Archive for the ‘Prayer’ Category

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A Universal Prayer – Pope Clement XI

February 21, 2013
Praying hands also known as Study of the Hands of an Apostle, is a famous Pen-and-ink drawing by the German printmaker, painter and theorist Albrecht Dürer made circa 1508. The artwork is stored at Albertina museum -- Graphische Sammlung in Vienna, Austria. Dürer used white heightening technique and black ink on (self-made) blue colored paper. The drawing shows two male hands palm to palm praying, the body to the right (not seen). Also, the partly up-folded sleeves of the prayer are seen. The drawing is a sketch (study) for an apostles' hand who was planned to be in the center panel of the triptych for the Heller altar. On the same paper is a sketch of the apostle's head, but the sheet has been divided from it. Overall, Dürer made 18 sketches for the altarpiece. Dürer painted the Heller altarpiece, a triptych, between 1507 and 1509 together with Matthias Grünewald. The artwork was named after Jakob Heller who ordered it. Dürer painted the interior, Grünewald the exterior.The hand sketch is realized on the triptych in the inside center panel on the right in similarity, although in smaller size. The painting was destroyed by a fire in 1729. The famous Dürer copyist Jobst Harrich painted a duplicate in the 17th century. The central panel is also called große Taffel von unser lieben Frauen Himmelfahrt mit den zwölf Aposteln. The first public recognition of the artwork was in 1871 when it was exhibited in Vienna. The image depicts probably the master's own hands.

Praying hands also known as Study of the Hands of an Apostle, is a famous Pen-and-ink drawing by the German printmaker, painter and theorist Albrecht Dürer made circa 1508. The artwork is stored at Albertina museum — Graphische Sammlung in Vienna, Austria. Dürer used white heightening technique and black ink on (self-made) blue colored paper. The drawing shows two male hands palm to palm praying, the body to the right (not seen). Also, the partly up-folded sleeves of the prayer are seen. The drawing is a sketch (study) for an apostles’ hand who was planned to be in the center panel of the triptych for the Heller altar. On the same paper is a sketch of the apostle’s head, but the sheet has been divided from it. Overall, Dürer made 18 sketches for the altarpiece. Dürer painted the Heller altarpiece, a triptych, between 1507 and 1509 together with Matthias Grünewald. The artwork was named after Jakob Heller who ordered it. Dürer painted the interior, Grünewald the exterior.The hand sketch is realized on the triptych in the inside center panel on the right in similarity, although in smaller size. The painting was destroyed by a fire in 1729. The famous Dürer copyist Jobst Harrich painted a duplicate in the 17th century. The central panel is also called große Taffel von unser lieben Frauen Himmelfahrt mit den zwölf Aposteln. The first public recognition of the artwork was in 1871 when it was exhibited in Vienna. The image depicts probably the master’s own hands.

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.
I trust in you: strengthen my trust.
I love you: let me love you more and more.
I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.

I worship you as my first beginning,
I long for you as my last end,
I praise you as my constant helper,
And call on you as my loving protector.

Guide me by your wisdom,
Correct me with your justice,
Comfort me with your mercy,
Protect me with your power.

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;
My words: to have you for their theme;
My actions: to reflect my love for you;
My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.

I want to do what you ask of me:
In the way you ask,
For as long as you ask,
Because you ask it.

Lord, enlighten my understanding,
Strengthen my will,
Purify my heart,
and make me holy.

Help me to repent of my past sins
And to resist temptation in the future.
Help me to rise above my human weaknesses
And to grow stronger as a Christian.

Let me love you, my Lord and my God,
And see myself as I really am:
A pilgrim in this world,
A Christian called to respect and love
All whose lives I touch,
Those under my authority,
My friends and my enemies.

Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,
Greed by generosity,
Apathy by fervor.
Help me to forget myself
And reach out toward others.

Make me prudent in planning,
Courageous in taking risks.
Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.

Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer,
Temperate in food and drink,
Diligent in my work,
Firm in my good intentions.

Let my conscience be clear,
My conduct without fault,
My speech blameless,
My life well-ordered.

Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.
Let me cherish your love for me,
Keep your law,
And come at last to your salvation.

Teach me to realize that this world is passing,
That my true future is the happiness of heaven,
That life on earth is short,
And the life to come eternal.

Help me to prepare for death
With a proper fear of judgment,
But a greater trust in your goodness.
Lead me safely through death
To the endless joy of heaven.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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The Philokalia On Prayer 2 – Various

February 8, 2013
The Early Church Fathers of the Western Christian Tradition are widely known, but the Early Desert Fathers of the Orthodox Church (The Writers of the Philokalia) are not as widely known or understood. What makes them unique is their unusual asceticism. Most of them became hermits and lived in the caves of Egypt to uncover the deepest secrets of the inner soul of man. It was in this profound aloneness and heightened dispassion, that these Early Desert Fathers found God. And it was in this utter silence, that they expounded the deep truths which they discovered and wrote down for generations to come. ‘Writers of the Philokalia’ seeks to simplify the four to six volume collection of the Philokalia by introducing the lives and teachings of these Desert Fathers in an Overview fashion.

The Early Church Fathers of the Western Christian Tradition are widely known, but the Early Desert Fathers of the Orthodox Church (The Writers of the Philokalia) are not as widely known or understood. What makes them unique is their unusual asceticism. Most of them became hermits and lived in the caves of Egypt to uncover the deepest secrets of the inner soul of man. It was in this profound aloneness and heightened dispassion, that these Early Desert Fathers found God. And it was in this utter silence, that they expounded the deep truths which they discovered and wrote down for generations to come.

Prayer, like faith itself, is a gift from God. But we must actively accept the gift through our participation.

The Fathers define prayer as a spiritual weapon. Unless we are armed with it, we cannot engage in warfare, but are carried off as prisoners to the enemy’s country. Nor can we acquire pure prayer unless we cleave to God with an upright heart. For it is God who gives prayer to him who prays and who teaches man spiritual knowledge.
St. Theodoros The Great Ascetic, A Century Of Spiritual Texts, Sec. 8

Especially important is pure prayer — prayer that is unceasing and uninterrupted. Such prayer is a safe fortress, a sheltered harbor, a protector of virtues, a destroyer of passions. It brings vigor to the soul, purifies the intellect, gives rest to those who suffer, consoles those who mourn. Prayer is converse with God, contemplation of the invisible, the angelic mode of life, a stimulus toward the Divine, the assurance of things longed for, “making real the things for which we hope” Hebrews 11:1). As an ascetic you must embrace this queen of the virtues with all your strength. Pray day and night. Pray at times of dejection and at times of exhilaration. Pray with fear and trembling, With a watchful and vigilant mind, so that prayer may be accepted by the Lord. For, as the psalmist says: “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer” (Psalm 34:15).
St. Theodoros The Great Ascetic, A Century Of Spiritual Texts, Sec. 60

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The monastic tradition emphasizes the importance of rising early to praise God.

