I suppose many are familiar with Francis view of Creation by which he contemplated God in all things – as St. Bonaventure wrote in his Major Life of St Francis (IX:1):
But did Francis practice what we would call ‘contemplative prayer’ or did he live contemplatively? What is contemplative prayer? Is it desiring and gazing and allowing ourselves to be held in the compassionate gaze of God whilst all the while treating all those logismoi – distracting thoughts – that come to us as so many children wanting to distract or gaze? Or is it certain practices – Centring Prayer, for example, or spending time before the Blessed Sacrament or an icon seeking to be still? Do our contemplative prayer-practices ‘stand-alone’ or do we find that they begin to affect the rest of life? Are we beginning to live contemplatively’? What do we mean by ‘contemplation’?
Contemplation
The root of the word concerns a space reserved for sacred purposes from the Latin word templum, a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, or a building for worship. It has ben associated with a long thoughtful look at something and has been described as simply taking a ‘long, loving look at the real’ (Walter Burghardt SJ). It could be described as a way of offering a balance to activism for it invites us to stop and focus our distracted attention. It is a way to realise a sense of being at one with an-other and can be practiced by anyone. The Swiss-born German artist Paul Klee observed: ‘In a forest I have felt, many times over, that it was not I who looked at the forest. Some days I have felt that the trees were looking at me … were speaking to me … I was there listening … I think that the painter must be penetrated by the universe and not want to penetrate it.’
Be still and know that I am God. (Ps.46.10)
Contemplative
prayer
Contemplative prayer is one of
the classic forms of Christian prayer.
Whilst Discursive prayer is a prayer using words where we talk to
God and meditation a type of prayer where we think about God, contemplation
is a type that does not use words or thoughts but a prayer-practice where we
are simply with God.
For some it is exemplified in the English tradition by the medieval work of an unknown author, The Cloud of Unknowing: ‘Lift up your heart to God with humble love: and mean God himself, and not what you get out of him… Try to forget all created things that he ever made, and the purpose behind them, so that your thought and longing do not turn or reach out to them either in general or in particular’ (Ch.3). The writer then points out what had become clear to all contemplatives: ‘When you first begin, you find only darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing. You don’t know what this means except that in your will you feel a simple steadfast intention reaching out towards God. Do what you will, and this darkness and this cloud remain between you and God… Reconcile yourself to wait in this darkness as long as is necessary, but still go on longing after him whom you love’ (Ch.3).
‘For He can well
be loved, but he cannot be thought.
By love he can
be grasped and held,
but by thought, neither grasped nor held.’
(The Cloud of Unknowing, Ch.6)
Meditation
Contemplation is sometimes
confused with meditation. Meditation is
a practice which uses a particular technique, such as a mantra, to focus the
mind in order to train attention and awareness.
One mantric prayer used by St. Francis was the simple: “Deus meus et Omnia
– my God and my All”.
“Whatever a monk
keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering,
that becomes the inclination of his awareness.”
(Buddha, Majjhima Nikaya 19,)
Centring Prayer is a name given to various forms of meditation designed to aid the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to cooperate with this gift. ‘It is an attempt to present the teaching of earlier time (e.g. The Cloud of Unknowing) in an updated form and to put a certain order and regularity into it. It is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; it simply puts other kinds of prayer into a new and fuller perspective. During the time of prayer we consent to God's presence and action within’ (Contemplative Outreach).
Mindfulness
Rooted in ancient practices of Eastern
and Western meditation this concerns focussing on opening the soul to God. In secular terms certain practices are recommended
in order to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. Mindfulness has been described as ‘the basic
human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing,
and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us” (What
Is Mindfulness?, Mindful.org, 2014).
Is Meditation, which usually concerns openness to God through a loving
inclination of the heart, the same as Mindfulness or is Mindfulness, primarily,
a discipline focusing on developing inner freedom through practising certain
techniques? Or are mindfulness practices
akin to the ancient practice of recollection which is the first step on the
contemplative path? Or are they two
sides of the same coin?
All have their pitfalls, especially when they become focussed on perfecting techniques. It’s easy to forget that meditation needs to be understood in the context of the commandment to love God and neighbour – in fact, it’s all about putting self aside to centre on God rather than attaining a particular experience. Living in a society where the self often seems all important Jesus teaching to put self aside and that those who seek to save their life will lose it – and those who lose their life for his sake will find it – are challenging. As is his observation that whoever wants to follow his way must deny themselves and take up their cross. This seems to make clear that we ought not to be too concerned with the perfecting of techniques but by the loving gift of self through our practice (Matt. 16:25f).
