. Discussion of CHAPTER 30 The Way of Perfection - Describes the importance of understanding what we ask for in prayer. - Treats of these words in the Paternoster: "Sanctificetur nomen tuum, adveniat regnum tuum." [105] "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come." - Applies them to the Prayer of Quiet, and - Begins the explanation of them. . |
St. Teresa continues to discuss the Lord's Prayer.
While it is true
if we prayed in a general way, such as,
"Give us, Father, whatever is good for us",
"This would have sufficed.
There would seem to be no need
to say any more"
since God "knows everything" and
He knows "what is needful for you"; (con't)
. Matthew 6: 7 "for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him. 9 Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen 26 Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? 32 For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. 33 Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. _______________________ Luke 12: 30 But your Father knoweth that you have need of these things. 31 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. 32 Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. ____________________ Psalm 147 1 Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good: to our God be joyful and comely praise. 3 Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises. 4 Who telleth the number of the stars: and calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and great is his power: and of his wisdom there is no number. [ Douay-Rheims Bible ] . |
(con't)
but in regard to the Lord's Prayer,
she urges consideration and meditation
on each "particular" petition
which Jesus, Himself, prayed and
which He taught us to pray.
"our good Jesus tells us
our petitions must be...for some particular thing"
"how great is our Master's wisdom"
Jesus, in His wisdom and Love for us,
taught us what is important and valuable
and "life-giving" to the soul.
Because left to our own devices
"we are blind
and often
we have such a loathing
for life-giving food
that we cannot eat it
but prefer what will cause us death"
"For,
being what we are and
having our free will,
if we do not receive
what we ask for,
we shall not accept
what the Lord gives us.
The gift might be
the best one possible--
but we never think we are rich
unless we actually see money
in our hands"
"we needed, therefore, to be taught
to ask for particular things
so that we should stop for a moment
to think
if what we ask of Thee
is good for us, and
if it is not, should not ask for it"
"This would indeed be
our Divine Master's wish,
since He bids us make so sublime a petition"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So, St. Teresa urges her readers to:
• "consider the next petition
in our good Master's prayer,
in which He begins
to entreat His holy Father on our behalf,
and
• see what it is
that He entreats"
█ Considering and Understanding each petition
of the Lord's Prayer
Since "our good Jesus tells us
our petitions must be...
for some particular thing",
One should consider:
"What he was going to ask for and
What use he would make of it"
"It is good for you to know
What you are asking for
in the Pater Noster"
so that:
◘ One can learn and be in accord
with what Jesus desires for us
◘ One can recognize, acknowedge,
and be grateful
for these the gifts and graces
bestowed by God.
"so that, if the Eternal Father gives it you,
you shall not cast it back in His face"
◘ One will be strengthened to continue
to spend more time in prayer.
"Let us understand
- this thing that we are asking for...
and
- how important it is that we should
◦ pray for it without ceasing and
◦ do all we can to please Him
Who will give it us"
. "Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come." "The good Jesus, places these two petitions next to each other" St. Teresa explains the relationship between these two petitions: that we can not truly glorify God's name properly without the coming of God's kingdom of within us. She describes the Kingdom of God, for which we should pray, as: - a deep loving knowledge of God, and - tranquility, joy, and peace within, - freedom from attachment to earthly things. St. Teresa teaches one to strive to dispose oneself with the help of God to detachment, recollection in prayer, growth in Love, Humiity, and the other virtues so that the "Kingdom of God may come in us". If God grants this advancement in prayer, detachment, and virtue this experience would help us to understand "how we should love Him on earth" and how to hallow God's Name in a fitting way. ♦ "Hallowed be Thy name. St. Teresa