Whatever a man loves, he desires at all costs to be near to continuously and uninterruptedly, and he turns himself away from everything that hinders him from being in contact and dwelling with the object of his love. It is clear therefore that he who loves God also desires always to be with him and to converse with him. This comes to pass in us through pure prayer. Accordingly, let us apply ourselves to prayer with all our power; for it enables us to become akin to God. Such a man was he who said: “O God, my God, I cry to Thee at dawn; my soul has thirsted for Thee” (Psalm 63:1, LXX). For the man who cries to God at dawn has withdrawn his intellect from every vice and clearly is wounded by divine love.
St. Theodoros The Great Ascetic A Century Of Spiritual Texts, Sec. 94

Prayer gives thanks for blessings received and asks for failures to be forgiven and for power to strengthen us for the future; for without God’s help the soul can indeed do nothing. Nonetheless, to persuade the will to have the strongest possible desire for union with and enjoyment of God, for whom it longs, and to direct itself totally toward him, is the major part of the achievement of our aim.
St. Theodoros The Great Ascetic, Theoretikon

Almsgiving heals the soul’s incensive power, fasting withers sensual desire; prayer purifies the intellect and prepares it for the contemplation of created things. For the Lord has given us commandments that correspond to the powers of the soul.
St. Maximos The Confessor, First Century On Love, Sec. 79

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In the West, there is a strong tradition of prayer using images (kataphatic prayer), as well as imageless (apophatic) prayer. In the East, however, and especially in the Athonite (that is, having to do with Mount Athos) spirituality contained in the Philokalia, the use of images in prayer is strongly discouraged.

When during prayer no conceptual image of anything worldly disturbs intellect, then know that you are within the realm of depression.
St. Maximos The Confessor, First Century On Love, Sec. 88

He who truly loves God prays entirely without distraction, and he who prays entirely without distraction loves God truly. But he whose intellect  is fixed on any worldly thing does not pray without distraction, and consequently he does not love God.
St. Maximos The Confessor, Second Century On Love, Sec 1

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Christ becomes king over man’s soul through man’s frequent prayer and the outpouring of his self. He becomes the true center of its being and movements. At that stage, man will never find rest in anything except in Christ alone, where the image would rest in its own likeness. Since the soul has been created for immortality, it will thus find in Christ, when it unites with him, its ultimate joy. Through his existence, he consummates its own existence and immortality.“
Matthew the Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life: The Inner Way

Two states of pure prayer are exalted above all others. One is to be those who have not advanced beyond the practice of the virtues, the other in those leading the contemplative life. The first is engendered in the soul by fear of God and a firm hope in him, the second by an intense longing for God and by total purification. The sign of the first is that the intellect, abandoning all conceptual images of the world, concentrates itself and prays without distraction or disturbance as if God himself were present, as indeed he is. The sign of the second is that at the very onset of prayer the intellect is so ravished by the divine and infinite light that it is aware neither of itself nor of any other created thing, but only of him who through love has such radiance in it. It is then that, being made aware of God’s qualities, it receives clear and distinct reflections of him.
St. Maximos The Confessor, Second Century On Love, Sec. 6

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Imageless prayer is seen as superior to the use of images in prayer, and as necessary to unceasing prayer.

It is said that the highest state of prayer is reached when the intellect and the flesh and the world, and while praying is utterly free from matter and form. He who maintains this state has truly attained unceasing prayer.
St. Maximos The Confessor,  Second Century On Love, Sec. 6

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Enmity is considered not only alien to the life of prayer, but as an enemy of prayer. Here Maximos exhorts us to accept an apology (if made), or to assume that we are at fault. The point is not to establish who is right, but to be forgiving and humble.

Has a brother been the occasion of some trial for you and has your resentment led you to hatred? Do not let yourself be overcome by this hatred, but conquer it with love. You will succeed in this by praying to God sincerely for your brother and by accepting his apology; or else by conciliating him with an apology yourself, by regarding yourself as responsible for the trial, and by patiently waiting until the cloud has passed.
St. Maximos The Confessor, Fourth Century On Love, Sec. 22

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Maximos provides practical guidance for each part of the soul and body. The Eastern approach is holistic.

If you want to be a just person, assign to each aspect of yourself — to your soul and your body — what accords with it. To the intelligent aspect of the soul, assign spiritual reading, contemplation, and prayer; to the incensive aspect, spiritual love, the opposite of hatred; to the desiring aspect, moderation and self-control; to the fleshly part, food and clothing, for these alone are necessary (1 Timothy 6:8).
St. Maximos The Confessor, Fourth Century On Love, Sec. 44

Who in this generation is completely free from impassioned conceptual images, and has been granted uninterrupted, pure, and spiritual prayer? Yet this is the mark of the inner monk.
St. Maximos The Confessor, Fourth Century On Love, Sec. 51

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The Philokalia on Prayer 1 – Various

February 7, 2013
The Philokalia is a "principal spiritual text" for all the Eastern Orthodox Churches; the publishers of the current English translation state that "The Philokalia has exercised an influence far greater than that of any book other than the Bible in the recent history of the Orthodox Church."

The Philokalia is a “principal spiritual text” for all the Eastern Orthodox Churches; the publishers of the current English translation state that “The Philokalia has exercised an influence far greater than that of any book other than the Bible in the recent history of the Orthodox Church.”

The Philokalia is a collection of writings by monks of the fourth to the fifteenth centuries and more than any other text reflects the Eastern Church’s interpretation of the Bible’s meaning. Philokalia means “Love of the Beautiful” and shows the text’s emphasis on the mystical and contemplative practices to engage all our senses in the acts of worship and prayer. The translations here are done by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Bishop Kallistos Ware. The annotations by Allyne Smith.

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Evagrios the Solitary (346-399), also known as Evagrius of Pontus, was a monk and an ascetic. His spiritual father was Makarios of Alexandria (died ca. 395), and he also knew Makarios of Egypt. He was ordained reader by Basil the Great (ca. 330-379) and deacon by his friend and mentor, Gregory of Nazianzus (329-389), known in the East as Gregory the Theologian. He was greatly influenced by the Cappadocians — Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 340-394), Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macrina (ca. 330-380) — and by Origen (ca. 175-254). His works, written in Greek and subsequently translated into Syriac and Latin, were very influential in shaping the Eastern spiritual tradition.

