The Spiritual Life, Episode 14: Contemplation (Part 2)
The Three Signs of Contemplation
In this episode of the Spiritual Life, we continue the study on Contemplation. The period in the spiritual life that marks the transition to the prayer of contemplation is called by St. John of the Cross the Dark Night of the Senses. There are signs - 3 signs - that St. John of the Cross lists and explains that indicate a soul is passing from meditation to the more simple and spiritual form of prayer, called by St. John of the Cross, infused contemplation. “But many persons,” Abbot John Chapman writes, “pass long years in this dark night, when they cannot meditate, and yet are afraid to contemplate; and the signs may be less easy to recognize. … They have imagined themselves to be going back, because they have no devotion, no ‘feelings’; and perhaps they are really going back, since they have not learnt the right path forward.” This state has been rightly called a Common Mystic Prayer. Join Father Bernard as he goes deeper into each of the 3 signs, providing practical advice for this common state for devout souls.
Original Air Date: December 17, 2016
Show Run Time: 2 hours
Show Guest(s): Father Bernard Uttley, O.S.B.