initiates her discussion of this petition, "Hallowed be Thy name" by explaining that it involves much more than the consideration of "addressing someone of importance" and "how to approach Him so as to please him" but that, of ourselves, we could not even accomplish this. She says one could be able to honor God "in a...befitting...way", only through the help and graces of God by which "Thy Kingdom may come in us". "His Majesty, knowing of how little we are capable, saw that, "we could neither hallow nor praise nor magnify nor glorify nor exalt this holy Name of the Eternal Father in a way befitting it" "....unless He provided for us by giving us His Kingdom here on earth" ♦ "Thy Kingdom come in us." "Thy Kingdom come" consists of : - the grace that "the soul's one concern is loving Him" "this is how we should love Him on earth, though we cannot do so with the same perfection (as those in heaven) nor yet all the time" - the grace of true detachment from worldly objects and from self-seeking. "the chief ...joy... in the kingdom of Heaven...is that we shall have no more to do with the things of earth" St. Teresa taught that "it must be possible, with God's help, for a soul living in that state of exile to reach such a point" "This would indeed be our Divine Master's wish, since He bids us make so sublime a petition. "He never tells us to ask for impossibilities" ________________ St. Teresa taught that we should understand "of what we are asking in praying for this kingdom" "Let us understand - this thing that we are asking for, and - how important it is that we should ◦ pray for it without ceasing and ◦ do all we can to please Him Who will give it us" "Now the good Jesus bids us say these words, in which we pray that this Kingdom (of Heaven) may come in us: "for in Heaven we shall have an intrinsic tranquillity and glory, a joy in the rejoicings of all, a perpetual peace, and a great interior satisfaction which will come to us when we see that all are hallowing and praising the Lord, and are blessing His Name, and that none is offending Him". "For all love Him there and the soul's one concern is loving Him, nor can it cease from loving Him because it knows Him". _______________________ In Chapter 31, St. Teresa teaches: God "puts His Kingdom into their very hands, by giving them this Prayer of Quiet and this inward peace" "He begins to give us His Kingdom on earth so that we may truly ◦ praise Him and ◦ hallow His Name and ◦ strive to make others do so likewise". "when the soul is brought to this state of prayer, it would seem that the Eternal Father has already granted its petition that He will give it His Kingdom on earth". . |
Because we are human,
our love is imperfect and
we are still attached to the things of the world
but the grace of advancement in prayer
would enable us to grow
in our capability to love God.
and
in freedom from attachments to the world's objects.
Here, St. Teresa talks generally of the journey
of the soul to God through prayer.
She wants to advise of the graces
that God grants to those
"whom He brings to His Kingdom",
whom he leads
to the "Prayer of Quiet", "Contemplation", and
"to be with Him in Union":
And although
"we
are making a sea-voyage and
are still on the journey.
....there are times
when the Lord grants
our faculties, tranquillity
and
our soul, quiet,
and while they are in that state
He gives us a clear understanding
of the nature of the gifts
He bestows upon those
whom He brings to His Kingdom.
Those to whom,
while they are still on earth,
He grants what we are asking Him for,
receive pledges
which will give them a great hope
of eventually attaining
to a perpetual enjoyment
of what on earth
He only allows them to taste
...the beginning of pure contemplation,
call(ed) the Prayer of Quiet;
...there are many people who
- practise vocal prayer
in the manner already described and
- are raised by God
to the higher kind of contemplation
without
▫ having had any hand
in this themselves or
▫ even knowing how it has happened"
For example, St. Teresa told of a nun who
"though keeping to the Paternoster,
she was experiencing pure contemplation,
and
the Lord was raising her
to be with Him in union"
St. Teresa "describes the excellence of this prayer
called the Paternoster":
"that in its few words are enshrined
all contemplation and perfection..."
In "the Paternoster, the Lord has taught us
the whole method
of prayer and of high contemplation,
from the very beginnings of mental prayer,
to Quiet and Union".
"Our Lord is beginning here
to explain to us the effects which it produces,
when the favours come from Him".
