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Brookline Carmel Bulletin J M J T

October 11, 1959

Cogitatio Sancta

(Holy Meditation)

Why this Emphasis on Prayer?

Our goal in Carmel (if we may sum it up very briefly) is to reach the closest union with God that is possible to us in this life and to help others to attain this same union. The contemplative phase of our life aims at effecting this union in ourselves; the active phase aims effecting it in others. The great instrument for accomplishing both of these aims is prayer.

Prayer purifies the soul so that God can enter into it more fully. One who prays frequently must necessarily become increasingly aware of God’s presence. This awareness of God’s presence will induce him to avoid whatever might displease God. St. Teresa declares (Life, chap. 8): “If that soul perseveres (in prayer), notwithstanding the sins, temptations and falls of a thousand kinds into which the devil leads it, the Lord, I am certain, will bring it to the harbor of salvation…” Elsewhere she mentions the importance of being “supported by the strong pillar of mental prayer.” Describing the lukewarm period of her own life, she says: “I passed through this tempestuous sea almost twenty years, between these fallings and risings, (though I rose very imperfectly, since I fell again so quickly,) and in this kind of life, which was so far below perfection, I made almost no account of venial sins; and as for mortal sins, I feared them, it is true, but not so much as I ought to have done, since I did not avoid the dangerous occasions.” Then, lest any one wonder why she makes this confession of her past life, she explains: “The reason I have given this account is that it may be understood how great a blessing God bestows on the soul whom He disposes to practice mental prayer with good will, even though it may not be so well prepared as it should be.”

Frequent, if not constant prayer is a great deterrent to sin and imperfection. But it is more than that. Besides removing the obstacles, it enables the soul to take positive steps toward union with God. “The door of entry into this castle (of intimate union with God) is prayer.” (St. Teresa, Interior Castle, I, l) Prayer not only establishes our contact with God, but, if practiced faithfully, it strengthens and enriches our union with Him – that union which Our Lord describes in the Gospel (Jn. 17:21-23) – “I pray… that all may be one, even as thou, Father, in me and I in thee; that they also may be one in us… And the glory that thou has given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me; that they may be perfected in unity…”

As one becomes more closely united with God, his desires become increasingly conformed to God’s will. A necessary consequence of this process is that his love for souls grows ever more intense. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. If we truly love God, we can hardly be indifferent to the needs of souls for whom Christ died. In her Life, after describing her vision of hell, St. Teresa writes: “I do not know how we can look on so calmly and see the devil carrying off so many souls as he does daily. This makes me wish that, in so urgent a matter, we were not satisfied with anything short of doing all that we can. Let us leave nothing undone; and to this end, may the Lord be pleased to grant us His grace.” (Life, chap. 32) Here we should note that the only foundation for a healthy active apostolate is prayer. The form of apostolate that Our Lord first demanded of His Apostles was prayer: “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest.” This has always been the battle cry of Carmel – prayer first and foremost, action as an outgrowth of prayer. An active apostolate without a foundation of prayer to support it is in imminent danger of collapsing. Conversely, a life of prayer, even though accompanied by little or no active apostolate, will be of value for souls. As St. Teresa assures us (Life, chap. 11), “If, by the help of God, the beginner strives to reach the summit of perfection, I do not believe he will ever go to heaven alone, but will always take many others with him: God treats him like a good captain, and gives him soldiers to go in his company.”

LDVM

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