I thought I'd try to write a little every day on prayer. I'll talk a little about my own experiences because ,well this is the way I have best understood prayer. I think this is the same for everyone, we can read books and listen to others but I think life itself is our own best path to understanding. I suspect to a large extent we all of us, tottering like little infants, often tottering and falling on our faces, but getting up when Our Heavenly Father picks us up and going on share similiar paths in many ways and have much to learn from each other. At the same time everyones path too can be very different. But we all of us kneel at the feet of the same dear, Lord , Jesus Christ and all of us children of Our Mother the Church. This has been my path, I hope at the very least it will show you things which are to be avoided , if not imitated. The English poet TS Elliot said one time that to reach an ending is to return to the place you started and to recognise it for the first time . So true of prayer which is not about great complexity but great simplicity, for no one prays more truly than a child.... My first memory of prayer is kneeling by my bed side praying my night prayers before I went to sleep. I suppose I would have been two or three years old. My mother kneeling beside me, teaching me prayers, which I can well imagine were taught to her by her mother and her mother before her....some of the our traditional prayers, such as the, 'Our Father', once taught by Jesus Himself. SO rich and living is the traditions of the Church, that we, even as children walk the well worn paths of the countless nameless saints who walked before us. Two of the prayers were very much guardian prayers, for those who go into the darkness of sleep and the silence of the dreaming night. 'Oh angel of God, My guardian ,dear, To whom God's love commits me here, ever this night, be at my side, To light, to guard, to rule and to guide. Amen'
I had a similar experience of prayer when I was young, too. The pattern of learning rote prayers and reciting them at appropriate times, is an important lesson for youngsters. Such habits are a great starting point, drilling into our children the important idea that prayer should be regular, even more frequent than once/daily. To this day, I lead my 10-yr-old son, Daniel, up before the tabernacle after Holy Mass for some brief prayers of thanksgiving. After we're done, he's off to the races while I remain before the Lord. This habit teaches him the importance of spending some time with the Lord after Holy Communion. My 14-yr-old, Therese, no longer is required to do this because she will spend 5 to 10 minutes before the Lord of her own accord. Hopefully, the contemplation of the Lord will eventually become a earnest desire for all my children, and they will hunger for God throughout the day. Sir 24:29 They that eat me shall yet hunger: and they that drink me shall yet thirst. Jesus is the only one who satisfies, and yet, when do I get enough of Him?
They're very lucky children to have had God give them you for a Father, Terry. Yes teaching them to pray is the seed ground of the saints. You see this again and again in the lives of the saints that their parents taught them by word and example to pray. I think that there was many wonderful things in being the the 'Angel of God'. prayer. I think children have a natural openess to the mystical, to the other. You see this in their love for books like Harry Potter, Santa Claus, stories of ghosts and fairies and about magic. They're not as tied down as the rest of us in the black and white of things; they have a great capacity to belief in the 'other' which we tend to loose in the hustle and bustle of the every day. That is why prayer for adults can be a return to innocense. How for instance are we to believe our intercessory prayers will be answered if we do not belief it is possible that they be answered? How like Peter shall we walk on water if we do not believe we CAN walk on water. Prayer is the great doorway to the beyond, to a a real belief that all things are possible in Him who is the Creator and Father of all. When jesus was talking to the children the disciples came to remove them However Jesus rebuked them, reminding them that their angels always stood in the presence of His Heavenly Father. See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. (Mt.18:10) So the child finds she is not alone she has a friend who is always with her. I think that this is one of the great lessons of prayer, that none of us is alone. Love joins together sin seperates. Loves binds us together in community, a community of love But this is especially important in terms of our Guardian angels. Even those we love most will come and go in this life, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbours, parents. But the Guardian Angels are always with us, knowing the very best of us and the very worst. To guard, counsel , intercede for and light our way, providing the very deepest of spiritual friendships. Nor, I believe that this friendship will end in this life, but continue on in heaven; for the angel we are granted is given to us for a reason; as to which choir he comes from, so this is the choir reserved in us in heaven, the place reserved for us to replace that vacated by a fallen angel.So we shall stand besdie our angel in heaven for all eternity.
