{"id":807,"date":"2020-03-16T19:40:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T02:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/holydwelling.com\/blog\/?p=807"},"modified":"2020-04-18T17:50:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T00:50:20","slug":"the-prayer-of-holy-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holydwelling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/16\/prayer-of-the-heart\/jesus-prayer-prayer-of-the-heart\/the-prayer-of-holy-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prayer of Holy Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Descent of the Holy Spirit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


\nTHE PRAYER OF HOLY SILENCE
\n
\nWhen the Whole Creation groans in travail . . .
\n
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the earliest days of Christianity, when the followers\nof Jesus the Christ were under nearly constant persecution, the faithful were often\nunable to gather together to celebrate the mysteries of the Eucharist. Drawing\non their inheritance from Jewish Temple and Synagogue, they continued to pray\nmorning and evening, often simply in family groupings or in solitude.
\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the worst of the Roman persecutions abated, and\nChristianity became a legal religion in the empire, regular gatherings in\nchurches were allowed and even encouraged. Yet many souls\u2014both men and women\u2014felt\ncalled to a more deliberate and intense discipleship, and retreated to the\nmountains and deserts to follow Christ through their lives of prayer in\nsilence, solitude, and simplicity. Eventually these hermits and anchorites became\nso numerous, they began to gather together to share their lives of prayer and\nservice while living communally in monasteries. One of the oldest of these (in continuous\nexistence since the early 4th<\/sup> Century) is the Monastery of St.\nCatherine, at the base of Mount Sinai in the Egyptian desert. http:\/\/www.sinaimonastery.com\/index.php\/en\/history<\/a>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the long history of the Earth, humanity (indeed, all of God\u2019s creation) has been threatened in various ways, times, and places by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Death, Famine, War, Pestilence<\/em>. Our time is no different. The coronavirus, COVID-19, is simply the one we face in 2020. And just as our ancestors down through the ages have done, we will fight these threats with all our medical, technological, and political might.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we will pray, just as they did\u2014in our churches, synagogues, and temples (when we can), in our homes with our loved ones, in our solitudes (whether by choice, or by circumstance), remembering always the elderly, the homeless, and the dying, and those who care for them.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. . . we do not know how to pray as we ought,
\nbut the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
\nsighs too deep for words.
\n
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our prayers will take many forms: the familiar and beloved\nwords of liturgy and hymns, or the simpler prayer of the heart, \u201cLord, have\nmercy.\u201d. And perhaps we may find our prayers are \u201ctoo deep for words\u201d and we\nfall silent before the immensity of the perils of our time, but even more\nprofoundly, we fall silent before the sure and certain hope that we and the\nentirety of creation are eternally held in the Heart of God.
\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

. .\n. For I am sure that neither death, nor life,
\nnor angels, nor principalities,
\nnor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
\nnor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
\nwill be able to separate us from the
\nlove of God in Christ our Lord.
\n<\/em><\/strong>(Romans\n8: 22, 26, 38)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this time of pestilence, and the \u201cphysical distancing\u201d it requires, perhaps some of you may wish to explore an ancient and simpler form of daily prayer, which you may find in my BREVIARY of HOLY SILENCE<\/em><\/strong><\/a> on the page SONGS of the SOUL<\/a><\/strong>. <\/em>I will be posting other relevant material on this page in the near future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With blessings and prayer for God\u2019s creation and all who dwell\ntherein.
\nThe Rev. Susan Creighton<\/em>
\n16 March 2020
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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