Carthusian Dom Augustin Guillerand's THE PRAYER OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD

[Shin]

I had to stop myself from bolding and italicizing a good deal of the first two paragraphs of this.. I only minimally noted a few pieces..

'It possesses a kind of peace, but it is the peace of an occupied territory, conquered by the invader and resigned to his domination.'

How many people have the peace of an occupied territory and do not know that they must struggle and make more progress? I am thinking of all the quotes about God sending crosses to people -- And the quotes about people who live happily sinful material lives being lost.. they 'have their reward'. .

What peace is true, what peace is false? We require peace to wage the battle at the same time.. So.. prayer.. when we can pray.. and we pray for progress with faith.. and truly seek it with openness.. then progress can be made.. flexibility.. the willingness to change fundamentally.. as often as is needed..

I keep thinking.. In Heaven people are very different from the people on earth.. but God wants us to be like them before we arrive.. Not waiting till the very end of our lives for some sort of change we never truly willed in life..

But what a goal.. to become truly children of light..  The beauty of such an interior life with God is striking..

[Shin]

Different Forms of True Prayer

THERE is only one essential prayer-it is the movement drawing the soul upwards towards God, and the relationship which follows. As soon as the soul turns from the dark valley to the heights where there is light and gladness, it prays. It meets him who has never been absent and who is always turned toward the soul, his hands full of blessings, his heart overflowing with eternal love, and the relationship which is love and life begins.

This relationship can assume very different forms, which vary according to persons, times, needs, with the varying circumstances of everyday life. There are times when we find comfort in the thought of God's greatness in general, or in some particular perfection of his. For instance, we invoke his love, his mercy, his goodness, his holiness and his truth. These perfections serve to raise us to the contemplation of those vast horizons where the God who is becomes ever greater in our eyes. We do well. God has only himself. He cannot resist such praise. We were made for that: to praise him eternally. Hearing on our lips this exiles' song of the Fatherland, he knows that we want him more than any created thing, and that we belong to him completely. The Scriptures are full of this prayer. "O my God, hear me" cries David, "for thou are all goodness and mercy."(Cf. Ps. 68.17: Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind) And Daniel: "O Lord, hear (and) he appeased: hearken and do. Delay not for thy own sake." (Daniel 9.19).

Often we turn to someone dear to the divine Majesty. Obviously our Lord's sacred humanity occupies the very first place, far above everyone and everything. In this respect the Litanies of the saints are wonderful. We first invoke God himself, then Jesus, his Mother, the great saints of our immense and loving family in Heaven. Then we recall the difficulties of the way and the dangers which threaten us and finally, gathering it all up in an immense and powerful finale, we recall the main details of all that our Redeemer has done for us in giving himself to us.

We end on a note of supplication, on our own behalf and for others, for the souls in Purgatory as well as for those who are still on earth: We beseech thee, O Lord...

The diversity of our requests also imparts to our prayer an infinite variety of shades. We can ask for the absolute Good which is God himself, and for the eventual possession of this supreme good. We can ask for the means that lead us to him. Among these means, some are directly and essentially directed to that end, others less so. Our prayer varies according to these objects. There is the prayer which consists solely of praise and adoration; another restricts itself to thanksgiving. But all are essential prayer, for they raise us up to God. And although in some cases we may not make our request explicitly, it is none the less hidden under the words, and even in the intention. Those who praise the divine greatness, those who thank him for favors received, know (although they may not advert to it explicitly) that at his feet we are always souls in need, and that his goodness cannot fail to be moved at the sight of our indigence. Often we collect together in one formula all the different kinds of prayer. In a word or two, we adore or thank, we ask for pardon and help, and approach the Father in the steps of the Son, in the arms of Mary, in union with all the company of heaven. I cannot think of anything that could be dearer to the God of Love or make a greater appeal to his love. In the Gospels there are many forms of prayer ideal for all circumstances. The most beautiful, needless to say, is our Lady's "They have no wine"(John 2.3). The request itself is lost in the perfect act of trust. Mary is so sure of being heard. She feels that it would wound her son's tenderness by asking directly for the wine. Jesus' love for her, his unfailing thoughtfulness for others, leave no doubt in her mind as to the answer. She speaks, and then waits, as all mothers do. And she invites us to do the same: "Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye."(John 2.5).

