Have just finished reading Ron Hansen's novel Mariette in Ecstasy, the senstively told story of a young postulant given the stigmata and the varied reactions to her from her convent. There were a couple of descriptions of prayer in the novel that I thought were well worth posting and which I will probably mention at tomorrow's Prayer Hearing in Chelmsford Cathedral:
"I have realised how much simpler it is to pray and keep united with God when I see him as the source and sum of everything I do. When I walk, I owe it to God that I still can. When I sleep, it is with His permission. My breathing, my happiness, even my being a woman - all are His gifts to me. So it is my prime intention that whenever I do these practical things, they will be contemplative acts of praise and thanksgiving repeated over and over again."
"As I began to meditate on the crucifixion and Christ's own trials in this world, I became rapt in thought and I found myself again before Jesus, who was suffering such terrible pain. He was horrible with blood and his breathing was hard and troubled, but his pain had less to do with that than with his human sense of failure, injustice and loneliness. An unquenchable desire to join him in his agonies took hold of me then ... and I beseeched Jesus to grant me that grace."
"When you go apart to be alone for prayer, put from your mind everything you have been doing or plan to do. Reject all thoughts, be they good or be they evil. Do not pray with words unless you are really drawn to this; or if you do pray with words, pay no attention to whether they are many or few. Do not weigh them or their meaning. Do not be concerned about what kind of prayers you use, for it is unimportant whether or not they are official liturgical prayers, psalms, hymns, or anthems; whether they are for particular or general intentions; or whether you formulate them interiorly, by thoughts, or express them aloud, in words. See that nothing remains in your conscious mind save a naked intent stretching out toward God."
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King's X - It's Love.
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