Meister Eckhart, Counsel 11 from Counsels on Discernment, what to do when God is far away from us

Image of Master Eckhart

Hello there everybody,

I would like to post a post from Counsel 11 of Eckhart von Hochheim's (Miester [Master] Eckhart) Counsels on Discernment. Eckhart was a Dominican theologian of the 14th century who was brought up on heretical charges by the Franciscan-led Inquisition of the period. Some of his doctrines were regarded as heretical but according to the Catholic Church's decisions in 2010 he was not condemned in name and so may be read as an orthodox theologian, albeit I add, we ought to be cautious.

“And Jesus Took with Him” a Carthusian reflection on the prayer of Jesus in the Transfiguration

Icon of the Transfiguration at St. Catherine Monastery
at Mt. Sinai. It is an apse mosaic commissioned in the
6th century by Emperor Justinian the Great.

This essay is for a reflection on today’s feast, the feast of the Transfiguration, in which Jesus took up with Him Sts. Peter, James, and John up to Mount Tabor to pray. This is a great feast and is the moment in which Jesus showed forth His divinity to His disciples as well as making Moses and Elijah spring forth to see Him. The theme of this essay concerns less regarding the Transfiguration itself but Christ’s model of prayer in bringing His disciples with Him to pray and embrace His divinity. There is much mystery to the Transfiguration, and much of our own life is played out in the hope that we will see Jesus in His divinity and that that Light which shined forth from Him in all holiness might shine upon our souls and make us holy.

Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John and climbed the mountain to pray. (Luke 9:28)

Beyond the Absolute, Part 3 of 3: Beyond the Absolute

St. Bruno in ecstasy

In earlier blog posts I addressed the essay written by a Carthusian monk regarding the concept of God as Absolute and the wounding embrace with which He calls a Carthusian monk (or any man) to his final and true vocation, taking up the cross in the monastery. This is the last part of the Carthusian’s essay and in my opinion is the better part of the essay since it is the climax of the monk’s work.

Beyond the Absolute Part 2 of 3:The Paths of the Absolute

Last post at the start of June I commented on a Carthusian essay titled, Beyond the Absolute (from the book The Wound of Love), which regards the contemplative and the seemingly mundane lifestyle which imitates Christ's own self-poverty. Here is the link to the first part of this commentary.The life of Christians are often taken to be mundane, even those who are holy, but this is much the same mistake that others made with remark to our Good Lord. For it is in this radical self-emptying and humility that transforms our most mundane tasks into offerings of tremendous amounts of love to God our Beloved. And so the Savior's words ring strongly: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little is unjust also in that which is greater." (Luke 16:10) Make no mistake that this self-offering of resplendent love was present in every beat of Christ's Sacred Heart, and just as well the path of humility and self-offering was present in our Lady through God's assistance and favor. So too then the Carthusian who wrote this essay will describe the call of his own life in view of the captivating, seducing call of God Who loves us as if we were the only ones, His special chosen Beloved. Below I will commentate on parts of the essay.

Beyond the Absolute Part 1 of 3: The Seduction of the Absolute

There often come times in each person’s life where life can become muddlesome, sorrowful, and painful. There are other moments of joy, pleasure, luxury, love, and comfort, and of course moments for other things in this life as well. But it seems in all of man, and in all of life there is the subtle whisper of the desire for the Absolute. He Who Is, Is the Absolute, and this we know as Christians, but for many others there is the Absolute, the Transcendent One, whom one may experience the desire for flirtingly in the beautiful view of nature in its tranquility and elegance. But for many, there is no understanding of this desire, and many times a misattribution of it, and we all feel somehow intuitively that that Transcendence though we may have seen it by a strong wind, the overthrowing of mountains, an blazing fire, or another natural event is yet not contained by the wind, nor by the fire, nor by the mountain, nor by any natural event of any kind.

