"We need to use words so that we may remind ourselves to consider carefully what we are askng, not so that we may think we can instruct the Lord or prevail on him."
-St Augustinei, A Letter to Proba
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Jesus doesn't speak -- he just shows his wounds to the Father
How does Jesus pray? I don’t believe he talks too much with the Father.
He doesn’t talk: He loves. But there is one thing that Jesus does, today, I'm certain he does this. He shows his wounds to the Father and Jesus, with his wounds, prays for us as if to say to the Father: 'But, Father, this is the price of these! Help them, protect them. They are your children whom I have saved with these.'
Otherwise, why after the Resurrection did Jesus not have this glorious body, beautiful - with no bruises, no wounds from the scourging, everything nice? - but there were wounds. The Five Wounds. Why did Jesus want to bring them to heaven? Why? To pray for us. To show the price [he paid] to the Father: 'This is the price, now do not abandon them. Help them.'
--Pope Francis, 3 June 2014
Tertullian: Only prayer can conquer God
Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God. But Christ has willed that it should work no evil, and has given it all power over good.
Its only art is to call back the souls of the dead from the very journey into death, to give strength to the weak, to heal the sick, to exorcise the possessed, to open prison cells, to free the innocent from their chains.
Prayer cleanses from sin, drives away temptations, stamps out persecutions, comforts the fainthearted, gives new strength to the courageous, brings travellers safely home, calms the waves, confounds robbers, feeds the poor, overrules the rich, lifts up the fallen, supports those who are falling, sustains those who stand firm.
All the angels pray. Every creature prays. Cattle and wild beasts pray and bend the knee. As they come from their barns and caves they look out to heaven and call out, lifting up their spirit in their own fashion. The birds too rise and lift themselves up to heaven: they open out their wings, instead of hands, in the form of a cross, and give voice to what seems to be a prayer.
What more need be said on the duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honour and power for ever and ever. Amen.
--On Prayer by Tertullian, priest
唯有祈禱能得勝天主。可是基督不願意祈禱加害於人，他賦與祈禱的一切能力，都是為人的好處。
因此，祈禱只知道把亡者的靈魂從死亡的途徑中領回來，堅強殘弱的人，醫治患病的人，拯救附魔的人，打開監獄，解開無罪者的桎梏。
同樣，我們的祈禱也可以滌除罪汙，抗拒誘惑，粉碎迫害，安慰憂慮者，鼓勵慷慨者，領導旅客，平靜風浪，哧退強盜；供給貧者食物，統治富者，扶起失足者，支持要跌倒者，堅定站立者。
眾天使也在祈禱，眾受造物都在祈禱。家畜野獸在祈禱，它們屈著膝祈禱。當它們由畜舍或洞穴走出時，仰視蒼天，張口呼叫，以它們自己的方式舉心向上。至於鳥類，展翅飛向天空，有如我們伸開雙臂，做十字架形，口作喃喃語，就像祈求什麼似的。
所以，關於祈禱的義務，我們還要多說什麼呢？主基督自己也曾祈禱。願光榮與德能永歸基督，萬世無窮！
--戴都良神父《論祈禱》
Sola est orátio, quæ Deum vincit; sed Christus eam nihil mali vóluit operári, omnem illi virtútem de bono cóntulit.
Itaque nihil novit, nisi defunctórum ánimas de ipso mortis itínere revocáre, débiles reformáre, ægros remediáre, dæmoníacos expiáre, claustra cárceris aperíre, víncula innocéntium sólvere. Eadem díluit delícta, tentatiónes repéllit, persecutiónes exstínguit, pusillánimos consolátur, magnánimos obléctat, peregrinántes dedúcit, fluctus mítigat, latrónes obstupefácit, alit páuperes, regit dívites, lapsos érigit, cadéntes suspéndit, stantes cóntinet.
Orant étiam ángeli omnes, orat omnis creatúra, orant pécudes et feræ, et génua declínant et egrediéntes de stábulis ac spelúncis ad cælum non otióso ore suspíciunt, vibrántes spíritum suo more. Sed et aves tunc exsurgéntes erigúntur ad cælum et alárum crucem pro mánibus expándunt et dicunt áliquid quod orátio videátur.
Quid ergo ámplius de offício oratiónis? Etiam ipse Dóminus orávit, cui sit honor et virtus in sǽcula sæculórum.
Pope Francis: Pray for your pastors, so that they don't become mediocre
A bishop who doesn't pray, a bishop who doesn't listen to the Word of God, who doesn't celebrate Mass everyday, who doesn't go to Confession on a regular basis—and the same thing happens to a priest that doesn't do these things. He looses his union with Jesus and lives with a mediocrity that hurts the Church.