Padraig, I recently watched a show by Michael Voris, The One True Faith, on St. Michael and the Angels. He said the same thing that we would spend eternity with our angels. I think maybe St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Augustine wrote on this -- can't remember which. I expect mine will give me an earful about having made them work so hard getting me out of trouble in the wanderings of my youth. :lol: Darrell
After reading about Padre Pio's Guardian I've really incorporated mine into my daily life and I am now beginning to recognize his works. I offer part of my communion to him in thanks for his good care of me. My relying more and more on his help brings great comfort to me. Lee
I wonder, Lee in your copy of the book on Padre Pio page 15 did you happen to notice the name 'Mechtilde Schonwerth'...in religion her name was, 'Magdalene of the Cross'. Anyway she was a famous German mystic of the 19th century. There is nothing written about her in English that I can find but I did find a French website with some terrible, terrible translations into English. I mention this because the good sister has some really beautiful descrliptions of the angels she saw...also some wonderful information about angelic goings on. For instance she says an angel who guards a soul that eventually goes to hell spends its eternity with Our Lady. I'll see if I can find a link:
Here it is here, Lee..it is as I say in the most terrible English, but go half way down the page and see the most wonderful descriptions of angels: http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... 26hs%3DhvE She seems to be well respected in Italy and France but in the English speaking world, unknown.
If you are interested another great friend of the angels was this guy here, Pere Lamy ..a French priest. He had the most interesting visions I ever heard of with the angels. http://www.marianland.com/saints069.html
'French Mystic-Priest Foresaw Filling Of Monasteries, Convents After Calamities Compiled by Michael H. Brown In Catholic Prophets is the following from Father Pere Lamy, a priest who was born in 1855 and died in 1931: He was a French priest. His Bishop said “I have in my diocese another Cure of Ars." He had visions of the past and future, of Our Lord and Our Lady, St. Joseph, the Angels -- even Lucifer. The accomplishments of his life are an amazing proof of what a priest can do. He said the Rosary almost continually, and only slept one or two hours a night. He could smell sin even through a penitent's perfume. He conversed regularly with his guardian angel, and effected miracles and made prophecies. "This Voice always told of all the evils of the new 'churches' that had strayed from truth making their own doctrines. On one occasion the Voice said, 'One Mass is more acceptable to Almighty God than all the sighs and tears of the world combined because a Mass is pure God offered up to pure God.' "People were going to be forced to turn to the land, and to recover a sense of the value of the soil. Either peace and its resultant unemployment will do it... or war and the blasting of cities will do it. "'War is a punishment for sin," Our Lord told Pere Lamy (1931), adding that the First World War had three causes: 'blasphemy, Sunday labor, and the desecration of marriage' (contraception, etc.). "The prayer of the children must be the foundation of everything . . . (What a different world this would be) if only we did not place obstacles in the way of (Our Lady’s) dominion over our souls. She told me she desired a new congregation…The dispersal of the congregations (or religious) was more a punishment for the people than the individuals concerned… Prayer offered in union with Our Lady has great power. Our Lady requires the sanctity of family life. She requires that disorder should cease and that people should observe order once more. God asks only this so that he may grant them pardon. If people had heeded her, the war (1914-1918) would not have come… I will not tell you a tenth part (of what I know of the future). There are some things that would not be well to say even in 40 years time. Besides this is perhaps the least suitable epoch that has ever existed for revelation. I do not mean that small fraction of the people who are fervent Catholics. It is just those who do not need revelations… "Penance, penance, penance -- terrible times are coming. The times we are living in now (1914-1918) are as nothing to what we are soon to see . . . How Our Lord must have suffered! And yet Christians are always seeking pleasure! If it were thus in the green wood, how shall it be in the dry . . . When we are not in the state of grace (our guardian angels) would like to help us but they cannot. They often save us from accidents. Our Lady was weeping all over the world (1929). There are few devout souls nowadays… The Jews are scattered all over the world but they will not be abandoned. God never forsakes His own. As to the Apostles of the