Sometimes when sin clouds our life we lose touch of finding God, but to every soul that has been touched by God, and every soul has in a small way, there is still ever yet that yearning and desire for the Absolute One, but we cannot find Him in the things that come to pass, but only in the embrace of prayer and through the ministry of His holy Church.

I write this post as the lowest of novices in prayer, and as one who struggles to even incline or be inclined to prayer, but I simply wanted to post some thoughts on the reflections of a Carthusian monk, found in the book “The Wound of Love.” My comments are in plain text, and quotes will be italicized.

Regarding Prayers to the Saints, Why do it?

This blog aims at fostering a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith and tradition, and of course a tradition of the Church as old as her foundation itself is prayer to the saints, angels, and holy martyrs. The Church has known well and deep in her heart that this form of petition is very different from the sort of petition that we raise to God Himself, but in this post I will try and lay down some arguments and reasoning for why God would deign it good and just that we pray to the saints in order to receive something from Him (either directly from Him or from Him passed to a saint and then to us).

Reading the Psalms with St. Augustine: Psalm 2

It has been quite some time since my last posting on the Psalms, the beautiful collection of hymns and prophecies. In the early Church the Psalms were one of the most profound works considered by the holy Doctors and Fathers, and indeed if any of us want to learn more about St. Augustine or more about the Church or more about our Lord, then we must start by being firmly rooted in Scripture. And so we must again come to reflect on the Psalms, but let us do so through the lens and teaching of St. Augustine, for he is a Doctor of the Church who’s theology comes so strongly from his own study of Scripture and his reflection on the traditions of the Church passed down to him through St. Ambrose and his brother bishops. The words of St. Augustine will come from his Enarrations on the Psalms, which can be found on New Advent.

Here then let us look to the Psalm first, reflect on it that God might enlighten us, and listen to the wisdom of St. Augustine who was lifted up by God, and come again to rest on what the Lord speaks in the Scriptures.

Great posts from Dr. Lilles on the life of Prayer

Those who've been reading my posts may see that I try to put a big emphasis on the need for prayer in the Christian life. It is most important for salvation, and no doubt for those who want to study theology, they must strive vigorously for their salvation in Christ. Who would want to be lead by a theologian who does not have Heaven and God's love as his aim?

Anyway I wanted to provide some links to great essays written by Dr. Lilles over at his blog:
Beginning to Pray

To Know Nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch 1, Part 5 of 5

Now we come to the concluding aspects of St. Augustine’s prayer in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch 1. If we might remark on a few themes from St. Augustine’s prayers it might be outlined as follows: The desire to know God and then to adore Him with every single aspect of the heart, no matter how small, the desire to be set free from errors and follow Christ in the fullness of truth, the desire to understand one’s own heart and soul so as to steer it clear of shipwrecks and land in our intended resting place, God, and a desire to have a clean and pure heart. All these things are part of the Augustinian prayer life, we might say, especially the zeal of the heart to place all trust and love in God.

To Know Nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch1 part 4 of 5

Here I remark again in commentary on the prayer of St. Augustine at the outset of his Soliloquies, the famous work in which St. Augustine works out in his own mind what he must do with his life and how he must seek God. We could learn a thing or two from the holy Doctor.

To Know Nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch1, Part 3 of 5

This post regards a third portion of St. Augustine’s prayer in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch1 and so I would like to bring an analysis of the third part of the saints prayers so that we can ourselves learn how to reflect on the prayers handed down to us by the saints, and learn how we ought to pray to the Lord. Our Lord is not concerned with the repetition of vain formulas, as many Protestants rightly try to bring up against Catholics, but He is not opposed to formalized prayers that we may use as an aid to a deeper devotion. One Hail Mary said with great love for our Lord and our Lady will bring great grace to the soul who completes that prayer, imagine then what great grace will be open to the soul who prays the Rosary with complete devotion then! May the Lord then grant us to pray always with our hearts even in the times when we pray the prayers commended to us by others. In fact, let us learn by their wisdom.

