Episode Transcript  

One

When you pray

“And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:5-6

Jesus is teaching us that prayer is not a task. It’s not an obligation. It is friendship with God. I like how Teresa of Avila defines prayer, “Mental prayer…is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; its means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Life 8,5.

What does friendship take? Time. Talking, listening, and just being together. This corresponds to the three major stages of prayer (CCC 2699): Vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

Two

The Interior Castle

Prayer is friendship with God, but it is also a spiritual journey with a starting point, a clearly marked out path, and a destination. Teresa of Avila describes the spiritual journey in seven stages or interior mansions: The first mansion begins with a combination of vocal prayer and discursive meditation, exactly what we practice in this Rosary Podcast. The second mansion is affective prayer. The third mansion is prayer of simplicity. Then comes the dark night of the senses. The fourth mansion is infused contemplation. The fifth mansion is prayer of union. The sixth mansion is prayer of conforming union. Then comes the Dark Night of the Spirit. Finally, the seventh mansion is prayer of transforming union.

God did not create anyone to be locked out of the fourth mansion. God calls everyone to holiness, but only God can make us holy. We begin the journey through meditation. In the fourth mansion, God begins to carry us. That is the beginning of contemplation. Contemplation is as Psalm 36:8 says, “They will be inebriated by the richness of your house; and you will give them to drink from the torrent of your pleasure. For with you is the fountain of life.”

Teresa of Avila said, “I am certain that all who do not stop on the way will drink this living water.”

Three

The First Mansion

The first stage on the journey of prayer, the first mansion according to Teresa of Avila, is vocal prayer and discursive meditation. Vocal prayer is where we speak to God with prayers like the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, as we are doing in the Rosary. And we speak to God in our own words, one friend to another. But what is discursive meditation? Discursive meditation is the first way we listen to God. We listen to God by reading or hearing God’s Word in Scripture, Tradition, or the Teaching of the Church.

Then we think about whatever strikes us, whatever captures our attention. We ask, "Lord, what are You saying to me?"  And, “Am I living this or not?”

Then we must make a resolution, that is, the choice to put into practice what Jesus is saying to us today. We are not really listening unless we do what He told us. Every meditation should end with one concrete resolution.

Four

Signs to move on from Meditation to Simple Contemplation 

John of the Cross gives three signs by which we may discern that God is leading a soul beyond discursive meditation into the beginning of contemplation. In The Dark Knight, Book 1, chapter 9, he says, "The first sign is that since these souls do not get satisfaction or consolation from the things of God, they do not get any from creatures either." A person does not find delight in prayer as they did before, but they also don’t have a real hunger for things of this world either.

The second sign is that even though we lose our delight in prayer and our hunger for things of this world, we still have a great desire for God and to serve Him. You feel like you are in a desert. Prayer is not the delight it used to be. But you also don’t want to turn back to the pleasures of the world. Nothing seems to satisfy, but you want God more than anything, so you keep going forward to God.

The third sign is that, no matter how hard you try, you are no longer able to meditate as you once did. Discursive reflection no longer nourishes your soul. Instead, God draws you simply to remain with Him, not talking, reading, analyzing, or trying to figure things out, but resting quietly in His presence in idleness and unconcern. (John of the Cross Ascent, 2, 14, 2-3)

John of the Cross describes this as, “An inclination to remain alone and in quietude…If those in whom this occurs know how to remain quiet, they will soon in that unconcern and idleness delicately experience the interior nourishment.” Teresa tells us to continue mental prayer until we lose the desire to read and acquire more knowledge. (Life 14) Then just be with God in calm, quiet, and stillness. Cf (Life 12:2,5)

When these three signs are present together, John says we should not force ourselves back into discursive meditation. Instead, we should peacefully allow God to carry us in simple contemplation.

Five

The Great Obstacle: Consuming Without Meditating

God wants to bring every one of us into a deep friendship with Him through contemplation. He did not create anyone to be locked out of the Fourth Mansion. The problem is not that contemplation is reserved for a few great saints. The problem is that most of us never stay on the path long enough to get there. The path is simple: Read or listen to the Word of God. When something strikes you, ask: "Lord, what are You saying to me?" Make one concrete resolution. Choose one thing you will do today in response to what God has said. Read. Reflect. Make a Resolution

The great danger today is that we mistake consuming spiritual content for prayer. We read another chapter. Listen to another podcast. Watch another video. Then move on to the next thing. That is not meditation. It is simply consuming content. If we never stop to think, apply it to our life, and make a resolution, we never give God the opportunity to lead us beyond meditation into contemplation.

St. John of the Cross writes, "Contemplation is nothing but a hidden, peaceful and loving inflow of God. If it is given room, it will inflame the soul with the spirit of love." But you have to give Him room!

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