Contemplative Haven: Fruits, Gifts and Contemplative Prayer 
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.
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
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