. Contemplative Haven: May 2006

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Noon-Hour Spree

I lucked out. So many people (including my pastor) have been mentioning Caryll Houselander lately, I thought I'd better sit up and take notice. I wandered over to a second-hand bookstore on my lunchbreak, and found these:

This War is the Passion (1943) hardcover ........................... $10.00
A Rocking-Horse Catholic (1955) hardcover ..........................$ 9.50
Lift Up Your Hearts (1979) paperback ................................ $ 5.00

I done good. No coffee money for a couple of weeks, but I done good. Haven't found "The Quotidian Mysteries" yet, but I'll keep looking...

Speaking of such things, ccheryl, over at Catholic-Pushing-Sixty asks, "What Are You Reading?" I gave her my current list. Go on over and 'fess up - I'd love to know too!

posted by Gabrielle at 12:58 AM |

Monday, May 29, 2006

Obedience Ascending



The contemplative life is something which grows and develops; we begin to see changes in attitudes, perspectives, and focus. One of the initial developments is often a reawakening of our sense of obedience to God.

Obedience is a response, a moving forward into God's law of love. It is a recognition that we need His wisdom, we desire His lessons, we accept His parenthood. We experience a tremendous release when we give up our own ways, with full awareness and of our own volition. It is a union of our wills with His, as exemplified by the Blessed Virgin. Father Wilkie Au, S.J., puts it this way:

"...the concept of obedience seems incompatible with notions of mature adulthood and personal automony....Obedience is, fundamentally, our affirmation of the good news that we are God's very own, chosen to be part of the family of God....The heart of obedience lies in a joyful "yes" to this familial relationship with God. Through obedience, we humbly acknowledge that we have been created by a loving God and are called to express our gratitude through loving service. Accepting our nature as creatures, we confess that God is central to our lives, the raison d'être of our existence."

(By Way of the Heart. Toward a Holistic Christian Spirituality)

posted by Gabrielle at 1:26 PM |

Leaning on Each Other

Watching people you care about struggle with faith/life issues can often be worse than dealing with your own. It's like what every parent feels when their child is ill; who of us hasn't pleaded with God to give us the pain instead?

"To work out our own identity in God, which the Bible calls 'working out our salvation,' is a labor that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. It demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as He reveals Himself, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation."
Thomas Merton (New Seeds of Contemplation)

Each new situation. Each new stage of life. Each heartache, each soul-ache, each betrayal, each collapse, each getting up, each sudden awareness, each consolation. Each new opportunity for growth in love.

God may reveal Himself obscurely at these times, but we are His hands and feet. Let us wrap our arms around our brothers and sisters when they need us, and help them make it to a place where they can rest a while.

posted by Gabrielle at 12:29 AM |

Friday, May 26, 2006

Feastday of St. Philip Neri


Speaking of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the miracle of St. Philip Neri's heart shows us what can happen when we enter into Divine Love. The Catholic Encyclopedia quotes St. Philip Neri's biographer, Pietre Giacomo Bacci, who wrote, "The life of St. Philip Neri: apostle of Rome and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory":

"While he was with the greatest earnestness asking of the Holy Ghost His gifts, there appeared to him a globe of fire, which entered into his mouth and lodged in his breast; and thereupon he was suddenly surprised with such a fire of love, that, unable to bear it, he threw himself on the ground, and, like one trying to cool himself, bared his breast to temper in some measure the flame which he felt. When he had remained so for some time, and was a little recovered, he rose up full of unwonted joy, and immediately all his body began to shake with a violent tremour; and putting his hand to his bosom, he felt by the side of his heart, a swelling about as big as a man's fist, but neither then nor afterwards was it attended with the slightest pain or wound."

The Catholic Encyclopedia goes on to say:

"The cause of this swelling was discovered by the doctors who examined his body after death. The saint's heart had been dilated under the sudden impulse of love, and in order that it might have sufficient room to move, two ribs had been broken, and curved in the form of an arch. From the time of the miracle till his death, his heart would palpitate violently whenever he performed any spiritual action."

I have absolutely no trouble believing in this miracle; many of the saints had similar experiences. What I have trouble believing is that in this day and age, any doctor performing an autopsy would come to the conclusion that the heart had dilated "under the sudden impulse of love." I don't think they cover consolations and miracles in medical school anymore.

posted by Gabrielle at 9:46 AM |

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Fruits, Gifts and Contemplative Prayer

Some of you may have visited Moneybags' beautiful blog recently, to participate in the drawing of a fruit/gift of the Holy Spirit on which to focus at this time. The fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit are intimately involved with contemplative prayer.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the fruits are "perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory" (1832). The gifts "complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations" (1831). They are "permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit" (1830).