And so do those two beloved of Jesus whom the Gospel calls Martha and Mary, at the bedside of Lazarus their brother. They know that Jesus loves them, and so they ask for nothing. They simply say: "Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick."(John 11.3) There is no actual request, no word of their grief. They say, in effect: `You love ... and someone is suffering'. In that home, so united, the brother's sickness is their sickness, and they have not the slightest doubt that their common grief will find an echo in the heart of their Friend.

[Shin]

I was reading St. Thomas in the Summa on prayer recently, as a person recommended it, and I think I should like to share some of that too in a bit.

"it is the movement drawing the soul upwards towards God"

[Shin]

7 - The Soul Breathes

PRAYER should be continuous (Cf. Luke 21.36: Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times). It is the soul breathing. Just as we have to breathe continuously, so we must pray continuously. Prayer is the deep interior movement of which we are barely conscious. To become aware of it, so far as we can, is indeed a great grace. To live, conscious of this movement and of him who is both its source and term, is the greatest of all graces; indeed, it is heaven on earth.

On to this deep movement, the continuity of which is unhappily perceived by so few, should be grafted special prayers: that is, those that are more conscious and willed. It is these we properly call "prayers," and which call for fixed times. The times for these prayers in the case of priests and religious are so precise that they are called `Hours' - that is to say, certain prayers are attached to certain hours during the day and night. They are so determined that the whole day is, as it were, one continuous prayer. The repetition of these prayers turns our vacillating mind, so easily and so often distracted, back to God. Just when our mind could be caught up by some superficial thing, the time for the Divine Office comes round, and our mind is called away from the pressing vanities that might have occupied it, and plunged again in God.

The ordinary Christian is not held by so strict a tie. Regular hours for prayer, filling the day and canalizing everything toward God, is not for him a duty and a daily task. But what for him is not an obligation he may, of course, do out of love. I say out of love, but it is a love which is in his own interest. But even for him, there are fixed times when he ought to recollect himself and renew the divine contact. "In the morning, says the Psalmist, thou shalt hear my voice ... in the morning I will stand before thee (Ps. 5, 4-5) And the prophet Isaias: "In the morning early, i will watch to thee (Isaias 26.9); as if, for him, there could be no other awakening than this, and all time not so occupied was but night and sleep. Still more relevant is that other word of the son of Sirach, falling gently and spreading like dew: "[The wise man] will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and he will pray in the sight o f the Most High.(Ecclus. 39.6)

Sleep brings renewal-that is what the word `rest' or repose implies. It revives us, provided we put entirely out of our mind everything that has disturbed us during the day. If on the other hand we pursue in our dreams the things that have attracted us during our waking hours, our sleep only wearies us still further, instead of bringing us rest. Night is thus like a new creation: it relaxes the limbs, gives assurance to the mind, renews the soul and restores our whole being. These hours of repose are hours of unconsciousness. We do not live this deep, restorative contact with our Source; the soul does not perceive him. It wants this contact, and indeed achieves it, but it is not conscious of it. During these hours of sleep, it does not offer to God, who is still its All, the homage of the whole being for which it is responsible. There is a kind of break in the divine intercourse, for although the soul holds the first place in our being, it does not constitute, as we must recognize, our all. When the body awakens in the morning, and the soul becomes again conscious of this "whole," it resumes command and becomes once more the link and interpreter of the created world, thus renewing its conscious contact with the Creator. That is why in the Psalms at Lauds, we invite the whole of creation to take up again its interrupted praise: All ye works o f the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever (Daniel 3.57).

Thus sings the soul to all creation, which it salutes anew. These are images of him whom the soul loves, and all creation responds as with one voice: "We are, because he is; we are, because he gives us being, and we are what he gives us to be."

During the night, these voices continue their praise, but the body, which is the link between the soul and creation and conveys these harmonies to the soul, is asleep. But once awake, those voices beat loudly but calmly at the gate of the body's senses; the soul hears them again, and the great hymn of praise - if man takes his place in it - is resumed.