If you are disheartened, pray, as the apostle says (James 5:13). Pray with fear, trembling, effort, with inner watchfulness and vigilance. To pray in this manner is especially necessary because the enemies are so .malignant. For it is just when they see us at prayer that they come and stand beside us, ready to attack, suggesting to our intellect the very ‘things we should not think about when praying; in this way they try to take our intellect captive and to make our prayer and supplication vain and useless. For prayer is truly vain and useless when not performed with fear and trembling, with inner watchfulness and vigilance.
Evagrius The Solitary, Outline Teaching On Asceticism And Stillness In The Solitary Life

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Obedience to God’s commandments is the first step in the spiritual life.

When the soul has been purified through the keeping of all the commandments, it makes the intellect steadfast and able to receive the state needed for prayer. Prayer is the communion of the intellect ith God.
Evagrius The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec. 2-3

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John Chrysostom is thinking along these lines when he writes, “The mystery [of the Eucharist] requires that we should be innocent not only of violence but of all enmity, however slight, for it is the mystery of peace.”

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If you desire to pray as you ought, do not grieve anyone; otherwise you “run in vain” (Philippians 2:16). “Leave your gift before the altar; first go away and be reconciled with your brother” (Matthew 5:24), 1 when you return you will pray without disturbance. For rancor darkens the intellect of one who prays, and extinguishes the light of prayers.
Evagrius The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec. 21-22

Undistracted prayer is the highest intellection of the intellect. Prayer is the ascent of the intellect to God. If you long for prayer, renounce to gain all. Pray first for the purification of the passions; second, for reverence from ignorance and forgetfulness; and third, for deliverance from all temptation, trial, and dereliction.
Evagrios The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec. 35-38

Do not pray only with outward forms and gestures, but with reverence and awe try to make your intellect conscious of spiritual prayer.
Evagrios The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec. 28

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Buddhists refer to this distraction from prayer as “monkey mind” — when we try to still the mind, it seems determined to “jump from tree to tree,” that is, from thought to thought.

If intellect is still distracted during prayer, you do not yet know it is to pray as a monk; but your prayer is still worldly, embellishing the outer tabernacle. When you pray, keep close watch on your memory, so that it does not distract you with recollections of past. But make yourself aware that you are standing before God. For by nature the intellect is apt to be carried away by memories during prayer. While you are praying, the memory brings before you fantasies either of past things, or of recent concerns, or of the face of one who has irritated you. The demon is very envious of us when we pray, and uses every kind of trick to thwart our purpose. Therefore he is always using our memory to stir up thoughts of various things and our flesh to arouse our passions, in order to obstruct our way of ascent to God.
Evagrius The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec.. 45-47

The state of prayer is one of dispassion, which by virtue of the most intense love transports to the noetic realm the intellect that longs for wisdom
Evagrios The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec.. 53

He who prays in spirit and in truth is no longer dependent on created when honoring the Creator, but praises him for and in himself.
Evagrios The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec.. 60

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For the Church Fathers in the Eastern Christian tradition, theology refers first to God the Trinity; second to the experience of God the Trinity; third to the worship of God the Trinity; fourth to the Holy Scriptures; and last (and arguably least) to “thinking about God.”

If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you heologian.
Evagrius The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec.. 61

I shall say again what I have said elsewhere: blessed is the intellect that is completely free from forms during prayer. Blessed is the intellect that, undistracted in its prayer, acquires an even greater longing for God. Blessed is the intellect that during prayer is free from materiality and stripped of all possessions. Blessed is the intellect that has acquired complete freedom from sensations during prayer.
Evagrius The Solitary, On Prayer, Sec. 1 17-120

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Hesychios the Priest (eighth or ninth century) was thought by Nikodimos to have been the early fifth-century Hesychios of Jerusalem, but nowadays he is believed to have been the later Hesychios, who was abbot of a monastery on Sinai. His work draws on Maximos Confessor, Mark the Ascetic, and John Klimakos (ca. 579-649). He emphasized devotion to the name of Jesus.

If we have not attained prayer that is free from thoughts, we have no weapon to fight with. By this prayer I mean the prayer that is ever active in the inner shrine of the soul, and that, by invoking Christ, scourges and sears our enemy.
St. Hesychios The Priest, On Watchfulness And Holiness, Sec. 21

It is written: “Prepare yourself, O Israel, to call upon the name of the Lord your God” (Amos 4:12, LXX); and the apostle says, “Pray without Ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Our Lord himself says, “Without me you can do nothing. If a man dwells in me and I in him, then he brings forth much fruit”; and again: “If a man does not dwell in me, he is cast out as a branch” (John 15:5-6). Prayer is a great blessing, and it embraces all blessings, for it purifies the heart, in which God is seen by the believer.
St. Hesychios The Priest, On Watchfulness And Holiness, Sec. 62

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Unceasing prayer first brings us to the stage of purgation, which Is naturally followed by the second stage of illumination. But Hesychios warns that a lack of humility will prevent this illumination.

It is through unceasing prayer that the mind is cleansed of the dark Ids, the tempests of the demons. And when it is cleansed, the divine light of Jesus cannot but shine in it, unless we are puffed up by esteem and delusion and a love of ostentation, and elevate selves toward the unattainable, and so are deprived of Jesus’ help. Christ, the paradigm of humility, loathes all such self-inflation.
St. Hesychios The Priest, On Watchfulness And Holiness, Sec. 175

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Eight Selections From Forty Texts on Watchfulness — St Philotheos of Sinai (9th-10th century)

November 26, 2012

Unknown Desert Hermit

The Philokalia is “a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters” of the Eastern Orthodox hesychast tradition. They were originally written for the guidance and instruction of monks in “the practice of the contemplative life”. The collection was compiled in the eighteenth-century by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth.

Philokalia is defined as the “love of the beautiful, the exalted, the excellent, understood as the transcendent source of life and the revelation of Truth.”In contemplative prayer the mind becomes absorbed in the awareness of God as a living presence as the source of being of all creatures and sensible forms. According to the authors of the English translation, Kallistos Ware, G. E. H. Palmer, and Philip Sherrard, the writings of The Philokalia have been chosen above others because they:

…show the way to awaken and develop attention and consciousness, to attain that state of watchfulness which is the hallmark of sanctity. They describe the conditions most effective for learning what their authors call the art of arts and the science of sciences, a learning which is not a matter of information or agility of mind but of a radical change of will and heart leading man towards the highest possibilities open to him, shaping and nourishing the unseen part of his being, and helping him to spiritual fulfillment and union with God.”