latter days, I only know one thing: Our Lord has said in His Gospel that this day is known to nobody… One should never order one's life according to visions, especially according to the visions of others. In material things we must use common sense, too. We must be careful of mysticism. The devil stands behind the mother of God: If you let her pass by you will find the devil. "Lucifer is playing his last card: he thinks the game is in his hands, in which he is mistaken . . . We must pray confidently in spite of his blustering . . . People will appreciate still more the gentle goodness of Our Blessed Lady . . . Peace will be restored to the world but I shall not see that, and other things will come to pass of which I shall not see the end. "When peace has been established in the world many things will be changed…War is big business. The manufacturers of the airplane, the exploitation of the mines, the iron workers, all that will dwindle. There will no longer be those great factories where morality withers and disappears. The working class will be bound to turn back to the land... Industry will be reduced to smaller proportions and it will remain so. "Everything will grow less. When peace is given back to the world, plots of farmland will rise to more value than they are now. Even the old workmen insist on dying in towns that will come to pass. The world will have to be re-evangelized over again and that will be work for a whole generation. "The spiritual state of the first Christians will come back more over, there will be so few men on earth. And there will be another magnificent revival of Orders and Congregations. The monasteries will flourish again, the convents will fill up again. After these calamities, souls in great numbers will come and dwell in them again." [Footnote: from other sources we get that: "Pere Lamy (1885-1931) was often granted many visions of the Blessed Mother, many saints and angels, and even the devil himself. We know that the Blessed Virgin is mistress over the devil and that, 'He hates the priests, the representatives of Jesus Christ.' The devil once told Pere Lamy, 'Give up praying and I will give up bothering you.' The good priest also tells us that the recitation of the Holy Rosary is what 'knocks Lucifer flat.' He is the sworn enemy of the rosary. That is why many saints have told us to recite the rosary often and to carry it with us." (from Angels & Devils by Joan-Carroll Cruz)]. '
Genesis 28:10-12 first mentions "Jacob's Ladder" when it says: "Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway/ladder resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." Prayer is like this, or at least for us in this generation. Its wrong to think that for the prayer pilgrim the nature, type or stage of our prayer will remain the same. No more than our relationship with those around it. True, our love for God and other should deepen, but how this deepening love expresses itself can be expected to change. As Saint Paul tells us, 'When I was a child I had the thoughts of a child, but now I have grown to man's estate I have cast off childish things'. Paul also talks about the time when we shall come to a strong depth of the Holy Spirit within us when , 'The morning star will rise in your minds'.[/color I mention this because looking back on how I prayer as a little child it occurs to me that there might be a feeling that prayer as it is understood in 'stages' might mean we look down a little on the way we prayed in the past and have somehow 'moved on'. O don't think this is true. There is often nothing so difficult in life as change and prayer, when it changes and transforms can be the most difficult of all. There is a feeling of having the ground removed from under your feet ad even of loosing the Faint. But if we look at the angels in Jacobs ladder we see them ascending and descending. I think this is a perfect picture of how prayer moves back and forward in our lives. For instance the nuns commented that they were surprised that Saint Teresa often read a book during her prayer time. How, they wondered could this great master of contemplative or mental prayer need to read during her prayer? But Saint Teresa knew the need for flexibility in prayer and that changing her methods and approach at different times was good. I think these is a natural inclination in us all to think we 'own' our prayer, or our relationship with God.. That we, 'Have it made'. But this is maybe the very time when we are praying the worst. Self satisfaction and complacency are terrible enemies of prayer. We are, if we are moving forward as pilgrims, like the Hebrews wandering in the desert rather than like those who have found the Promised Land. Sometimes whn I see the Evangelical Preachers telling us we are saved and smiling, smiling always smiling with complacent certainty this concerns me. I always get nervous of folks who have hit the gold seam and tell the rest of us how happy they are in the Promised Land.