--Pope Francis, Wednesday Audience, 26 March 2014
A gift to aspire for: prayer
A homily of Pseudo-Chrysostom
Prayer is the light of the soul
The highest good is prayer and conversation with God, because it means that we are in God’s company and in union with him. When light enters our bodily eyes our eyesight is sharpened; when a soul is intent on God, God’s inextinguishable light shines into it and makes it bright and clear. I am talking, of course, of prayer that comes from the heart and not from routine: not the prayer that is assigned to particular days or particular moments in time, but the prayer that happens continuously by day and by night.
Indeed the soul should not only turn to God at times of explicit prayer. Whatever we are engaged in, whether it is care for the poor, or some other duty, or some act of generosity, we should remember God and long for God. The love of God will be as salt is to food, making our actions into a perfect dish to set before the Lord of all things. Then it is right that we should receive the fruits of our labours, overflowing onto us through all eternity, if we have been offering them to him throughout our lives.
Prayer is the light of the soul, true knowledge of God, a mediator between God and men. Prayer lifts the soul into the heavens where it hugs God in an indescribable embrace. The soul seeks the milk of God like a baby crying for the breast. It fulfils its own vows and receives in exchange gifts better than anything that can be seen or imagined.
Prayer is a go-between linking us to God. It gives joy to the soul and calms its emotions. I warn you, though: do not imagine that prayer is simply words. Prayer is the desire for God, an indescribable devotion, not given by man but brought about by God’s grace. As St Paul says: For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf in a way that could never be put into words.
If God gives to someone the gift of such prayer, it is a gift of imperishable riches, a heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. Whoever tastes that food catches fire and his soul burns for ever with desire for the Lord.
To begin on this path, start by adorning your house with modesty and humility. Make it shine brightly with the light of justice. Decorate it with the gold leaf of good works, with the jewels of faithfulness and greatness of heart. Finally, to make the house perfect, raise a gable above it all, a gable of prayer. Thus you will have prepared a pure and sparkling house for the Lord. Receive the Lord into this royal and splendid dwelling — in other words: receive, by his grace, his image into the temple of your soul.
金口聖若望《講道集》
（祈禱是心靈的光明）
沒有比祈禱和與天主交談更值得的事。因為祈禱是與天主結伴，並合而為一。正如我們的肉眼，一見光；就會被照亮；同樣，我們的心靈，一注視天主，也就受到他那無限之光的照耀。我說的祈禱，不是指機械式的祈禱，而是指那發自內心的祈禱；不是指某時刻的祈禱，而是指日夜不斷的祈禱。
原來，我們不僅在默禱時、該聚精會神、一心瞻仰天主，而且在我們工作時，如照顧窮人，或其他善工，或從事任何其他工作時，也要時時念及天主。這們我們工作藉天主之愛所調合，猶如藉食鹽調味一樣，而成為美味可口的食品，以獻給宇宙的主宰。如果我們這樣善用時間，我們便可以終生坐享其成果。
祈禱是心靈的光亮，是人對天主的真正認識，也是天主與人之間的中介。心靈藉祈禱而繫於高天，並以不可言喻的熱情擁抱上主。就如嬰孩哭啼著呼求母親，人靈呼求上主的乳汁。人靈渴求得個人的需要，所接受的恩惠遠超過世上任何可見的事物。
事實上，祈禱好似是天主台前的一位可敬的使者。它使人靈歡欣，而使心情平靜。我所謂的祈禱，你不要想，只是有口無心的祈禱。祈禱是人心對天主的仰慕，一種無言可喻的愛火；這不是出於人，而是出於天主的恩寵。保祿使徒曾加以說明。他說：「我們不知道，我們該求什麼，但聖神自己，用他無可言可喻的歎息，新自要為我們轉禱。」
這樣的祈禱，如果天主賜予誰的話，誰的心靈就會擁有別人不可奪取的富裕，一種令人飽飫的天上食糧。品嘗到這食糧的人就會燃起對天主永久渴望之情：他的靈魂好似在烈火中燃燒。
你要開始這樣的祈禱時，先應用你的端莊、謙遜，來裝飾你心靈的內室，使它發出正義的光芒。還要以善工的金飾裝飾它，以信德和慷慨的精神美化它的牆壁；最重要的，要以祈禱作為它的屋頂。這樣，你才能使它成為天主居住的完美住所；你才能夠在一所堂皇的宮殿接待天主；這樣，你已經藉著他的恩寵，擁有他，他的肖像已安坐在你心靈的宮殿中。
A prayer from St Alphonsus
O my God, help me to remember---
That time is short, eternity is long.