It makes a certain kind of sense that anyone who can produce over 800 posts on the notion of Paying Attention would be inevitably drawn to a ninth century monk who posted 40 times on the topic of Watchfulness.

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Introductory Note
‘It is not clear’, states St Nikodimos, ‘at what date our holy father Philotheos flourished and died.’ He is known to us solely as the author of the present work Forty Texts on Watchfulness. From his name it is evident that he was a monk of Mount Sinai, while the content of his Forty Texts shows that he followed in the tradition of St John Klimakos, abbot of Sinai (sixth-seventh century), whom he quotes (§20; cf §34). His spiritual teaching is also close to that of another Sinaite author, St Hesychios the Priest (? eighth-ninth century); the three of them may be regarded as forming together a distinctively Sinaite ‘school’ of ascetic theology. Certainly later in date, then, than Klimakos, and probably likewise later than Hesychios, Philotheos may have lived in the ninth or tenth century.  Clear and concise, the Forty Texts are especially valuable for the simple definitions that they give of key  concepts.

As the title indicates, St Philotheos assigns central significance to the quality of watchfulness or spiritual sobriety (nipsis). In common with St Hesychios, he sees this as closely connected with inner attentiveness and the guarding of the intellect: the three notions are virtually synonymous. But he underlines, more explicitly than does Hesychios, the importance of bodily asceticism and the keeping of the commandments; the inner and the outer  warfare go together.

Like the other two members of the Sinaite ‘school’, he commends the invocation of the Holy  Name, ‘the unceasing prayer of Jesus Christ’ (§2), which has power to ‘concentrate the scattered intellect’ (§27),  thereby enabling it to maintain continual mindfulness of God. Particularly striking is Philotheos’ insistence upon the  remembrance of death, which is to be viewed not as something morbid and ‘world- denying’, but rather as  enhancing the unique value of each moment of time. 

Contents 1-8

1 . There is within us, on the noetic [vocab: no•et•ic: From the Greek noēsis / noētikos, meaning inner wisdom, direct knowing, or subjective understanding.] plane, a warfare tougher than that on the plane of the senses. The Spiritual worker has to press on with his intellect towards the goal (cf. Philemon 3:14), in order to enshrine perfectly the remembrance of God in his heart like some pearl or precious stone (cf. Matthew 13:44-46). He has to give up everything, including the body, and to disdain this present life, if he wishes to possess God alone in his heart. For the noetic vision of God, the divine Chrysostom has said, can by itself destroy the demonic spirits. 

2. When engaged in noetic warfare we should therefore do all we can to choose some spiritual practice from divine Scripture and apply it to our intellect like a healing ointment. From dawn we should stand bravely and  unflinchingly at the gate of the heart, with true remembrance of God and unceasing prayer of Jesus Christ in the  soul; and, keeping watch with the intellect, we should slaughter all the sinners of the land (Psalms 101:8 LXX).

Given over in the intensity of our ecstasy to the constant remembrance of God, we should for the Lord’s sake cut off  the heads of the tyrants (cf. Habakkuk. 3:14. LXX), that is to say, should destroy hostile thoughts at their first appearance. For in noetic warfare, too, there is a certain divine practice and order.

Thus we should force ourselves to act in this way until it is time for eating. After this, having thanked the Lord who solely by virtue of His compassion provides us with both spiritual and bodily food, we should devote ourselves to the remembrance of death and to meditation on it. The following morning we should courageously resume the same sequence of tasks. Even if we act daily in  this manner we will only just manage, with the Lord’s help, to escape from the meshes of the noetic enemy. When this pattern of spiritual practice is firmly established in us, it gives birth to the triad faith, hope and love.

Faith disposes us truly to fear God. Hope, transcending servile fear, binds us to the love of God, since ‘hope does not disappoint’ (Romans 5:5), containing as it does the seed of that twofold love on which hang ‘the law and the prophets’ (Matthew 22:40). And ‘love never fails’ (1 Corinthians 13:8), once it has become to him who shares in it the motive for fulfilling the divine law both in the present life and in the life to be. 

3. It is very rare to find people whose intelligence is in a state of stillness. Indeed, such a state is only to be found in those who through their whole manner of life strive to attract divine grace and blessing to themselves. If,  then, we seek – by guarding our intellect and by inner watchfulness – to engage in the noetic work that is the true  philosophy in Christ, we must begin by exercising self-control with regard to our food, eating and drinking as little  as possible. Watchfulness may fittingly be called a path leading both to the kingdom within us and to that which is  to be; while noetic work, which trains and purifies the intellect and changes it from an impassioned state to a state of  dispassion, is like a window full of light through which God looks, revealing Himself to the intellect. 

4. Where humility is combined with the remembrance of God that is established through watchfulness and attention, and also with recurrent prayer inflexible in its resistance to the enemy, there is the place of God, the heaven of the heart in which because of God’s presence no demonic army dares to make a stand. 

5. Nothing is more unsettling than talkativeness and more pernicious than an unbridled tongue, disruptive as it is of the soul’s proper state. For the soul’s chatter destroys what we build each day and scatters what we have laboriously gathered together. What is more disastrous than this ‘uncontrollable evil’ (James 3:8)? The tongue has to be restrained, checked by force and muzzled, so to speak, and made to serve only what is needful. Who can describe all the damage that the tongue does to the soul? 

6. The first gate of entry to the noetic Jerusalem – that is, to attentiveness of the intellect – is the deliberate  silencing of your tongue, even though the intellect itself may not yet be still. The second gate is balanced self-  control in food and drink. The third, is ceaseless mindfulness of death, for this purifies intellect and body.

Having  once experienced the beauty of this mindfulness of death, I was so wounded and delighted by it – in Spirit, not through the eye – that I wanted to make it my life’s companion,  for I was enraptured by its loveliness and majesty, its humility and contrite joy, by how full of reflection it is, how apprehensive of the judgment to come, and how aware of life’s anxieties. It makes life-giving, healing tears flow from our bodily eyes, while from our noetic eyes rises a fount of wisdom that delights the mind.

This daughter of Adam – this mindfulness of death – I always longed, as I said, to have as my, companion, to sleep with, to talk with, and to enquire from her what will happen after the body has been discarded. But unclean forgetfulness, the devil’s murky daughter, has frequently prevented this. 

