Excerpt from Pillars Album by our Mother Foundress

“But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father Who sees in secret will repay you.” (Mt 6:6)

Contemplation is heart language, and if it was ever needed in the Church, it is needed now. John the contemplative said, “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Of all the ways he could describe God, St. John summed it up in those three little words, “God is love.” So the fruit of contemplative prayer is always union. It’s God’s gift to us. He initiates it; He calls us. God is love; we are the beloved. John the contemplative referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jn 13:23; 19: 26). John experienced Love. Contemplative prayer is a Heart-to-heart communication of Love.

St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are ever restless till they find rest in Thee” (The Confessions, Book 1, 1-3). “Rest” is a very contemplative term. When we are at home with God, when we are being loved and are experiencing His Presence, there isn’t anything more to say. We are satisfied. Love is touching us, we are touching Love, and are hearts are resting in His.

In the Song of Songs, God invites us, “Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love” (Sg 5:1). He knows what we need. He knows who we are. He has made our hearts like His. He is always seeking union because that’s the nature of Love – it has to have union. So He has made our hearts restless so we too would seek that union with Him.

“Whoever believes in Me, ‘Rivers of Living Water will flow from within him.’” (John 7:38)