The Contemplative Heart

The Contemplative Heart PDF

Author: James Finley

Publisher: Sorin Books

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781893732100

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With profound, practical insights, Finley, the author of "Merton's Palace of Nowhere, " offers readers a guide for a contemplative life.

Philo of Alexandria

Philo of Alexandria PDF

Author: Philo (of Alexandria.)

Publisher: Paulist Press

Published: 1981

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 9780809123339

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This anthology contains the basic vision of Philo (c. 20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.), the greatest Jewish mystic, philosopher and theologian of the Graeco-Roman era.

Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life

Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life PDF

Author: Joan E. Taylor

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-11-09

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 9004439234

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De Vita Contemplativa is known for its depiction of a philosophical group of Jewish men and women known as the ‘Therapeutae’. This commentary sets the treatise in its historical context and explores Philo’s aims in depicting them as he did.

Answering the Contemplative Call

Answering the Contemplative Call PDF

Author: Carl McColman

Publisher: Broadleaf Books

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1506485804

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The mystical path is not some sort of static experience for the select few, says Carl McColman, rather, it is a living tradition, a rich and many-layered dimension of spirituality that is in large measure a quest to find the mysteries at the heart of the universe, paradoxically nestled within the heart of your own soul. McColman first introduced readers to Christianity's lost mystical roots in his popular book, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. Now McColman is back with Answering the Contemplative Call, to show readers how to apply the riches of the mystical tradition to daily living. McColman quotes from the great mystics of the Christian tradition who have also traveled this path, including Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, Evelyn Underhill and more. In Answering the Contemplative Call, McColman offers a practice that will help readers come to a place meaning and purpose in their lives.

The Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life

The Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life PDF

Author: Thomas Keating

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2002-05-20

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 9780826413970

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People interested in Centering Prayer often ask: "Which of Father Keating's books should I read first?" This single volume contains the three basic books for the practice of Centering Prayer and its conceptual background. Open Mind, Open Heart deals with how to practice Centering Prayer. Since its first appearance in 1986, this book has been read and used by tens of thousands of people all around in world, including many inmates of U.S. prisons. Father Keating's books have been translated into numerous languages, including Croatian, Czech, Finnish, Japanese, and Korean. A new Spanish translation of Open Mind, Open Heart appeared in 2001. Invitation to Love treats the conceptual background of Centering Prayer rooted as it is in the Christian contemplative heritage. It is a presentation of that heritage in dialogue with contemporary science, especially developmental psychology and anthropology. The Mystery of Christ is a series of homilies based on the liturgical year. It develops the theological principles on which Centering Prayer is based using the scriptural texts of the liturgical cycle as a primary vehicle of instruction. This instruction is embodied in the principal feasts of the year celebrating the themes of divine light, divine life, and divine love. The trilogy contained in Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life develops the material presented in the Ten-Day Intensive Centering Prayer Workshop, in which the method of Centering Prayer is taught (Open Mind, Open Heart) along with its conceptual background (Invitation to Love). The homilies that were given during the liturgy integrate the method and its conceptual background into the mystery of Christ (hence The Mystery of Christ).

What Is Contemplation?

What Is Contemplation? PDF

Author: Thomas Merton

Publisher: Ravenio Books

Published: 1978

Total Pages: 45

ISBN-13:

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There are so many Christians who do not appreciate the magnificent dignity of their vocation to sanctity, to the knowledge, love and service of God. There are so many Christians who do not realize what possibilities God has placed in the life of Christian perfection — what possibilities for joy in the knowledge and love of Him. There are so many Christians who have practically no idea of the immense love of God for them, and of the power of that Love to do them good, to bring them happiness. Why do we think of the gift of contemplation, infused contemplation, mystical prayer, as something essentially strange and esoteric reserved for a small class of almost unnatural beings and prohibited to everyone else? It is perhaps because we have forgotten that contemplation is the work of the Holy Ghost acting on our souls through His gifts of Wisdom and Understanding with special intensity to increase and perfect our love for Him. These gifts are part of the normal equipment of Christian sanctity. They are given to all in Baptism, and if they are given it is presumably because God wants them to be developed. Their development will always remain the free gift of God and it is true that His wise Providence sees fit to develop them less in some saints than in others. But it is also true that God often measures His gifts by our desire to receive them, and by our cooperation with His grace, and the Holy Spirit will not waste any of His gifts on people who have little or no interest in them.