Ever New: Glowing Embers

I've read several things about the kind of prayer that Mary is proclaiming in the Magnificat.Thus, Mary H begins.

She is a must-stop if you're serious about experiencing the joy of contemplative prayer. Consider her reflection on the "prayer of quiet":

The Prayer of Quiet comes to the soul a little at a time. I think it is like a courtship. It is the end of the beginning and the beginning of a something new. It's the moment when the Groom picks up his Bride in his arms and carries her over the threshold. St. Teresa of Avila says that at first the Prayer of Quiet is like small embers glowing in a fireplace. At that moment, the soul is uniting with God and the will is held captive by his presence. This is because the will is the compass of the soul and now it has found God in his Kingdom. It is at that moment it recognizes him and wants to stay there with him. However, the memory and the intellect are not held captive, they are still free and active. I believe that they try to figure out what is happening. They try to make sense out of this new experience. It is like when Martha turns to the Lord to complain about Mary, "tell her to help me." St. Teresa says that the memory and the intellect interfere with the soul and it is like throwing logs on the glowing embers. At first, this captivation is short and infrequent, but over time the soul becomes enlarged and grows in its capacity for God's loving presence.

Do yourself a favor: Read the whole thing. Right Now.

Back so soon?

Yes, it it hard to cultivate interior silence. You keep thinking. So do I. The trick is that we don't think alone. We can witness to God even as our mind continues the mental diarehha. The key is to invite his presences into our mind's and hearts. The Jesus prayer is one way that we commit to this invitation. Lectio Divina and Centering prayer could be others. Still, for some, it's the rosary.

The Church is a large ship sailing the seas of sin to salvation's shore. Make use of the rooms that most closely put you in the presence of the Lord.