What good is all the greatness of this world at the hour of death?
To love You, my God, and save my soul is the one thing necessary.
Without You, there is no peace, no joy.
My God, I need fear nothing but sin.
For to lose You, my God, is to lose all.
0 my God, help me to remember---
That to gain all I must leave all,
That in loving You I have all good things:
the infinite riches of Christ and His Church,
the motherly protection of Mary,
peace beyond understanding,
joy unspeakable!
Eternal Father, your Son has promised that whatever we ask in His Name
will be given to us.
In His Name I pray:
give me a burning faith,
a joyful hope,
a holy love for Jesus Christ.
Give me the grace of perseverance in doing Your will in all things.
Do with me what You will.
I repent of having offended You.
Grant, O Lord, that I may love You always and never let me be separated from You.
O my God and my All, make me a saint! Amen.
(St. Alphonsus Liguori)
Christianity gives flavour, personality
In his homily (23 May 2013), Pope Francis focused on the savour that Christians are called to give to their own lives and to others’. The Holy Father said that salt the Lord gives us is the salt of faith, hope and charity. But, he warned, we must be careful that this salt, which is given to us by the certainty that Jesus died and rose again to save us, “does not lose its flavour, does not lose its strength.” This salt, he continued, “is not for keeping, because if the salt is preserved in a bottle it does not do anything: it is good for nothing”:
“Salt makes sense when you [use] it in order to make things more tasty. I also consider that salt stored in the bottle, with moisture, loses strength and is rendered useless. The salt that we have received is to be given out, to be given away, [in order] to spice things up: otherwise, it becomes bland and useless. We must ask the Lord not to [let us] become Christians with flavour-less salt, with salt that stays closed in the bottle. Salt also has another special feature: when salt is used well, one does not notice the taste of salt. The savour of salt - it cannot be perceived! What one tastes is the flavour of the food: salt helps improve the flavor of the meal.”
“When we preach faith, with this salt,” said Pope Francis, “those who receive the proclamation, receive it each according to his peculiarity, as [happens when salt is used judiciously] on food.” So, “Each with his own peculiarities receives the salt and becomes better [for it].” The Holy Father went on to explain that the “originality” that Christian faith brings is therefore not something uniform.
“Christian originality is not a uniformity! It takes each one as he is, with his own personality, with his own characteristics, his culture – and leaves him with that, because it is a treasure. However, it gives one something more: it gives flavour! This Christian originality is so beautiful, because when we want to make a uniformity - all salted in the same way - things will be like when the woman throws in too much salt and one tastes only salt and not the meal. The Christian originality is this: each is as he is, with the gifts the Lord has given him.”
“This,” the Pope continued, “is the salt that we have to give.” A salt that is “not to be kept, but to be given,” – and this, he said, “means a little [bit] of transcendence”: “To get out there with the message, to get out there with this richness that we have in salt, and give it to others.” On the other hand, he pointed out, there are two “ways out” for the salt to take, so that it does not spoil. First: to give the salt “in the service of meals, service to others, to serve the people.” Second: “transcendence toward the author of the salt, the creator.” The salt, he reiterated, "in order to keep its flavour, has need not only of being given through preaching,” but, “also needs the other transcendence, of prayer, of adoration.”
“In this way is the salt conserved, [in this way it keeps] its flavor. With the worship of the Lord I go beyond myself to the Lord, and with the proclamation of the Gospel I go out of myself to give the message. If we do not do this, however - these two things, these two transcendences, to give the salt - the salt will remain in the bottle, and we will become ‘museum-piece Christians’. We can show the salt: this is my salt - and how lovely it is! This is the salt that I received in Baptism, this is what I received in Confirmation, this is what I received in catechesis - But look: museum-piece Christians! A salt without flavor, a salt that does nothing.”
Giving some space for the Lord
In the silence of daily events, St Joseph, together with Mary, have one common center of attention: Jesus. They accompany and nurture, with commitment and tenderness, the growth of the Son of God made man for us, reflecting on everything that happened. In the Gospels, St. Luke twice emphasizes the attitude of Mary, which is also that of St. Joseph: "She kept all these things and pondered them in her heart" (2,19.51). To listen to the Lord, we must learn to contemplate, feel His constant presence in our lives and we must stop and converse with Him, give him space in prayer. Each of us, even you boys and girls, young people, so many of you here this morning, should ask: how much space do I give to the Lord? Do I stop to talk with him? Ever since we were children, our parents have accustomed us to start and end the day with a prayer, to teach us to feel that the friendship and the love of God accompanies us. Let us remember the Lord more in our daily life!
