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2697 Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every
moment. But we tend to forget him who is our life and our all. This is why
the Fathers of the spiritual life in the Deuteronomic and prophetic
traditions insist that prayer is a remembrance of God often awakened by
the memory of the heart "We must remember God more often than we draw
breath."[1] But we cannot pray "at all times" if we do not pray at
specific times, consciously willing it These are the special times of
Christian prayer, both in intensity and duration.
2698 The Tradition of the Church proposes to the faithful certain rhythms
of praying intended to nourish continual prayer. Some are daily, such as
morning and evening prayer, grace before and after meals, the Liturgy of
the Hours. Sundays, centered on the Eucharist, are kept holy primarily by
prayer. The cycle of the liturgical year and its great feasts are also
basic rhythms of the Christian's life of prayer.
2699 The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and
each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the personal
expressions of his prayer. However, Christian Tradition has retained three
major expressions of prayer: vocal meditative, and contemplative. They
have one basic trait in common: composure of heart. This vigilance in
keeping the Word and dwelling in the presence of God makes these three
expressions intense times in the life of prayer.
2700 Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our
prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be
present to him to whom we are speaking in prayer: "Whether or not our
prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of
our souls."[2]
2701 Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his
disciples, drawn by their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal
prayer, the Our Father. He not only prayed aloud the liturgical prayers
of the synagogue but, as the Gospels show, he raised his voice to express
his personal prayer, from exultant blessing of the Father to the agony of
Gesthemani.[3]
2702 The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a
requirement of our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience
the need to translate our feelings externally. We must pray with our whole
being to give all power possible to our supplication.
2703 This need also corresponds to a divine requirement. God seeks
worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that
rises from the depths of the soul. He also wants the external expression
that associates the body with interior prayer, for it renders him that
perfect homage which is his due.
2704 Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the
form of prayer most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer,
however, cannot neglect vocal prayer. Prayer is internalized to the extent
that we become aware of him "to whom we speak;"[4] Thus vocal prayer
becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer.
2705 Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why
and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the
Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We
are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the
Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts
of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of
spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on
which the "today" of God is written.
2706 To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by
confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of
life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble
and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart
and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in
order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"
2707 There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are
spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire
to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of
soil in the parable of the sower.[5] But a method is only a guide; the
important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of
prayer: Christ Jesus.
2708 Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This
mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions
of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to
follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the
mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of
prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go
further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with
him.
2709 What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative
prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing
between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who
we know loves us."[6]
Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves."[7] It is Jesus, and
in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the
beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to
be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still
meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.
2710 The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a
determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not
undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time
for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what
trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one
can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of
health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and
encounter, in poverty ant in faith.
2711 Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the
Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being
under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the
Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of
him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the
Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to
be purified and transformed.
2712 Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the
forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and
who wants to respond to it by loving even more.[8] But he knows that the
love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for
everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble
surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his
beloved Son.
2713 Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of
prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and
poverty. Contemplative prayer is a covenant relationship established by
God within our hearts.[9] Contemplative prayer is a communion in which the
Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, "to his likeness."
2714 Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of
prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through
his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" and we
may be "grounded in love."[10]
2715 Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and
he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his
holy cure about his prayer before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a
renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the
countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see
everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men.
Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ.
Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him
and follow him.[11]
2716 Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being
passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional
acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It
participates in the "Yes" of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God's
lowly handmaid.
2717 Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to
come"[12] or "silent love."[13] Words in this kind of prayer are not
speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this
silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his
incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit
of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.
2718 Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as
it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is
celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it
come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in
our acts.
2719 Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the
multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith.
The Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the
agony and the tomb - the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which
his Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak") brings to life in prayer.
We must be willing to "keep watch with [him] one hour."[14]
IN BRIEF
2720 The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the
Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feasts of the liturgical year.
2721 The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life
of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. They have
in common the recollection of the heart.
2722 Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature,
associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following
Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to
his disciples.
2723 Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination,
emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject
considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.
2724 Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of
prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word
of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to
the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.
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.
2726 In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us
erroneous notions of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple
psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a
mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures. Many
Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is
incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they "don't have
the time." Those who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because
they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from
themselves alone.
2727 We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the
mentality of "this present world" can penetrate our lives if we are not
vigilant. For example, some would have it that only that is true which can
be verified by reason and science; yet prayer is a mystery that overflows
both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others overly prize production
and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still others
exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and
the beautiful; whereas prayer, the "love of beauty" (philokalia), is
caught up in the glory of the living and true God. Finally, some see
prayer as a flight from the world in reaction against activism; but in
fact, Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce
from life.
2728 Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in
prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we
have "great possessions,"[15] we have not given all to the Lord;
disappointment over not being heard according to our own will; wounded
pride, stiffened by the indignity that is ours as sinners; our resistance
to the idea that prayer is a free and unmerited gift; and so forth. The
conclusion is always the same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome
these obstacles, we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.
