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Into the silence of God

Wednesday, 19 February 2014 19:48

The Mectildian Jubilee Year (1614–2014) continues to provide me with an opportunity to share something of the immense treasure of her spiritual doctrine with the readers of Vultus Christi. I came, this evening, upon a non–dated text of Mother Mectilde de Bar, edited by Mère Marie–Véronique Andral in Catherine de Bar, Itinéraire spirituel. The text, entitled Un écrit sur l’oraison [Writing on Prayer] reveals Mother Mectilde’s own experience of prayer. She speaks of three annihilations through which the soul must pass before entering into the sacred silence and sweet repose of God.

In the first annihilation the soul is stripped of the desire to feel anything in prayer. Inexorably, this comes through suffering. Mother Mectilde says that if one knew what awaited the soul at this crossroads, one wouldn’t have the courage even to set out towards it. Mother Mectilde then speaks of a second annihilation in which one is stripped of inward thoughts and feelings. Whereas formerly one could, at least, think about God, in this state all such thoughts vanish and the mere formulation of a prayer seems to require an impossible effort. The third annihilation is the stripping away of every delight, consolation, and support. One finds oneself in complete darkness without even being able to feel the faintest Godward movement of the soul. One is tempted to stop praying altogether. Prayer seems a waste of time, an utterly fruitless exercise, a delusion. One feels nothing, grasps nothing, and begins to wonder if anything of one’s prayer has ever been real.

After these three strippings away, Mother Mectilde assures us that the soul enters into God’s own sacred silence. Although the way into the silence of God is fraught with interior sufferings and bitterness of spirit, God allows the soul to experience, ever so faintly, the occasional taste of His sweetness, lest one be overwhelmed by the darkness. Mother Mectilde writes from the perspective of one who, having lived through (and died through) these successive strippings away, has entered into the silence of God. Here, then, is her text as I translated it:

Not in Feelings

It seems to me, according to my little knowledge and experience, that a soul whom God wishes to lead into interior silence must pass through three ways. . . . As I see it, the soul must enter first into the annihilation of the outward sensibility and be in a state of having no relish for feeling anything. Without this, one will taste [only] very imperfectly the sacred repose and silence of the soul in the course of which God acts. To arrive at this, experience teaches us how fitting it is that one should suffer. So true is this that I doubt that this one or that one who talks about the sweet and sacred repose of the soul in God, would, if he knew [what he is talking about] have courage enough to set out in pursuit of it.

Nor in Thoughts

But entrance into the second degree, which is the annihilation of the views and sentiments of the interior sensibility, requires suffering of quite another sort.

Nor in Any Delight or Support of the Soul

In the third degree, or annihilation, into which the soul must enter, if God were not to take away from the soul all the delights and all the support that one derives from one’s own lights and from the affections of the will [to love, according to Saint Thomas, is to will the good] and other dispositions, I do not know how the soul would ever get through it. Temptations in this regard are extreme, and there are strange difficulties concerning apprehensions over losing the time by which one enters into a state that is so dark to the spirit.

A Certain Fleeting Sweetness

The soul, then, having arrived at these strippings away, and being, as it were, all annihilated in God, enters into this sacred silence, the beginnings of which, though they be arduous, are mingled with the sweetnesses of a certain felt experience of the presence of God in the soul.

Regnum Christi

Jesus, His Way

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Father Scott Reilly, LC

Mark 8:22-26

When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, "Do you see anything?" Looking up he replied, "I see people looking like trees and walking." Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, "Do not even go into the village."

Introductory Prayer:Lord, I believe you are leading me, but sometimes I sense insecurity creeping within me. So I renew my confidence in you once more. I know that you can desire only what is good for me. Thank you for loving me unconditionally. In return, take my love and my desire to please you in everything.
Petition: Deepen my humility and increase my trust in you, dear Jesus!

1. Jesus Leads: From the very get-go, we push ahead for self-sufficiency. Think of a little child who strives to walk by himself, without his parents helping him keep his balance. In the spiritual life, it’s the opposite: We need to reach out to Christ for guidance, support and strength. Admitting our faults can be a humbling, but fruitful experience. Pride prevents us from doing this gracefully, but––have faith––if we do, Jesus will unleash his power within our lives. “Holiness is not in one exercise or another, it consists in a disposition of the heart, which renders us humble and little in the hands of God, conscious of our weakness but confident, even daringly confident, in his fatherly goodness” (St. Therese of Lisieux).

2. Patience, God has a Plan: “I want it now” is a modern cliché. Our wanting it now, though, doesn’t always work with God. His plan is a plan for our greater good—even if it isn’t our plan. The blind man’s sight wasn’t healed instantly, but gradually. How we want to be holy now and never return to the valley of filth and pride! Yet we seem to fall again and again. Holiness is always a work in progress, but that doesn’t faze Jesus. He knows the power his grace can work in our lives. Simply turn your difficulties over to him and keep trying. Our failures teach us to be humble, and this can only bring us closer to God. “This I know very well: although I should have on my soul all the crimes that could be committed, I would lose none of my confidence; rather, I would hasten, with my heart broken into pieces by sorrow, to cast myself into the arms of my Savior. I know how greatly he loved the prodigal son; I have marked his words to Mary Magdalene, to the adulterous woman, to the Samaritan. No, no one could make me afraid, because I know to whom to cling by reason of his love and mercy. I know that all this multitude of offenses would disappear in the twinkling of an eye, as a drop in a roaring furnace” (St. Therese of Lisieux).

3. Humble Jesus: He tells the man not to go into the village. Is Jesus afraid or in a hurry? No, his humility simply beckons him to move on quietly without anyone knowing. Jesus is fascinated with humility and thus practices it. We, on the other hand, love to get the credit; we crave recognition. Simply enter a professional office and behold the recognition plaques lining the walls like wallpaper. Jesus had no plaques; he had only a reputation of doing good deeds. He teaches us the power of purity of intention, which shuns any type of self-aggrandizement.

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, help me to abandon myself to your care; I trust in you completely. Knowing that I am weak and you are my strength gives me confidence. Help me to keep in mind that I am little and you are great. You are the one who deserves the glory, and you ought to be the protagonist in my life. Help me to go about quietly doing good like you.

Resolution: I will make an act of charity, praying, “Jesus, I do this only because I want to prove my love for you.”