7. It is by means of thoughts that the spirits of evil wage a secret war against the soul. For since the soul is invisible, these malicious powers naturally attack it invisibly. Both sides prepare their weapons, muster their forces, devise stratagems, clash in fearful battle, gain victories and suffer defeats. But this noetic warfare lacks one feature possessed by visible warfare: declaration of hostilities. Suddenly, with no warning, the enemy attacks the inmost heart, sets an ambush there, and kills the soul through sin.

And for what purpose is this battle waged against us? To prevent us from doing God’s will as we ask to do it when we pray ‘Thy will be done’. This will is the commandments of God. If with the Lord’s help through careful watchfulness you guard your intellect from error and observe the attacks of the demons and their snares woven of fantasy, you will see from experience that this is the case. For this reason the Lord, foreseeing the demons’ intentions by His divine power, set Himself to defeat their purpose by  laying down His commandments and by threatening those who break them. 

8. Once we have in some measure acquired the habit of self-control, and have learnt how to shun visible sins  brought about through ‘the five senses, we will then be able to guard the heart with Jesus, to receive His illumination  within it, and by means of the intellect to taste His goodness with a certain ardent longing. For we have been  commanded to purify the heart precisely so that, through dispelling the clouds of evil from it by continual attentiveness, we may perceive the sun of righteousness, Jesus, as though in clear sky; and so that the principles of His majesty may shine to some extent in the intellect. For these principles are revealed only to those who purify their minds.

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Return To Thee – John Henry Cardinal Newman

November 23, 2012

Some of you will be interested in this recording, Heart Speaks to Heart, “a meditation in words and music based on a selection of the spiritual writings of Blessed John Henry Newman” narrated by Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, with music sung by the Schola Cantamus under the direction of Jeremy de Satgé.

Taken from Cor ad cor loquitur, Heart Speaks to Heart… the above CD can be purchased following these directions here.  Prayers are meant to be chanted or spoken aloud. Silent prayer always struck me as sort of a contradiction in terms. Prayer lives in the spoken voice.

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THE SUN SINKS TO RISE AGAIN; the day is swallowed up in the gloom of night, to be born out of it, as fresh as if it had never been quenched. Spring passes into summer, and through summer and autumn into winter, only the more surely, by its own ultimate return, to triumph over that grave, towards which it resolutely hastened from its first hour.

We mourn over the blossoms of May, because they are to wither; but we know, withal, that May is one day to have its revenge upon November, by the revolution of that solemn circle which never stops — which teaches us in our height of hope, ever to be sober, and in our depth of desolation, never to despair…. O my God, shall I one day see Thee? What sight can compare to that great sight! Shall I see the source of that grace which enlightens me, strengthens me, and consoles me?

As I came from Thee, as I am made through Thee, as I live in Thee, so, O my God, may I at last return to Thee, and be with Thee forever and ever….

Eternal, Incomprehensible God, I believe, and confess, and adore Thee, as being infinitely more wonderful, resourceful, and immense, than this universe which I see. I look into the depths of space, in which the stars are scattered about, and I understand that I should be millions upon millions of years in creeping along from one end of it to the other, if a bridge were thrown across it.

I consider the overpowering variety, richness, intricacy of Thy work; the elements, principles, laws, results which go to make it up. I should be ages upon ages in learning everything that is to be learned about this world, supposing me to have the power of learning it at all. And new sciences would come to light, at present unsuspected, as fast as I had mastered the old, and the conclusions of today would be nothing more than starting points of tomorrow.

It is the occupation of eternity, ever new, inexhaustible, ineffably ecstatic, the stay and the blessedness of existence, thus to drink in and be dissolved in Thee…

Since Thou art from everlasting, and hast created all things from a certain beginning, Thou hast lived in an eternity before Thou began to create anything….

There was no earth, no sky, no sun, no space, no time, no beings of any kind; no men, no Angels, no Seraphim. Thy throne was without ministers; Thou were not waited on by any; all was silence, all was repose, there was nothing but God….

Through a whole eternity Thou were by Thyself, with no other being but Thyself; blessed in Thyself and by Thyself, and wanting nothing….

I cannot comprehend Thee more than I did, before I saw Thee on the Cross; but I have gained my lesson. I have before me the proof, that in spite of Thy awful nature, and the clouds and darkness that surround it, Thou canst think of me with a personal affection. Thou hast died that I might live. Amen.

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Canticle

November 18, 2012

To make known to his people their salvation
through forgiveness of all their sins,
the loving-kindness of the heart of our God
who visits us like the dawn from on high.

Benedictus

The Messiah and the one who was sent before him

The Lord will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!

He has visited his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up for us a mighty saviour

in the house of David his servant,

as he promised by the lips of holy men,

those who were his prophets from of old.

A saviour who would free us from our foes,

from the hands of all who hate us

So his love for our fathers is fulfilled

and his holy covenant remembered.

He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,

that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes,

we might serve him in holiness and justice

all the days of our life in his presence

As for you, little child,

you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.

You shall go ahead of the Lord

to prepare his ways before him,

To make known to his people their salvation

through forgiveness of all their sins,

the loving-kindness of the heart of our God

who visits us like the dawn from on high.

He will give light to those in darkness,

those who dwell in the shadow of death,

and guide us into the way of peace.

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.

The Lord will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.

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Psalm 91 (92): Praise of God, the Creator

October 20, 2012

It is good to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your truth in the watches of the night,
on the ten-stringed lyre and the lute,
with the murmuring sound of the harp.

Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad;
for the work of your hands I shout with joy.
O Lord, how great are your works!
How deep are your designs!
The foolish man cannot know this
and the fool cannot understand.

Though the wicked spring up like grass
and all who do evil thrive,
they are doomed to be eternally destroyed.
But you, Lord, are eternally on high.
See how your enemies perish;
all doers of evil are scattered.

To me you give the wild ox’s strength;
you anoint me with the purest oil.
My eyes looked in triumph on my foes;
my ears heard gladly of their fall.
The just will flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a Lebanon cedar.

Planted in the house of the Lord
they will flourish in the courts of our God,
still bearing fruit when they are old,
still full of sap, still green,
to proclaim that the Lord is just.
In him, my rock, there is no wrong.

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.

It is good to make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning.

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Mind: Working With Thoughts – Dr. Mark Muesse

June 20, 2012

While these posts on Robert Sokolowski’s Introduction to Phenomenology that deal with natural attitude and the turn we make to the phenomenological attitude called the phenomenological reduction may seem puzzling to you, they will be especially so if you are unfamiliar with the practice of mindfulness and mediation. So  let me insert this here.