Petition Against the HHS contraception mandate (Again)

Introduction

In past months the United States government has tried to pass mandates that require Catholic institutions though not Catholic churches and parishes to materially provide for contraceptives, even those that may cause the abortion of a newly conceived child before pregnancy occurs, to its entire staff under its health insurance policies. The argument from the United States government states that institutions that are not solely dedicated to spreading a religious message and are not dedicated to solely employing employees of that same religion cannot be exempt from this ruling. This effectively requires Catholic hospitals, charities, schools, and many other Catholic institutions to provide contraception against the will of those who run these institutions. These groups will either eventually be required to cease being Catholic institutions, since the bishop of the diocese grants the title of Catholic to the institution, and become secular institutions, have to be shut down, at the bishop’s will, or in some manner co-operate materially with what is against the Divine law as promulgated through the Church. Catholics are prohibited from using artificial contraception as outlined in Humanae Vitae a papal encyclical that is binding on all Catholics. Here is the official document at the Vatican website: Humanae Vitae

To Know Nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch1, Part 2 of 5

This post regards a second portion of St. Augustine’s prayer in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch1 and so I bring it to my readers, whoever you may be, as a way to further reflect on the way in which we can strive to be more prayerful and reflective on the love of God that so over abundantly swells in God’s most Sacred Heart for each and every one of us. The mystery of who we are, what we are made for, and who we are cannot be answered by any philosophy, nor can it even be answered fully in the theological thoughts of those still bound to Earth, but the mystery must be experienced and encompassed in the Personal relation to God as most Holy Trinity. This sort of Personal relationship is not the one in which many think it is God reaching into our lives whereby we perceive Him and He speaks and moves us, which is holy indeed but is not the fullness of contemplative prayer, but rather the further and deep contemplative dimension of the highest and saintliest prayers whereby God is truly before us as greater than ourselves and closer to us than our very own selves are, and present as the most intense Divine Lover who we love intensely as well. It is God who moves and builds the heart by His grace to be able to relate to Him in this way. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

To know nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine Solliloquies Bk I Ch 1, Part 1 of 5

This is part one of five small commentaries I hope to create regarding prayer and how we can learn from the Doctor of Grace how to pray. Here is the link to the full text of St. Augustine's prayer in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch 1: To know nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine in Soliloquies Bk 1 Ch 1

Here we will consider a fragment of St. Augustine’s prayer and seek out a greater understanding of his prayer, and of course how it is that we ought to pray.

To Know nothing but God and the Soul: The Prayer of St. Augustine in Soliloquies Bk I Ch 1

The Soliloquies of St. Augustine is an unfinished work of the blessed Doctor written sometime around 387 AD. They reflect a new genre of writing by St. Augustine which he calls a soliloquy, and as such in his work he begins with a dialogue between himself (Augustine) and reason (namely perhaps his reason). And in such manner he seeks to provide a basis and investigation of his faith and his own self-identity. Such marks the Augustinian character of the investigation of the soul with the earnest desire for God Who is Truth. Below I will give his prayer to God which his reason dictates is appropriate for him to do if he is to advance in knowing what is true and what is false, what good and what evil. This is much the saint’s recognition of his state as a wayfarer in this life and marks out for himself a way for him to find comfort in the truth. Yet perhaps it is more Augustinian to say the Truth finds us than we find the Truth.

Reading the Psalms with St. Augustine: Psalm 1

Here I want to introduce a theme here at The Restless Heart of St. Augustine and remark that though St. Augustine was heavily devoted to doling out the orthodox teachings of the Church in theology he put a greater emphasis on learning to love God and in Him love the soul and neighbor with all our heart. It is one thing to desire to learn about God and the Church, but another to have the fire of Divine love burn in us and fill us with saving grace and wisdom. As this Lenten season begins today, let us set aside the things of this world and focus on those of the next world. I will try to put down posts regularly as pertaining to St. Augustine and/or the three focuses of Lent (alms-giving, prayer, and fasting [penance]).