Yet how many do take their place in this mighty hymn; how many are conscious of their role in it, and execute it with love? How many, having rested and having awakened refreshed, put themselves once more in communion with this immense reservoir of energies that God offers them-physical energies of renewed light, so rich even in corporal resources; energies of the air refreshed and purified; energies of the vegetation which has renewed this air, carrying away all the unwholesome things accumulated by animal breathing; above all, spiritual energies. The very language of creation seems something new; everything comes to life, everything speaks, invites, pleads to make contact, to be admired and interpreted. Between this renewed world and the rested man a harmony, a perfect understanding, is created, which becomes a fullness when united to the Source from whom it proceeds. It is prayer that achieves this union, and completes the body's rest. It is the prelude to the day's movement, and is its preparation. Mankind dies through not understanding this.

Thus plunged anew in God, who is in that creation to which he has given himself, man can take up again his daily toil. In this he is not alone. He leans upon Him who is: he draws from him both light and strength. Beyond what he does, he sees him for whom and by whom he acts, and is united with him in his task. His every act takes on an immense importance, outstrips the brief moment in which it is done, and is engraved in eternal duration. A day is no longer just a day, it is a preparation and already a participation in eternity. Upon these heights, men can face the difficulties of this quickly passing life. He is not crushed by the testing time, nor frightened by temptation. When these things come he renews, with one elevation of his soul, with one bound as it were toward God, his contact with the source of life, and resists the temptation. To obtain such a consummation, prayer must really be prayer: that is, a raising of the mind and heart to God, a turning away from all created and human attractions.

[Shin]

OFFERING OF LOVE AND PRAISE
Variation of a Prayer Recited by  St. Gerard Majella

MY GOD,  I make the intention of offering to Thee as many acts of love and praise as the Blessed Virgin, all the Saints and Angels, as well as all the faithful on earth have ever made. I desire to love Thee as much as Jesus Christ loves Thee. I wish to renew these acts at every pulsation of my heart.

NIGHT PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FROM OUR LORD

ETERNAL FATHER, I desire to rest in Thy Heart this night. I make the intention of offering to Thee every beat of my heart, joining to them as many acts of love and desire. I pray that even while I am asleep, I will bring back to Thee souls that offend Thee. I ask forgiveness for the whole world, especially for those who know Thee and yet sin. I offer to Thee my every breath and heartbeat as a prayer of reparation. Amen.

...

Let's pray to breath with God, to have this interior movement of the soul be formed, strengthened in intensity, depth and brightness, and increased to its fullest. Amen.

Oh Lord, I ask of thee to bless this day, from beginning to end, and every hour in it. And within every hour, every minute. And within every minute, ever second. So that within every second, coming and going, there will be no time wherein my thoughts stir from thee, my Beloved. Amen.

[Shin]

8 - Answers to Prayer

THIS is a difficult subject to write about, because it is so vast. And yet I must say something about it, because it reflects God's glory so much. History is full of the answers to prayer. All the saints of the Old and New Testaments were great supplicants. Their lives were a continuous colloquy with God. He entered into everything, and they sought his assistance in all their needs. And God, they said repeatedly, always heard them. The movement of their souls toward him, whether to ask for grace or to thank him for it; whether to beg for the forgiveness of their sins or to praise the greatness of this best of Fathers, so real to them and so solicitous for their good - this is invariably the theme running through the Scriptures, or at least the predominant one.

The Psalms are full of the same idea. It runs through them like an incredibly rich and abundant sap, the sap of true life, simple yet strong, and expressive of all that is deepest in us. It is a theme we can repeat endlessly and, like all love's expressions, it never tires. It would seem to possess eternal youth and freshness and, ever new, grows with repetition ever greater and more splendid.

At times, it seems to us as though God departs from the order he has established, when he hears the voices of his friends begging him to do so. This order is beautiful indeed. The divine perfections are reflected in lines we can barely discern, but which we are never tired of admiring.

Dearly would I love to follow up this thought, but I would not know where to stop! Let the following suffice.

... Springs gush forth from rocks in the desert (Numbers 20.11); the waters of the sea of rivers divide to allow a vast concourse of people to pass over (Exodus 14.21; Heb. 11.29 and Josue 3.16). The walls of cities fall down (Josue 6.20 and Heb. 11.30), enemies are put to flight (Cf. Levit. 26., and manna descends daily from heaven (Exodus 16.15). The sick are healed, the lame walk (Matt. 8.16)," and the dead are raised to life (Luke 8, 54-5). Hardened sinners are touched by grace, while the minds of men are elevated so that they perceive beyond them perspectives of light by which they almost seem to enter into the very truth of God. Wills are strengthened, and at once take control of passions till then unleashed. Divine Love comes so near to souls that he seems almost to consume them, and to transform them into his own likeness (Cf. Deut. 4.24).

