“First, concerning the manner, that is, how we should pray. Our prayer must have few words, but be great and profound in content and meaning. The fewer the words, the better the prayer; the more words, the poorer the prayer. Few words and richness of meaning is Christian; many words and lack of meaning is pagan.”
Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), page 19.
“First, concerning the manner, that is, how we should pray. Our prayer must have few words, but be great and profound in content and meaning. The fewer the words, the better the prayer; the more words, the poorer the prayer. Few words and richness of meaning is Christian; many words and lack of meaning is pagan.”
Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), page 19)
“It is impossible for one who prays spiritually and sincerely to be verbose. When the soul becomes aware of what it is saying, and in its awareness tries to muster both the words and he ideas, it will be compelled to dispense with the words and cling to the thoughts, or, conversely, to lose sight of the thoughts and stress the words. Such oral prayers are to be valued only insofar as they spur and move the soul to reflect on the meaning and he desires conveyed by the words.”
Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), pages 20-21.
“It really should not be necessary for my sermons and words to be circulated widely throughout the country. Certainly there are other books that might properly or profitably serve as sermons for the people. I do not know why God destines me to be involved in this game in which people pick up and spread my words, some as my friends, others as enemies. This has induced me to publish this Lord’s Prayer, previously published by my friends, and to exposit it further in the hope that I may also do my adversaries a favor. It is always my intention to be helpful to all and harmful to none.”
Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), p. 19.
This month I intend to post some of the notes I have taken through the years from Luther’s writings and posting them here as commonplaces. Perhaps they will interest you, or surprise you, or bore you, make you wonder, make you go “Huh!”
“Persons who live in noise are like dust swept along by the wind. They are slaves of a turmoil that destroys relationships with God. On the other hand, those who love silence and solitude walk step by step toward God; they know how to break the vicious circles of noise, like animal tamers who manage to calm roaring lions” Thought 110.
Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Translated by Michael J. Miller. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017), p. 67.
“[There are] two classic practices spiritual seekers have used through the ages to open themselves to knowing and hearing God more deeply. Solitude and silence are not self-indulgent exercises for when an overcrowded soul needs a little time to itself. Rather, they are concrete ways of opening to the presence of God beyond human effort and beyond the human constructs that cannot fully contain the Divine.”
Barton, Ruth Haley. Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 31.
“Do not, then, stir yourself up to useless interior activities. Avoid everything that will bring unnecessary complications into your life. Live in as much peace and quiet and retirement as you can, and do not go out of your way to get involved in labors and duties, no matter how much glory they may seem to give God. Do the tasks appointed to you as perfectly as you can with disinterested love and great peace in order to show your desire of pleasing God. Love and serve Him peacefully and in all your works preserve recollection. Do what you do quietly and without fuss. Seek solitude as much as you can; dwell in the silence of your own soul and rest there in the simple and simplifying light which God is infusing into you.”
Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. (NY: HarperOne, 2003), pp. 96-97. [the text belongs to 1959]
“In the solitude of the monastic life, the monk begins obscurely to sense that great depths are opened up within him, and that the charism of his monastic vocation demands an obedience that is carried out in an abyss too deep for him to understand. It is an obedience that permeates the very roots of his being.”
Merton, Thomas. “The Monastic Renewal: Problems and Prospects.” (1966) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013), p. 399.
“The monastic tradition calls ‘Great Silence’ the nocturnal atmosphere of peace that is supposed to reign in the communal areas, as well as in each cell, generally from Compline until Prime, so that each one can be alone with God. But each person ought to create and build for himself an interior cloister, ‘a wall and a bulwark’, a private desert, so as to meet God there in solitude and silence.” Thought 128.
Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Translated by Michael J. Miller. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017), p. 74.
“Both community and solitude must be embraced for what they truly are and not be used as escapes, one from the other. Each has its moments of pain and suffering; each has its moments of tranquil peace and deep connection, joyful experiences of God in God’s many manifestations.”
Healey, Bede. “Psychological Investigations and Implications for Living Together Alone.” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002), p. 127.
Pathology: the Study of a Path 