BTP#32 St. Bernard and the 12 Steps to Humility and Pride – The Mystery of Faith in the Wisdom of the Saints. In this episode Dr. Lilles continues the discussion on St. Bernard of Clairvaux and his teachings found in “The 12 Steps to Humility and Pride” and “On Loving God”.
Dr. Lilles offers 4 key points we should keep in mind as we move forward in this series
1. The Search for God
2. Listening to God – Lectio Divnia
3. Conversion to God – Conversatio Morum
4. Living with oneself and letting God fashion one into His image
Dr. Lilles’ continues his discussion on St. Bernard of Clairvaux, “The 12 Steps of Humility and Pride” and “On Loving God”:
Dr.Anthony Lilles is a Catholic husband and father of three teaching Spiritual Theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. He teaches spiritual theology and spiritual direction to transitional deacons, and the spiritual classics to the men who enter the Spirituality Year, a year of prayer in preparation for seminary formation. He is the author of the “Beginning to Pray” Catholic blog spot.
Dr. Anthony Lilles offers us a tremendous reflection based on a particular passage found in St. Faustina’s diary, #1373. He shares what it meant when she wrote it in the context of the world in 1937, and what it now means in the world in 2013. But more than that, he helps us to see how we can live this out in our everyday lives.
1373 O humdrum days, filled with darkness, I look upon you with a solemn and festive eye.
This is the scene Dr. Lilles refers to in is talk.
1377 November 5. This morning, five unemployed men came to the gate and insisted on being let in. When Sister N. had argued with them for quite a while and could not make them go away, she then came to the chapel to find Mother [Irene], who told me to go. When I was still a good way from the gate I could hear them banging loudly. At first, I was overcome with doubt and fear, and I did not know whether to open the gate or, like Sister N., to answer them through the little window. But suddenly I heard a voice in my soul saying, Go and open the gate and talk to them as sweetly as you talk to Me. I opened the gate at once and approached the most menacing of them and began to speak to them with such sweetness and calm that they did not know what to do with themselves. And they too began to speak gently and said, “Well, it’s too bad that the convent can’t give us work.” And they went away peacefully. I felt clearly that Jesus, whom I had received in Holy Communion just an hour before, had worked in their hearts through me. Oh, how good it is to act under God’s inspiration!
The opening prayer from St. Faustina’s diary #1411 offered by Dr. Lilles:
O Divine Spirit, Spirit of truth and of light,
Dwell ever in my soul by Your divine grace.
May Your breath dissipate the darkness,
And in this light may good deeds be multiplied.
O Divine Spirit, Spirit of love and of mercy,
Who pour the balm of trust into my heart,
Your grace confirms my soul in good,
Giving it the invincible power of constancy.
O Divine Spirit, Spirit of peace and of joy,
You invigorate my thirsting heart
And pour into it the living fountain of God’s love,
Making it intrepid for battle.
O Divine Spirit, my soul’s most welcome guest,
For my part, I want to remain faithful to You;
Both in days of joy and in the agony of suffering,
I want always, O Spirit of God, to live in Your presence.
O Divine Spirit, who pervade my whole being
And give me to know Your Divine Threefold Life,
Initiating me into Your Divine Essence,
Thus united to You, I will live a life without end.
There are times when prayer feels wasted. We cry out from the very depths of our being begging to be heard, sometimes in tears, sometimes in desperate plight, sometimes with an overwhelming sense of personal unworthiness. Sometimes, when some sign of Divine Providence is most sought, our voices echo in lifeless silence.
In these moments, those who doubted our faith or considered us hypocrites, they feel themselves vindicated – sometimes with glee, sometimes with hidden sorrow. Here, the seemingly unanswered prayer mysteriously resounds in their hearts too. Behind the derision one faces for having dared to believe, there is also a painful solidarity with the whole of humanity. For every prayer that seems unanswered reaffirms a sense of alienation, of rejection, of unbearable misery in the heart of every man and woman since Eden.
In the story of salvation, the most contemporary doubt in the Father’s love is just another manifestation of this primordial reality. Christian prayer does not avoid this common human condition – it boldly enters this poverty to fill it with something new. If it humbly accepts all forms of mockery before the mystery of unanswered prayer, it is to offer this too as a living sacrifice to the Living God.