Facing difficulties in prayer
2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words
and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to
whom we are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical or personal), meditation,
and contemplative prayer. To set about hunting down distractions would be
to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our
heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this
humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for
him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein
lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve.[16]
2730 In positive terms, the battle against the possessive and dominating
self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on
vigilance, he always relates it to himself, to his coming on the last day
and every day: today. The bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; the
light that must not be extinguished is that of faith: "'Come,' my heart
says, 'seek his face!'"[17]
2731 Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray,
is dryness. Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is
separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings,
even spiritual ones. This is the moment of sheer faith clinging faithfully
to Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. "Unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if dies, it bears much
fruit."[18] If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has
fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion.[19]
Facing temptations in prayer
2732 The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith. It
expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual
preferences. When we begin to pray, a thousand labors or cares thought to
be urgent vie for priority; once again, it is the moment of truth for the
heart: what is its real love? Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a last
resort, but do we really believe he is? Sometimes we enlist the Lord as an
ally, but our heart remains presumptuous. In each case, our lack of faith
reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition of a humble heart:
"Apart from me, you can do nothing."[20]
2733 Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia.
The spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax
ascetical practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart. "The
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."[21] The greater the
height, the harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is, it is the
reverse of presumption. The humble are not surprised by their distress; it
leads them to trust more, to hold fast in constancy.
2734 Filial trust is tested - it proves itself - in tribulation.[22] The
principal difficulty concerns the prayer of petition, for oneself or for
others in intercession. Some even stop praying because they think their
petition is not heard. Here two questions should be asked: Why do we think
our petition has not been heard? How is our prayer heard, how is it
"efficacious"?
Why do we complain of not being heard?
2735 In the first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we
praise God or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not
particularly concerned whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On
the other hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. What is the
image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used? or the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
2736 Are we convinced that "we do not know how to pray as we ought"?[23]
Are we asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need
before we ask him,[24] but he awaits our petition because the dignity of
his children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of
freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants.[25]
2737 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on
your passions."[26] If we ask with a divided heart, we are
"adulterers";[27] God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our
life. "Or do you suppose that it is in vain that the scripture says, 'He
yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?'"[28]
That our God is "jealous" for us is the sign of how true his love is. If
we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.
Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask
him; for he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling
to him in prayer.[29]
God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be
able to receive what he is prepared to give.[30]
How is our prayer efficacious?
2738 The revelation of prayer in the economy of salvation teaches us that
faith rests on God's action in history. Our filial trust is enkindled by
his supreme act: the Passion and Resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer
is cooperation with his providence, his plan of love for men.
2739 For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit
in us and on the faithful love of the Father who has given us his only
Son.[31] Transformation of the praying heart is the first response to our
petition.
2740 The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition.
He is its model, he prays in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son
seeks only what pleases the Father, how could the prayer of the children
of adoption be centered on the gifts rather than the Giver?
2741 Jesus also prays for us - in our place and on our behalf. All our
petitions were gathered up, once for all, in his cry on the Cross and, in
his Resurrection, heard by the Father. This is why he never ceases to
intercede for us with the Father.[32] If our prayer is resolutely united
with that of Jesus, in trust and boldness as children, we obtain all that
we ask in his name, even more than any particular thing: the Holy Spirit
himself, who contains all gifts.
2742 "Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father."[33] St. Paul adds, "Pray
at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end
keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the
saints."[34] For "we have not been commanded to work, to keep watch and to
fast constantly, but it has been laid down that we are to pray without
ceasing."[35] This tireless fervor can come only from love. Against our
dullness and laziness, the battle of prayer is that of humble, trusting,
and persevering love. This love opens our hearts to three enlightening and
life-giving facts of faith about prayer.
2743 It is always possible to pray: The time of the Christian is that of
the risen Christ who is with us always, no matter what tempests may
arise.[36] Our time is in the hands of God:
It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or
strolling alone, or seated in your shop, . . . while buying or selling, .
. . or even while cooking.[37]
2744 Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less
convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into
the slavery of sin.[38] How can the Holy Spirit be our life if our heart
is far from him?
Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what
is difficult, easy.... For it is impossible, utterly impossible, for the
man who prays eagerly and invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin.[39]
Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly
damned[40]
2745 Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same
love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love; the same filial and
loving conformity with the Father's plan of love; the same transforming
union in the Holy Spirit who conforms us more and more to Christ Jesus;
the same love for all men, the love with which Jesus has loved us.
"Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he [will] give it to you. This I
command you, to love one another."[41]
He "prays without ceasing" who unites prayer to works and good works to
prayer. Only in this way can we consider as realizable the principle of
praying without ceasing.[42]
2746 When "his hour" came, Jesus prayed to the Father.[43] His prayer,
the longest transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole economy of
creation and salvation, as well as his death and Resurrection. The prayer
of the Hour of Jesus always remains his own, just as his Passover "once
for all" remains ever present in the liturgy of his Church.
2747 Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer the "priestly" prayer
of Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his
sacrifice, from his passing over (Passover) to the Father to whom he is
wholly "consecrated."[44]
2748 In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated
in Christ:[45] God and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and
time; the love that hands itself over and the sin that betrays it; the
disciples present and those who will believe in him by their word;
humiliation and glory. It is the prayer of unity.
