Contemplative Prayer background

🕊 Prayer and Practice

“Be still and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Contemplative prayer is the quiet heart of Ignatian spirituality — a way of resting in God’s loving presence and seeing all things through His eyes.

Like the Carmelites, Teresa of Ávila, the Poor Clares, and the Benedictines, Ignatius teaches that true prayer is not escape but encounter — a silence that awakens us to love. In stillness, we discover that God is already here.

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🌿 1. What Is Contemplative Prayer?

Contemplative prayer is the prayer of presence rather than performance — a simple resting in God’s love. In the Ignatian tradition, it begins with awareness: becoming still enough to notice that God is already here, already speaking within the ordinary rhythm of life. It is a gaze of love exchanged between Creator and creature — the soul quietly beholding the One who beholds it with infinite tenderness.

🔥 2. The Heart of Ignatian Contemplation

Ignatian contemplation engages imagination, senses, and heart in prayer. Through meditating on the life of Christ, we step into the Gospel — seeing, hearing, and feeling what the Lord says and does. In time, words fade and only loving awareness remains — contemplation in prayer becomes contemplation in action, seeing Christ in all things.

🕯 3. Shared Wells of Silence

Ignatian spirituality stands in harmony with the wider Christian contemplative heritage:

  • Carmelites — Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross: the deep interior journey into God’s transforming love.
  • Poor Clares — simplicity and joyful silence amid poverty and community.
  • Benedictines — ora et labora, prayer and work — listening for God in every hour.
  • Cistercians & Trappists — pure attentiveness, where love becomes prayer itself.

🌸 4. How to Begin

  1. Find a quiet space and settle your body.
  2. Breathe slowly; become aware of God’s gaze upon you.
  3. Whisper softly: “Here I am, Lord.”
  4. Rest in silence for a few minutes.
  5. When distractions come, gently return to your breath or a sacred word.

With time, the silence deepens into companionship — a wordless communion with Love itself.

✨ 5. Living Contemplatively

True contemplation overflows into life. We begin to listen more deeply, act more gently, and love more freely. Work becomes prayer, and prayer becomes life. To live contemplatively is to walk through the world with the quiet awareness that every place is holy ground.

💡 6. Practice Resources

  • Ignatian Contemplation Guide — using Gospel imagination.
  • The Jesus Prayer — “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
  • Lectio Divina — meditative reading of Scripture.
  • The Examen — daily prayer of gratitude and awareness.
Download: Beginner’s Guide to Contemplative Prayer (PDF)

🌅 7. Enter the Silence

“Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation.” — Thomas Keating

Set aside a few minutes now. Turn off the noise. Sit still. Breathe. Let your heart whisper: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

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