The orans mentale (mental prayer) of which St Teresa of Avila wrote in her Book of the Life (Chs.8-10) seems similar to aspects of Mindfulness. But her practices were motivated by a desire for intimacy and “unknowing” (‘the soul’s profit consists not in thinking much but in loving much’ – Foundation 5.2), not for the benefit of the individual but for the purpose of the exercise of ‘good works’ brought about by loving desire.
Orthodoxy uses the word theoria to indicate beholding God leading to theosis, which is union with God through the ascetic practise of hesychasm, that process of letting the mind be enfolded in the heart to enable the sinful person to be changed, by grace, into a child of God. It is connected with the desire to create a pure heart which enables the vision of God (Matt. 5.8) and, in the Christian tradition, is rooted in the cosmic Christ.
Contemplative
living
For some the practice of
contemplative prayer/meditation is an important part of their life of
prayer. It is quite possible to develop
such a practice separate from the rest of life – having a ‘quiet time’ can be
important in a hectic life, but I wonder if it’s really possible to have such a
distinction between contemplative prayer and contemplative living? In New
Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton wrote: ‘Contemplation is life itself,
fully awake, fully active, and fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual
wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is
gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. It is a vivid realization of
the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent, and
infinitely abundant Source’ (New York: New Directions Press, 1962: 1-3). So
Merton begins to invite us to consider practice contemplation in action which
will affect the way we look at the homeless as much as the trees.
Later, in a survey (Robert Toth, The Merton Institute) most of those contacted defined contemplative living as ‘leading a less busy, more quiet life or engaging in certain practices such as meditation, centering prayer or yoga. In the popular imagination contemplative living is still influenced by the close connection between contemplation and monks and nuns who leave "the world" and live in monasteries.’
_________________________________
‘There are some
profoundly important characteristics in Merton's interpretation of
contemplative living that distinguish it from popular notions of
spirituality. First, it
is specific in its focus on our four essential relationships. Secondly, it asserts that our
contemplative/spiritual practices lead us to a clearer understanding of
our responsibility in these relationships. Thirdly, it emphasizes that our everyday,
active life is our spiritual life and that our contemplation should guide
our actions; and fourthly, it provides direction to our actions that
deepens and transforms our relationships in ways that are visible
and measurable. These distinctive characteristics of contemplative
living make it tangible and easy to adopt as a way of life.’ (Contemplative Living, The Abbey of the
Arts, https:///abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2007/07/29/contemplative-living/)
That was clearly an impetus to the development of monastic life and would seem the cause for St. Francis’ Rule for Hermitages. Richard Rohr OFM has said that ‘Creation itself was Francis’ primary cathedral, which then drove him back into the needs of the city, a pattern very similar to Jesus’ own movement between desert solitude (contemplation) and small-town healing ministry (action)’ (A Cosmic Mutuality, CAC, October 6th, 2020).
Like others who heard the call to live with a deepening awareness of the presence of God in all things Francis found an example of the contemplative life in Mary the Mother of God. She had listened to the Word, given birth to it in the silence of her womb and contemplated Him with a growing awareness of His identity as she became what she was called to be:
Hail,
holy Lady, most holy Queen,
Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin.
You were chosen by the Most High Father in heaven,
consecrated by Him, with His most Holy Beloved Son
and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
On you descended and still remains all the fullness of grace and every good.
Hail, His Palace.
Hail His Tabernacle.
Hail His Robe.
Hail His Handmaid.
Hail, His Mother.
and Hail, all holy Virtues, who, by grace and inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
are
poured into the hearts of the faithful so that from their faithless state,
they may be made faithful servants of God through you.
Both Francis and Merton show that contemplation affects the one who contemplates and concerns living in true relationship with oneself, God, others – and nature. As Fr. Richard Rohr OFM has written: ‘For Francis, nature itself was a mirror for the soul, for self, and for God. Clare used the word mirror more than any other metaphor for what is happening between God and soul. The job of religion and theology is to help us look in the mirror that is already present. All this “mirroring” eventually effects a complete change in consciousness’ (Contemplating the Goodness of God with St Francis).
Rohr points out that
contemplative practices will affect the psyche to the extent that they can lead
to a movement of the soul to want to live in such a way. Finally, our own Fr. Gilbert Shaw said in a
talk to the Sisters of the Love of God: ‘(God) has brought in the Kingdom. There is nothing static about it: it is not
an escape of the soul from the encumbrance of the body; nor is it a mystic
consciousness of entities and experiences beyond the temporal. It is the experience of the whole of life
lived for the will of God’ (Paper on Contemplative Prayer).
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