For the Christian, the tired sorrow of unanswered prayer has been made open to an explosive beatitude. The Word of the Father made this painful cry His own when He implicated Himself in our sin. In this, the Suffering Servant found a way so that we would not have to suffer our plight alone – our wounds are healed by His.
His last wordless cry of abandonment revealed His life’s project: He dared to offer with love to the Father His every breathe and heartbeat from first to last so that every human hardship might be completely enveloped in divine mercy. Now, by faith, His project can become our project. Because His offering to the Father was perfect in love, the Savior of the world fills our dying weakness with the secret freshness of new life whenever we offer it to Him with even the tiniest effort of solidarity. When prayer seems unanswered, the One who cried to the Father for love of us from crib to Cross is allowing us an opportunity to share in the salvific work of His own prayer.
Like the myrrh, the tears and the kisses that once anointed the feet of Jesus, prayer wasted on God for our brothers and sisters, for spouse and children, and even for ourselves, always takes on cruciform proportions – dimensions that extend from one horizon to the other, from height to depth, from what is visible to what cannot be seen. If such prayer weeps over abandonment, disappointment, frustration, injustice, inadequacy, failure, voids and weakness – such prayer also boldly cleaves with gratitude to the invincible hope that none of this can separate us from that astounding love revealed by the Risen Lord.
Dr. Anthony Lilles is the author of “Hidden Mountain, Secret Garden”
“Hidden Mountain Secret Garden: a theological contemplation of prayer” helps the reader discover the riches of mental prayer in the Catholic Tradition. In fact, the images of the “Hidden Mountain” and the “Secret Garden” are ancient metaphors for contemplative prayer, a kind of prayer that begins and ends in faith.
This book is especially for those whose prayer is a search for the loving eyes of One who has conquered death. This kind of prayer beholds the wonder of Christ’s living but hidden presence in one’s highest thoughts and most noble aspirations as well as in one’s instinctual urges and deepest longings. The ecstasy of this kind of prayer extends beyond even the vast unexplored horizons of the human heart and opens to an immensity of such excessive mercy that all else is forgotten — and only love remains.
The whole world needs this love: it is the secret garden, the hidden mountain, the inexhaustible riches only prayer knows and an excess of grace only prayer can make known. This is why Blessed John Paul II told the Church not to be afraid to open wide the doors of our hearts to Christ and it is why He told the young people of the world to be proud to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord. For those brave souls who have faithfully open their hearts to the Lord through this discipline of this kind of prayer, every Christian owes you a debt of gratitude. For those who want to join them, this work encourages you along the way — for the journey you endeavor is at once the most perilous, the most heart-rending and the most wonderful adventure this world has ever known.
“Dr. Anthony Lilles has authored an introduction to prayer that is inspiring and encouraging. For those desiring to pray this is a resource that is full of practical advice – written simply and attractively. This book bears the mark of a man – husband, father and teacher – who is not only imbued with the wisdom of the Saints, but who has also, through his own prayer, learned how all of us can, through prayer, foster faith in and love for Jesus and his Gospel.” THOMAS G. WEINANDY, O.F.M., CAP. Executive Director for the Secretariat for Doctrine United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
This is a wonderful book. I’ve taught spiritual theology many years and I wish I had had this text use. In fact, I wish I had written this book. It is scriptural, patristic, historical, theological, mystical, experiential and user friendly. Dr. Lilles takes us through the spiritual journey of prayer, citing Fathers and doctors, saints and even sinners to guide us on our Christian way toward contemplation. Weaving many themes into a harmonious whole, he opens up the life of contemplation for all Christians, our baptismal birthright in a way that is accessible and attractive. This is a book one will read more than once. FR. GILES DIMOCK, O.P., S.T.D University Parish of St. Thomas Aquinas At the University of Virginia
In this book we find the real meat of the new evangelization. The church in America will not be renewed by “facts about Jesus” but only through one’s choice to let Christ reach the heart and change it from within. It is an ancient message received by only few: Do not be afraid of letting go of what now defines you. Let Christ tell you who you are. Dr. Lilles is one of the ablest guides to lead us through to such a choice. Will I stay with knowledge about Jesus or will I enter the garden of prayer and finally come to know Him!! Do not be afraid to be loved, read this book. DEACON JAMES KEATING, PH.D, Institute for Priestly Formation, Omaha, NE
