When we pray, we never pray alone, even when we are physically alone. We are in the company of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and saints…especially our own guardian angel. The Communion of Saints reminds us that we are not alone in our earthly pilgrimage. We have heavenly supporters and intercessors encouraging us upwards and onwards in their prayers.
Prayer is a mystery. It cannot be scientifically investigated. It emerges from the call of the Lord Jesus in the secret depths of our hearts and assures us that he is present with all the hosts of heaven.
The Lord’s life that climaxed in his sacrificial offering on the Cross was the most complete prayer ever uttered. He prays from the Cross in an agony so intense that his death is a total act of love. He prays at every Eucharist when the bread is broken and the wine out poured. His is a love that encompasses earth and the entire cosmos drawing all to himself. The Holy Name “Jesus” is the password to God’s Kingdom.
Christian prayer above all centres on Jesus Christ in the Church’s offering of the Eucharist. Our personal prayer life is an extension of the Eucharist.
We pray surrounded by angels and archangels and all the hosts of heaven. We also pray within the Life of the Blessed Trinity – Father Son and Holy Spirit.
Therefore we must see earth as a material aspect of heaven. Earth is one of the mansions or resting places that Jesus talks about in St John’s Gospel.
“In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. (Mansions) (John 14:2) Earth is also the house of God. Through the Holy Spirit he lives among us.
This is confirmed by St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3)
Just one more thought. It isn’t necessary to use many words in our prayers. Calling with love on the Divine Name “Jesus” is an effective prayer.
The blind man’s cry “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me,” related in the Gospel of Mark is a great prayer. It can be shortened to two words – Jesus Mercy. Try it sometime.
Its simplicity commends it to us who are living during these complicated times. It’s known as the Jesus Prayer. “Lord Jesus Christ: have mercy on me,” can be prayed resting, standing, walking or working. It requires no great intellect or learning and becomes part of one’s very being. The Name Jesus, said with love, is prayer, and opens us to the Kingdom of God. It is truly the password to Life.
“Of your own will O God, you have brought into being all things which before were not, and by your providence you uphold the world.” (Byzantine Liturgy)
Rublev Trinity
All Along the Watchtower 
A take on the command to “pray without ceasing” I’ve recently been incorporating into my thinking, is of our daily life lived as prayer itself. That is, if we think of the universe as a dialogue of love between God and man: God communicates love directed to us the through creation, the church, the Word, the redemption, etc., and our lives as a communication of love back to God. It’s a great challenge to try and keep this in conscious thought, but I think it plays into what you’re saying here. Our very existence is a gift of love given to us by God, so in light of that how can we consistently choose to do anything other than make our very selves an offering of love back to God?
LikeLike
I feel the need to make clarification here, that this view of prayer shouldn’t be understood to minimize or replace the act of our verbal communication to God. If we so love God then we cannot help but to speak to Him, however in human communication our love-dialogue with God is not limited to merely verbal symbols (words). I like what you said about our prayer being centered in the Eucharist; this is something I quite often forget and should think more about.
LikeLike
steven, God comes to us disguised as our life and in the Eucharist he releases us from time and plunges us into his love. I love the silences in the Eucharist and in those intervals when saying the Divine Office. A line in the Psalms or the Scriptures can grasp our attention with a holy intensity.
Silence is a way of waiting; a way or watching; and a way of listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. “Be still and know that I am God.”
Silence is a way of interiority, of stopping and exploring the cellars of the heart and the centre of life. It is a way of entering within our spirit so that we do not merely live outside of ourselves.
Silence isn’t just ceasing to use words. That would be much too restrictive and a negative view of what it’s all about. It is the pause that connects everything in our lives. It is the glue that holds together all the words spoken and unspoken.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I find, Malcolm, the Orthodox prayer: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’ the greatest of comforts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
chalcedon I can wholeheartedly concur with you on that. It is the greatest of comforts and seen me through many a dark day. It has given all those happy times an eternal dimension. There’s not a day goes by when I don’t find myself using the Jesus Prayer.
When I was a curate in Canterbury, Sister Clara, an Anglican nun, living in the flat below mine , gave me a little book entitled “The Way of a Pilgrim.” It explains the Jesus Prayer that has affected thousands of Christian people over the years.
First published in 1930 it is still a best seller.
In the copy Sister Clara gave me the Preface is written by Bishop Frere. He was Bishop of Truro many years ago. He confirmed by Father.
Bishop Frere writes – “Try a little journey with this pilgrim; for your will find him very good company. I think you will be sorry, when at the end, he suddenly disappears into the obscurity from which he emerged when you first came across him.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
I agree, Malcolm – indeed I have a copy here and find it invaluable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rublev’s icon of the Trinity is sublime. If you haven’t seen Tarkovsky’s film about him, you really must. It puts his work in perspective. Of course, it takes great licence as well, but I think it is a really great meditation piece and you can watch it for free legally on YouTube, because the Soviet studio have made it freely available on their channel.
LikeLike