Prayer is a Thought & Action

This is my Seminary Entrance Acceptance 15 pg. Chicago APA to Candler, Southeastern, and Loyola

St. Bonaventure said prayer is like rising to God on “a ladder by which we can ascend into God” (p. 60). The objective of this paper is to show a few saintly ways to lead a balanced Catholic Christian prayer life. A typical problem in many Christians or rather society’s worldview is that "it is commonplace to hear things like, ‘I'm spiritual but not religious' which usually means a person does not like to attend church services”. A lot of people in society wonder, including myself, if prayer really matters nowadays especially in my generation of young adults. Philip Yancey wrote Prayer, Does it Make a Difference, recalling:

A physician friend of mine who learned I was investigating prayer told me I would have to start with three rather large assumptions: (1) God exists (2) God is capable of hearing our prayers, and (3) God cares about our prayers. "None of these three can be proved or disproved," he said. "They must either believed or disbelieved" (p. 79).

That is the right answer to the scientific age we live in. Some people, young and old, post all over Facebook making it seems like the Jesus Movement crazy days are not so out of fashion. But what is a balanced prayer life really like as a Christian and do we really believe in it? What if you’re not Christian, but spiritual? Fr. Henry Nouwen says, “A spiritual life without prayer is like the Gospel without Christ”. Considering our study of the saints as Catholics, the prologue of The Rule of Saint Benedict suggests we must “First of all every time you begin a good work, you must pray to him most earnestly to bring it to perfection”. The saints, Jesus, and Mary taught us how to live a balanced prayer life. It can be a routine such as starting off with Liturgy of the Hours utilizing the process of Lectio Divina, the Our Father, and The Rosary.

Lectio Divina is a Benedictine term, which means a “spiritual reading” basically. It can be any scriptural reading, not just liturgy of the hours. According to Guigo II, a Carthusian monk there are four parts to the divine spiritual reading: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio. Lectio means to read it slowly, then meditate, recite or pray (in thought or out loud), and then to contemplate. A Benedictine monk’s life motto is Ora et Labora, to pray out loud and work. So, throughout the day they use this theological methodology of Lectio Divina. This Latin developed term used daily across the world in reading the scriptures and especially the morning, midday, and evening prayers is an important practice for many Catholics throughout their day no matter what their vocation. It is beneficial as well since it develops the memory of the scriptures throughout the seasons into the form of prayer and exultation back to God to benefit us and grow us in our faith. This continual practice has been used by the early Fathers of the Church.

It is not impossible to think, act, and pray in thanksgiving simultaneously, but if you believe that multitasking works, then prayer as a thought and an action can help your prayer life. A structured, balanced, and patterned like Lectio Divina first balances prayer reading and contemplation. The rule of St. Benedict plus lectiodivina.com explains how we can mystically live out a balanced prayer life through Lectio Divina, by reading the Liturgy of the Hours.

A website about the method Benedictines pray is on this homepage stating:

The phrase lectio divina is difficult to translate adequately, is the Latin for sacred reading….is to choose, pick” which scriptures speak to you and appeal to the heart of God to you specifically through prayerful discernment. In sum, lectio divina may be said to be a “divine picking” or choosing of a given sentence, phrase or word through which God himself speaks. While certainly sacred (or sacra), one quickly discovers that lectio appeals directly to the heart of God and does not beat around the bush, so to speak. Lectio traces its origins to early monasticism and currently is enjoying wide acceptance among lay persons. In fact, many people show a spontaneous interest in lectio divina after having been initiated into some form contemplative prayer in line with Christian teaching and tradition5.

You can discern and use the process of Lectio Divina through reading the Liturgy of the Hours, in which are all Psalms, even for a few minutes.

The psalmist even says, “Seven times a day I will praise you Lord!” to read in the Bible which we structure canonically throughout the day as the Liturgy of the Hours! The Morning prayer is structured as such. Starting with the sign of the cross, the opening words are “Lord, open our lips, and we shall praise your name”. The italicized part is read as an antiphon where said if gathered together with a group. Italicized parts are said aloud if not alone. There is then one Psalm, a Hymn, a Canticle like Judith 16, another Psalm, a short passage of scripture like Tobit 4:14-19. Then there is a short responsory as such in the Ordinary Times:

Bend my heart to your will, O God.