Docile. Readily obeying. Obeying divine inspirations. Following promptings. Promptings of the Holy Spirit.

This "docility" is very important. It should not be mistaken for mere passivity, because it is active in the sense of being positive, life-sustaining, and open to receiving from the Lord and growing as a result. It is more along the lines of a soul that is malleable, ready and willing to be shaped by the Holy Spirit. In "Christian Perfection and Contemplation", Father Garrigou-Lagrange quotes Bishop Gay's "De la vie et des vertus chrétiennes" : "They [the gifts of the Holy Spirit] confer at one and the same time pliability and energy, docility and strength, which render the soul more passive under the hand of God, and likewise more active in serving Him and in doing His work."

And what has this to do with contemplative prayer? Well, to quote Father Garrigou-Lagrange, "...theologians commonly teach that infused contemplation proceeds formally from the gifts of the Holy Ghost, particularly from the gift of wisdom which makes us taste the mysteries of salvation and, so to speak, see all things in God...The gift of understanding also contributes to contemplation by making us penetrate these mysteries. The gift of knowledge may also have a share in it by manifesting to us the emptiness and the vanity of all created things in comparison with God, or by revealing to us, in a more striking manner than years of meditation could, the infinite gravity of mortal sin."

Father Thomas Keating was actually the first to help me understand the connection. In "The Better Part. Stages of Contemplative Living", he writes: "Christian contemplation unfolds from the seeds of the graces planted at baptism. Among these are the Seven Gifts of the Spirit, all of which are oriented towards contemplative prayer and its development." Regarding infused contemplation, Keating also says, "In general, it means that the Seven Gifts of the Spirit, in particular the contemplative gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, have taken over one's prayer. You no longer have need of any method because the Spirit prays in you."

And so, with the grace of the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the docile soul, the "Yes, Lord" soul, will be supernaturally drawn into contemplative prayer.

posted by Gabrielle at 11:50 PM |

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Getting Down to Business

When I began to experience contemplative prayer about twelve years ago, I had no one to help me understand what was happening. I didn't know it was contemplative prayer, because I knew absolutely nothing about it. I didn't have a clue who I could talk to, or even what to say if I had known someone. So I began reading books on spirituality, as if my very life depended on it. I know my sanity certainly did. It was three years before I found the contemplative writers, and then I knew. At that point, God placed a pastor in my life who was himself a contemplative, and who helped me get through some critical periods.

My purpose in starting this blog was to fill a wee niche, to provide a place where people could come and really learn about contemplative prayer and contemplation. As with all things spiritual, the subject of contemplation is filled with apparent opposites, which we must try to bring together. It is called the highest form of prayer, yet it is available to everyone. It is a total gift from God, yet we are called to prepare for it. It is a complete receiving, yet we must be active in our practice and in our attention, in our expectancy. It is not something which can be taught, yet we can teach about it, sharing knowledge and experience.

And so, I would like to begin now, at Contemplative Haven, in earnest. Over a number of months, and I don't know how many, I would like us to take a contemplative journey, from humble beginnings, through the consolations, into the dark nights and beyond, towards the Transforming Union. After that, my job here may be finished. I guess He will let me know.

My posts may or may not lend themselves to comments, but please feel free to ask any questions you wish, anonymously if you prefer. My answers will not be my personal opinions - I will always source the great contemplative saints and writers, and if I have no immediate answer, I will do my best to find it for you.

My goal here is only to help, especially in offering the kind of guidance I would dearly have loved to have received from a human being during the initial stages, but didn't. So often, God seems to want us to take this contemplative journey alone, with Himself as the sole guide. But every now and then, He drops someone into our lives, puts someone beside us on the path, to reassure us and help move us forward. That's who I would like to be - the person beside you on the path, nudging, nudging, nudging...

posted by Gabrielle at 12:08 AM |

Friday, May 19, 2006

Weekend's Coming


"Solitude is not isolation. Solitude is a turning to the other person, in this case the supreme Other, with undivided attention. Isolation is a cutting of oneself off from all others, and thus it is an illness, while solitude is a radical healthiness."

Father Thomas Dubay, S.M.
Seeking Spiritual Direction. How to Grow the Divine Life Within

Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe weekend, with at least a few moments of "radical healthiness"!

posted by Gabrielle at 1:07 AM |

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

He Knows Why

A couple of posts ago, I attempted a response to "What Ifs", but was waylaid by broken pottery. I'm trying again, and here is the quote from Jean-Pierre de Caussade, in Abandonment to Divine Providence:

"...those in whom God lives are often flung into a corner like a useless bit of broken pottery. There they lie, forsaken by everyone, but yet enjoying God's very real and active love and knowing they have to do nothing but stay in his hands and be used as he wishes. Often they have no idea how they will be used, but he knows."