Such and even more wonderful things which can only be revealed to my dazed sight by the light from beyond - this is what prayer can do. This is what it has done and is continually doing. In face of all this, I can only remain silent. When discussing these things it is easy enough to find words and phrases in which to express the movement of the mind when concerned with the things of God. But when it is a question of making known God's action to the world, above all to the world of souls, mere human language is altogether inadequate to describe the reality. We must either give up the attempt or return to the unfailing simplicity of what the Holy Spirit tells us in the sacred Scriptures.

[Shin]

9 - Prayer Asks

WHEN praying to God, we can only ask for God, since he is everything, and in giving himself he gives us all. In asking for himself, we ask for all. When we possess him, we can wish and ask for nothing more. Once we grasp this truth, there is no point in writing or saying anything; we are content simply to pray, and even then we would ask for nothing. The whole of the first part of the Our Father keeps us on these silent heights. That is all we see there, for God is both the source and the object of our asking. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.... (Matt. 6, 9-10). What more can we ask?

We could even do without the words, content with the interior movement of the soul which says all in silence. Or we can think of the words and develop them. This is what so many profitable prayers do in fact, both in public and in private, according to the temperaments of different people. In so far as they remain on this essential level of God's glory, the coming of his kingdom and the fulfillment of his will, they are good. The actual words or thoughts with which we clothe them matters little. When one loves, one is conscious only of love. Now God is our Father: that is to say, he is all love. Holy Scripture is never tired of telling us that he knows perfectly well what is good for us. We cannot do better, therefore, than leave all to him.

We may nevertheless make known our needs and express our wishes to him, on this indispensable condition of our submission to his loving will. This is what our Lord would have us learn from the second part of the Pater Noster. This is what the innumerable and beautiful prayers of the Church, the collects of the Mass and the prayers of the Divine Office, teach us. For they all come from the Holy Spirit who has inspired them.

The first question to be considered is what order we should follow in our prayers. This has been decided in principle long ago. The order to follow is God's order. We must ask for all that may contribute (and in the measure in which it will contribute) to his glory, and the advancement of his kingdom. That is why the first and essential object and the one we must never lose sight of, is our eternal salvation and our union with God. This is the end of all prayer and of every movement of the soul-to praise God, to be united with him, to be transformed into his likeness for ever; to become for ever his image and his child.

This end necessitates certain means which lead to it. We cannot ask for our salvation without asking for virtues and grace. Grace is divine life in the soul, the virtues are the means through which grace is effective. Grace is given to us in the form of a seed, and we are, as it were, newly-born children. In us, as in a child just born, is the seed of all subsequent development of life, and this seed is given to us in baptism. As yet the developments have not taken place, but they are there just as the stem, the branches, the leaves and the blossoms are in the seed cast into the ground. We cannot, therefore, reasonably ask for union with God without asking also for these developments, which will go to the making of the desired union. To do otherwise would be to prevent ourselves growing in him (Cf. Eph. 4.15: "But, doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the bead, even Christ"), or to want grace to remain an undeveloped seed in the depths of our soul.

So far all is clear, and the object of our prayer is obvious. But there are certain things which may or may not serve to bring us closer to God: we do not know. It is the same with what we call natural evil. I have gold in my keeping. I can use it for the glory of God and the good of my soul, or the precise opposite. An illness can help to sanctify me, provided I bear it with patience and for the love of our heavenly Father, since he permits it. Or I can accept it, but in a spirit of rebellion and hating God for sending it.

In view of all this, what attitude must I adopt when I pray? I must wait quietly in a spirit of confiding trust, without wasting any time in reasoning on vain suppositions, but rest in the great reality. That great reality is this: God is good, and he is love. He wants only my happiness, and I entrust to him the care of obtaining it for me. It is the same even with supernatural values. A very young child-what does it do? It nestles against his father's heart, happy in his love. It just stays there, content to wait. This quiet expectancy is not a passive indifference; it is an unwavering trust, which is the form desire takes. Only the desire must be there always, and it must be the real source of the repose; otherwise this repose would be mere idleness.

