button pushing to coax it going again. For the devil takes quite as close an interest in our goings on as our good angels and is very ap rt to meddle in things, especially writing about the golden subject of prayer. Please chime in as you like with comments of questions or criticisms of whatever, love to read them.
Well the first question to answer is, I suppose, 'What exactly is Spiritual Marriage'? I think the answer to that is found in the exhortation of St Paul for us to, 'Pray at all times, unceasingly'. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Christian Living …16Rejoice at all times. 17Pray without ceasing. 18Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.… cf https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-211.shtml If you pause to think about this for a few seconds , Pray without ceasing seems utterly impossible and humanly speaking it is. But for God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Awesome post padraig, I have never been very good at speaking to our Lord throughout my day outside of prayer and the link you posted has reminded me how much He longs to be close to us. The scripture that you posted from the Apostle Paul as well has had a profound impact on my life when I began praying and thanking the Lord for all things even the ones that I felt no real gratitude for. My illness, relationships with people who constantly annoy me all these things slowly began to change before my eyes and I see them now for the blessings that they are. Thank you for that link, I will need to read it over several times I think.
Have you read "The Way of Perfection" by St. Theresa of Avila? It will change your perspective and life and bring you so much closer to our Lady and God. There is a study edition as well as regular edition . .
Padraig, That is one of the most beautiful pictures that I have ever seen! Thank you for posting this, all of it.
"For those making progress, love is applied above all to the practice of the virtues, indispensable means for our union with God." "For the perfect, love is based on the end, enjoyment of the Three Divine Persons, and consummation in the unity of the Trinity". Conchita, A Mothers Spiritual Diary I understand that unceasing prayer is to never leave Jesus alone - to be always aware of His Presence, even when you don't feel it.
I wonder if "praying without ceasing" is actually not prayer as we think of it but rather a sort of constant mindfulness of God. I think when we think about "praying without ceasing" we imagine an endless number of prayers rolling off our lips all day, but perhaps it is more having a feeling of a love for God and connecting all the little things we do throughout our day for His Glory. This of course mixed with actual verbal and mental prayers, etc. I am no master at prayer and I must confess I still have to read all of the spiritual classics on this subject, so don't anyone take this as me speaking of that which I know. These are just some thoughts on the subject I have had. Perhaps someone who knows more could let me know if I am on the right track with this thought or not?
I think sometimes we need little sign posts to keep nudging us to pray, some people carry Rosary beads or Crucifixes. St Jose Maria counselled an architecture student ho kept getting lost in the building he passed to see Christian art work while going round Madrid , he then began to see it everywhere. Though I suppose this would only work in very Catholic countries.
I have read all St Teresa's books some of them several times. I love her for being easily understood, full of commonsense and having a sense of humour. She said one time that there are three great graces attached to pray. The grace of prayer itself. The grace of understanding prayer ..and the grace of being able to explain pray to others. She had all three graces by the bucketful.
I think it is a little bit like the beating of our heart. None of us of course notices this beating but only now and again. But the fact that we do not notice it does not mean that it is beating. It is like this with constant prayer. I find it carried in an aspiration which never , ever ceases, it goes, 'I love you, I trust you , I hope in you'. But it does not matter what the words are it simply carries constant prayer. Like two lovers holding hands forever and ever. In the Eastern Tradition of the Jesus prayer it is , Lord Jesus Christ Son of God , have mercy on me a sinner'. These words are very beautiful and many powerful meditations by saints have been written on them. Nevertheless it is not the words them selves that are important but the constant turning of the face to God that counts. When this first began I suppose about 32 years ago I used to love playing cat and mouse with it. What I used to do was to turn and see if the praying was still going on at any hour of the day and night and sure enough it never ever stopped not for a second. A bit like going into a Church for a visit and never coming out again. Sometimes if you visit a religious house you can see a reflection of this. If you look at peoples lips you cna spot them moving slightly in constant prayer. This does mean necessarily that they are in Spiritual Marriage, something which is very rare, but that they are moving towards it. A good way of looking at it is this. Compare the soul to a Desert. Now imagine the souls starts to pray from time to time. Now the Holy Spirit within is like water welling up. So if you look at the desert now you would see little oasis dotted with palm trees here and there. Romans 8:15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." Eventually the prayer deepens and we see whole rivers and lakes spreading across the desert. At the final the desert disappears and all we see is a lake of water. This is Spiritual Marriage. Were the soul no longer prays but has become a prayer. Psalm 46:4 God is Our Refuge and Strength …3Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. 4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. 5God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.…
In the end prayer reduces itself to simplicity. Words are only words. Yet in my own experience words are kind of a carrier for this love. You can see this in the famous classic , 'Way of the Pilgrim'. There is no void , the Words contiue but in a way like breathe itself. I noticed a CBS documentary about Mount Athos were you can see this happening. If you watch the lips of the monks now and again you can see their lips quietly moving. This prayer movement in my experience continues at all times. Even in ecstasy and rapture. It never ever stops. Even while asleep. I would say even if a person was unconscious it would not stop.