So, taking up where we left off, let's assume that our discernment was correct, that He did desire us to write the book, create the art, produce the workshops, enter the seminary/convent, or earn a degree in theology, but nothing comes of it. Everywhere we turn we encounter nothing but "visible" defeat, failure in the eyes of the world.

In our discernment, did we take the time to go beyond the "what" and ask Him "why"? Did we just assume that after the "what" was answered, the "why" was a given?

He wants you to write a book, so of course, it will be published to help others. Maybe not. Maybe in the process of writing the book, the Holy Spirit will reveal things to you which will heal childhood wounds and bring you straight into the arms of your loving Father/Mother. He wants you to paint icons, so of course, people will purchase them for their homes/parishes. Maybe not. Maybe through the act of painting you are being led into a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Holy Trinity or the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He wants you to get a degree in theology, so of course, you will become a professor, eventually with tenure. Maybe not. Maybe He is trying to draw you to a particular spirituality, be it Carmelite, Ignatian, Franciscan, the practice of which will radically change your life.

Two things we often forget is that our first obligation is the salvation of our own soul, and that the Passion is not something to be entered into only during Lent and Holy Week. Does it ever occur to us that the "why" of these visible defeats may be for the benefit of our soul alone, in the beginning, for the purpose of our own progress in sanctity and towards union with Him?

How? Well, what are the general outcomes of these kinds of defeat? Loss of face, derision from those around us who had been sceptical from the first, humiliation, financial distress, discouragement, fear, pain, loneliness, rejection by the world and a sense of being abandoned by God Himself. Jesus would say it sounded only too familiar, wouldn't He?

He wants us to identify these trials with His, and enter into them fully, for whatever length of season He chooses, so that when the Father looks at us, He sees the Son.

"Why should I have it any better than Jesus?" is something I once heard, and which comes back to me often. As does St. Teresa of Avila's comment during the terrible ordeals of St. John of the Cross: "Jesus, You are so hard on Your friends; it's no wonder You have so few of them."

How can we become, or remain, one of those few? By recognizing and accepting the gift He is offering, the gift of union, through the Passion. Come, He says, and see what it is like to have been Me.

posted by Gabrielle at 9:43 AM |

Sunday, May 14, 2006

For My Mother


Heart (F.R. Scott, Selected Poems)

Heart goes straight on,
Heart can't turn.
Mountains won't stop heart.
Drives right in.

Heart can't see a fact
Staring it in the face
If heart loves face.

Heart believes in miracles,
Being miracle.

Magnet heart draws loose ends
Into strict line,
Sews patches up
With no join.

Though heart knows heart breaks
When it fastens,
Stubborn, this part!
Never listens.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.

posted by Gabrielle at 2:16 AM |

Friday, May 12, 2006

The Vision


In case you have any moments over the weekend when you feel obtuse, take comfort. It happens to everyone: The Book of Amos (8:1-2)

This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. "What do you see, Amos?" he asked. I answered, "A basket of ripe fruit."

Sometimes we just have no clue what God is trying to show us, but with patience, gentleness and receptivity, we can open the eyes of the soul.


posted by Gabrielle at 9:02 AM |

I Just Can't Do It



I was all set to write a follow-up post to "What Ifs", and had selected a quotation I wanted to discuss. But after re-reading it several times, the first line kept sending me into fits of giggles. Here it is:

"...those in whom God lives are often flung into a corner like a useless bit of broken pottery."

Now, have you ever flung a useless bit of broken pottery into a corner? I know I haven't. I have flung laundry into a corner, I have flung stuffed animals into a corner, I have flung cushions into a corner, but I have never flung a useless bit of broken pottery into a corner.

All of a sudden, I want to. Of course, it would not be in the slightest the contemplative thing to do, but I would like to experience it, just once.

I only wish I had a mud floor. And some useless bits of broken pottery. Why can't you ever find these things when you need them?

posted by Gabrielle at 12:12 AM |

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

What Ifs

What if we desire to do something to serve the Lord, something to give Him glory, and all our efforts in that direction appear to fail? What if, after careful discernment, we have changed our course, radically altering our lives and those of family members, sacrificing time, money and advancement in other areas, only to experience defeat at every turn? What if we come to believe that it was all a dream, or only our imagination, or just our own pride, and not a "still, small voice"?