--Pope Francis, Audience, 1 May 2013
Be not Fearful for God is Near
The Dark Night of the Soul
Be not Fearful for God is Near
Sometimes we enter a dark night of the soul, where God seems distant from us. This is only an illusion, for God is closer to us than our own breath. These times are allowed by God to bring us closer to Him, much like the loving parent who stands her child on his feet, walks a few feet away holding out her arms, and waits for the child to take his first steps. She is ever ready to reach out and lift the child up should he start to fall, but she knows she must distance herself for a few moments if the child is going to learn to stand on his own two feet. We are like that.
When you find it difficult to pray, light your lampada before your icons and sit silently before them. Say to God, I am hurting and sad, and am unable to speak to You, so I need You to speak to my heart. Sometimes the most profitable spiritual growth can take place in such periods of brokenness because we see in these moments how very much we need God and depend upon Him.
Be not fearful, dear ones, for God is near, and will not leave you. The Lord is allowing these dry moments, where you are fearing He has left you, as the way of making you reach out to Him. When we are struggling, or even suffering, we grow stronger in our faith. Prayer will return as long is you give God moments in your life when you avail yourself in silence, and listen for His voice.
The parent who constantly does his child's homework, does him no favor, for the child never learns to stand on his own, and will forever remain dependent on his parent. The Lord wants us to grow strong in our faith, while entering into a mature relationship with Him. If we do not learn to stand on our own, we will forever be like the codependent child, never having the skills to reach high places, and forever remaining weak and fearful.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Child, let Me explain it to you
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known.
你呼喚我，我必答覆你，把偉大和你不知道的奧秘事情告訴你。
--Jeremiah 33:3
Work and Prayer (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Of St. Thomas Aquinas it may truly be said that he
laboured as if all depended on his own efforts and
prayed as if all depended on God.
p.8, Introduction to the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas
Dangers of being hyper-active
Saints have therefore experienced a profound unity of life between prayer and action, between total love for God and love for their brethren. St Bernard, who is a model of harmony between contemplation and hard work, in his book De consideratione, addressed to Pope Innocent II to offer him some reflections on his ministry, insists precisely on the importance of inner recollection, of prayer to defend oneself from the dangers of being hyper-active, whatever our condition and whatever the task to be carried out. St Bernard says that all too often too much work and a frenetic life-style end by hardening the heart and causing the spirit to suffer (cf.II, 3).
His words are a precious reminder to us today, used as we are to evaluating everything with the criterion of productivity and efficiency. The passage from the Acts of the Apostles reminds us of the importance – without a doubt a true and proper ministry is created – of devotion to daily activities which should be carried out with responsibility and dedication and also our need for God, for his guidance, for his light which gives us strength and hope. Without daily prayer lived with fidelity, our acts are empty, they lose their profound soul, and are reduced to being mere activism which in the end leaves us dissatisfied. There is a beautiful invocation of the Christian tradition to be recited before any other activity which says: “Actiones nostras, quæsumus, Domine, aspirando præveni et adiuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra oratio et operatio a te semper incipiat, et per te coepta finiatur”; that is, “Inspire our actions, Lord, and accompany them with your help, so that our every word and action may always begin and end in you”. Every step in our life, every action, of the Church too, must be taken before God, in the light of his word.
-- Pope Benedict XVI, Audience, 16 May 2012
THE RIGHT ATTITUDE IN PRAYER
First, we pray to give God the honour and homage we owe Him; and this can be done without His speaking to us or we to Him, for this duty is paid by remembering that He is our God and we are His vile crewatures, and by remaining prostrate in spirit before Him, awaiting His commands.
How many courtiers go a hundred times into the presence of the king, not to hear him or speak to him, but simply to be seen by him, and to testify by this assiduity that they are his servants? And this purpose in prostrating ourselves before God--to testify to and profess our good will and gratitude in his service--is excellent, holy, and pure, and therefore of the greatest perfection. ...
Second, we pray in order to speak with God, and to hear Him speak to us by inspirations and movements in the interior of our soul. ...
Thus we shall not be overeager to speak to Him, since it is no less useful for us just to be in His presence; yes, it is more useful, although not so much to our taste. When, then, you come to Him, speak to Him if you can. If you cannot, stay there; be seen; and care for nothing else.
