Interrupting the Silence

Tag: Silence

  • St. John of the Cross on “Our Most Important Task”

    “Our most important task consists in remaining silent before this great God, silent with our desires as well as with our tongue. He understands only one language, that of silent love.” – St. John of the Cross in a letter to a Carmelite nun Related post: The Feast of St. John of the Cross – Read more

  • Abba Poeman on Silence

    Abba Poeman said… A man may seem to be silent, but if his heart is condemning others he is babbling ceaselessly. But there may be another who talks from morning till night and yet he is truly silent; that is, he says nothing that is not profitable. (p. 171) If you are silent, you will Read more

  • Solitude for Ourselves And Others Revisited

    In response to my recent post, Solitude for Ourselves and Others, a reader commented, …there is a particular radio talk show that i frequently listen to in which the host advocates a meditation exercise called “be still and know”…his listeners regularly call into the show to tell of their experiences while trying the exercise and Read more

  • Solitude For Ourselves And Others

    Jung recounts a story of a clergyman who had been working fourteen hours a day and was suffering from emotional exhaustion. Jung’s advice was that he should work eight hours a day, then go home and spend the evening alone in his study. The clergyman agreed to follow Jung’s advice precisely. He worked eight hours, Read more

  • The Last Anchorite

    In a previous post I mentioned Father Lazarus, a hermit on the mountain of St. Anthony. His life is one of detachment, silence, and solitude. Those things are not about absence but rather presence. They are practices and ways of life that open us to the very heart of God. They are interior conditions that Read more

  • Pray in Silence – St. John Cassian

    “But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6:6). This may be fulfilled by us as follows: we make our request within our room when, drawing our hearts within, away from the tumult of all thoughts and cares, we disclose our Read more

  • The Season of Advent – Holy Waiting and Watching

    A new liturgical year begins this coming Sunday, November 29, 2009, with the First Sunday of Advent. The Season of Advent consists of the four Sundays before Christmas. The liturgical color for Advent is purple or sometimes blue. We will begin a new liturgical cycle of seasons, feasts and fasts, and scripture lessons. This year Read more

  • Better the Silence of the Heart than Distracted Words

    Isidore said: Prayer is a work of the heart, not of the lips. For God does not pay attention to the words of the one who is praying to him, but rather to his or her heart. It is better to pray in the silence of the heart than to pray only with words, without Read more

  • Feast of St. Joseph

    Today, March 19, the Episcopal Church celebrates the life and faith of St. Joseph. St. Joseph was raised up to be the guardian of God’s incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother. The gospel reading for this feast is Luke 2:41-52, the story of Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve. Read more