What if we call to Him in the middle of the night, in the middle of the meeting, in the middle of the diaper change, and there is no answer? What if we cry out to Him, "Lord, have You abandoned me? Lord, have You betrayed me? Lord, are you laughing at me?" Yet with the next breath, in our certainty that He could not do any of those things, we beg Him for explanations - "Lord, I know it was You who led me to do this; why don't You help me, when it is Your work I desire to do?" Silence.

And so, what if the book doesn't publish, the art doesn't sell, the workshops aren't attended, the religious vocation doesn't gel, the theology degree doesn't gain us a position? What then?

What then indeed.

posted by Gabrielle at 1:26 AM |

Friday, May 05, 2006

Taste and See

"He who has tasted this light understands of what I am speaking. Once tasted, this light tortures the soul all the more with hunger for it, for the soul feeds on it but is never satiated, and the more it tastes it, the more it hungers. This light, which draws the mind as the sun draws the eyes, this light, inexplicable in itself, which however becomes explicable, only not in words but by the experience of him who receives its influence, or rather who is wounded by it - this light, commands me to be silent." Philotheus of Sinai

posted by Gabrielle at 12:48 AM |

Thursday, May 04, 2006

From Laundry Soap to Sanctity

Today is the feastday of Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis. Élodie, as she was called in childhood, was born in the village of L'Acadie, Québec, Canada in 1840. She entered the Holy Cross congregation in 1854, spent many years teaching in different locations, and in 1880, founded a new order: The Little Sisters of the Holy Family. The sisters of this new congregation were to devote themselves to priests and seminarians by taking care of their households. The order now has convents not only in Canada, but in the U.S., Rome and Honduras. Élodie died in 1912, and was the first Canadian ever beatified on Canadian soil. Pope John Paul II declared her Blessed in his visit to Canada in 1980.

I wonder if, when she discerned her vocation as a very young woman, Élodie got down on her knees and begged God to allow her to spend her life overseeing the cleaning of rectories and seminaries? Was her heart's desire to serve the Lord by becoming the foundress of an order devoted to washing priests' kitchen floors and scrubbing seminarians' bathrooms? Somehow I doubt it. She did what needed to be done, without complaint, telling her sisters that they would rest in heaven.

There is very little written about Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, and so I do not know, for certain, if she had a contemplative bone in her body. But I believe she did. It is said she was known for her devotion to the Rosary and to the Eucharist, and my intuition tells me that during her long, tiring days, she was a woman who practised the presence of God.

Élodie. Marie-Léonie. Bienheureuse. Housecleaning her way through life. No question; the woman's a saint.

posted by Gabrielle at 12:16 AM |

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Displays of Love

The Canada geese flew over our house the other evening, and again this morning, heading north. Two of the largest V-formations I have ever seen. You can hear them approaching about a minute or so before they arrive, their honking scurrying you out of the house, neighbours popping out of back doors to gaze up at their wondrous, fleeting passage.

The backyard is home now to robins, sparrows, chickadees, mourning doves and occasionally, blue jays and cardinals.

My cup runneth over.

"Lord, it is you who, through the imperceptible goadings of sense-beauty, penetrated my heart in order to make its life flow out into yourself. You came down into me by means of a tiny scrap of created reality; and then, suddenly, you unfurled your immensity before my eyes and displayed yourself to me as Universal Being."

Teilhard de Chardin (Hymn of the Universe)

posted by Gabrielle at 1:45 AM |

'Tis the Month of Our Mother

May is a month of "openings" in my neck of the woods. Crocuses and tulips, lilacs and climbing vines all open themselves to the sun and warm breezes, with no sign of begrudging the harsh winter they've endured.

It is a glorious month, traditionally the month in which the Blessed Virgin is especially remembered and honoured. When I was little, we sang this hymn every day at school during May:

'Tis the month of our Mother,
The blessed and beautiful days,
When our lips and our spirits
Are glowing with love and with praise.
All hail! to dear Mary,
The guardian of our way,
To the fairest of Queens,
Be the fairest of seasons, sweet May.

Mary was like the crocuses and tulips, the lilacs and the climbing vines, open to everything the Lord had to offer. She was a complete "yes", wholly receptive, totally accepting, yet not passive. She rode donkeys, fled countries, lived in exile, swept floors, and prepared meals. With her simple observation of, "They have no wine," she was instrumental in starting her Son out in His public life, with the miracle at Cana.

But where did this "yes" to God lead her while on earth? To a grand life, mother of the famous, local Miracle Worker? No. It led her directly to His Passion, directly into becoming Our Lady of the Seven Dolours (Our Lady of Sorrows). Our gentle Mother, with seven swords in her heart, that heart where she had "pondered" everything - her prayerful and contemplative centre.

posted by Gabrielle at 12:54 AM |