I find this following excerpt most fascinating, what John of the Cross wrote regarding praying. I notice he does not advocate becoming attached to the various devotions and ceremonies and modes of prayers other than what Christ Himself taught us, and also how He prayed.
"Regarding other ceremonies in vocal prayers and other devotions, one should not become attached to any ceremonies or modes of prayer other than those Christ taught us. When His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray [Lk 11:1], Christ obviously, as one Who knew so well His Father's will, would have told them all that was necessary in order to obtain an answer from the Eternal Father; and in fact, He only taught them those seven petitions of the Our Father, which include all our spiritual and temporal necessities, and He did not teach numerous other kinds of prayers and ceremonies. At another time, rather, He told them that in praying they should not desire much speaking because our heavenly Father clearly knows our needs.
"He only charged us with great insistence to persevere in prayer--that is, in the Our Father--teaching in another place that one should pray and never cease [Lk. 18-1]. He did not teach us a quantity of petitions but that these seven be repeated often and with fervor and care. For in these as I say. are embodied everything that is God's will and all that is fitting for us. Accordingly, when His Majesty had recourse three times to the Eternal Father, all three times He prayed with the same petition of the Our Father, as the evangelists recount: 'Father if it cannot be but that I drink this chalice, may your will be done.' [Mt. 26-42]
"And He taught us only two ceremonies for use in our prayers. Our prayer should be made either in the concealment of our secret chamber [Mt 6:6] where without noise and without telling anyone we can pray with a more perfect and pure heart (...). Or, if not in one's chamber, in the solitary wilderness, and at the best and most quiet time of the night, as He did. [Lk. 6:12]"
-- Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), The Ascent of Mount Carmel Bk. III, ch 44 (trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Ottilio Rodriguez)
I see no repetitive novenas does the saint mention, nor as he puts it, no ceremonies of praying, or as I notice, no chaplets and so forth, nor repetition of lengthy prayers written to this or that saint. This is a back-to-basics of Jesus' prayer and praying, and how Jesus taught us. I'd do well to jot down the seven petitions within the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father as it is also called).
In my great physical pain fatigue and my exhaustion from the over-weighted and imbalance of the institution and intellectual elements of religion [see previous blogs], this from John of the Cross popped up yesterday as the excerpt given that comes with the daily Mass readings from an online site that makes it simple for me. I need simple and basic, and Jesus and more Jesus, and the mystical element to thrive and balance out the other two elements into a healthy whole. Perhaps my very life is that third element offered in a token of trying to add a miniscule percent to the third, the mystical, of three elements of religion.
Utterances from such as admittance of my lacking, my nothingness, seem at times what I can offer as prayer, and then praises such as "Thank You for the sunshine!"-- or "Thank You for the bed and pain medication!" seem banal, but they are real and honest, and come from my heart for I am so grateful for all including the little tats of temporal helps.