--St Francis de Sales, Thy Will Be Done, pp 26, 27
AN INVITATION TO READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY
I would also like to invite you to take advantage of the journey we will make in the forthcoming catecheses to learn to know the Bible more, which I hope you have in your homes and, during the week, pause to read and meditate in prayer, to know the wonderful history of the relationship between God and man, between God who communicates with us and man who responds, who prays.
--Benedict XVI, Wednesday Audience, 18 May 2011
http://www.zenit.org/article-32610?l=english
PRAYER IS THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL
The highest good is prayer and conversation with God, because it means that we are in God’s company and in union with him. When light enters our bodily eyes our eyesight is sharpened; when a soul is intent on God, God’s inextinguishable light shines into it and makes it bright and clear. I am talking, of course, of prayer that comes from the heart and not from routine: not the prayer that is assigned to particular days or particular moments in time, but the prayer that happens continuously by day and by night.
Indeed the soul should not only turn to God at times of explicit prayer. Whatever we are engaged in, whether it is care for the poor, or some other duty, or some act of generosity, we should remember God and long for God. The love of God will be as salt is to food, making our actions into a perfect dish to set before the Lord of all things. Then it is right that we should receive the fruits of our labours, overflowing onto us through all eternity, if we have been offering them to him throughout our lives.
Prayer is the light of the soul, true knowledge of God, a mediator between God and men. Prayer lifts the soul into the heavens where it hugs God in an indescribable embrace. The soul seeks the milk of God like a baby crying for the breast. It fulfils its own vows and receives in exchange gifts better than anything that can be seen or imagined.
Prayer is a go-between linking us to God. It gives joy to the soul and calms its emotions. I warn you, though: do not imagine that prayer is simply words. Prayer is the desire for God, an indescribable devotion, not given by man but brought about by God’s grace. As St Paul says: For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf in a way that could never be put into words.
If God gives to someone the gift of such prayer, it is a gift of imperishable riches, a heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. Whoever tastes that food catches fire and his soul burns for ever with desire for the Lord.
To begin on this path, start by adorning your house with modesty and humility. Make it shine brightly with the light of justice. Decorate it with the gold leaf of good works, with the jewels of faithfulness and greatness of heart. Finally, to make the house perfect, raise a gable above it all, a gable of prayer. Thus you will have prepared a pure and sparkling house for the Lord. Receive the Lord into this royal and splendid dwelling — in other words: receive, by his grace, his image into the temple of your soul.
--Pseudo-Chrysostom, Homily
MORNING PRAYER
Behold the golden dawn arise;
The paling night forsakes the skies:
Those shades that hid the world from view,
And us to dangerous error drew.
May this new day be calmly passed,
May we keep pure while it shall last:
Nor let our lips from truth depart,
Nor dark designs engage the heart.
So may the day speed on; the tongue
No falsehood know, the hands no wrong:
Our eyes from wanton gaze refrain,
No guilt our guarded bodies stain.
For God all-seeing from on high
Surveys us with a watchful eye:
Each day our every act he knows
From early dawn to evening’s close.
All laud to God the Father be;
All praise, eternal Son, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To God the Holy Paraclete.
--Liturgy of the Hours
BEING WITH THE LORD ALWAYS
Anyone who wishes to become a priest must be first and foremost a "man of God", to use the expression of Saint Paul (1 Tim 6:11). For us God is not some abstract hypothesis; he is not some stranger who left the scene after the "big bang". God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In the face of Jesus Christ we see the face of God. In his words we hear God himself speaking to us. It follows that the most important thing in our path towards priesthood and during the whole of our priestly lives is our personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The priest is not the leader of a sort of association whose membership he tries to maintain and expand. He is God’s messenger to his people. He wants to lead them to God and in this way to foster authentic communion between all men and women. That is why it is so important, dear friends, that you learn to live in constant intimacy with God. When the Lord tells us to "pray constantly", he is obviously not asking us to recite endless prayers, but urging us never to lose our inner closeness to God. Praying means growing in this intimacy. So it is important that our day should begin and end with prayer; that we listen to God as the Scriptures are read; that we share with him our desires and our hopes, our joys and our troubles, our failures and our thanks for all his blessings, and thus keep him ever before us as the point of reference for our lives. In this way we grow aware of our failings and learn to improve, but we also come to appreciate all the beauty and goodness which we daily take for granted and so we grow in gratitude. With gratitude comes joy for the fact that God is close to us and that we can serve him.
--Benedict XVI, Letter to Seminarians, 1, 18 October 2010
A NEW YEAR'S PRAYER
May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God's love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.
-- Saint Thomas Becket
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