Art as a Source of Meditation.
-
- "All the damned have been lost by not
praying; had they prayed, they would not have been lost." St. Alphonsus. See, Catechism of the
Catholic Church sec. 2744, and Admonitions.
Classic Texts of the Catholic
Tradition on Spirituality and Prayer:
1. The Confessions of St.
Augustine is at New Advent, also an extensive list of his other works are available at their
section on Fathers of the Church. More material can be
found at the Augustine site. Images of St.
Augustine. (They
also have a neat drawing.)
2. The Cloud
of Unknowing is at the Christian Classics Electronic
Library. It is a classic text on contemplative
prayer.
3. The legacy of St. Francis of Assisi, including the
Little Flowers of St. Francis. There
is a Franciscan
Web Page. Be sure to look at the short biography of
St. Francis. In addition, a large number of
historical documents are linked to the
Franciscan
Archive. You can see more about Francis at our page,
St. Francis Preaches to the Birds.
4. Juliana of
Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love.
5. St. Catherine
of Sienna: The Dialogue. This includes a treatise
on Prayer.
6. The Imitation of Christ. It has been
asserted that this book has been the most important text, other than the
bible, in the Western Church in the last five centuries. For something on
prayer, look at chapter 30 of book III.
7. St. John of
the Cross: The Ascent of Mt. Carmel. John was a
Discalced
Carmelite.
8. St. Teresa of
Avila: Interior Castle. Teresa was also a
Discalced
Carmelite.
9. St. Francis de Sales: Introduction to the Devout Life. It has been reprinted by Tan
Books. See Come into God's Presence for an
excerpt.
10. Br.
Lawrence: The
Practice of the Presence of God.
11. St. Louis de Montfort: True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. An audio tape of this book is available from St. Ignatius Press.
12. Jean-Pierre de Caussade: Abandonment to Divine Providence. You
may view some quotes from his work.
13. St. Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul. Her
autobiography is available commercially through amazon.com. you can also view
the online list of Carmelite Liturature.
14. The Rule of St. Benedict is a way of life and
prayer that has served great numbers of Christians through the centuries. A
general description of the rule is given by +Abbot Primate Jerome
Theisen OSB. The Rule of St.
Benedict itself can be useful to modern lay people
for insight into the spiritual life. For example, see chapters 19
and 20 on reverence in prayer. The Rule is also
available arranged for daily
reading. (A brief general presentation of Monastic spirituality is at the Christ in
the Desert Site. Also see below on Lectio Devina.)
15. The Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius of
Loyola. For more on the Spiritual Exercises see below. St. Ignatius founded the Jesuits. You
can look at links to Jesuit
Resources on the web. There is a short life of St.
Ignatius on line, in the 1913 version of the
Catholic Encyclopedia. Be sure to look at the material on Jesuit
Spirituality.
16. The Catechism of the
Catholic Church which has an extensive section on
prayer. It can not be said that the Catechism has been a classic for centuries
but it draws on centuries of teaching and prayer.
Other useful texts.
From the Russian Orthodox tradition: The Way of the
Pilgrim, which describes how to satisfy St. Paul's command to pray
constantly using the Jesus Prayer. For an excerpt see Pray without Ceasing. Search for The Way of
the Pilgrim at Amazon.com.
From the ancient eastern desert hermits and monks there are
the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. For example,
Abbe Xanthios said, "A dog is better than I am, for he has love and he does
not judge." Also St. John of the Ladder said, "Do not be surprised that you
fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And
assuredly, the angel who guards you will honor your patience." This saying is
found in the Sayings
of the Fathers. For a good commercial text see the
compilation by Merton called the Wisdom of the Desert. Finally there
are Stories from the Desert Fathers at Seeking
God.