Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within – Book Recommendation

Prayer Primer : Igniting a Fire Within – by Thomas DuBay

This is a must read for those looking either to begin, or to deepen their prayer lives. Father Dubay, with brevity and clarity, covers all the foundational elements of each type of prayer (vocal, liturgical, mental, contemplative, etc.). For those already experienced with vocal or liturgical prayer, this book will help you evaluate your prayer life and determine how to further develop your relationship with God. For those who already have a solid understanding of meditation and contemplation (within the context of the definitions provided by the Church and the spiritual doctors of the Church), you might look to “Fire Within” instead (also by Fr. Dubay). However, even with experience in these areas, this book will equip you with the perspective you need to evaluate your prayer life in each important area and to navigate deeper waters as you grow in grace.

Regardless of who you are, if you are beginning or reigniting your prayer quest – this book should be the first book you pick up. Click here to learn more.

I am concerned about avoiding “New Age” influence in my spriritual reading program, can you help?

Q: Dear Dan, I was inspired by Fr. John’s post on spiritual reading a while back. A friend has recommended “The Cloud of Unknowing” to me but I am worried about slipping into Catholic books that claim to be Catholic but that promote New Age thought through centering prayer and mixing Catholic prayer with non-Christian prayer teachings. Anyway, I wanted to get your advice on where I could/should start a solid spiritual reading program.

A: To get an easy aspect of your question out of the way, The Cloud of Unknowing does not fall into the New Age category. The New Age movement is a recent phenomenon and this book was written in the 14th century. With respect to The Cloud of Unknowing and centering prayer, some have claimed that it teaches centering prayer or have used it to bolster related ideas. Regardless, if spiritual reading is a new exercise for you, this book is not likely to be a good place to start. The author himself heavily (and rightly) stresses that if the reader has yet to exercise a considerable amount of time and effort in the ascetical phase of spiritual development that he or she is not yet prepared for the approach to prayer proposed. This admonition is almost always ignored by those who take a more shallow approach to the spiritual life and who also have a propensity to seek direction from sources that are far less efficacious than those who find their wisdom in the pure and deep well of faithful Catholicism.

Your concern about the New Age movement and its eclectic influence on many Catholics is a legitimate one. Many well intended Catholics have fallen into the emotional trap of using methods and techniques that cause positive physical or psychological feelings but are not appropriately classified as Christian prayer. Then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) said this about this problematic trend:

Some physical exercises automatically produce a feeling of quiet and relaxation, pleasing sensations, perhaps even phenomena of light and warmth, which resemble spiritual well-being. To take such feelings for the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit would be a totally erroneous way of conceiving the spiritual life. Giving them a symbolic significance typical of the mystical experience, when the moral condition of the person does not correspond to such experience, would represent a kind of mental schizophrenia which could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations. (Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Meditation, pp. 28-29)

These methods and techniques are often given names like “contemplation” but even a cursory understanding of the traditional use of this term reveals that classical Catholic usage and common recent usage are often at odds. Said another way, many modern authors and writers hijack words and redefine them rather than being faithful to historic definitions either provided specifically by the Church in the Catechism and other official Church documents or in the writings of the Doctors of the Church. Whether from ignorance or other questionable intent, the result is damaging to the souls of sincere pilgrims seeking to deepen their relationship to God.

All that aside, by your question it seems like you are interested primarily in reading on prayer. From the standpoint of faithfulness to the Catholic Church, the following is a good list to begin with. I have listed them in the order I would recommend they be read:

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church – Part Four on Christian Prayer
2. Prayer Primer – Igniting the Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M
3. A Guide to Christian Mediation by Fr. John Bartunek, LC, ThD
4. Time for God by Fr. Jacques Philippe
5. Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.

As well, we recently asked our readers to provide their top spiritual book recommendations. A significant number of them responded so we are working on compiling those results and we will provide them to you some time this year.

Otherwise, if you want a fool proof way to stay within the sublime wealth and spiritual tradition of the Church, stick with the Doctors of the Church.

Questions about contemplation

Q: The encounter of contemplation is such an unexpected and memorable experience, shouldn’t one be content with leaving it to God if it would ever be repeated?  I see people trying centering prayer, Taize prayer, etc. to try to achieve it.  It somehow seems wrong to try to ‘get’ something that’s purely a gift.

Is acquired contemplation the same experience as infused contemplation?

Books like The Interior Castle confuse and intimidate me.  How do you know when you’re ready to read such things?

A: You have asked a few questions and made a few observations that are very important. The answer to your first question is “yes” you should leave it to God. The encounter in contemplation does not come from our will but his. It would be like having a much beloved relative give us a hug and then not letting go as if we could contain or prolong that initial surge of warmth and tenderness. Love is not something to be grasped or contained but simply to be known and lived when it is made alive to us by the mercy of God. The desire to hold on is a natural one but not one that we should entertain. When we feel these touches of grace we simply should yield to God, express our gratitude, and continue to pursue Christ.

You are also correct that “contemplation” cannot be achieved with a method or approach to prayer. We can sew the seeds of contemplation by living lives of grace and expressed love for God and neighbor and by regularly participating in prayer and the sacraments. However, regardless of how well we prepare the soil and plant the seeds, God determines the harvest. You are right – true contemplation is purely a gift, not something we can “do” or “achieve.”

