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What is prayer but the intentional cultivation of, and the striving for, communion with God? In honest prayer we seek to come
into deeper awareness of the God "in whom we live and move and have our being." Prayer is the call to "be still
and know that I am God," or as a friend once said--"be still and you will know God."
I invite you to explore the links below and learn more about some wonderful forms of prayer. May you find the communion,
stillness, peace, awareness, and mindfulness that you seek.
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| WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON |
"The true contemplative is not one who prepares his mind for a particular message that he wants or expects to hear, but
is one who remains empty because he knows that he can never expect to anticipate the words that will transform his darkness
into light. He does not even anticipate a special kind of transformation. He does not demand light instead of darkness. He
waits on the Word of God in silence, and, when he is 'answered,' it is not so much by a word that bursts into his silence.
It is by his silence itself, suddenly, inexplicably revealing itself to him as a word of great power, full of the voice of
God."
-Thomas Merton
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A PRAYER OF THOMAS MERTON.
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my parils alone.
-(c) "Thoughts in Solitude" Abbey of Gethsemani.
A PRAYER OF ST. DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA (d. 264 C.E)
FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY.
God,
good beyond all that is good,
fair beyond all that is fair,
in you is calmness, peace, and concord.
Heal the dissentions that divide us from one another
and bring us back to a unity of love
bearing some likeness to your divine nature.
Through the embrace of love
and the bonds of Godly affection,
make us one in the Spirit
by your peace which makes all things peaceful.
We ask this through the grace, mercy, and tenderness
of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
| ST. DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA |
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SACRED SPACE
LECTIO DIVINA (Praying with scripture).
CENTERING PRAYER
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A THOUGHT FROM THOMAS MERTON.
In one sense we are always traveling, and traveling as if we did not know where we were going.
In another sense we ahve already arrived.
We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are traveling and in darkness. But
we already possess Him by grace, and therefore, in that sense, we have arrived and are dwelling in the light.
But oh! How far I have to go to find You in whom I have already arrived!
"Think and minister with the mind and heart you have, not the one you are supposed to have."
-Karl Rahner, S.J
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