Greetings and blessings.
Welcome.
We're about to embark on a form of contemplative prayer,
Taught by St.
Teresa of Avila.
St.
Teresa was a contemplative,
A mystic,
And a spiritual director,
And she became a doctor of the Catholic Church.
This is a form of wordless prayer,
That she called mental prayer,
And the idea is to sit in God's presence and look at Him looking at you.
Before we begin the time of contemplation,
I'll read to you from her book,
The Way of Perfection,
Chapter 26.
She says,
Represent the Lord Himself as close to you,
And behold how lovingly and humbly He is teaching you.
Believe me,
You should remain with so good a friend as long as you can.
If you can grow accustomed to having Him present at your side,
And He sees that you do so with love,
And that you go about striving to please Him,
You will not be able,
As they say,
To get away from Him.
He will never fail you.
He will help you in all your trials,
And you will find Him everywhere.
Do you think that it's some small matter to have a friend like this at your side?
I'm not asking you to do anything more than look at Him,
For who can keep you from turning the eyes of your soul towards this Lord,
Even if you do so just for a moment,
If you can't do more?
Is it too much to ask you to turn your eyes from these exterior things in order to look at Him sometimes?
Behold,
He is not waiting for anything else,
As He says to the bride,
Than that we look at Him.
In the measure you desire Him,
You will find Him.
He so esteems our turning to look at Him,
That no diligence will be lacking on His part.
And as she says in her life in chapter 13,
If we can,
We should occupy ourselves in looking at Him who is looking at us,
Keep Him company,
Talk to Him,
Pray to Him,
Humble ourselves before Him,
And have our delight in Him.
So now just allow yourself to begin to embrace the silence,
Take a few deep breaths,
Make sure you're sitting comfortably.
All we need to do in this practice is become aware of Christ and gaze upon Him as He gazes at you.
Rest in His presence.
Whenever your mind wanders during the silence,
Which we will do many,
Many times,
As soon as you notice that it's wandering,
Turn your gaze to Christ,
Consent to His presence which is already with you,
And gaze at Him in love as He gazes at you in love.
We will have ten minutes of silence,
Gazing at our beloved Lord and allowing Him to gaze at us.
At the end of the ten minutes,
There will be some music to bring your time of silence to an end.
So now let us enter the silence.
Keep your eyes,
Your inner eyes,
Focused upon your loving Lord and gaze upon Him as He gazes upon you.
Copyright © 2019 Mooji Media Ltd.
All Rights Reserved.
You
