Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come; thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
The version of the Lord's Prayer that we use is from Christ's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel; there is a shorter version in Luke’s Gospel. Because it is indeed “The Lord’s Prayer,” given to us by Jesus himself in the Gospels, it is central in our tradition and practice. It has been the object of many commentaries throughout the centuries: St. Cyprian, St. Teresa of Jesus, and others.
The first two lines of the prayer are Scriptural (Luke 1: 28,42) and appear in this prayer form by the 11 th century in the West. The last line was added in the 16 th century.Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever!
The Liturgy (Greek for “public work”; the word already appears in Paul’s writings) is the official prayer of the Church, and divided into two parts: the more familiar Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the much less well-known Liturgy of the Hours (LOH), or Divine Office. The former is the centerpiece of Christian practice, described by the Second Vatican Council as “the source and summit of the Christian life.” The latter is the prayer recited according to the Hours of the Day, and most famously outlined and practiced by St. Benedict in his 5th century Rule. Still, celebrating the Divine Office is not only the province of clerics and religious, who are obliged to recite it, but it should be better know and cherished by all the faithful, especially Morning (Lauds) and Evening (Vespers) Prayer.
In fact, the popular prayer known as the Rosary, apparently invented by a Carthusian monk in the Middle Ages, was envisioned precisely as a substitute for the Divine Office for those unable to read or sing the Latin text of the Psalms that is the backbone of the Liturgy of the Hours. Since there are 150 Psalms, distributed by St. Benedict across the week, so are there 150 Hail Mary’s as substitutes for the Psalms, later divided into 15 Mysteries, 5 Joyful, 5 Sorrowful and 5 Glorious. (Pope John Paul II had the excellent idea of adding a fourth set of Mysteries, the Mysteries of Light, since the traditional version of 15, according to the truncated theology of the time, went from the Finding in the Temple to the Agony in the Garden, as if only the Birth and Death of Jesus mattered, and not His Life and Teaching, such as the consistently ignored Beatitudes, the “Commandments” of the New Covenant.)
You can pray the Liturgy of the Eucharist by joining us for Mass.
You can pray the Liturgy of the Hours at DivineOffice.org.
It would be a distressing error, however, to limit prayer to these types of vocal prayer. A wonderfully instructive highlighting of the prayer tradition is provided by another Carthusian document from the 11th century, the Ladder of Monks, which is nonetheless suited and recommended for all Christians. The 4-rung ladder is as follows, and makes use of the words of Jesus from the Gospel: “Seek and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened to you!”
St. Ignatius of Loyola would popularize this progression in his famous Spiritual Exercises, where the repeated reading of a Gospel passage, for example, leads to applied reflection, and then to a colloquy with the Lord, and to a subsequent resting in his presence. (Also noteworthy is his Third Method of Prayer in the Exercises, which recommends taking one word at a time of The Lord’s Prayer and coordinating it with our breath.)
St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila (16th century) are perhaps the best-known advocates and theologians of deeper, more silent and contemplative prayer levels and methods. A very accessible contemporary approach is provided by the Word Community of Christian Meditation, and also by the Trappist Centering Prayer method, founded and most famously advocated by Fr. Thomas Keating. It is based on a treatise (again by a Carthusian monk!) from the 15th century called the Cloud of Unknowing, and thus has an impeccable pedigree. It was originally promoted in response to a request by Pope Paul VI to the Trappists to make contemplative prayer more approachable for ordinary lay Catholics. More information is available at www.contemplativeoutreach.org.
Finally, Fr. Thomas Keating was the convener of the Snowmass (Cistercian monastery in Colorado) Conference in which contemplative leaders from all the world’s great religious traditions engaged in interfaith exchange on the level of religious experience and found fundamental points in common. Br. Wayne Teasdale reported on this in his book “The Mystic Heart”, where he coined the term “interspiritual”. This is especially appropriate in our world of global interchange on so many levels, and it reveals many astonishing commonalities in our traditions.
One note, which doubtless requires some personal experience to appreciate, is that contrary to some people’s reactions, many practices from other traditions are perfectly compatible with our Christian tradition. Zen meditation, for example, coming from the Buddhist tradition historically, simply tries to awaken us to Reality as it is, which certainly is not sectarian, much less dangerous or anti-Christian. Similarly, yoga practice and meditation may come to us from Hinduism, but that ancient Wisdom is once again just a recognition of, and engagement with, our created bodily and psychic endowment (e.g. chakras), and therefore compatible with any faith practice, enhancing and not threatening at all.
In short, if our spirituality is truly Catholic and catholic, it should lead us joyfully and fearlessly into ever deeper levels of communion with ourselves, others and God, with both Creation and our Creator!
Of course, the inner spiritual journey, if authentic, will organically, spontaneously and necessarily lead us to a compassionate and engaged attitude toward the world. If it does not bear this fruit, then the tree is diseased. In other words, if our spiritual practice, whatever it is, does not lead us to a loving, forgiving and compassionate stance, either the path we have chosen is a deceptive detour, or our understanding and travelling of the path is defective. All authentic spiritual journeys, Christian or otherwise, lead to and embody Compassion. It is the unique litmus test.
Please feel free to contact Fr. Michael, assistant pastor, former Carthusian monk, and Zen Sensei, for further information or instruction on our common exhilarating contemplative journey!