I've just returned from vacation and one night I awoke and couldn't go back to sleep and prayed myself back. But what I started to understand was "prayer with the heart". I thought I "got it" but this was really very different. It was with "union" that I prayed, my whole being was tied up in it. It was startling in that it was so far extending, like it had no beginning nor end. I haven't been able to recreate it but really am not trying very hard to. It, I think, was a gift...like a vision. Lee
When I started of the path of prayer, Lee, about a quarter of a century ago now, it was phenomena such as you describe that interested me. I found a great teacher then in St Teresa of Avila, especially in the 'Interior Mansions, which places seven stages of prayer. St Teresa's model is strongly phenomenlogical, in other words it takes certain 'occueances' or phenomena in prayer and draws conclusions from them. I'd guess that from what you say , Lee you are talking of is the Prayer of Union , in the fifth mansion of prayer http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/tic/tic13.htm 3. But, daughters, if you would purchase this treasure of which we are speaking, God would have you keep back nothing from Him, little or great. He will have it all; 5 in proportion to what you know you have given will your reward be great or small. There is no more certain sign whether or not we have reached the prayer of union. Do not imagine that this state of prayer is, like the one preceding it, a sort of drowsiness (I call it 'drowsiness' because the soul seems to slumber, being neither quite asleep nor wholly awake). In the prayer of union the soul is asleep, fast asleep, as regards the world and itself: in fact, during the short time this state lasts it is deprived of all feeling whatever, being unable to think on any subject, even if it wished. No effort is needed here to suspend the thoughts: if the soul can love it knows not how, nor whom it loves, nor what it desires. In fact, it has died entirely to this world, to live more truly than ever in God. This is a delicious death, for the soul is deprived of the faculties it exercised while in the body: 6 delicious because, (although not really the case), it seems to have left its mortal covering to abide more entirely in God. So completely does this take place, that I know not whether the body retains sufficient life to continue breathing; on consideration, I believe it does not; at any rate, if it still breathes, it does so unconsciously. But the danger with understanding phenomena and interpreting them is that its so easy to misunderstand, one may see one swallow, as it were and suppose summer had come......
Padraig, I had a special friend die 3 yrs ago, a Carmelite Nun. She left me many wonderful books and CD's some of which I'm just now getting to. She was an appreciator of St. Teresa of Avila and I was lucky enough to inherit her books. I've never read anything of St. Teresa but by your description and reference I'm convinced to dig in. The experience I had was unlike anything I've known and has caused me to reflect deeply. When I least expect it is when I'm gifted with great consolations. His kindness knows no limits. Once again, thank you for jiggling things so I can see. Lee
This presented itself today on a Prayer Group site: St. Teresa of Avila God alone is enough. Let nothing upset you, let nothing startle you. All things pass; God does not change. Patience wins all it seeks. Whoever has God lacks nothing: God alone is enough Lee
Darrell, thank you for sharing that was beautiful. When the discussion of St. Teresa of Avila began, I couldn't help but get the sense that there is someone who has come to this forum, who is reading and listening to what is here, who is experiencing great difficulties in their life and is being so blessed by this message. I pray that it is true. Lee
Saint Teresa is a great teacher, but I found it useful myself to balance her off to help understanding with other writers such as Poulain: http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl ... 2520prayer The French writers on mystical theology too a notion round the end of the 19th and early 20th century to be more 'scientific' in their approach to prayer, so they tend to be more systematic and organised...since thats the way we are taught at school I found I liked this. Also since Teresa of course has her own model based on subjective phenomena its good to balance this off by testing the spirits by checking with outside factors, such as @are my relationships with others improving?'...'Am I becoming more forgiving?..more kindmore loving? Do I have a deeper attraction to scripture@ Do I hunger more for the Eucharist and Mass??Etc, ect Best of all is if one can find a good Spiritual Director. But they are as rare as hens teeth and worth their weight in gold... :roll:
Padraig, you just astound me. The relationship thing. Since this "union prayer" took place, everything has changed, well of course not everything but most importantly my relationship with my sweet husband, who had the propensity to not be so sweet prior to this night. He's done a 180 turn. It's was almost as though he kept in hiding this kindness and now feels it's safe to let it be exposed. Since this prayer time of mine, he's more helpful, more attentive, just more interested in my life. For example, I somehow lost my little pouch I keep all my prayers in. I lost it in all the paraphernalia we had in the car on the way home from Idaho. When I mentioned it to him he got up and went to the garage to look for it saying "I saw that in a funny place, I bet I can find it". Now not knowing my husband this would sound like a pretty reasonable thing to do and say but it just doesn't fit his M.O. for the last few years. Anyway, Praise God, he's found it's very comfortable to be like this, and it's such an unbelievable blessing to me. I know that something major must have changed in me to deliver this into being. A side gift is I have more energy, less frenetic movement and more peace. Again, I'm stunned that this little smear of of life would receive such great blessings from Our Lord. Lee
