I was listening to a very holy and wise Catholic whom I respect a lot saying prayer is difficult. He also said about how hard it is for ordinary Catholics with their very busy lives to progress in prayer and in speaking of St Teresa of Avila's seven stages of prayer that the higher levels of prayer seemed beyond him. One thing I notice very much going to Mass in the Monastery every night is the ordinary Catholics who visit there to go on Retreat for a while. I suppose they are ordinary lay Catholics leading very busy lives who took time out to come here. I just find these people very,very admirable and pay special attention to them. Time is such a precious thing and yet they pour it all back to God. They take the time, make the time for God. Is prayer difficult? Well I don't really think it should be. Perhaps it is as hard as we want to make it. Is it hard for a husband and wife to talk? I suppose it might be if they have had an argument or a falling out. Is it possible for ordinary Catholics then to become saints? We have so many examples nowadays of very ordinary working Catholics of all ages, married and unmarried of all states of life being canonised. So if they can do it.... If you look at saints like St Teresa of Avila who had special mystical gifts like working miracles, visions, floating of the ground etc it can put us off. But these were not the things that made them holy. They were holy because they loved and we, all of us, can love. Padre Pio was asked about his gifts one time and he said they were not given to him for his own sake but for the sake of others. Looking back on it yes there was a time when I found prayer difficult but that was back before my conversion. Love makes all things easy.
It is easy Padraig for those who have been given the gift of prayer. Generally speaking I would say prayer is difficult as it involves a lot of self discipline to devote time and energy to it - it is a fight against the ego and will in order to surrender to the Divine will. This is my take on it; two snippets from my wee book.
The purpose of knowing and loving God is to use it in every circumstance of life. Prayer becomes a continuous communication and even occurs while we sleep. The final prayer is action in communion with Christ. For this to happen, we must first understand how God loves us, who He is, and how we ourselves are constructed. We are made to maintain an irremediable desire to love, which will only be fully manifested in heaven. Jesus Christ is the only way to get there. He is the Truth and eternal Life for us. Worship and thanksgiving for all He has done for us is a good start. Very few people are capable of meditating on the eternal spring, the overwhelming source of love that is God. Very few people are even capable of seeing God's action throughout their lives. They are incapable of giving thanks for anything. This is a very extensive topic, full of beautiful nuances, that should begin to be narrated from the birth of the Divine Child in Bethlehem.
The highest prayer is participating at the Mass. I think we (or maybe its just me) can kind of go through the motions at Mass. But if I really enter into it well, then it becomes such a grace filled time with God. I will also say that I do struggle with more formal prayers. I do get into a rote recitation. Moments (and ive had a lot thus past year) where i simply talk to God- maybe even question Him- these are moments of great grace as well
My current understanding of prayer is that it is directed focus of the faculty of attention towards God. Depending on one's level of grace, circumstances and experience, this can be easier or harder to do. When a person reaches a constant state of surrender to their crosses while constantly being able to lift up their heart and focus their attention towards God lovingly, I believe they have reached sainthood. “Do not be afraid because with the Incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape: in eternal life, something extraordinary awaits us.” “Conversion is nothing other than lifting one’s gaze upward. All you need is a simple movement of the eyes.” - St. Carlos Acutis
The difficult thing is not praying. The problems, all the problems we have in our lives are because of lack of prayer. We were made for prayer. Those who pray will most certainly go to heaven. All those who do not will most certainly go to hell.
The only difficulty in prayer is when we do not do it. Not praying is the most difficult thing we could ever do.
I like what the Catechism teaches about prayer and was struck by the title of one section called the battle of prayer. THE BATTLE OF PRAYER CCC. 2725 Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. the great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. the "spiritual battle" of the Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.
The true end of prayer is that it should be continual that it should be like the beat of our heart or the very air we breath. Some saints reach this even from early childhood. I was just watching a video about a remarkable girl like this just this morning.
On one occasion, Saint Francis of Assisi encountered a leper who was completely embittered, despising everyone and refusing any help. The pain had turned into despair. St. Francis stepped away for a few moments to pray to God, then returned to the leper and said just one thing: “Tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it.” The leper wanted St. Francis to wash him because he emitted an unbearable stench. In this way the saint did it, and as he applied water to wash the leper’s body, the leprosy wounds miraculously began to heal. Jesus is even crazier because he washed us with his own blood. The mystery of prayer (when in a state of grace) is that of “taking a moment to converse with God from the heart; no words are necessary,” and then daring to do what is right, even if it seems like a problem, scares us, makes us feel incapable, or seems ridiculous. The Holy Spirit accompanies us in good deeds, and the more we practice them, the faster He will come. We don’t have to be a mirror, but rather a pane of glass that allows God to act without boasting of our ego, since everything we are and have is a gift. We do what we have to do and continue on our way as if nothing had happened. God glories in our weakness, which means He helps us in our need. (My humble opinion)
The Zen Buddhists talk of the pilgrim being in the market place, leaving the market place , then returning to the market place once again. They often show this happening in three little ceramic plates. The poet TS Elliot said that in the end we return to the place from which we started but know it for the first time. A return to innocence. This reminds me of what Jesus said that unless we become as little children we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There was a story that went the rounds a few years back of parents who had installed a little intercom in their babies room to hear if it cried. As they listened they heard the slightly old child say to the baby in the cot, 'Tell me again about heaven I am starting to forget'. I think when we read about the saints this child like quality comes across so well. Recently I have been thinking a lot about how I related to Jesus as a very young child. You know to my great surprise it seems just about the same way I relate to Him now. Things have gone full circle and I am right back where I started but now I understand things a lot better. St Columbanus described this well. He talks about the end of prayer being like a ship returning in the evening into a safe harbour. A coming home.
Looking back on it I think the way I prayed to God when I was very little was simply as a friend , I just used to chatter away to Him as I would a little friend. But I think as we get bigger we tend to see God as being bigger too and this can make Him seem far away. Too big to talk to.
The continuous prayer of the Orthodox Church is defined by breathing. During inhalation, we hear "Kyrie" and during exhalation, "Eleison." This also occurs during sleep. In the Latin Church, this is not used, and it is very difficult to achieve without extensive preparation. On the other hand, the Divine Child appears to many Saints because God humbles Himself so that we may approach Him without fear. This is what He likes: for us to understand how He loves us with our limitations and defects. His heart is meek and humble. His delight is to be with the children of men. He has counted the hairs of our head, He has seen how our little bones were formed in our mother's womb. He is eternal Love and His power infinite. Our hearts are called to encounter Him as the deer seeks streams of water...
The Eastern prayer practice is called Hescychasm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm From my own understanding it centres on the Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God , Have mercy on me a sinner (Or variations thereof.) It is beautifully described in the Book, 'The Way of the Pilgrim' The pilgrim is encouraged to say the prayer with increasing frequency until it is constant said even in sleep. Eventually it leads to 'Divinisation', the equivalent in the West of Spiritual Marriage, the final prayer stage. Eastern writers are wont to call this, 'Becoming human'. I kind of think this is similiar in the West to the prayer practice of saying aspirations, short constant prayer or continually saying the rosary (as Padre Pio did). Or again as Brother Lawrence wrote in the practice of the Presence of God. There is only one mountain of prayer we all have to climb East or West. But of course various spiritualities. The Eastern way seems to be more precise and mechanistic in form. But , I may be controversial to write this, but very often they are talking about the same things.