This post takes up a lesson from my mindfulness course taught by Professor Mark Muesse –  70% off, go for it. In it you will find a discussion of mind and how to deal with thoughts. I think if you regard this and return to Robert Solokowski’s discussion of Phenomenology you will see some obvious connections. If Muesse is speaking to a daily practice of living, then Sokolowski is preparing a mindset for the practice of philosophy. Where Muesse is helping us to identify which thoughts to entertain and develop and which to observe and release, Sokolowski is informing us which intentionalities to identify and hold in abeyance. Read on and see if you don’t see the similarities…

You may also note that I place mindfulness under the category of prayer, as I believe the practice will strengthen the discipline needed to approach St. Augustine’s idea of “unceasing prayer.”

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We may not be able to control particular thoughts, but we can influence the conditioned mind that gives rise to particular thoughts. We can prepare a fertile mental soil that increases the likelihood of germinating wholesome, skillful ideas and decreases the likelihood of growing distracting ones — but such a mind must be tended with a watchful eye. Unwholesome thoughts grow fast and wild and leech vital. nutrients from the thoughts that are conducive to our freedom and happiness.

The Tamed Mind
The mind is a double-edged sword: It is capable of doing us great, benefit as well as great injury. Naturally, we want to cultivate our mental processes in such a way that we maximize the mind’s capacity for doing good and minimize its tendencies for causing suffering. The skills we refine as we develop moment-to-moment awareness in sitting meditation are the same used in shaping the mind to function in more wholesome ways.

As we’ve observed both casually and in formal meditation, the untamed mind tends to operate in a rather haphazard way, bounding from thought to thought with little or no apparent prompting or direction. The mind seems to have a mind of its own. Thus, it might appear that our thoughts are thoroughly beyond our control — that we have no choice about the kinds of things that drift across our minds.

Although thoughts may seem to come out of the blue, they are, in fact, conditioned by previous patterns of thought. The thoughts that our mind produces now have been shaped by its history of thinking.

Recent neuro-scientific research has shown that routine patterns of thought make incremental but substantial changes in the way the brain is structured and the way the mind functions. These structural alterations make the brain more effective at doing what it is asked to do.

If we habitually think in certain ways, the mind becomes more adept at those patterns of thought. Thus, as the concept of conditioning suggests, wholesome thoughts create a propensity for more wholesome thoughts, and unwholesome thoughts predispose the mind to produce more unwholesome thoughts.

Fortunately, we can use this dynamic principle to our advantage. While we may not be in conscious control of each and every thought, meditation practice shows us that we can choose which thoughts to entertain and develop and which to observe and release. In this manner, we can influence the kinds of thoughts we are likely to produce in the future.

In the meditation practices we’ve discussed so far, our practice of releasing thoughts has been indiscriminate. We’ve been training the mind to drop any thought as soon as we become aware of it, without regard to its content or quality. The purpose of this particular practice is to reinforce our ability to focus and be attentive.

When we have become sufficiently proficient at using these techniques, we can add another component to the practice that will enable us to manage our thinking more consciously. In this new method, we will endeavor not only to become aware of thoughts as they arise, but also to identify the kind of thoughts we are having. Once identified, we can make conscious choices about how we will handle them.

The Unskilled Mind
Because of our conditioning, the great majority of our thoughts are not conducive to our well-being. In the mindless state, our thoughts can be highly critical of others — and of ourselves. When you attend carefully to the quality of your thoughts, you might easily conclude that most of them serve little constructive purpose in our lives.

Because of the mind’s overproduction of unwholesome thou; it redounds to our benefit to be able to respond appropriately immediately when such thoughts arise. Doing this, of course, requires sharp attention and the capacity to discern wholes from unwholesome thoughts.

Unfortunately, the unskilled mind finds this difficult to do. Just as the untrained mind has difficulty even knowing when it is absorbed in thought, it finds it hard to know when a thought is edifying or corrosive. Often, the undisciplined mind even fails to appreciate the importance of this distinction.

The mindfulness tradition offers very specific ways of identifying harmful thoughts and enables us to see why they are problematic; according to this tradition, an unwholesome thought is one that is not conducive to freedom and happiness but, rather, promotes suffering. Conversely, wholesome thoughts diminish suffering and foster happiness and freedom.

Unwholesome Thoughts
Unwholesome thoughts may be recognized by certain telltale traits. Specifically, unwholesome thoughts — which we can also call unskillful thoughts — are connected to selfish desire, hatred, or delusion.

Thoughts associated with selfish desire are predicated on our voracious appetite for pleasure. An unwholesome thought of this sort may prompt us to act or speak in a way that provides us with momentary gratification.

Whereas thoughts based on selfish desire draw us toward an act that we believe will give us pleasure, thoughts associated with hatred repel us from people or situations we think will cause us pain or make us feel uncomfortable.

Deluded thoughts are at odds with reality and result from our failure to see ourselves and the world as they really are. On the basis of delusion, we can generate grandiose thoughts about our own importance or our own worthlessness, or we can somehow come to believe that we are immune to the vicissitudes to which everyone else is subject.

It requires skill, of course, to recognize these unskillful thoughts, and ultimately, it takes knowing ourselves very well — the kind of self-knowledge that comes only with ruthless honesty and dispassionate observation.

To give you some practice at identifying unskillful thoughts, try this simple exercise the next time you meditate or sit in the park. Whenever you catch your mind drifting in its usual haphazard way, take a moment to examine the character of the thought that has captured your attention.

The great danger of entertaining any thought that arises from selfish desire, hatred, and delusion is its eventual effects on the shape of our minds. Even the thoughts that remain confined to the interior of our skulls can proliferate, generating habits of thought that form our personality and character.

Attending to Unwholesome Thoughts
The mindfulness tradition offers a variety of very practical ways to assist us in disempowering unwholesome thoughts and relaxing their corrosive effects on the mind. They’re all forms of relinquishment, and they’re all dependent on our ability to recognize an unwholesome thought when it arises.

  1. Replacement
    In some ways, replacement is the simplest and most effective method of disarming a harmful thought. When an unwholesome thought arises, we immediately supplant it with a wholesome one. The Buddha likened this method to the way a woodworker might knock out a coarse peg with a fine one.

    This approach is most effective when the unskillful thought is replaced by a skillful one that directly counteracts it.  Thoughts based on selfish desire, for example, can be substituted by thoughts about the impermanence of the object of desire. Thoughts grounded in hatred can be replaced with notions of friendliness and compassion. Finally, thoughts founded on delusion can be overcome by thoughts based in reality.

