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Contemplation takes place in terms of silent prayer that expresses love for God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines contemplative prayer as "the hearing the Word of God" in an attentive mode. It states "Contemplative prayer is silence, the 'symbol of the world to come' or 'silent love.' Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches ...
The Exercises are seen variously as an occasion for a change of life [2]: 18 and as a school of contemplative prayer. The most common way for laypersons to go through the Exercises now is a "retreat in daily life", which involves a five- to seven-month programme of daily prayer and meetings with a spiritual director. [17]
Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to receive this gift. It presents ancient Christian wisdom teachings in an updated form. Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; rather it casts a new light and depth of meaning on them. It is at the ...
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. [1] The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditārī, which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study, and to practice.
[71] [72] In contemplative prayer, this activity is curtailed, so that contemplation has been described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love". [note 4] There is no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation and Christian contemplation, and they sometimes overlap. Meditation serves as a foundation on which the contemplative life stands, the ...
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice. [1] Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, which contains the canonical hours that are said at fixed prayer times.
The anonymously authored 14th century English contemplative work The Cloud of Unknowing makes clear that its form of practice is not an act of the intellect, but a kind of transcendent 'seeing,' beyond the usual activities of the mind - "The first time you practice contemplation, you'll experience a darkness, like a cloud of unknowing. You won ...
The progression from Bible reading, to meditation, to loving regard for God, was first formally described by Guigo II, a Carthusian monk who died late in the 12th century. [3] Guigo II's book The Ladder of Monks is considered the first description of methodical prayer in the western mystical tradition. [4]