- Bend my heart to your will, O God.

By your word, give me life.

- Bend my heart to your will, O God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. - Bend my heart to your will, O God.

Afterward the next reading is the Benedictus which is the Canticle and actually Luke 1:68-79 or the Song of Zechariah. The Benedictus is read as a group usually. With a church as Lauds led by a priest, there may be then intercessory and an Our Father and a blessing to end the Lauds. According to Universalis if alone, there are prayers and intercessions and a short blessing and a few Amens throughout.

Evening Compline prayer is similar. The italicized is repeated with a group or said aloud when alone. The Introduction is:

O God, come to our aid.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen. Alleluia.

Afterward is an examination of conscience. Usually recalling the day's blessings and sins, then the penitential rite is said aloud in a group. Afterward, there is a hymn and two psalms. A short reading after in the Ordinary time is read like Ephesians 4:26-27, “Do not let resentment lead you into sin; the sunset must not find you still angry. Do not give the devil his opportunity”. Then there is a short responsory committing thy will and spirit to God. After that is the reading of the Nunc Dimmitis or Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29–32) Everyone reads this together. Then there is a section for intercessions and prayer, some closings, and a reading or singing of the Salve Regina in English or Latin. The signing of the cross is always last.

St. John Cassian is one of the Christian pioneers in ascetic theory and had practiced various forms of this type of monasticism studied by the Benedictine monks for centuries. One profound view St. John Cassian explained in the Institutes shows how tirelessly the monks prayed and worked. Incorporating prayer in one’s workday can be difficult, but almost a multi-tasking thoughtless habit if one strives to use the Liturgy of the Hours Lectio Divina meditatio technique in their lives. When describing the monk’s work life and prayerful thought life, Ramsey explains:

...For they do not let any time pass without performing a task, because they not only strive to do at every moment with their hands those things that the daylight permits but they also search with anxious minds for those kinds of work that the very darkest shades of night cannot hinder, in the belief that they will acquire a loftier insight into spiritual contemplation with a pure mind the more intently and zealously they focus on work and toil. And so they consider that a moderate number of canonical prayers was divinely established in order that for those of more ardent faith there might be kept a space of time in which their virtue could run...(45)

For even doing tireless work daily and Lectio Divina within the readings you see how that day ties into the readings for mass if you get to attend in the morning or after work and LoH (Liturgy of the Hours) can pull you throughout the day blessedly. Again I say, the psalmist proclaims, “Seven times a day I will praise you Lord!” from dawn ‘til you sleep at night.

St. Paul says, “So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling”(Phil. 2:12) .We shouldn't fear to pray the wrong way, memorized or not. There are several mystical ways. St. Paul said in three words, “Pray without ceasing”(1 Thess. 5:17). My Hebrew/Greek, English translation says, “Pray, in everything giving thanks” for this same verse (προσεύχονται κατά πάντα ευχαριστείτε). Therefore, we as Catholics should give the same give thanks, which is similar to the Eucharistic word of the sacrament meaning, (to give thanks) in all types of prayer we engage in and especially unceasingly. Paul stresses this action of praying without ceasing as sacred and how we should read all scripture prayerfully including the Liturgy of the Hours.

It is very understandable it takes a certain type of mind and strength of character to develop these skills supernaturally in prayer. So what does it even mean to be a mystic in today’s society and how did monks become so fervent in prayer? William Harmless, S.J., in Mystics, paints a beautiful description of how his first class students felt. Harmless says, “We talked about the way the mystics give us a language, a vocabulary, to begin to articulate what we all taste and feel”15. This taste and feel are that interconnections between self, soul, spirit, and God through prayer. Therefore, God can reach down to our finite minds, unlike what Pseudo-Dionysus would say, and reach into our hearts to deliver a message to us that we may ask of Him in our inner being as part of His grace. Pseudo-Dionysus’ begins his Divine Names claiming Scripture and God is:

…not in the plausible words of human wisdom’ to the scripture writers, a power by which, in a manner surpassing speech and knowledge, we reach a union superior to anything available to us by our own abilities or activities in the realm of discourse or of intellect. (p. 49)

On the contrary, prayer is part of our ability to reach God through our intellect, actions, and our ability to read scripture gives us knowledge by discerning His will for our lives daily. We have power as apostles of Christ after Pentecost to communicate with God post-resurrection supernaturally through prayer and understand the scriptures through the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, our thoughts as we walk towards our places of worship transform into that meditative state where we remember our prayers within the walls better along with the congregation at mass if we’ve maintained that mystical balance during our daily life at home, work, or school. This is how the mystics, the monks, the desert fathers lived as should we.

