Exploring Contemplation with St. John of the Cross (part 6)

The most challenging phase of our spiritual journey is the transition from meditative prayer to contemplative prayer.  This transition literally requires us to begin to abandon the comfortable methods of prayer, and the use of our faculties, that we have come to rely on.  In this conversation, Mark and Frances explain the disposition the soul must adopt when it discerns the Lord is calling it to this more intimate encounter in prayer.  Here the soul moves to a condition of receptivity, silence, waiting and surrender or abandonment to God’s will, which most especially includes His timing.  Here the lover is asked to increase its desire for the Beloved, not through its own activity or efforts, but rather by waiting on her Beloved to take the initiative.  This program is very helpful for those beginning to experience the first stages of contemplative prayer.

Books: 

“Saint John of the Cross:  Master of Contemplation” by Fr. Donald Haggerty; Ignatius Press.

“The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross” by John of the Cross; ICS Publications.

The Carmelite Conversations Podcast is an apostolate of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites community of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Dayton, Ohio. Discalced Carmelite Seculars are practicing members of the Catholic Church who, under the protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and inspired by St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, make the commitment to the Discalced Carmelite Order to seek the face of God for the sake of the church and the world. For more information about Secular Carmelites, visit our website.