So I say the Jesus prayer, asking to be set free from the illusions of the world, from the innumerable vanities and deceits with which I am surrounded. People may be utterly ignorant of it or may choose to ignore it, but whenever or wherever anyone responds to truth or love or kindness, to the demand for justice, concern for others, care of those in need, they are responding to the voice of the Word. From the writings of Bede. Anyone familiar with the story of a Russian pilgrim will know what I mean. Both, Bede, who wrote his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum around AD 732, and Geo rey of Monmouth, who wrote his Historia Rgume Britanniae around AD 1137, name ve particular peoples living in Britain. In bus or train or travelling by air, in work or study or talking and relating to others, I try to be aware of this presence in everyone and in everything. Bede also wrote a variety of works on orthography (spelling conventions), and metre (poetic rhythm) as well as a number of scientific treatises. Copyright ©2003 – 2021, We have collected dozens of previously unpublished examples in one place. This is contemplation. So prayer for me is the practice of the presence of God in all situations, in the midst of noise and distraction of all sorts, of pain and suffering and death, as in times of peace and quiet, of joy and friendship, or prayer and silence, the presence is always there. Introduction In 2003, I was awakened by a feeling that there was someone in my room while I was asleep At that stage of my life, I was hardly an angel and a candidate for learning advanced bio-spiritual mechanics. I find it convenient to keep in mind the four stages of prayer in the medieval tradition –lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio. Giles (London: Whittaker and Co., 1843). It is an attentive reading, savouring the words as in reading poetry. The biographical writings and letters of Venerable Bede by Bede, the Venerable, Saint, 673-735; Giles, J. So we pass to contemplatio. The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols. 8 vols. Bede’s works fall into three groups: grammatical and “scientific,” scriptural commentary, and historical and biographical. Personally I find that meditation, morning and evening, every day, is the best and most direct method of getting in touch with reality. It is not limited to any earthly object or person. Reading the Bible is the traditional way, but this reading is not just reading for information. Liberty Fund, Inc. All rights reserved. One of Bede's works on chronology, De temporibus, led to him being accused of heresy in front of Wilfred, the bishop of York; Bede was not present but heard of the charge from a monk named Plegwin. : Cambridge Univ. J.A. It is facing nothingness – or as Augustine Bakes, the English Benedictine mystic said, it is the “union of the nothing with the Nothing”. It is encountered with the darkness, the abyss, the void. And I find in the name of Jesus the name which opens my heart and mind to reality. When I say, “have mercy on me a sinner”, I unite myself with all human beings from the beginning of the world, who have experienced separation from God, or from the eternal truth. He is credited with writing three known Latin hymns. Giles (London: Whittaker and Co., 1843). His Latin is clear and without aff… Then in the silence I become aware of the presence of God, and I try to keep that awareness during the day. Bede Griffiths was a Catholic Priest who lived in India for forty years and tried to create a bridge between the East and the West. In meditation I try to let go of everything of the outer world of the senses, of the inner world of thoughts, and listen to the inner voice, the voice of the Word, which comes in the silence, in the stillness when all the activity of mind and body ceases. Required fields are marked *. I believe that each one of us as an inner light, an inner guide, which will lead us through the shadows and illusions by which we are surrounded, and open our minds to the truth. This is meditation in the traditional sense, bringing out the moral and symbolic meaning of the text and applying it to one’s own life. It is said that Mary “pondered all these things in her heart”.
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