Contemplative Prayer In “A Way Of Life”

In two previous articles, I considered what the foundational documents of the BSC say about contemplation, and then I set out to give a definition of contemplative prayer from writers outside of the community. In this article, I attempt to bring everything together by focusing on what the earliest of our documents, A Way of Life [1], says about contemplation and contemplative prayer. Although the BSC Constitution and Directories mention contemplation, the contemplative life, and contemplative prayer numerous times, it is in WL that we go deeper into what these terms mean.

The purpose of contemplation in the WL is stated in the material on the various covenants that community members are free to embrace. We “live a life of contemplative prayer so others might experience the divine action of Jesus’ love in their life.”[2] That is nothing short of amazing. Why do I rest in the Holy Spirit, wait on the Lord, and practice disciplines of prayer that include silence and solitude? So that I might experience the divine action of Jesus’ love in my life? No. So that others might experience that love. Our call to contemplative prayer is a missionary mandate. First, we are able to share the love of Jesus with others because we have slowed down enough to experience it ourselves. However, this passage goes further. Many people are searching for what will fill the God-shaped hole in their soul and only a relationship with God that is the fruit of contemplation will fill it. By having a contemplative lifestyle, we show others that there is a better “Way of Life.”

There is a third aspect of this missionary mandate. Contemplation changes the world, whether we see the fruit of those changes or not. Our model here is St. Clare. In a passage in the WL on our Franciscan base, it says that “[w]e first seek to understand and live the beautiful tradition of contemplation of heart that is traceable back to the holy lady, St. Clare.”[3] St. Clare lived her whole adult life in a cloistered monastery so how could her contemplative life change anything beyond the monastery walls? We seem to have a very narrow view of how prayer changes things. Prayer helps reorient the world toward God. It is a spiritual influence and cannot be quantified. Yet, those women in that monastery helped change the world in which they lived. They did it simply through their prayers.[4]

Another rich passage on contemplative prayer found in the WL says the following:

It is in the solitude of prayer that we find our true companion and thus learn to be better companions for one another in community. It is in the inner silence of prayer that we hear the living word of God and thus learn to speak words that flow from the love of God to one another. Let it never be forgotten that the primary purpose of this community is to live a life of contemplation and prayer.[5]

Jesus came to show us who our Father truly is, what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God, and he shows us what true friendship is. What does it mean to be a “true companion,” one who accompanies and helps another person? Again, Jesus shows us the way. It is in the “solitude of prayer,” being alone with Jesus, that we learn from him how to be better companions of others. We walk with our true companion, talk with him, hang out with him, and in this manner we learn how to do for others what Jesus does for us.

If it is through the solitude of prayer that we learn how to be true companions, it is in the silence of prayer that we hear the word of God and learn to speak those words to others. Too often we just speak our own words to others. We do not hear God’s word because we are too busy talking so we just make up what we think we ought to tell others. The prophet Jeremiah had a term for those who do this; he called them “false prophets.” A false prophet is one who does not stand in the council of the Lord, does not take the time to gaze upon his face and listen to his voice, and only then run to announce his word.[6] The WL refers to speaking words that “flow from the love of God” because we have been listening to the “living word.” However, without solitude and silence, we can learn very little about our true companion and what he wants us to say to the world. The WL does say that prayer is a dialogue with Jesus[7], but silence is a good corrective for many of us who grew up being taught that prayer is a monologue.

Along with time to be alone and quiet with Jesus, the WL also emphasizes the need for charismatic praise and thanksgiving. We need to quiet down but we also need to be stirred up. Our hearts need to burst into flame with the love of God as we are open to the charismatic flame of the Holy Spirit. “Everything in our life must be consumed in the fire of God's love. Hot embers will then burn steadily and effortlessly as we enter into passive, contemplative peace.”[8] There is a time to be quiet, a time for teaching, a time for solitude, and a time to visit with one another but, if our gatherings have taught us anything, it is in the periods of charismatic praise and thanksgiving that our hearts are fanned into flame. If you are a domestic member and you do not regularly attend the regional and general gatherings, you are missing out on a great opportunity to get set on fire.[9]

What are the methods recommended by the WL as we strive to become contemplatives? Through the charismatic gifts and directed meditation our hearts are set on fire but then we “pass over into pure and passive contemplation.”[10] This state is described as simply being with Jesus “without the intrusion of either ideas or emotion.”[11] What can we do, if anything, to aid us in this passing over? The WL recommends reading and retreats. The recommended reading is from the mystics of the Church, especially those of Franciscan and monastic tradition. Recently, I did an inventory of my spiritual reading and discovered that it had been years since I had read anything from the Franciscan tradition. There are a lot of good things we can read but we in the BSCD have a unique Way of Life so we do not read just anything and everything, even if it is good stuff. We have to make choices. If we want to be formed and shaped into the BSC Way of Life, we have certain areas within the Church’s patrimony where we focus our attention, namely, the Franciscan and monastic tradition.

There is no comprehensive statement about contemplation or contemplative prayer in the WL. However, this topic permeates the whole document. What contemplation is for us in the BSC is understood more from the whole context of the writing than from any particular passage. Contemplation is related to silence, solitude, and trust. It is more about what we are than what we do. This makes it a great subject for reflection during Advent when we quiet ourselves and wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Slow down, dear brothers and sisters. Sit alone in silence with Jesus. Gaze upon his beauty. And he will teach you everything.

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1. Hereinafter abbreviated WL.
2. WL, section c on Prayer, p. 137.
3. Ibid., p. 139.
4. This threefold purpose of contemplation is also seen in the following passage on study in the WL, p. 154: “The study of the contemplative is only undertaken to further relationship with Jesus Christ and with brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ and the whole world created by Jesus Christ. Study for the sake of study leads to both vanity and pride, both of which are harmful to the prayer life of the Christ-centered contemplative.”
5. Ibid., p. 147.
6. Jer 23:21-22.
7. WL, pp. 152-53. This section in the WL considers the relationship between study and prayer and likens it to “two lovers who desire to grow very close.”
8. WL, p. 148.
9. I should know. I had ten years between my last two General Gatherings.
10. WL, p. 151.
11. Ibid.