[ Way of Perfection: Ch 37 ]
. ♦ "Thy Will be done" Although St. Teresa devotes chapter 32 to the petition, "Thy Will be done" she discusses it briefly here regarding - Conforming one's will to the will of God and - Detachment from the world's attractions so that one can focus on God. She illustrated how Our Lord resigned His will to that of His Father "It was thus that Thou didst address Him in the Garden, telling Him of Thy will and Thy fear, but leaving Thyself in His hands". She talks of the importance of striving to bring the will in accordance with the other two petitions "hallowed be Thy Name" "Thy Kingdom come in us" so that the will forms its attachment to God and not to the world. "But Thou knowest us... that we are not as resigned as wert Thou to the will of Thy Father; For, being what we are and having our free will" "we are blind and often we have such a loathing for life-giving food that we cannot eat it but prefer what will cause us death" . |
. SEA VOYAGE "for we are making a sea-voyage and are still on the journey" [ WofP Chapter 30] In Chapter 28, St.Teresa spoke of the sea-voyage in terms of - detachment from the world and - recollection of the senses while the soul enters within itself to be with God. "already put out to sea ...not sailed quite out of sight of land" "they do what they can to get away from it" (the world) In Chapter 28, St. Teresa described the sea voyage: ▲ of prayer and detachment: toward Recollection "Those - who are able to shut themselves up... within this little Heaven of the soul, wherein dwells the Maker of Heaven and earth, - who have formed the habit of -- looking at nothing ... which will distract these outward senses, may be sure that they - are...on an excellent road, and - will come without fail to drink of the water of the fountain, for they will journey a long way in a short time. They are like one who travels in a ship, and, if he has a little good wind, reaches the end of his voyage in a few days, while those who go by land take much longer. These souls have already put out to sea; though they have not sailed quite out of sight of land, they do what they can to get away from it (the world) in the time at their disposal, by recollecting their senses." [ WofP Chapter 28 ] ▲ To Recollection with God's help "It withdraws the senses from all outward things and ...the soul's spiritual sight becomes clear. But if we cultivate the habit, make the necessary effort and practise the exercises for several days, the benefits will reveal themselves, and when we begin to pray we shall realize that the bees are coming to the hive and entering it to make the honey, and all without any effort of ours" If God's wills it, "the senses will obey and allow themselves to be recollected" Recollection - "the soul collects together all the faculties and enters within itself to be with its God" [ WofP Chapter 28 ] ▲ To the Prayer of Quiet if God wills and grants it "Its Divine Master comes more speedily to teach it, and to grant it the Prayer of Quiet, than in any other way" [ WofP Chapter 28 ] But there are times when...the Lord grants our faculties, tranquillity and our soul, quiet, and while they are in that state He gives us a clear understanding of the nature of the gifts He bestows upon those whom He brings to His Kingdom. ...the beginning of pure contemplation, call(ed) the Prayer of Quiet; [ WofP Chapter 30 ] ▲ To Contemplation, if God wills and grants it "When the will calls them afresh they respond more quickly, until, after they have entered the soul many times, the Lord is pleased that they should remain there altogether in perfect contemplation". [ WofP Chapter 28 ] ▲ So, St. Teresa states - that advancement in prayer is possible with God's help - that it should be undertaken now, continuously, and steadily: "The sea-voyage, then, can be made; and, as it is very important that we should not travel too slowly, let us just consider how we can get accustomed to these good habits". [ WofP Chapter 28 ] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In St. Teresa's time, the sea voyage was a dangerous journey through mist, and fog, depending on the wind and visibility of the stars, and at risk from storms, rocks, and pirates. But St. Teresa, in chapter 21, explains: ▲ We are all on the journey, anyway "for we must all journey to this fountain, whether we will or no, though we may not all do so in the same way. ▲ The sea- voyage is the surest and safest route prayer, detachment and recollection with God's help) (away from the land / world "let none mislead you by showing you any other road than that of prayer" "...this safe road trodden by our King and by His elect and His saints-- [ WofP Chapter 21 ] "Souls who do so are more secure from many occasions of sin, and the fire of Divine love is is the more readily enkindled in them" [ WofP Chapter 28 ] ▲ It is more dangerous to - avoid the sea voyage journey of prayer, detachment, and recollection and - expect to withstand trials without this prayer, because this prayer disposes one to graces and virtue. "what will be the dangers encountered by those who think they will be able to gain this treasure and yet are not on the road to it? ...how incomparably greater must be the risks they run! And yet they have no idea of this until they fall headlong into some real danger. Having perhaps no one to help them, they lose this water altogether, and drink - neither much nor little of it, - either from a pool - or from a stream. How do you suppose they can do without a drop of this water and yet travel along a road on which there are so many adversaries to fight? Of course, sooner or later, they will die of thirst; take heed" "for in order to save themselves from evil they are fleeing from good". [ WofP Chapter 21 ] . |
| . End of Discussion of Chapter 30 The Way of Perfection . |