Actually I noticed a very touching, reassuring thing just last week, I was watching a clip of the singing of the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus at the last Papal Election at the Sistine Chapel. Observe the reaction of several of the Cardinals. Several of them are in a very high state of prayer indeed if you observe them closely, I would say in high contemplative prayer, in rapture and ecstasy. Very touching, very reassuring
I hardly slept at all last night, so I think I'll just ramble in this post, since I can;t do any serious thinking. A lot of the time I was reading about St Jose Maria Escriva at the time of his life when the Communists occupied Madrid. The Commies killed half the Bishops in Spain and when they captured Cahtolic priests or nuns they killed them more nor less out of hand. Even being a devout Catholic lay person , with say a Blessed medal could get you killed. They killed around 6,800 Catholic priests and by some estimates 70,000 others in what came to be known as the, 'Red Terror' . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror_(Spain) "Execution" of the Sacred Heart by a Republican firing squad is a famous example of "an assault on the public presence of Catholicism".[1] The image was originally published in the London Daily Mail with a caption noting the "Spanish Reds' war on religion".[2]
For a lot of the time Fr Jose Maria simply wandered the streets of Madrid sleeping rough whilst the Secret Police went crazy looki9ng for him. He never lost his joy, his forgiveness , his trust in God, incredible. Many , many of those murdered by the reds at this time are now canonised. It cheered me up and made my staying awake through the night a very small cross indeed.
And yet look how many Americans and Europeans at that time supported the "republic" and vilified Franco. Notably the apostate Catholic Hemingway. The same people excused Stalin's atrocities. Blindness! And a warning. They are coming for us again I expect and excusing it with high minded platitudes. Jesus warned us it would be so. What hatred for God to turn a firing squad on the statue of The Sacred Heart.
Many people do still follow Communism , which is essentially a false God a form of anti Christ. But I think they do this in often various disguises. They believe that they will save themselves and the world by their own efforts. Tht man is essentially good but makes mistakes but that we are getting better and better. The sinner however sees us as sinners, utterly dependent on God's grace. This is exactly the reverse. We preach Christ and Christ Crucifed which is anaethema to the world
I have read of some saints who were given spiritual rings the symbol of bethrothel. I believe at Marmora a photograph of a holy (now deceased) man showed a sparkling light on his wedding finger, maybe a sign from Heaven. God Bless
I t was on May 22nd 1984 early in the morning. I used to take all the monastery sheep dogs for a wolk in the forest. I suppose there were about 8 or nine of them. I love dogs and love their company and I think they love me right back. I do hope there are dogs in heaven. The month of Mary. I guess it would have been around 4:30 in the morning in the month dedicated to Mary. As I was walking through the tress I was..how will I put it..God kind of picked me up and put me down again. As though He had picked me up and held me against His chest. Than he said , 'Now you understand'. And I did , not in great complexity but like the littlelest of children. He held me close to His breast but from now on I was always held against his breast He never really let me go again. 32 years of constantly, well hugging each other. 32 years of endlest prayer. A little bit, well, a little bit like going into a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and never coming out again. Just staying there. At home in God, God at home in me. 2 Peter 1:19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
