Spiritual Quote of the Day (George Herbert, on Prayer, ‘The Church’s Banquet’)

“Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth.”—English “metaphysical poet” and Anglican minister George Herbert (1593-1633), “Prayer,” in The Complete Poetry, edited by John Drury (2015)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (William James, on Why We Pray)

“The reason why we do pray…is simply that we cannot help praying. It seems probable that, in spite of all that ‘science’ may do to the contrary, men will continue to pray to the end of time, unless their mental nature changes in a manner which nothing we know should lead us to expect.”—American philosopher William James (1842-1910), The Principles of Psychology (1890)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Mary Karr, on Prayer ‘In Times of Pressure or Anxiety’)

“In times of pressure or anxiety—like when Mother was dying—I’ll do a daily rosary for everybody. Or I’ll light candles and climb in the bathtub, try to put my mind where my body is—the best prayers are completely silent. Otherwise, I do a lot of begging. I just beg, beg, beg, beg like a dog, for myself and those I love. And I do the cursory, ‘If it’s your will . . .’ but God knows that I want everything when I want it…. The real prayer happens when I’m really desperate, like when I was going through a period of illness last year. Amazing what power there is in surrender to suffering. Most of my life I dodged it, or tried to drink it away—'it’ being any reality that discomfited me.”—American poet, songwriter, essayist, memoirist—and Roman Catholic convert—Mary Karr, “The Art of Memoir No. 1,” interviewed by Amanda Fortini, The Paris Review (Winter 2009)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Ernest Hemingway, on Visiting Pamplona Cathedral)

“At the end of the street I saw the cathedral and walked up toward it. The first time I ever saw it I thought the façade was ugly but I liked it now. I went inside. It was dim and dark and the pillars went high up, and there were people praying, and it smelt of incense, and there were some wonderful big windows. I knelt and started to pray and prayed for everybody I thought of, Brett and Mike and Bill and Robert Cohn and myself, and all the bull-fighters, separately for the ones I liked, and lumping all the rest, then I prayed for myself again, and while I was praying for myself I found I was getting sleepy, so I prayed that the bull-fights would be good, and that it would be a fine fiesta, and that we would get some fishing. I wondered if there was anything else I might pray for, and I thought I would like to have some money, so I prayed that I would make a lot of money, and then I started to think how I would make it, and thinking of making money reminded me of the count, and I started wondering about where he was, and regretting I hadn’t seen him since that night in Montmartre, and about something funny Brett told me about him, and as all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me, and was thinking of myself as praying, I was a little ashamed, and regretted that I was such a rotten Catholic, but realized there was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while, and maybe never, but that anyway it was a grand religion, and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next time.”—American Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, short-story writer, and memoirist Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), on Pamplona Cathedral, Spain, in The Sun Also Rises (1926)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (St. Thomas Aquinas, on Many Cries to the Lord)

“Many cry to the Lord that they may win riches, that they may avoid losses; they cry that their family may be established, they ask for temporal happiness, for worldly dignities; and, lastly, they cry for bodily health, which is the patrimony of the poor. For these and suchlike things many cry to the Lord; hardly one cries for the Lord Himself! How easy it is for a man to desire all manner of things from the Lord and yet not desire the Lord Himself! As though the gift could be sweeter than the Giver!”— St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) [Angelic] Doctor of the Church, On Prayer and the Contemplative Life (2012)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Czeslaw Milosz, on Prayer’s ‘Velvet Bridge’)

“All I know is that prayer constructs a velvet bridge
And walking it we are aloft, as on a springboard,
Above landscapes the color of ripe gold
Transformed by a magic stopping of the sun.”—Polish-American poet, critic, translator and Nobel Literature laureate Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004), “On Prayer”

Spiritual Quote of the Day (St. Teresa of Calcutta, on Silence and Being Alone With God)

“We need silence to be alone with God, to speak to Him, to listen to Him, to ponder His words deep in our hearts. We need to be alone with God in silence to be renewed and transformed. Silence gives us a new outlook on life. In it we are filled with the energy of God himself that makes us do all things with joy.” — St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), Mother Teresa: Essential Writings (2001)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Dorothy Day, on How People Pray ‘Through the Witness of Their Lives’)

“Does God have a set way of prayer, a way that he expects each of us to follow? I doubt it. I believe some people—lots of people—pray through the witness of their lives, through the work they do, the friendships they have, the love they offer people and receive from people. Since when are words the only acceptable form of prayer?” — American journalist, social activist and Catholic Worker Movement founder Dorothy Day (1897-1980), The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus, edited by Carolyn Kurtz (2017)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Fr. Thomas Keating, on Centering Prayer)

“One of the values of centering prayer is that you are not thinking about God during the time of centering prayer so you are giving God a chance to manifest. In centering prayer there are moments of peace that give the psyche a chance to realize that God may not be so bad after all. God has a chance to be himself for a change.” —Trappist monk Thomas Keating (1923-2018) quoted in “Resting in God: An Interview with Fr. Thomas Keating, OSCO," Common Boundary, Sept./Oct. 1997

(Photo of Thomas Keating, during a discussion with the Dalai Lama in Boston, Oct. 14, 2012, was taken by Christopher.)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (George Herbert, on Prayer as the ‘Heart in Pilgrimage’)

“Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,

God’s breath in man returning to his birth,

The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,

The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth

Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tow’r,

Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,

The six-days world transposing in an hour,

A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,

Exalted manna, gladness of the best,

Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,

The milky way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,

The land of spices; something understood.”—English poet-clergyman George Herbert (1593-1633), “Prayer”

Quote of the Day (John Predmore, Praying for Physical and Spiritual Healing)

“For continuing or renewed health for all those I love,

         Strengthen them in your mercy, Lord.

For all struggling with life-threatening illness,

         Be their source of comfort, O Good Shepherd.

For all weakened by age or infirmity,

         Strengthen both their limbs and their spirit, O God.

For all suffering from mental or nervous afflictions,

         Be their calming presence, Lord Jesus.

For all with disabling handicaps,

         Give them courage and patience, O Lord.

For all struggling with spiritual anxiety, depression or addiction,

         Shower them with your love and mercy, O God.

For all who feel alone, for the lonely, the marginalized, the homebound, the shunned, and those who feel on the edge of society,

         Let them feel your comforting presence.

For all close to death,

         Ease their pain and grant them your peace, O Sacred Heart

For doctors, nurses, hospice workers, and caregivers,

        Guide their healing actions and inspire their words and spirit,

        most Loving Lord.”—Jesuit priest John Predmore, “Prayer: Petitions for Healing,” Prayer: Petitions for Healing (blog), Aug. 23, 2012

As I age, I have watched in dismay as more and more people fall victim to physical and mental illness—an experience that I am sure many other Baby Boomers can identify with. I hope those who read this will join me in praying for all those afflicted in these ways.

 

Quote of the Day (Pope St. Leo the Great, on Believers and the ‘Victory of the Cross’)

“No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the Cross, nor is anyone beyond the help of the prayer of Christ.” —Pope St. Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 66, 3-4