Regarding acquired versus infused contemplation, this is an academic distinction that is confusing to most. Suffice it to say that digging in to this topic won’t yield much benefit. The key is that we should pursue Christ in prayer and in the way we live. As we progress in the cultivation of silence, meditation, and virtue, he will, in his wisdom and his time, draw us more deeply into prayer. It is living the life of love that we should be concerned with and then we will discover what the distinctions really mean as we experience them.

With respect to the Interior Castle, the way you know if you are ready is simply to take up and read. The best version is The Interior Castle Study Edition. This edition will provide a brief introduction to each chapter and then a brief summary at the end of each chapter. These treatments provide context for unfamiliar terms or ideas that can otherwise be confusing. Still, I would first recommend Father Thomas Dubay’s Prayer Primer: Igniting the Fire Within. Once you read this, you will be better prepared to deal with more advanced ideas of prayer. Then, as you are reading St. Teresa again, you could also pick up Father Dubay’s book on the topic of contemplation entitled The Fire Within. In this book he does a masterful job of synthesizing the teachings of St. Teresa and St. John on the topic of prayer and contemplation. It can be a heavy read for some but well worth the effort.

Be encouraged. You are asking the right questions. I have no doubt that God is calling you into a deeper relationship with him.

Spiritual Dictionary – CONTEMPLATION

An infused supernatural gift by which a person becomes freely absorbed in God producing a real awareness, desire, and love for him. This often gentle or delightful encounter can yield special insights into things of the spirit and results in a deeper and tangible desire to love God and neighbor in thought, word, and deed.

I am confused about the definition of contemplation, can you help me understand?

Q: Dear Sister Carmen, after reading some modern writers and Saint Teresa of Avila I am confused about contemplation. It seems like there is some confusion or lack of concern about definitions. When I read one writer it sounds like contemplation is something I can get to by following a series of steps (breath, sit, repeat) and then when I read St. Teresa she seems to be talking about something completely different. Can you help me understand what true contemplation is and maybe why this conflict exists?

A: Contemplation is an intriguing word, isn’t it?  It draws you in, leaving you wondering.  Trying to explain contemplation is somewhat of a dilemma. Why? Well, on the one hand, we are cautioned not to worry about our current level of prayer. It’s somewhat like the expression “Are We Having Fun Yet?” We can start saying “Have I Reached Contemplative Prayer Yet?” Something doesn’t ring true if we need to ask that question, it seems to me. Then, on the other hand, as we begin to take our prayer life seriously and grow to love prayer, it might just happen that we will discover new dimensions to prayer and they can leave us wondering what is going on. Sometimes, contemplation is what is going on!  We really want and need to ask a spiritual director to help us understand.

Here is a short answer about contemplation.  First of all, I’m of the opinion that contemplation is described NOT defined. There are some prayer “techniques” that can help us relax. They are not contemplation. There are some “exercises” that are suggested to help us pray but they are not, nor do the cause, contemplation. When a mother gazes silently at her child or we gaze silently at a beautiful sunset, that is a type of contemplation, though not infused or what we are speaking about here (these are examples of natural contemplation).  Infused contemplation is a pure gift from God and this is the contemplation St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross write about.  How can something so simple as infused contemplation, be so hard to describe?

When St. Teresa was asked to describe prayer, especially infused contemplative prayer, she ended up by using analogies as Our Lord did in the parables. What human word or human definition could possibly capture the infinite, the “super” natural? And she didn’t just dive right in and write about contemplation. Rather, she wrote about sin and its hold on us and how we must break free. She spoke of drawing water from a well, or a water wheel, or an irrigation system, or from gently falling rain.  Then she says that prayer is like that and oh, which one is contemplation? – of course, contemplation is very much like the analogy of gently falling rain.

Again, St. Teresa illustrates prayer by telling the story of an interior castle (the human soul) and says prayer is like that. There is a moat filled with creepy-crawlies and a bridge you need to cross over and a door you need to knock on, and once past that door there are seven mansions within the castle.  The castle itself is brilliant and clear like a diamond and the extraordinary light illuminating comes from the King who dwells in the inmost, seventh mansion.

St. John of the Cross also uses analogies.  What is contemplation? Well, it is like climbing a mountain – the mountain of Mt. Carmel – and he writes many books to explain what happens during that climb – the dark night of the senses, the dark night of the soul and many others. Each experience gets a whole book. Finally, he writes of the living flame of love (in poetry form) and then proceeds with a commentary on this poem to explain the highest contemplation.

To answer your question more directly, then, understand that in speaking of contemplation, it is necessary to understand the definitions of all the words connected with contemplation. For example, what is the human soul?  What are its faculties? How and where does God reside within it?  This is important because the human soul is purely spiritual, and is the center of our imagination, memory, understanding, and will. 

Why does it take St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila so many words to describe (noticed I don’t say define) infused contemplation?  It is because contemplation greatly affects each of the faculties of the soul.

So, to answer your question, I would like to share with you, if you would like, the path of prayer from conversion to contemplation, using examples from St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, who have made the journey and provided for us a kind of roadmap.  Until next time, Sister Carmen Laudis, OCD

To learn more about Sister Carmen you can read this post or to learn about her community go to www.carmelitesistersocd.com