Tag: contemplation
To Seek God Perfectly
This then is what it means to seek God perfectly: to withdraw from illusion and pleasure, from worldly anxieties and desires, from the works that God does not want, from a glory that is only human display; to keep my mind free from confusion in order that my liberty may be always at the disposal… Read More ›
Why are there Wars?
People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills… Read More ›
You must have Saints, Mystics and Prophets
If the salvation of society depends, in the long run, on the moral and spiritual health of individuals, the subject of contemplation becomes a vastly important one, since contemplation is one of the indications of spiritual maturity. It is closely allied to sanctity. You cannot save the world merely with a system. You cannot have… Read More ›
Contemplation No Escape from Conflict
Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions in the depths of the heart like wounds that cannot stop bleeding. For every gain in deep certitude there… Read More ›
Contemplation cannot be taught
The only way to get rid of misconceptions about contemplation is to experience it. One who does not actually know, in his own life, the nature of this breakthrough and this awakening to a new level of reality cannot help being misled by most of the things that are said about it. For contemplation cannot… Read More ›
The Active and the Contemplative Life
“A person consists of a soul and body, and therefore his life’s path should consist of both physical and spiritual activities — of deeds and contemplation. “The path of an active life consists of fasting, abstinence, vigilance, kneeling, prayer and other physical feats, composing the strait and sorrowful path which, by the word of God,… Read More ›
People who do not know God
People who know nothing of God and whose lives are centered on themselves, imagine that they can only find themselves by asserting their own desires and ambitions and appetites in a struggle with the rest of the world. They try to become real by imposing themselves on other people, by appropriating for themselves some share… Read More ›
St. Anselm Raises the Mind to the Contemplation of God
Vatican City, Sep 23, 2009 / 10:50 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI . . . called on all Christians to imitate (Benedictine) St. Anselm of Canterbury’s example of love for the truth and constant thirst for God. This year, Benedict XVI recounted, marks eleven centuries since the death of Anselm. Known also as Anselm of… Read More ›
The Value of True Humility
It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is the beginning of blessedness and the consummation of humility is the perfection of all joy. Humility contains in itself the answer to all the great problems of the life of the… Read More ›
What does it mean to pray?
Often we ask: “What does it mean to pray?” For most people, it seems to mean to tell God about things we need—to make announcements to God. I guess we assume that God needs to be told about things. Jesus actually warned us about this: “Why are you babbling on to God, even the pagans… Read More ›