    Initially, the technique of replacing thoughts may seem awkward and artificial, but if you act in a certain way over time — even when it doesn’t feel authentic — those actions will eventually begin to feel and be real and genuine.

  2. Reflecting on Results
    We can also contemplate the consequences of the unwholesome thought by reflecting on the results    . When unwholesome thoughts arise, we think about the effects of holding these unwise notions. Consider the kind of person you become when you entertain and foster a particular unwholesome thought. If mind shapes our experience, then our thoughts have ineluctable consequences.

    Follow the trajectory of an unwholesome thought. It’s not even’ necessary to reflect on the consequences of acting on these thoughts; you can simply think about having your mind packed with such ideas.

    The Buddha compares the unwholesome thought to a snake or animal carcass around the neck of a well-dressed person. Such a thought, he argues, is unbecoming to a wise and compassionate human being. When the unskillful thought appears, don’t denounce it; just let it go, reminding yourself that it is not reflection of who you truly are.

  3. Redirecting
    Redirecting is simply diverting attention away from the unwholesome thought to something more beneficial. The Buddha compared this technique to averting one’s gaze to avoid staring at certain objects.

    In sitting meditation, when the mind has been distracted by thought, we simply escort the attention back to the breath. Thus, our practice of meditation strengthens our ability to employ this technique.

    Redirecting attention relies on the impermanence of reality to work. We’re all aware that everything in the world will change and pass away. That thought usually occasions within us a feeling of sadness or melancholy. However, the impermanence of reality can be a source of comfort and happiness when we accept it, and we have to be constantly reminded to accept it.

    Redirecting attention helps us to accept the impermanence of the world and to use that fact to our benefit. Thoughts, like everything else, pass away. To maintain a thought, we have to renew it, which is why we have to be reminded of life’s transience. Of course, if we renew the unwholesome thought, it will arise again, at which point we escort our attention elsewhere. Eventually, by redirecting attention, the unwholesome thought will lose its power and fade.

    Redirecting attention need not use the breath as its anchor; any wholesome thought or activity can suffice. Far better to keep oneself diligently engaged with wholesome activity lest the straying mind comes to dwell in greed, aversion, and delusion.

  4. Reconstructing
    Reconstructing involves analyzing the formation of the unskillful thought. In reflecting on results, we contemplate the forward trajectory of an unwholesome thought, considering its consequences for the future. With reconstructing, on the other hand, we examine the antecedents that have given rise to the unwholesome notion.

    Through the process of reconstructing, we can begin to examine the assumptions supporting a particular belief. This allows us to see. how unwholesome thoughts can be rooted in untenable assumptions that we make about the things that will make us happy, and it allows us to examine those assumptions more rationally.

    When we’ve analyzed the root causes of envy enough times, we come to recognize a peculiar pattern of unskillful thinking that most of us routinely practice. It’s a manner of thought strongly encouraged by our competitive culture.

    The mindfulness tradition calls restructuring “comparing mind,” which is the insidious habit of seeing how we measure up to other people. Our culture is obsessed with it and, in a sense, thrives on it.

    The foremost disadvantage of comparing mind is the unnecessary suffering it causes: We not only feel bad about ourselves, but we often begin to wish ill upon the person we envy — sometimes to the point where we take steps to realize those wishes.

    Whether we judge ourselves favorably or unfavorably, the practice of comparing mind is unwholesome. It causes us harm, expends our precious mental energy, and erodes our relationships with others.

    Although it is generally unskillful, there are times when comparing mind can be used skillfully, but doing so is an advanced practice that requires great wisdom. For most of us, however, certainly in the early stages of mindfulness practice, it is a habit that is best acknowledged and then relinquished.

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Our Christmas Posts

December 24, 2011

If you have a couple of minutes, listen to Fr. Barron retell Luke’s story:

http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/12/25/christmas-with-fr-robert-barron/

And steal this Christmas prayer and use it sometime Christmas Day:

http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/12/25/god-of-love-father-of-all/

Merry Christmas 2012!

dj

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Augustine On Unceasing Prayer — Fr. Thomas Hand

September 22, 2011

“One Thing I Have Asked of the Lord”
The end of all Christian endeavor, and the object of all Christian prayer, is to see God face to face in the kingdom of his glory. This will be the reward of the pilgrim’s love. And in order to attain this never-ending end, we must adhere to Christ so as to be one with him even on this earth.

Augustine observes that, “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself said: No one has come up to heaven except the One who came down from there — the Son of Man [who is in heaven] (John 3:13). And he seems to have spoken of himself only. If, then, he alone ascends who alone descended, have all others been left behind? What must these others do? They must be united with his body, so that there may be but One Christ who descends and ascends. The head descended, and he ascends with his body; he ascends clothed with the Church which he has presented to himself without spot or wrinkle (cf. Ephesians 5:27). In this way he still ascends alone. For when we are so united with him as to be his members, then even with us he is alone, and therefore one — always one.” [On Psalm 122, 1]

Saint Augustine exhorts us, therefore, to stand fast in the faith, and to be loyal to our holy Mother the Church, in all the temptations of life. The history of the Mystical Body was graphically summarized by Saint Matthew when he said: Meanwhile the boat, already several hundred yards out from shore, was being tossed about in the waves raised by strong headwinds (Matthew 14:24). “By the very nature of the journey we are exposed to waves and tempests; so it is necessary that we be at least in the ship.” “If there be danger on board ship, there is instant disaster outside of it … And even though the ship be in difficulty, still it is the ship. . . Keep yourself safely on board, then, and pray to God. For when all counsels fail, when the very helm is unserviceable, and the spreading of sail more hazardous than helpful, when all human help and strength have been exhausted, then, for those on board, there remains only the earnest cry of entreaty, and the pouring forth of prayers to God. And shall he, who grants that sailors reach their haven, so forsake his Church as not to lead it on to rest!” [Sermon 75, 4]

One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate his temple (Psalm 27:4). “In order that we may attain this happy life, he who is himself the true Blessed Life has taught us to pray.” [Letter 130, 15] But what shall we do now, during this our life and pilgrimage? “Let us sigh now; let us pray now. Sighs belong to the miserable; prayers belong to those in need. Prayers shall pass away and praise shall take their place; tears shall pass away to be replaced with joy. Meanwhile, during these evil days let us never cease from making that petition until, by his grace and guidance, we have attained to it.” [On Psalm 26 -- 2nd -- 14]