Practically, we act out our prayer life inside and out of the church in many ways. We genuflect at each pew towards the altar; we do the sign of the cross with baptismal waters, we go through baptism, and we receive chrism oil at confirmation. We even bless our food before eating and go through the prayer of the act of contrition at reconciliation. Also, extending our hands out to the priests when saying, Peace be with you, and with your spirit, as well as joining hands in the Our Father are all acts of prayer in action. Hence, prayer is not just a thought process, but something we do, an act of our will, and an action we partake in to delve in deeper with God and not just contemplatively.

The Our Father is another important prayer to either end or start of the day. According to The Rule of St. Benedict, “The celebration of Lauds and Vespers must never pass by without the superior’s reciting the entire Lord’s prayer at the end for all to hear”. This is done throughout most of the year in Ordinary Times. In the Our Father, Jesus really explains How and Why we should pray. Also, The LORD’s Prayer together can be so much stronger and balanced if we believe in a Loving God and caring Father:

Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen18.

Tertullian was an early church father and Carthusian pagan convert and Christian apologist, Roman and Greek educated in knowledge. He taught that this practice of prayer as a whole is an ‘ask and receive’ answer from God in the Our Father in supplication to any situation and viable for any Catholic to apply to any aspect of their life at all times. Even St Augustine concurred, “Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture], and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord's Prayer”. The psalms and this prayer are essential.

Additionally, a balanced Catholic prayer life involves regular recitations with a Rosary. It is ever so important to always have a rosary with you and to pray it at least once daily. Each day’s theme is different, or repeats another mystery of Christ and focuses on Mary’s role plus illuminates much of the Passion, Resurrection, and Assumption of Mary. It is a series of prayers, usually consisting of 15 decades of Aves (or Hail Mary’s), then each decade being preceded by a paternoster and followed by a Gloria Patri. Each one of the mysteries or events in the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary is being recalled at each decade. Mother Mary prays for us all.

These are just some of many saintly ways we may lead ourselves to God in thought and action in regards to a balanced prayer life. A balanced prayer life is an important topic because without prayer we are disconnected from Jesus and just go through the motions of life, just church every Sunday, or lose touch with God completely. Some may find it difficult to daily live out their lives in Lectio Divina with Lauds or Compline, the Our Father, or Rosary with their busy lives of work, school, or family life, but by doing so the rewards are greater as we hold on to scripture and to our faith. In this more contemplative and meaningful way that mystically and actively through prayer connects each and every second of our lives to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through prayer in action, we can touch the sky when our knees hit the ground with our hands together in our hearts using prayer. The balancing niche is to keep scripture, the Father, Mother Mary, and Jesus in mind without ceasing while being led by the Holy Spirit. That is prayer as a thought and action without ceasing combined. In The Tree of Life, St. Bonaventure described in his own words how Christ calls us to use prayer as stronghold in our lives against the enemy in comparison to when Jesus was tempted. He exclaims:

Come now, disciple of Christ, search into the secrets of solitude with your loving teacher, so that having become a

companion of wild beasts, you may become an imitator and sharer of the hidden silence, the devout prayer, the

daylong fasting and the three encounters with the clever enemy. And so you will learn to have recourse to him in

every crisis of temptation because we do not have a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but

one tried in all things as we are, except sin. (p. 134)

A balanced and devout prayer life is true belief and praying without ceasing that Jesus is like a mighty redwood tree that will never be cut down while we are rooted firmly in the earth for our salvation in Him to be free to reach the sky through grace.

Works Cited

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nouwen/#sthash.yLC5XKsk.dpuf. Web. Nov. 15, 2016

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