2749 Jesus fulfilled the work of the Father completely; his prayer, like
his sacrifice, extends until the end of time. The prayer of this hour
fills the end-times and carries them toward their consummation. Jesus, the
Son to whom the Father has given all things, has given himself wholly back
to the Father, yet expresses himself with a sovereign freedom[46] by
virtue of the power the Father has given him over all flesh. The Son, who
made himself Servant, is Lord, the Pantocrator. Our high priest who prays
for us is also the one who prays in us and the God who hears our prayer.
2750 By entering into the holy name of the Lord Jesus we can accept, from
within, the prayer he teaches us: "Our Father!" His priestly prayer
fulfills, from within, the great petitions of the Lord's Prayer: concern
for the Father's name;[47] passionate zeal for his kingdom (glory);[48]
the accomplishment of the will of the Father, of his plan of
salvation;[49] and deliverance from evil.[50]
2751 Finally, in this prayer Jesus reveals and gives to us the
"knowledge," inseparably one, of the Father and of the Son,[51] which is
the very mystery of the life of prayer.
IN BRIEF
2752 Prayer presupposes an effort, a fight against ourselves and the wiles
of the Tempter. The battle of prayer is inseparable from the necessary
"spiritual battle" to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ: we
pray as we live, because we live as we pray.
2753 In the battle of prayer we must confront erroneous conceptions of
prayer, various currents of thought, and our own experience of failure. We
must respond with humility, trust, and perseverance to these temptations
which cast doubt on the usefulness or even the possibility of prayer.
2754 The principal difficulties in the practice of prayer are distraction
and dryness. The remedy lies in faith, conversion, and vigilance of
heart.
2755 Two frequent temptations threaten prayer: lack of faith and acedia -
a form of depression stemming from lax ascetical practice that leads to
discouragement.
2756 Filial trust is put to the test when we feel that our prayer is not
always heard. The Gospel invites us to ask ourselves about the conformity
of our prayer to the desire of the Spirit.
2757 "Pray constantly" (1 Thess 5:17). It is always possible to pray. It
is even a vital necessity. Prayer and Christian life are inseparable.
2758 The prayer of the hour of Jesus, rightly called the "priestly prayer"
(cf. Jn 17), sums up the whole economy of creation and salvation. It
fulfills the great petitions of the Our Father.
ENDNOTES
1 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Orat. theo., 27, 1, 4: PG 36, 16.
2 St. John Chrysostom, Ecloga de oratione 2: PG 63, 585.
3 Cf. Mt 11:25-26; Mk 14:36.
4 St. Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection 26, 9 in The Collected Works
of St. Teresa of Avila, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD
(Washington DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1980), II, 136.
5 Cf. Mk 4:4-7, 15-19.
6 St. Teresa of Jesus, The Book of Her Life, 8, 5 in The Collected Works
of St. Teresa of Avila, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD
(Washington DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1976), I, 67.
7 Song 1:7; cf. 3:14.
8 Cf. Lk 7:36-50; 19:1-10.
9 Cf. Jer 31:33.
10 Eph 3:16-17.
11 Cf. St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 104.
12 Cf. St. Isaac of Nineveh, Tract. myst. 66.
13 St. John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels, 53 in The Collected Works
of St. John of the Cross, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD
(Washington DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979), 678.
14 Cf. Mt 26:40.
15 Cf. Mk 10:22.
16 Cf. Mt 6:21, 24.
17 PS 27:8.
18 Jn 12:24.
19 Cf. Lk 8:6, 13.
20 Jn 15:5.
21 Mt 26:41.
22 Cf. Rom 5:3-5.
23 Rom 8:26.
24 Cf. Mt 6:8.
25 Cf. Rom 8:27.
26 Jas 4:3; cf. the whole context: Jas 4:1-10; 1:5-8; 5:16.
27 Jas 4:4.
28 Jas 4:5.
29 Evagrius Ponticus, De oratione 34: PG 79, 1173.
30 St. Augustine, Ep. 130, 8, 17: PL 33, 500.
31 Cf. Rom 10:12-13; 8:26-39.
32 Cf. Heb 5:7; 7:25; 9:24
33 1 Thess 5:17; Eph 5:20.
34 Eph 6:18.
35 Evagrius Ponticus, Pract. 49: PG 40, 1245C.
36 Cf. Mt 28:20; Lk 8:2.4.
37 St. John Chrysostom, Ecloga de oratione 2: PG 63, 585.
38 Cf. Gal 5:16-25.
39 St. John Chrysostom, De Anna 4, 5: PG 54, 666.
40 St. Alphonsus Liguori, Del gran Mezzo della preghiera.
41 Jn 15:16-17.
42 Origen, De orat. 12: PG 11, 452c.
43 Cf. Jn 17.
44 Cf. Jn 17:11, 13, 19.
45 Cf. Eph 1:10.
46 Cf. Jn 17:11, 13, 19, 24.
47 Cf. Jn 17:6, 11, 12, 26.
48 Cf. Jn 17:1, 5, 10, 22, 23-26.
49 Cf. Jn 17:2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24.
50 Cf. Jn 17:15.
51 Cf. Jn 17:3, 6-10, 25.
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