“In the midst of our wanderings here, we are hurt at times; but our last home shall be a home of joy alone. Hard work, sighs, and prayers shall pass away, to be succeeded by hymns of praise. . . For he shall be with us for whom we sigh, and, We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2) … Prepare yourselves for a certain ineffable delight; cleanse your hearts from all earthly and mundane affections. We will see something, the vision of which shall make us happy, something which shall alone suffice us.” [On Psalm 86, 9] “We shall see God. And that shall be so great, so stupendous a reality, that in comparison with it, all else shall be as nothing.” [Sermon 127, 11] “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” “The tongue has done what it could; it has spoken the words. Let the rest be pondered in the heart.” [Treatise on 1 John, IV, 6]

“It will repay us, then, to inquire after and to discuss in detail what we are going to do in that home, for which we express our hope and desire when we repeat the words, One thing I ask of the Lord. What shall we do in that home in which we hope to dwell all the days of our lives? Listen: that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord. That is what I love; and that is why I wish to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. What a glorious vision will be presented to us in the gazing on the loveliness of the Lord!” [On Psalm 26 -- 2nd -- 8] We shall see God. “And so charming is the face of God, that once it is seen, nothing else shall ever give delight.” [Sermon 170, 9] “There we shall rest and we shall see; we shall see and we shall love; we shall love and we shall praise.” [City of God, XXII, 30] Such will be the activity of the elect: contemplation, love, and praise.

Happy they who dwell in your house! (Psalm 84:5). But why? Continually they praise you (Psalm 84:5). “Such will be our activity, the praise of God. You love and you praise. You would cease to love if you ceased to praise. But you will never cease to love because he whom you shall see will never weary you.” [On Psalm 85, 44] Such is the reward of the pilgrim’s love. He shall rest in the Lord; he shall gaze on the loveliness of the Lord; he shall love and praise the Lord. He shall rejoice in “the everlasting reign of those who perfectly praise him because they see him face to face.” [On Psalm 105, 37] “

There is praise given to God, and here on earth is praise given to God; but here by those full of anxious care, there by those who are free from care; here by those whose lot it is to die, there by those who are to live forever; here in hope, there in hope realized; here on the way, there in our Fatherland. Now, therefore, my brethren, let us sing, not for delight as we rest, but to cheer us in our labor. As pilgrims are wont to sing, sing, but travel on!” [Sermon 256, 3]

Meanwhile, as they walk the pilgrim’s way, men must be careful of what they love and of what they ask in prayer. “Men have many things,” observes Augustine, “and when a man seems to have what he loves, he is called happy. But he is truly happy, not if he has what he loves, but if he loves what he ought to love. Many are more miserable in having what they love than in wanting it. For men who are miserable through loving hurtful things are rendered more miserable still by possessing them ... This is the one petition that ought to be loved — that we may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life.”[ On Psalm 26 -- 2nd -- 7]

“Whoever desires that one thing of the Lord and seeks after it, asks with certainty and with confidence, and has no fear that when it is obtained it may be harmful to him, seeing that without it anything else he may have acquired through praying as he ought is of no advantage to him. The thing referred to is the one true and only happy life in which, immortal and incorruptible in body and in spirit, we may contemplate the joy of the Lord forever. All other things are desired and are prayed for without impropriety, with a view to this one thing.” [Letter 130, 27]

The whole life of a Christian should be a holy desire for this truly happy life, “for a person lives in those things which he loves, which he greatly desires, and in which he believes himself to be happy.” [Letter 130, 7] This desire, moreover, will enlarge the soul until it is capable of receiving everlasting happiness. “By desiring you open up and expand the soul, by expanding it you make it capable of receiving more. Let us stretch ourselves unto him, so that when he shall come he may fill our souls.“[Treatise on 1 John, IV, 6]

This should be our unceasing desire, our unceasing prayer. “What else is intended by the words of the Apostle: Pray without ceasing, if not, `Desire without ceasing, from him who alone can give it, a happy life, which no life can be but that which is eternal’? This, therefore, let us desire without intermission from the Lord our God, and so let us pray without ceasing.” [Letter 130, 18] “This is the final blessedness, this is the ultimate consummation, this is the unending end.” [City of God, XIX, Ic]

Amen. Alleluia!
Eternal life will be the last Amen, the final Alleluia, that shall be never-ending. “And it is not with the fleeting echoes of our voices that we shall then be saying, `Amen’ and `Alleluia,’ but with the affectionate feelings of the heart.” [Sermon 255, 5] Alleluia means the praise of God. “To us as we labor,” says Augustine, “it signifies the activity of our eternal rest. For when, after these labors, we come to that rest, the praise of God will be our sole occupation. Our activity there will be `Alleluia’ … our food will be `Alleluia’; our drink will be `Alleluia’; our whole joy will be `Alleluia’ — the praise of God.” [Sermon 252, 9] “Today, hope sings it, and sometimes love. But then love alone shall sing it. The love that sometimes sings it in this life is a love of desire, whereas it will then be sung by a love that rejoices in the everlasting possession of its beloved.” [Sermon 255, 5] Such will be the Sabbath of life everlasting, in which the only ultimate happiness open to man will be forever realized.

“There shall peace be made perfect in the sons of God all loving one another, seeing one another possessed of God, since God shall be all in all. We shall have God as our common vision, God as our common possession, God as our common peace. And whatever there is that he gives us here and now, he himself will be in place of all his gifts. He will be our full and perfect peace … . Our peace, our rest, our joy, the end of all our troubles, is none but God.” [On Psalm 84, 10] The Savior has transformed us into a new race. He has put a new canticle into our mouths — a song to our God. [Cf. Psalm 39, 4] We are pilgrims homeward bound, as we sing praise to the Lord with all our hearts (Ephesians 5:19). “O sons of peace, sons of the one, Catholic Church, walk in your way, and sing as you walk. Travelers do this to keep up their spirits. Do you also sing on the way. I beseech you, by the very way in which you walk, sing on this road, sing the new canticle. Let no one sing old songs, but sing the songs of love of your country; let none sing the old. For the way is new, the traveler is new, and the song is new.” [On Psalm 66, 6]

Turning, then, to the Lord our God, let us as best we can give thanks with all our hearts, beseeching him that in his goodness he would mercifully hear our prayers, and by his grace drive evil from our thoughts and actions, increase our faith, grant us his holy inspirations, and lead us to never-ending joy, through his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amens [With this prayer Saint Augustine concluded almost all his sermons.]

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