As a rule, the Holy Spirit who inspires our prayers, tells us to make them more explicit. There are advantages in this. The thought of the supernatural happiness awaiting us, of how enviable it is, stimulates the desire, which must always be ardent yet always remaining calm. All the saints possessed ardent desires. Ardor, however, is not the same as violence. What we should keep before our minds is the wonderful power of grace and virtue; of what grace is accomplishing in our souls; of the eternal salvation which is our goal, of the glory it will give to God and the boundless happiness in store for us. To contemplate long these truths is one of the highest forms of prayer that we can have in this life, and it will pass one day easily into the vision of God in the life to come.

[Brigid]

A very young child-what does it do? It nestles against his father's heart, happy in his love. It just stays there, content to wait.

[Shin]

Oh what a happy quote you've chosen from the chapter!

[Patricia]

In view of all this, what attitude must I adopt when I pray? I must wait quietly in a spirit of confiding trust, without wasting any time in reasoning on vain suppositions, but rest in the great reality. That great reality is this: God is good, and he is love. He wants only my happiness, and I entrust to him the care of obtaining it for me. It is the same even with supernatural values. A very young child-what does it do? It nestles against his father's heart, happy in his love. It just stays there, content to wait.

I was attracted to the same passage as Brigid.  I feel closer to my God in my circumstances.  Sometimes I see couples and I think how I could have been protected if my husband was here, but then I remember someone more powerful than a human being who protects me and watches me lovingly and tenderly and all my anxiety vanishes.

[Brigid]

In view of all this, what attitude must I adopt when I pray? I must wait quietly in a spirit of confiding trust, without wasting any time in reasoning on vain suppositions, but rest in the great reality. That great reality is this: God is good, and he is love. He wants only my happiness, and I entrust to him the care of obtaining it for me. It is the same even with supernatural values. A very young child-what does it do? It nestles against his father's heart, happy in his love. It just stays there, content to wait.

I was attracted to the same passage as Brigid.  I feel closer to my God in my circumstances.  Sometimes I see couples and I think how I could have been protected if my husband was here, but then I remember someone more powerful than a human being who protects me and watches me lovingly and tenderly and all my anxiety vanishes.

Yes, and your husband is also in His arms praying for you.

[Richard]

I once had the complete works of Dom Guillerand. The Benedictine Sisters of Priscilla, Rome made a limited edition of his entire works.

There are 5 french books available on Amazon that represent about 2/3 of his total works. This one (Prayer of the Presence of God) seems to correspond to "Face a Dieu": I did notice some differences so maybe the choice of texts are not the same.

"Face a Dieu" was the original without any alterations as far as I know.

"Vivantes Clartes" contains a wonderful commentary on the Pater Noster. He was writing it for the convers brothers of the "Grande Chartreuse" and gave conferences between 1942 and 1944 on the "Pater". Unfortunately he did not have the time to finish it and the last part of the commentary is for "hallowed be Thy Name". Nevertheless it remains one of the great commentaries on this prayer that was taught to us by Jesus Himself.

In Christ,

[Shin]

Welcome to the Saints' Discussion Forums Richard! Very glad to have you here!

I wish I could read French, if only my classes in school had gone better. But they could hardly have gone worse.

I hope someday some kind soul translates at least those passages from Vivantes Clares on the Pater Noster. I am always looking for more insight into the prayers folks pray the most. How did you become interested in Dom Guillerand's works?

[Richard]

Thank you for the welcome !

The meditation on the Our Father by Dom Guillerand forever changed my perception of this great prayer. Most importantly, it became a source of contemplation.

I am presently working on a potential English translation of the Our Father sermons of Dom Guillerand.

I first learned of his writings from Fr. Stanislaus OCSO, a cloistered monk.

I enjoy reading posts from this website.

In Christ,

[Shin]

Now there's a prayer no sooner said than given a happy answer!

Very glad to hear you enjoy reading the site!

The more I learn about prayer the more I learn how important it is, how important it is that it is from the heart!

I am beginning think learning to pray better is a lifetime experience of development!

[Shin]

Good afternoon Richard!

Have a cup of coffee and chat sometime if you feel like it! We have a nice everyday cup of coffee thread!